HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
,
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
,
manhwa (; ) is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to South Korean comics. is greatly influenced by Japanese Manga comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. ...
and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
translations of licensed Japanese properties and
original English-language manga An original English-language manga or OEL manga is a comic book or graphic novel drawn in the style of manga and originally published in English. The term "international manga", as used by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, encompasses all ...
, as well as original German-language manga. Tokyopop's US publishing division publishes works in English. Tokyopop has its US headquarters near Los Angeles International Airport in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Its parent company's offices are in Tokyo, Japan and its sister company's office is in Hamburg, Germany.


History


Early history

Tokyopop was founded in 1997 by
Stuart J. Levy Stuart J. Levy is a producer of manga and films and writer of manga. Levy founded the media company Tokyopop and established the manga market in North America. He was an executive producer on the major motion picture ''Priest'' in 2011 distri ...
. In the late 1990s, the company's headquarters were in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Tokoypop published a manga magazine called MixxZine which serialized four classic manga including Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Parasyte, and Ice Blade. Eventually, MixxZine became an Asian pop culture publication entitled Tokyopop Magazine. Additionally, the company published a manga and tech magazine entitled Smile Magazine. Cultural anthropologist
Rachel Thorn Rachel Thorn (formerly Matt Thorn; born May 12, 1965) is a cultural anthropologist and an associate professor in the Department of Manga Production at Kyoto Seika University's Faculty of Manga in Japan. She is best known in North America for h ...
praised
Stu Levy Stuart J. Levy is a producer of manga and films and writer of manga. Levy founded the media company Tokyopop and established the manga market in North America. He was an executive producer on the major motion picture ''Priest'' in 2011 distrib ...
for opening up an untapped market for animation with the publication of '' Sailor Moon'' and other. Before '' Sailor Moon'', the belief among entertainment executives was that "girls don't watch cartoons." Due to ''Sailor Moon’s'' immense popularity, Tokyopop discontinued the serial from its magazines, and released it separately as its first manga graphic novel. They engineered prominent book distribution via retail stores, standardized book trim size, created a basic industry-wide rating system, and developed the first-ever retail manga displays and introduced the world of graphic novels to an audience of teenage girls. Also, together with
Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
, Tokyopop offered retailers free
spinner rack A spinner rack is a rotating merchandise display, usually placed on a retailer's floor or counter. Often used to display magazines, paperbacks, greeting cards, postcards, hats, or seeds, the spinner rack is closely associated with the comic book ...
displays for Tokyopop manga, thereby increasing the visibility of the medium in bookstores. Tokyopop also licensed and distributed Japanese anime. In 1996, Mixx Entertainment acquired the rights to the anime biopic of Japanese poet
Kenji Miyazawa was a Japanese novelist and poet of children's literature from Hanamaki, Iwate, in the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, a vegetarian, cellist, devout Buddhist, and utopian social act ...
, and Stu Levy produced and directed the English version of the anime film, entitled "
Spring and Chaos is a 1996 Japanese anime television special inspired by the life of poet Kenji Miyazawa, released in Japan to mark the 100th anniversary of Miyazawa's birth. It was directed by Shoji Kawamori. It was released in North America by Tokyopop. Miy ...
." The film was directed and scripted by
Shoji Kawamori A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (oshiire/ ...
, who created Super Dimensional Fortress Macross and
The Vision of Escaflowne is a 26-episode Japanese anime television series created by Shōji Kawamori and Sunrise Studios and directed by Kazuki Akane. It premiered in Japan on April 2, 1996 on TV Tokyo, and the final episode aired on September 24, 1996. Sony's a ...
. Taste of Cinema ranked "Spring and Chaos" thirteenth in its list of Top "25 Weird Animated Movies That Are Worth Your Time." From 2000 to 2004, Tokyopop released multiple film and television projects such as ''
Street Fury ''Street Fury'' is a TV show on G4 that showcased women and cars. It was hosted by Carlton "Big C" Lewis. Along with '' Formula D'' and '' Fastlane'', the show aired Sunday nights, as part of the "G4 Sunday Nights" block. It was at one time the ...
'', which Stu Levy created, '' GTO'' (English version for Showtime TV), ''
Rave Master ''Rave Master'', titled just ''Rave'' and, alternatively, ''The Groove Adventure Rave'' in Japan, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The series follows Haru Glory, a teenager on a quest to find the five fra ...
'' (English version for Cartoon Network's Toonami), and '' Reign: The Conqueror'' (English version for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.) Tokyopop also released English version DVDs for: '' Initial D'', ''
Marmalade Boy is a shōjo manga series by Wataru Yoshizumi. It was published by Shueisha in the magazine ''Ribon'' from May 1992 to October 1995 and collected in eight ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series was adapted by Toei Animation as a 76-episode an ...
'', ''
Saint Tail is a manga and anime series. Originally a twenty-four part manga by Megumi Tachikawa, the story was adapted into an anime television series by producer Tokyo Movie Shinsha, with forty-three episodes and one short, broadcast by ABC. Tokyopop ...
'', '' Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School'', ''
Vampire Princess Miyu is a Japanese horror manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano, as well as an anime adaptation by the same creators. The anime was originally presented in a 4-episode OVA (Original Video Animation) licensed by AnimEigo i ...
'', ''
Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. The song " Almost Like Being in Love", from the musical, has become a standard. It features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, ...
'', ''
FMW Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...
'', ''
High School Ghostbusters High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...
.''


