(no subject)
WTF. Looks like negotiations didn't go well. Was Kodansha not happy with the amount Tokyopop was willing to pay for the licensing? At any rate I did a quick Google search to see recent Kodansha news and nothing stood out. Tokyopop, however, went through a restructuring last year.
Press Release from Tokyopop
The Japanese publisher , from whom TOKYOPOP has licensed many terrific series over the years - Chobits, Love Hina, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Rave Master, Initial D, Kindaichi, Life, GetBackers, and Love Attack, to name a few - has decided to let all existing contracts with TOKYOPOP expire on all manga series that they have licensed to us. As a result, Kodansha will not renew any licenses with TOKYOPOP for any new manga volumes.
What does this mean? TOKYOPOP will not be allowed to complete the publication of any series that is currently in progress; in addition, TOKYOPOP will not be allowed to reprint titles after the current inventory has been sold out, so once these series are sold out at retail, they will not be available for consumers to purchase. The reasons for Kodansha’s decision were not communicated to TOKYOPOP.
We have received many emails and phone calls about titles related to this announcement, and given the nature of the negotiations, we could not definitely answer any of those questions until now. We love all of these series, and we are disappointed that we will not get to enjoy the outcome of some of our favorite manga. We hope to see these series completed some day.... However, if they are ever published again, they will not be published by TOKYOPOP.
Thankfully the only manga I regularly buy now is Blade of the Immortal, and that's Dark Horse. If DH ever stopped translating and putting out latest volumes, I'll probably have no choice like the fans of Initial D and look for scanlations.
Press Release from Tokyopop
The Japanese publisher , from whom TOKYOPOP has licensed many terrific series over the years - Chobits, Love Hina, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Rave Master, Initial D, Kindaichi, Life, GetBackers, and Love Attack, to name a few - has decided to let all existing contracts with TOKYOPOP expire on all manga series that they have licensed to us. As a result, Kodansha will not renew any licenses with TOKYOPOP for any new manga volumes.
What does this mean? TOKYOPOP will not be allowed to complete the publication of any series that is currently in progress; in addition, TOKYOPOP will not be allowed to reprint titles after the current inventory has been sold out, so once these series are sold out at retail, they will not be available for consumers to purchase. The reasons for Kodansha’s decision were not communicated to TOKYOPOP.
We have received many emails and phone calls about titles related to this announcement, and given the nature of the negotiations, we could not definitely answer any of those questions until now. We love all of these series, and we are disappointed that we will not get to enjoy the outcome of some of our favorite manga. We hope to see these series completed some day.... However, if they are ever published again, they will not be published by TOKYOPOP.
Thankfully the only manga I regularly buy now is Blade of the Immortal, and that's Dark Horse. If DH ever stopped translating and putting out latest volumes, I'll probably have no choice like the fans of Initial D and look for scanlations.