It's like a zombie that refuses to go down

[Mink]

I'm going to assume this goes here; if I'm wrong, I'll gladly ask to have it moved.

Anyway, guess who's apparently back and wants to start publishing again?! That's right, Tokyopop! Now, my opinion is that I'd sooner learn Japanese than give Tokyopop any of my money, as I don't want to touch them with a 39 1/2 foot pole. I'd rather so many other companies publish the few books I'd like to not have to learn a new language for. But, that's just me. Anyone else?

Also, someone made a comment that Tokyopop's like a clingly ex-girlfriend you can't get rid of. As such:

TROLOLOL

Before I forget, here: a link to the TokypopManga Twitter.

[Camille]

Oh goodness, not them again. D:

Though... I'm at the level of Japanese now where I don't really bother with buying the localized manga anymore. Haven't bought anything from TP or Viz in years. I just buy the tankoubons off of HMV and read the weekly/monthly raws of the shounen manga I follow. XD 650 yen is way better than paying $10-$14 for a translated book of lesser quality where I have to wait months/years for them to catch up to the Japanese story timeline. So what they do doesn't really affect me, haha. /no longer part of the target audience

The printed localized manga industry isn't doing so great in America, anyway, so I'm not sure why they'd want to start this up again. If nobody wanted to buy their books and this led them to have to shut down, what makes them think the market's any different now?

[Mink]

I wish I could read/speak Japanese that well. D8 I mean, I shouldn't have to go through the trouble of learning a new language just to read a few comics (mainly some Junji Ito and Kazuya Minekura). On the other hand, I think Japanese is a very pretty language and kind of want to learn it for that reason. (Also, I want to go to Japan to see the temples in Kyoto. Knowing the language of the country you're going to can only be helpful)

But seriously, Tokyopop. Your CEO (Stu Levy) had the gall to tweet that he didn't know why he was in such an old and out of touch industry like book publishing anymore* while still publishing manga, quit that, and now wants to start publishing books again? Right. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go enjoy my copies of Children of the Sea and Pluto. And Shaman King.

Also, it was attributed to the closure of Borders, but I'm sure Stu Levy running around doing everything BUT helping his company ("WHOO I WANNA MAKE MOVIES NAO NO WAIT A REALITY SHOW!!11!") didn't help matters.

*(Yes, he said this. I saw the Tweet myself)

[Voight-Kampff]

Well, you know, Tokyopop has the uncanny ability to succeed, even when face to face with the abyss. They did it before with the Mixx -> Tokyopop transformation. They might just be able to do it again.

However, I will say this much: if they somehow manage to succeed and pull back from the brink, someone - ANYONE - will need to do something about Stu Levy. Someone needs to keep that man's ideas in check. As contradictory as it may seem, he's the cause of and solution to all of Tokyopop's problems.

[Fawn]

I mostly buy manga to collect, not to just to read; and I've never really liked the quality of tokyopop's takabons... My copies of Tokyo Mew Mew began falling apart only a year after I bought them I much prefer yen press, they have very nice quality books. I own 2 Japanese takabons of both ToraDora! and K-on, and I bought the English copies from Yen Press and they are nearly identical in quality (besides the removable covers the Japanese takabons have).

the only way I'd ever buy from them again is if they convince Mia Ikumi to make more Tokyo Mew Mew, or they license Franken Fran (which will never happen in a million years). I don't care who publishes it, whoever translates and publishes Franken Fran, I will be their book buying bitch for life. @v@

[Camille]

I started learning Japanese more so I could play more videogames, really... Because so many great games never get localized (THE LAST RANKER /all my tears). But I guess being able to read more manga was a nice side effect. XD I have little to no interest in actually going to Japan (I'm not really a Japanophile in any sense of the word), so I guess that makes me a little odd when compared to most westerners trying to learn Japanese. Honestly, though, if you put a bit of regular effort into it, Japanese isn't all that hard to learn.

I agree that you shouldn't have to learn a language just to read a couple of comics, though. TokyoPop just has a lot of really bad business practices that I couldn't agree with and of course Stu Levy's a creep, too. I'm sure they will come back, but I don't think they'll be any more successful than they were before.

[Mink]

Well, my interest in actually going to Japan really is just that: seeing the temples in Kyoto, because they're GORGEOUS. I could live my life and never go to Shibuya or Akihabara or Harajuku.

I'm going to have to also agree with other people: I'll buy from Tokyopop if they get rid of Stu Levy. :/

@Fawn: Huh, really? Mine holds up pretty well. Weird~

Sadly, what I've seen of Franken Fran just makes me go, "Meh." I think it's kind of over doing it with the body horror and could stand to tone it down some. :/

@Voight-Kampff: See my above statement about ditching Levy. <x<

[Crusher]

I only read the "Welcome to the NHK" novel from them and didn't notice anything bad.

[Chorvaqueen]

go away Mink, I'm still not done completing my Lights Out collection! Are they all done?
I don't want to learn Japanese, what for anyway? It's not like I'm missing half of my life am I?