"100% Authentic Manga"

In 2002, Tokyopop launched its line of "100% Authentic Manga", which was printed in the original Japanese right-to-left format and included the original Japanese printed sound effects. In Japan, most published manga is written to read from right to left, but when an English translation was published in the U.S., however, the common practice was to use computer-reversed or mirror images that allowed the books to read from left to right. As a result, this distorted the artwork. Tokyopop's decision to use the original right-to-left format allowed the artwork to keep its original form and also enabled Tokyopop to release most graphic novel series on a frequency three-to-six times faster than the industry standard at the time. Tokyopop volumes hit the shelves monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly versus the six months or longer typical of competitors. It also allowed Tokyopop to sell books for an industry-leading price point of $9.99 per book, at a time when most competitors charged $12.99 to $16.99 per book. Tokyopop was the first U.S. publisher to adopt such a sweeping policy. While some Japanese manga artists had required that the English versions of their manga be published from right to left, Tokyopop was the first American publisher to unilaterally announce that it would maintain the original format for all of its future manga titles. An "authentic manga" how-to guide was included in each graphic novel to keep readers from accidentally reading the final page first, and the authentic manga also featured special packaging.


Rising Stars of Manga

Tokyopop launched their Global Manga publishing program in 2003 via the introduction of its "
Rising Stars of Manga ''Rising Stars of Manga'' (RSoM) was an English-language comic anthology published by TOKYOPOP from 2002 to 2008, and a contest held by the same company. It was originally semi-annual, but switched to annual beginning with the 6th volume. Each vo ...
" talent competition. The competition called for American manga artists to submit 15–25 page English-language stories of any genre. The top 10 entries, as judged by Tokyopop editors, received cash prizes (between $500 – $2500) and were published in an anthology of the winning works. The grand prize winners were also given the chance to pitch full-length manga projects to Tokyopop for a chance to become professional manga-ka. Tokyopop launched its first "Rising Stars of Manga" contest on August 15, 2002 and ended it on December 16, 2002, with more than five hundred American artists submitting their 15–25 page, English-language stories. The 5th Rising Stars of Manga competition added the People's Choice award, where the top-20 finalists had their entire entries judged by the fans on the Tokyopop website. “We are really pleased to open up the Rising Stars judging to the fans," commented Tokyopop editor Rob Valois. "Since so many people have been vocal on the message boards and at industry conventions, we’re offering them all a chance to shape the future of manga. I’m personally excited to see how the fans’ favorite will compare to our own." Tokyopop held eight Rising Stars of Manga competitions between 2002 and 2008, as well as one in the UK in 2005. Several ''Rising Stars of Manga'' winners went on to publish full-length graphic novels with Tokyopop, including
Josh Elder Josh Elder (born May 17, 1980 in Carmi, Illinois) is an American journalist, lecturer and writer, primarily of comic books and graphic novels. Early life Josh Elder graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in Film.http://www ...
with ''
Mail Order Ninja ''Mail Order Ninja'' is an original English-language (OEL) manga written by Joshua Elder and illustrated by Erich Owen. It was the winner of Tokyopop's fifth Rising Stars of Manga competition. It is about a boy who orders a ninja from a comic b ...
'', M. Alice LeGrow with ''
Bizenghast ''Bizenghast'' is a debut gothic graphic novel series written and illustrated by M. Alice LeGrow. The first seven volumes were published by Tokyopop, with the final volume released in late April 2012. After placing in Tokyopop's Rising Stars of ...
'', Mike Schwark and Ron Kaulfersch with ''
Van Von Hunter ''Van Von Hunter'' is a weekly hand-drawn parody manga started in 2002 by Mike Schwark and Ron Kaulfersch of Pseudomé Studio, based in Cleveland, Ohio.Giddens, Tharon (July 9, 2006). "Vampire hunter has stake in paper". ''The Augusta Chronicle' ...
,'' Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges with '' Peach Fuzz,'' Wes Abbot with '' Dogby Walks Alone'', Felipe Smith with ''
MBQ ''MBQ'' is an original English-language manga created by Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga second-place winner Felipe Smith. ''MBQ'' is an expansion of his second-place winning entry in the third Rising Stars competition. It is the story of a y ...
,'' Nathan Maurer with ''Atomic King Daidogan,''. As of July 2022, a new Rising Starts of Manga 25th Year Anniversary edition was announced.


