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NEWS: Manga Publisher Tokyopop Lays Off Eight More Staffers


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Kiriska



Joined: 01 Jul 2004
Posts: 92
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:40 pm Reply with quote
If they're focusing on their "core business," why did they even bother restructuring to make room for that New Media division? Way to go, TP. :\
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 4:49 pm Reply with quote
At this rate they're not gonna have any staff left except "DJ Milky"...
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Hon'ya-chan



Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 973
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:31 pm Reply with quote
Here's an idea: Fire DJ Milky!!

When a company needs some sane hands at the helm, putting a guy going thru a mid-life crisis is not a good idea.
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chronium



Joined: 25 Apr 2005
Posts: 294
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 5:45 pm Reply with quote
tokyopop already bumped Beck: MCS volume 13 to 2009 but never stated a specific date
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Toshirodragon



Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 166
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 6:42 pm Reply with quote
I wouldn't have thought they had enough people left lay-off peaople and still put out manga...
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Grico



Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 201
Location: Fort Wayne, IN
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 7:16 pm Reply with quote
Toshirodragon wrote:
I wouldn't have thought they had enough people left lay-off peaople and still put out manga...


Yeah I am getting a bit worried at that aspect.
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TsukasaElkKite



Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Posts: 4031
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:57 pm Reply with quote
This pisses me off. At this rate the only person they'll have left at the company is DJ Milky. Evil or Very Mad
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BellosTheMighty



Joined: 27 Nov 2007
Posts: 767
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:21 pm Reply with quote
I can see the headlines now: "Former TokyoPop employees form new company. DJ Milky claims office for self, builds couch fort."
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TsukasaElkKite



Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Posts: 4031
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:45 pm Reply with quote
BellosTheMighty wrote:
I can see the headlines now: "Former TokyoPop employees form new company. DJ Milky claims office for self, builds couch fort."

LOL! Laughing
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:59 pm Reply with quote
And here I thought Tokyo Pop's staff problems were solved. Besides elminating staff, I hope Tokyo Pop is getting rid of manga that isn't selling well.

Lets not sugar coat this; Tokyo Pop is in serious finanical trouble. Like it or not, Tokyo Pop is going to have to step on some toes and anger some fans. Maximizing the revenue and eliminating the non profit material is how business survive tough economic times.

I work in retail, so I know these practices. If an item doesn't sell or if a employee isn't doing there job, elimination is the quickest way to slavage what profits are left. Mind you, this process isn't always done kindly or with much notice.

I hope Tokyo Pop somehow manages to pull through these tough times and the former emplyoes are able to get new jobs. This recession hits everyone, not just a select group of people. As well as other factors as well.
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Teuvan



Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Posts: 34
Location: America
PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 12:46 am Reply with quote
Can't say I'm sad to see Tokyopop go down. They're far and away the worst amongst major modern U.S. manga publishers, and there are certainly plenty of awesome companies ready to fill their place. Their number of quality licenses is heavily outweighed by their crap, and they don't even treat the few good things they have particularly well. I was happy to see them bringing over more light novels, but now that they've all but dropped that portion of their business, I'd be glad to dance at their funeral and see their licenses picked up by competent hands.
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Sakagami Tomoyo



Joined: 06 Dec 2008
Posts: 947
Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 5:54 am Reply with quote
Teuvan wrote:
Can't say I'm sad to see Tokyopop go down. They're far and away the worst amongst major modern U.S. manga publishers, and there are certainly plenty of awesome companies ready to fill their place. Their number of quality licenses is heavily outweighed by their crap, and they don't even treat the few good things they have particularly well.


They may be the worst of those still in business, but there were companies even worse than Tokyopop. Unsurprisingly, said companies no longer exist. One Tokyopop title that I'm very fond of, Mamotte Shugogetten, was previously partly released by Raijin Comics. The Tokyopop release is much, much better than the Raijin release was.

Anyway... Tokyopop has been very poorly managed. One of their failings that has been obvious to me is that they don't keep their back catalogue in print for even nearly long enough. It is kind of hard for a series to sell well when they don't actually supply the earlier bits of it anymore.
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Mawdryn



Joined: 28 Feb 2006
Posts: 240
Location: St. Louis, MO. U.S.A.
PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:26 am Reply with quote
Tokyopop used to dominate my manga collection a few years ago, but not anymore. Part of the reason is, of course, the rise of numerous other publishers, and the inevitable saturation of the manga market in the U.S. that forced Tokyopop to scale down. A bad economy only made things worse.

For me, this sucks because the couple of Tokyopop titles I still collect are almost certain to be cancelled now because I don't think they're big sellers...
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AnimeGeek87



Joined: 29 Jan 2007
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 9:56 am Reply with quote
Well this explains a lot. Though most of my manga comes from Viz, three are from Tokyopop. While I'm not worried about anything happening to Fruits Basket, I'm worried about the light novels I get from them, specifically Trinity Blood and Full Metal Panic. Two Trinity Blood novels already got pushed back over six months(from oct 08 to may 09, and dec 08 to july 09).
I guess all I can do is hope everything works out for the series I'm getting and try not to start any new ones. Confused
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Hon'ya-chan



Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Posts: 973
PostPosted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:16 am Reply with quote
Teriyaki Terrier wrote:
Lets not sugar coat this; Tokyo Pop is in serious finanical trouble. Like it or not, Tokyo Pop is going to have to step on some toes and anger some fans. Maximizing the revenue and eliminating the non profit material is how business survive tough economic times.


TOKYOPOP has stepped on enough toes already, i'm surprised they haven't gone bankrupt yet. Their former Anime selection was lackluster and at times a joke (DJ Milky can't compose songs, some of the "translations" in the manga they do is worse than Engrish, and . And I haven't gotten to the OEL/Princess Ai shit.
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