[J. Datie]

Your CEO (Stu Levy) had the gall to tweet that he didn't know why he was in such an old and out of touch industry like book publishing anymore* while still publishing manga, quit that, and now wants to start publishing books again?

I think it probably taught him an important lesson: Making money comes from having a job.

I don't want to learn Japanese, what for anyway? It's not like I'm missing half of my life am I?

Actually, you kinda are, since speaking Japanese will cause you to live twice as long. That's the only explanation I can think of for the zillions of old Japanese still alive today. The language consists entirely of magical incantations that make people live longer. And I guess there's also a lesser effect if you just draw the characters on your arm.

[Chorvaqueen]

lolweeb

but seriously people, enlighten me on your beef with tokyopop? It's not just weeb elitism is it?

[Desu_Cake]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

but seriously people, enlighten me on your beef with tokyopop? It's not just weeb elitism is it?

It's because Tokyopop's stuff is absolutely awful. They really don't care about the quality of what they produce.
As an example - Rozen Maiden.
They spell Suigintou three different ways, they translated "Do not wind" as "Non-wind up", there are numerous elementary spelling mistakes, they give Shinku the wrong speech patterns, when the characters call Kirakishou "White Rose", they instead romanise it to "Shirobara"...
That's just from one series.

And don't even get me started on series like Moon Phase which they abandoned three volumes from the end.

[Voight-Kampff]

lolweeb

but seriously people, enlighten me on your beef with tokyopop? It's not just weeb elitism is it?

I think a lot of the ill will that people, in general, display towards Tokyopop stems from their OEL line of manga. A lot of people hated the line because it wasn't "real" manga. Others disliked it because they felt that Tokyopop was taking advantage of young artistic talent and shoving them through the meat grinder, in the hopes of finding something that might become popular.

Of course, that's in addition to the way that TP historically handled their translations of "real" manga. For a long time, it was really quite bad - until they switched over to their "100% Authentic" manga line, where they kept the right-to-left format among other things. That really catapulted them ahead of the other publishers. And yet, they still weren't without their editing problems (like spelling, etc.).

[Mink]

There was that whole contract thing a bit ago, the precise name of which I can't remember at the moment. Yeah, reading that, all I could think was, "Way to insult my intelligence. And thanks, but Satan could give me a better deal for my soul."

I mean, the part saying moral rights is a 'fancy French term'? DO NOT TRUST THE FRENCH, THEY LIE TO YOU. SIGN CONTRACT NAO, PLZ. It also came off like someone who's in their 40's trying absurdly hard to be 'really cool and hip,yo.'* This whole thing was clearly targeted towards teens/people who don't know any better, and don't know what 'spec work' is. Nice try, Tokyopop. I know when I'm getting screwed over. And at least companies like DC and Marvel freakin' pay you more.**

And the way Levy handled things were just...ugh. Googling it would be easier than me going into a wall of text about why Tokyopop can shove it.

So Chorvaqueen, no, it's not about that. It's about mishandling things, screwing people over, patronizing the fans you *do* have, and I guess expecting people to come crawling back to you after all the bull you pulled. Seriously, Tokyopop. Get rid of Stu Levy and maybe I'll buy shit from you again. Otherwise...Rosetta Stone, HERE I COME!

*You know. Bascially Stu Levy towards the end.

**One of the best things I remember reading was someone who gave the contract to his lawyer to see what he'd say. The lawyer apparently laughed his head off upon reading it, basically going, "Are they really serious with this?"

[Sapphi]

My copies of Tokyo Mew Mew began falling apart only a year after I bought them

I also bought all 9 volumes of Tokyo Mew Mew new. The pages got to be various shades of yellow very quickly. Also, their translations are atrocious. The first time Ichigo uses her attack, Strawberry Bell (Sutoroberi beru) they romanised it as "Sutoro Bell Bell". The first time Mint used her attack, Mint Arrow, they put "Mintoon Alo." I am not making this up.

Also, once or twice throughout the series, they mixed up what text was supposed to go in what bubble, making characters say each other's lines. The Japanese words were really lazily edited out, also. Overall, it was obvious they didn't care at all about the series, and probably only picked it up because it was being dubbed by 4Kids.

But even after that, it's not like I hated Tokyopop. Their OEL manga campaign was a disaster and I really resented how they marketed it, but even then I didn't hate them. What put me off buying anything from them ever again was when they raised the price by a dollar and started using flimsy paper I could see through. Sorry, if I'm shelling out $11 for a comic book in a series of comic books, I had better not be able to wrinkle the paper just by touching it. =/ The whole purpose of buying a tankoubon in the first place is to have a permanent copy! Heck, I have the original Japanese Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga from circa 1979, and despite the binding glue starting to dry up, the paper is smooth, thick, and STILL BRIGHT WHITE!

The philosophy of Japan vs. America when it comes to how long things should last never ceases to amaze me.
My dad's 1992 Camry has 350k miles on the odometer AND IS STILL RUNNING, which is something I have never even heard of an American car doing without an engine swap at some point.
And don't get me started on the differences in treatment of elderly people...