Rise of Tokyopop

Tokyopop became one of the biggest manga publishers outside
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and as such, was attributed with popularizing manga in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. By 2004, it boasted the largest market share of manga sales in the U.S., reaching as high as 50% of manga exports to the United States, according to Nissei Weekly. Tokyopop was also instrumental in the introduction of manhwa to western audiences. Brad Brooks and Tim Pilcher, authors of ''The Essential Guide to World Comics. London'', said that Tokyopop "published many
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
artists' work, possibly without Western fans even realizing the strips don't come from Japan. Series like '' King of Hell'' by Kim Jae-hwan and Ra In-soo, and the
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
tale ''
Model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...
'' by Lee So-young are both Korean, but could easily be mistaken for manga." In 2005, Tokyopop began a new, free publication called ''
Manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
'' (originally ''Takuhai'') to feature their latest releases. Tokyopop secured newspaper distribution in the form of
Sunday comics The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...
, featuring its titles Princess Ai, Mail Order Ninja, Peach Fuzz, and Van Von Hunter. In March 2006, Tokyopop and HarperCollins Publishers announced a co-publishing agreement in which the sale and distribution rights of some Tokyopop manga and books, under this co-publishing license, would be transferred to HarperCollins in mid-June 2006. The agreement enabled Tokyopop to produce original English-language (OEL) manga adaptations of HarperCollins' books.
Meg Cabot Meggin Patricia Cabot (born February 1, 1967) is an American novelist. She has written and published over 50 novels of young adult and adult fiction and is best known for her young adult series ''Princess Diaries'', which was later adapted by W ...
's books were the first to be adapted into the manga format, along with the ''
Warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...
'' series by
Erin Hunter Erin Hunter is a collective pseudonym used by the authors Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Clarissa Hutton, Inbali Iserles, Tui T. Sutherland, and Rosie Best in the writing of several juvenile fantasy novel series, which focus on anima ...
. The first line of Tokyopop-HarperCollins OEL manga was released in 2007 with the goal of publishing up to 24 titles each year. Tokyopop entered a licensing arrangement with Kaplan, a leading provider of educational and training services in 2007, to help students study vocabulary words in preparation for the
SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
s. Tokyopop has released several series based on American games, films, and characters, such as ''
Warcraft ''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of five core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chao ...
'', the '' Kingdom Hearts'' video game series, and
Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
films. They released the first volume of a series based on the '' Hellgate: London'' video game in April 2008.


CineManga

TOKYOPOP pioneered the Cine-Manga format, which took popular animated and live-action series and films and turned them into colored print editions. Titles included popular Nickelodeon cartoon series like Avatar: The Last Airbender and Spongebob Squarepants. As well as franchises such as Star Wars, Akira, Lizzie McGuire, Card Captor Sakura, Kim Possible, Family Guy, Hannah Montana, amongst many others.


