We are just having fun reviewing and discussing comic books, graphic novels, manga, anime/animation, music and movies that we have recently read, listened to or watched.
Yen Press has announced that it will begin publishing Kingdom Hearts Manga. This property was originally published by TokyoPop and has been in limbo for the past few years. The first manga release is scheduled for this November with the title Kingdom Hearts: 365/2 Days. If you where picking them up before you will want to start getting them again.
It has nearly been a year since the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami struck the Tohoku coastal region of Japan. Stu Levy, the founder of TokyoPop, has been living in Japan to help with relief and filming a documentary of the disaster and recovery efforts. On March 14 at 7:00 p.m. AMC theaters will be screening his finished documentary, Pray For Japan. Tickets are available at Fandango website, linked below. All proceeds of the screening will be going to the rebuilding efforts taking place in Tohoku. Thanks to YouTube and “PrayforJapanFilm” for the trailer below.
TokyoPop founder Stu Levy is looking into the possibility of starting the publishing arm of the company. Since all of the company’s selection of title right’s reverted back to the original owners Tokyopop will have to work on getting those titles back.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-10-12/tokyopop-confirms-intent-to-publish-manga-again
ICv2 reports that Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ) is funding a new Japanese entertainment company. The company is All Nippon Entertainment Works and is scheduled to launch in October. The company will have it’s fingers in films, TV shows, novels, manga, and other aspects of entertainment. Hopefully this company might pick up some of the slack that was left when TokyoPop left North America.
ICv2’s site, linked below, has an article about the titles that TokyoPop had rights to produce. TokyoPop announced that rights of the manga titles they had will revert back to the Japanese owners. This will allow the owners to try to find another U.S. publishing house or the series will stop publication in the U.S. Hopefully the titles will find a home somewhere since Viz, Yen Press, Del Rey, Dark Horse and other smaller publshers that could pick up some of these titles.
Libraries in California let your anime and manga fans know that TokyoPop, which is closing it’s North American headquarters, is having a “Garage Sale” in mid-May. No specific date yet. Anyone can attend the public sale, if you want to travel to California for the sale go for it. The company is also having a contest on Facebook were ten fans will be chosen to get a pre-sale goody bag and be allowed to attend the Private Sale on May 4. The only catch is that you have to be able to go to their headquarters to claim the prize. To enter you have to post fan art, costumes, videos and the like on their Facebook page by May 1. Follow the link to AnimeNews Network for more details.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-04-28/tokyopop-to-hold-garage-sale-in-los-angeles
ICv2 is reporting that TokyoPop will be closing its doors May 31st. This will be a blow to the manga publishing industry. TokyoPop cited recent economic hardships, the Borders’ bankruptcy and Kodansha expanding their relationship with Random Books/DelRey. How this will effect release dates on titles has not yet been determined. Follow the links below for the full article on the closing and the second link to Stu Levy’s statement on TokyoPop’s closing.
ICv2 is reporting that the bankruptcy of Borders is negatively effecting TokyoPop. TokyoPop stated that Borders owed the company and has placed them in the difficult position of having to layoff employees to help balance the losses that they have because of Borders actions. Use the link below to read the full article.
Here is another contest that librarians need to let their anime and manga patrons know about. TokyoPop is having a contest on their Facebook page. They are trying to get to 100,000 fans on their page. Guidelines for the contest is also on their webpage. Let your patrons know so they can check out the company’s Facebook page and possibly win some swag.
Anime News Network is reporting, link below, that TokyoPop has released additional employees. Goes to show that the economy has an impact on everything. Hopefully, this will not lead to some cancellations of your patrons favorite titles.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-03-01/tokyopop-employee-ranks-shrink-this-week