Post by Loogs on Apr 30, 2011 9:23:59 GMT -5
I still can't believe it.
I can't say I'll miss them, though. Maybe a couple years ago, I would have.
Where do I even start?
-The translations were usually terrible. I think I was spared with Tokyo Babylon because it wasn't really all that bad, but I know Gravitation reads awkwardly at times. I understand that some jokes need adaptation to not get lost in translation, and most of us aren't familiar with references to Japanese pop culture, but it was like they weren't even trying. Viz and other manga publishing houses had much better quality control.
-Terrible business moves on Stu Levy's part. (What the hell is a manga ring tone even seriously) They picked up a bazillion licenses and then let some just go kind of limp. To put things in perspective, they won't even release the upcoming Hetalia vol. 3, and that's probably their only big cash cow left, which brings me to another point:
-Boring licenses. I haven't seen anything interesting from Tokyopop since... Probably since CLAMP works were still being released under TP. Losing all those Kodansha titles to Del Rey and Dark Horse didn't help either, but oh well. They rereleased Clover, so suck it TP, lern2handle licenses better
-There were talks that they really mistreated the "original English language manga" folks, not paying them enough and marketing the whole thing badly. Personally, I'd just call some of them "graphic novels" and not manga, because... I don't care what you say, Mr. Levy, but some of those aren't manga at all! I just hope they give the rights of all those series back to the creators, or we'll have one big ugly rumble on our hands.
-And goddammit Princess Ai was terrible and they tried to push it anyway fuck that noise why. Oh, right. That was Levy's vanity project. Yeah. No.
For anyone panicking over the future of manga, never fear! We still have Dark Horse, Viz, and now Kodansha, as well as the other smaller presses such as Yen Press. May they learn from Tokyopop's mistakes.
There were other factors too, such as the failing economy, online manga scanlations, and Borders going belly-up and owing them lots of money, butI didn't see anyone else go under my bad, didn't realize CMX went under too. Business is merciless, so TP had to either keep up or get trampled.
Needless to say, this is kind of the end of an era. The grand majority of my manga collection came from Tokyopop.
Goodnight, sweet prince, but you were a dead man walking and it's time to move on now.
I can't say I'll miss them, though. Maybe a couple years ago, I would have.
Where do I even start?
-The translations were usually terrible. I think I was spared with Tokyo Babylon because it wasn't really all that bad, but I know Gravitation reads awkwardly at times. I understand that some jokes need adaptation to not get lost in translation, and most of us aren't familiar with references to Japanese pop culture, but it was like they weren't even trying. Viz and other manga publishing houses had much better quality control.
-Terrible business moves on Stu Levy's part. (What the hell is a manga ring tone even seriously) They picked up a bazillion licenses and then let some just go kind of limp. To put things in perspective, they won't even release the upcoming Hetalia vol. 3, and that's probably their only big cash cow left, which brings me to another point:
-Boring licenses. I haven't seen anything interesting from Tokyopop since... Probably since CLAMP works were still being released under TP. Losing all those Kodansha titles to Del Rey and Dark Horse didn't help either, but oh well. They rereleased Clover, so suck it TP, lern2handle licenses better
-There were talks that they really mistreated the "original English language manga" folks, not paying them enough and marketing the whole thing badly. Personally, I'd just call some of them "graphic novels" and not manga, because... I don't care what you say, Mr. Levy, but some of those aren't manga at all! I just hope they give the rights of all those series back to the creators, or we'll have one big ugly rumble on our hands.
-And goddammit Princess Ai was terrible and they tried to push it anyway fuck that noise why. Oh, right. That was Levy's vanity project. Yeah. No.
For anyone panicking over the future of manga, never fear! We still have Dark Horse, Viz, and now Kodansha, as well as the other smaller presses such as Yen Press. May they learn from Tokyopop's mistakes.
There were other factors too, such as the failing economy, online manga scanlations, and Borders going belly-up and owing them lots of money, but
Needless to say, this is kind of the end of an era. The grand majority of my manga collection came from Tokyopop.
Goodnight, sweet prince, but you were a dead man walking and it's time to move on now.