2008 restructuring

In June 2008, Tokyopop announced that it was being restructured, with its name being changed to Tokyopop Group, a holding group for several new subsidiaries. The Tokyopop operations in the United States were split into two subsidiaries: Tokyopop, Inc., and Tokyopop Media. Tokyopop, Inc. consisted of the company's existing publications business, while Tokyopop Media focused on the company's digital and comics-to-film works. Tokyopop Media managed the Tokyopop website, which continued to promote its publications. According to representative Mike Kiley, the divisions would allow the company to "set things up in ways that would very clearly and definitively allow those businesses to focus on what they need to do to succeed. The goals in each company are different and the achievement of those goals is more realistic, more possible if everyone working in each of those companies is very clearly focused." During the restructure, Tokyopop laid off 39 positions, equating to 35%–40% of its American workforce. Most of the positions cut were those involved in the direct publication of its books which resulted in a scale back of publication output from Tokyopop, Inc. Tokyopop reported that it would be cutting the volumes released per year by approximately 50%, to an average of 20–22 volumes per month. Tokyopop's Japan division was also to be split, with one unit operating under Tokyopop Media and the other becoming a subsidiary under the overall Tokyopop Group. In response to Tokyopop's restructuring, declining sales, and losing 20% of its manga market share, Tokyopop UK cut its publication release schedule from approximately 25 volumes a month to 20. In December 2008, citing "dramatically low sales" in the publishing industry as a whole, Tokyopop, Inc., laid off eight more employees, including three editors, and noted that the company would have to rearrange some of its upcoming publication schedules.


Loss of Kodansha licenses

Licenses from the Japanese manga publisher
Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
, historically, were a large part of Tokyopop's catalog. In the years leading up to 2009, the number of Kodansha titles licensed by Tokyopop decreased. The final new Kodansha title was '' Tokko'' by Tohru Fujisawa, and the final batch of volumes of Kodansha titles appeared around March 2009. Around that time Kodansha began to consistently give licenses to its manga to competitor
Del Rey Manga Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cross-publishing relation ...
. Deb Aoki of
About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
said "Well, more or less. You get the idea. If you're the type who reads the tea leaves of the manga publishing biz, you kinda sensed that things weren't quite the same as they used to be." On August 31, 2009, Tokyopop announced Kodansha was allowing all of its licensing agreements with the North American and German divisions of Tokyopop to expire for reasons unknown. Due to this loss in licensing, Tokyopop was forced to leave several Kodansha series unfinished, including the popular ''
Rave Master ''Rave Master'', titled just ''Rave'' and, alternatively, ''The Groove Adventure Rave'' in Japan, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The series follows Haru Glory, a teenager on a quest to find the five fra ...
'', '' Initial D'', ''
GetBackers is a Japanese manga series written by Yuya Aoki and illustrated by Rando Ayamine. The series was serialized in Kodansha's '' Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1999 until 2007, totaling 39 volumes. The plot follows the "GetBackers", a group t ...
'', and ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' series. It would be unable to reprint any previously published volumes, rendering all Kodansha-owned Tokyopop releases out-of-print. Several other titles licensed and published by Tokyopop, including best sellers ''
Cardcaptor Sakura , abbreviated as ''CCS'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. Serialized monthly in the ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from May 1996 to June 2000, it was also published in 12 ''tankōbon'' ...
'', ''
Chobits is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the Japanese manga collective Clamp. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from September 2000 to October 2002, with its chapters collected ...
'', ''
Clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...
'', and ''
Magic Knight Rayearth is a Japanese manga series created by Clamp. Appearing as a serial in the manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from the November 1993 issue to the February 1995 issue, the chapters of ''Magic Knight Rayearth'' were collected into three bound volum ...
'', were reacquired by
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
, though two other titles Kodansha licensed to Dark Horse had since transferred to
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
by then. ''
Samurai Deeper Kyo is a manga series written and illustrated by Akimine Kamijyo. Set during the Edo period of Japan's history, ''Samurai Deeper Kyo'' follows , a feared samurai seeking to regain his body after his soul is sealed inside the body of his rival ...
'' was relicensed by competitor
Del Rey Manga Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cross-publishing relation ...
, a division of Random House, which published the remaining volumes of the series. Tokyopop said that it expected the loss of the licenses to have minimal impact on the company economically due to its diversification of their holdings over the last few years, though they acknowledged the loss would hurt fans of the ongoing series who face uncertainty about the completion of those titles from other companies. ICv2 reported that Tokyopop would continue to publish
light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
s from Kodansha and that Kodansha appeared to be planning to publish its own titles through its partnership with Random House.


