Tokyopop talk, yaoi speculation, and more

Mike Kiley provides a few more details on Tokyopop’s division into separate publishing and media companies. Kiley, who held the title of “publisher” in the old Tokyopop, has moved to Tokyopop Media. Here’s part of what manga readers want to know: They’re cutting back to 20-22 releases a month for the foreseeable future, or a schedule of about 225 books a year. That means 80 fewer books this year than were planned. He shed no light on what titles would survive the purge, however, or even what type would be most likely to live on. He was pretty vague on the relationship between the two new companies, but he did say that Tokyopop Media would get the website, although it will continue to feature Tokyopop books.

Meanwhile, Lissa Pattillo gets an e-mail telling her that her pre-order for vol. 3 of Kingdom Hearts II was cancelled, and when she goes online, she finds lots of future volumes missing. Coincidence?

And in case you missed my post last night, Japanator talked to Del Rey’s Ali Kokmen, who squelched the rumor that Kodansha is planning to set up its own U.S. arm, thus cutting out all its American licensors (like Del Rey). Gia wonders “Did we all just get uber-trolled, or is something going on?” Simon Jones is staying uncommitted for now, but his take (NSFW!) is fun to read anyway.

Alex Woolfson of Yaoi 911 talks to ero-manga publisher Simon Jones about what it takes to survive as a small yaoi publisher in today’s market. (Simon doesn’t do yaoi, but he’s experienced as a niche publisher of adult-oriented manga, and anyway he always has interesting insights on the industry.)

Perhaps these people should be reading that interview? It looks like there may be a new yaoi publisher waiting in the wings, although their website doesn’t specifically mention manga. They will be at Yaoi-Con, so we’ll find out soon enough. (Found via comments at Kethylia’s blog, where she and Tina Anderson trade guesses.)

Heterochromia critiques academic papers on manga, saying that the professors (and the grad students) focus on the old stuff and ignore what’s happening now. Matt Thorn drops in in comments to add his $.02. (Via the Icarus blog, which is always NSFW.)

According to a Zogby poll, 8% of online book buyers say they buy graphic novels.

The Studio QT Bleargh links to some recent Dark Horse previews.

Takeshi Miyazawa posts some sketches from an unfinished project.

A “Professional Navy Centric blog” takes a look at the success of that manga about the USS George Washington, the aircraft carrier that will be stationed in Japan.

News from Japan: The Big News of the day is that Rumiko Takahashi is bringing InuYasha to a close after 12 years of hunting for those pesky jewel shards. (Image taken from the indispensable Rumic World.) Remember the Raiku, the creator who sued the publisher Shogakukan for losing some of his original art? Canned Dogs links to a blog, purportedly by the creator of Yakitate!! Japan, that defends the editors and claims that Raiku is defaming them. Oddly, by the time that commenters get to it, the blog appears to have disappeared, and the 2ch crowd is speculating that it wasn’t him after all. On a lighter note, the Gottsu-Iiyan blog has a cute post on manga mascots. And a new Saber Marionette manga is launching in July.

Reviews: Over at our sister blog, Good Comics For Kids, Kate Dacey takes a look at Dark Horse’s Dayan collection. Mangamaniac Julie reviews Red at the MangaCast, and she checks out Like a Love Comedy and vol. 3 of Venus in Love at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Tiamat’s Disciple posts on a stack of Yen Press manhwa, all acquired from the former Ice Kunion: vol. 5 of Bring It On, vol. 5 of Chocolat, vol. 4 of One Thousand and One Nights, vol. 5 of 11th Cat, and vol. 3 of Freak. At Kuri-ousity, Lissa Pattillo reviews Heat Guy J and vol. 2 of Legend. Deb Aoki cools down with a look at The Ice Wanderer and Other Stories at About.com. Lots of summer reading going on at Active Anime, where Sandra Scholes reviews vol. 1 of Manga Sutra and Holly Ellingwood checks out vol. 1 of One Pound Gospel (second edition), vol. 2 of Shakugan no Shana, vol. 2 of Hero Heel, vol. 2 of Nightmare Inspector, vol. 1 of Forget About Love, and vol. 1 of .hack//xxxx. Snow Wildsmith reviews Laugh Under the Sun at Manga Jouhou. Sesho has a podcast review of Color of Rage at Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews. James Fleenor takes a look at vol. 20 of Hunter X Hunter at Anime Sentinel. Tangognat reads vol. 3 of High School Debut. Vol. 9 of School Rumble earns only average grades from Carlo Santos at ANN. Lori Henderson checks out vol. 1 of Vampire Hunter D and daughter Jenny reviews vol. 1 of Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Adventure at Manga Xanadu.