Tokyopop Confirms Its Kodansha Manga Licenses Will End (Update 2)
posted on 2009-08-31 14:54 EDT
Chobits, Love Hina, Samurai Deeper, Rave, Initial D, Kindaichi, Life, more
The North American manga publisher Tokyopop has confirmed that the Japanese publisher Kodansha has decided to let their manga licensing contracts expire. That means Tokyopop will not be allowed to complete any ongoing manga series from Kodansha or reprint its back catalog of Kodansha titles once the existing stock runs out. According to Tokyopop, the company does not know Kodansha's reasons for the decision. Among other titles, Tokyopop has licensed Chobits, Love Hina, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Rave Master, Initial D, Kindaichi Case Files, Life, GetBackers, and Love Attack from Kodansha.
Source: MangaBlog
Update: Tokyopop's Germany office had acknowledged in January that Kodansha let their manga licenses in Germany expire. Just like Tokyopop's American office, Tokyopop Germany said that Kodansha had not given a reason for the decision. Another North American manga licensee of Kodansha manga, Dark Horse Comics, is no longer listing Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira and Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell in its catalog as of this year.
Update 2: In June, the North American publisher Del Rey announced that it acquired the newer volumes of Samurai Deeper Kyo. Tokyopop had published the first 34 volumes, and Del Rey will publish an omnibus book that will combine volumes 35 and 36 in December. Dark Horse confirmed at Comic-Con International last month that it is publishing omnibus versions of Clover, Chobits, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Cardcaptor Sakura — all Kodansha titles by CLAMP that Tokyopop once licensed.
Lesezeichen