Resignations and layoffs

In February 2011, the president and chief operating officer, John Parker, resigned from the company and took the position of vice president of business development for
Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
. This came shortly after Diamond became Tokyopop's new distributor, taking the business from
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
. Tokyopop did not name a replacement for Parker. Parker's departure left only three remaining executives: the founder and CEO, Stuart Levy; Publisher, Mike Kiley; and Vice President of Inventory, Victor Chin. On March 1, Tokyopop continued to lay off workers, removing many high-profile employees such as long-time manga editors Lilian Diaz-Przyhyl and Troy Lewter. Tokyopop's management also eliminated the position of director of sales operations. In an interview with ICv2, Stuart Levy revealed that the layoffs were due to
Borders Group Borders Group, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol BGP) was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily ...
, Tokyopop's largest customer, filing bankruptcy in March 2011, no longer carrying Tokyopop stock, and not paying debts that the company owed to Tokyopop.


North American publishing shutdown

On April 15, 2011, Tokyopop announced that it would close its Los Angeles, CA–based North American publishing operations on May 31, 2011. According to the release, Tokyopop's film and television projects, as well as European publishing operations and global rights sales, would not be closing. The UK branch would cease to operate after May 31 due to their reliance on the importing of the North American branch's product. Stuart Levy, Tokyopop's founder, released a personal statement reaffirming Tokyopop's role in introducing manga to the mainstream North American audience and thanking fans, creators, and employees for their dedication. On May 24, Tokyopop stated that the manga they licensed would revert to their original owners, who may license the titles to other companies.


New incarnation

In October 2011, Tokyopop's official Twitter account released a message stating that its "ultimate goal is to start publishing manga again." On December 10, 2012, Tokyopop's website relaunched with a letter from management stating that the company was down to a few select employees who were starting a 'new incarnation' of the company. Partnered with '
Right Stuf Right Stuf Inc. (formerly known as The Right Stuf International Inc.) is an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specializes in Asian entertainment (anime and live action films). The company since 2022 is owned by ...
on Demand', they began offering ebooks of various titles for which they retained the rights. Their company blog article stated:
Luckily new technologies that have only very recently become practical are enabling us to re-emerge. Conventional publishing has irrevocably changed, and it is impractical for all but the largest and most established companies to pursue publishing as it has gone on for centuries. But by embracing ebook and print-on-demand technologies, we believe we can move forward and continue to produce some amazing manga as well as bring you Asian Pop Culture in many forms.
A letter from Levy on January 6, 2013 stated:
Digital technology has transformed many industries including publishing. This hit TOKYOPOP very hard since we didn't have ebook rights to most of our series (except OEL). Unfortunately our Japanese licensors did not move fast enough to provide a legitimate alternative to piracy, and piracy shows no mercy. As a result, TOKYOPOP had to shut down its LA office and the licenses to Japanese titles expired, reverting to the Japanese licensors. What that means is TOKYOPOP is evolving as a company. I know many fans would prefer us to return to being a manga publisher like we were for most of our history. However, manga will never disappear – we will do what we can to deliver manga. I plan on experimenting with new ways to bring you Asian pop culture. Please keep an open mind – and give feedback (not just negative when you don't like something but also positive when you like something) so we can tweak our approach.
Throughout the publishing closure, Tokyopop Media remained open for business, continuing its efforts to produce film and TV adaptations of Tokyopop's manga, as well as reinvigorating the Tokyopop YouTube channel, launching several original web series and adding trailers for Japanese film and TV. In 2013, Tokyopop partnered with MondoMedia to release an animated short film based on the Tokyopop manga ''Riding Shotgun'', which was directed by Michael Davis and starred the voices of
Yuri Lowenthal Yuri Lowenthal (born March 5, 1971)Birthday references: * * * is an American voice actor, producer and screenwriter known chiefly for his work in cartoons, anime and video games. Some of his prominent roles in animations and anime include S ...
and
Jessy Schram Jessica Schram (born January 15, 1986) is an American actress, model and singer. Her most notable roles include Hannah Griffith in ''Veronica Mars'', Rachel Seybolt in ''Life'', Karen Nadler in ''Falling Skies'' and Cinderella/Ashley Boyd in '' ...
. The short film garnered over a million views in its first month, and led to an IndieGoGo campaign to finance a full animated series. In 2015, at
Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first w ...
and
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
, Tokyopop announced that it would be relaunching its publishing operations in North America in 2016 and hinted that its first major licensor would be
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
. In January 2018, Tokyopop announced the release dates for three new properties: ''
Konohana Kitan is a Japanese manga series by Sakuya Amano. Originally published in Ichijinsha's yuri manga magazine '' Comic Yuri Hime S'' under the name between 2009 and 2010 before going on hiatus, the series relaunched in Gentosha's ''seinen'' manga ...
'', '' Futaribeya: A Room for Two'', and ''Hanger''. Additionally, TOKYOPOP initiated "International Woman of Manga" to showcase non-Japanese female manga writers with the publication of five titles: ''Ocean of Secrets'', ''Goldfisch'', ''Kamo'', ''Undead Messiah'', and ''Sword Princess Amaltea''. Tokyopop's "Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero's Journey" was nominated for two 2018 Diamond GEM awards in the categories "2018 Best All Ages Series" and "2018 Licensed TP or HC of the Year". In 2021,
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., doing business as simply Cracker Barrel, is an American chain of restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company was founded by Dan Evins in 1969. Its first store was in Lebanon, ...
restaurants agreed to sell specific Tokyopop Manga by offering Disney’s The Nightmare Before Christmas adaptation by Jun Asuka in its North American in-store gift shops.


Divisions and Companies


Tokyopop GmbH - Publishing & Digital Germany

Tokyopop's European entity is located in Hamburg, Germany and publishes both print and digital titles across a range of content and formats. In 2021, Tokyopop GmbH was one of Germany's Top 100 publishing companies. The first manga and manhwa by Tokyopop Germany were published in November 2004, and the first anime in the fall of 2005. In 2006, Tokyopop GmbH entered a "strategic partnership" with the Japanese publisher
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
, allowing them to publish popular titles such as '' Death Note'' and '' Bleach''. The company has also released a number of original German-language manga, including ''Gothic Sports'', winner of a 2007
Sondermann Sondermann is a cartoon character of the painter and cartoonist Bernd Pfarr, which appeared, until August 1994, in a column of the same name by the writer Simone Borowiak and, from 1987 to August 2004, regularly in the satirical magazine ''Titani ...
award. Tokyopop GmbH continues to operate as a publisher of German-language manga for the international market after the closure of the US publishing office. In addition to publishing popular manga titles, Tokyopop GmbH also expanded the market by producing new and exciting cross-media content, including licensing popular video game franchises such as ''Assassin's Creed'' and ''Zelda'' and bestselling novels such as James Patterson and ''Warriors''. In 2013, the company launched a prestige project called Manga Library, which adapted classic literary novels into manga. According to
GFK Entertainment The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...
, as of 2014 in the core segment of manga, Tokyopop GmbH is currently the second largest provider, with a market share of 27%. Additionally, in the last two years, Tokyopop GmbH had the fastest growth rate out of the big three manga suppliers in the German market, with a growth rate of 29% in 2014. This compares with
Egmont Ehapa The Egmont Ehapa Publishing Company (officially named Egmont Ehapa Verlag GmbH) was created in 1951 as a subdivision of the Egmont media group. The name "Ehapa" was taken from the initials of its founder: Egmont Harald Petersen. Ehapa is known ...
at 6.5% and
Carlsen Verlag Carlsen Verlag is a subsidiary of the homonymous Danish publishing house which in turn belongs to the Swedish media company Bonnier. The branch was founded on 25 April 1953 in Hamburg. The publisher's program focuses on books for children, i. ...
at 1.8%.


Other overseas markets

In 2004, Tokyopop set up a division in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
based in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
that mainly imported books from its original American counterpart and distributed them to bookstores in both the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
. Tokyopop released an anime collection in both countries in late 2006, including titles such as ''Initial D'' and ''
Great Teacher Onizuka ''Great Teacher Onizuka'', officially abbreviated as ''GTO'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tooru Fujisawa. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from January 1997 to February 20 ...
''. ''
Vampire Princess Miyu is a Japanese horror manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano, as well as an anime adaptation by the same creators. The anime was originally presented in a 4-episode OVA (Original Video Animation) licensed by AnimEigo i ...
'' was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
by
MVM Entertainment MVM Entertainment, also known as MVM and MVM Films, is a British licensor and distributor of Japanese animation. The company also sub-licenses anime titles from US anime companies such as Media Blasters, Geneon, Nozomi Entertainment, Urban Visi ...
and the
Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
television channel aired the first half of ''Rave Master'' in early 2005. It was announced on the official Tokyopop Facebook page that because the British division mainly imported the North American branch's translated titles, it would become defunct with the only open branch being the German division. Tokyopop distributed some of its titles to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
via
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
/Funtastic and in
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, Tokyopop properties were licensed by Anubis Comics. Tokyopop partnered with IDW International in February 2018 to license its original intellectual property (IP) and manga in overseas markets.


Imprints


Blu Manga

Blu Manga is an imprint under which Tokyopop published ''
shōnen-ai ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typically created b ...
'' and ''
yaoi ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features Homoeroticism, homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typi ...
'' manga titles. The imprint was launched in 2005. Initially, the company denied that it owned Blu, stating that it was only distributing for another company. The company released no editor names, nor company contact info out of fear there would be backlash and hate mail from "moral crusaders". In 2006, Tokyopop confirmed Blu was their own imprint. Blu Manga considered that their "non-girly" branding had enabled the imprint, in a genre stereotypically created by women for women, to reach out to a male and gay audience. Early titles published by BLU were ''
Earthian is a yaoi manga by Yun Kouga. It is about angel watchers of earth which was made into a J.C.Staff-produced anime OVA. The angels' roles are to assess the progress of humans giving them positive and negative scores based on their everyday ...
'', '' Love Mode'', and ''
Shinobu Kokoro is a ninja yaoi manga by Temari Matsumoto. The manga was licensed in the United States by BLU, the Boys Love branch of TokyoPop, in November 2005. Plot Another work by Temari Matsumoto, called Cause of My Teacher is a Japanese manga an ...
''.


Criticism

Fans critical of possible mishandling of the '' Initial D'' property voiced concerns regarding "editorial changes" in the
language localization Language localisation (or language localization) is the process of adapting a product's translation to a specific country or region. It is the second phase of a larger process of product translation and cultural adaptation (for specific countries ...
of the manga and anime. The changes included renaming of several characters and the removal of one character's involvement in
enjo kōsai is a type of transactional relationship similar to the western equivalent being a call girl of Sugaring. It is the Japanese language term for the practice of older men giving money and/or luxury gifts to attractive young women for sexual favors ...
, a practice in Japan where younger women are paid to provide older men with companionship. In a letter sent to
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
, Tokyopop responded to the criticisms, noting that they felt the edits were necessary because they were marketing the series to a younger target audience than it was originally designed for in Japan. In an interview by Anime News Network, Tokyopop staff stated they also felt that the series would reach a larger audience if it had a broader American appeal. The company alleviated some of the concerns by noting that the anime series would receive an "unedited, subtitled, Japanese language" DVD release. The manga series remained edited except for the first volume, which was accidentally printed before the editing decisions were made.


Manga in Teen Magazine CosmoGirl

In 2005, Tokyopop partnered with mainstream teen magazine
CosmoGirl ''CosmoGirl'', also stylized as ''CosmoGIRL!'', was an American magazine based in New York City, published from 1999 until 2008. The teenage spin-off of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine, it targeted teenage girls and featured fashion and celebrities. It ...
to serialize a manga entitled "The Adventures of CG!," drawn by Svetlana Chmakova.


Children's Books

The company published books for younger children including picture books based on Japanese character Stray Sheep.


Love x Love

In 2020, Tokyopop introduced a new Inclusive Romance manga lineup, with a focus on providing BL/Yaoi manga, GL/Yuri manga, and male/female romance manga under the same imprint.


Disney Manga

Tokyopop has licensed several Disney manga titles and series in the US, including Nightmare Before Christmas, Descendants, Kilala Princess and Donald Duck Visits Japan.


See also

*
List of Tokyopop publications Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. Books published in English by Tokyopop :Unless otherwise noted all titles l ...


References


External links

* ** * * * {{Authority control Manga distributors Manhua distributors Manhwa distributors Publishing companies established in 1997 Book publishing companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles