Diamond Comic Distributors has ceased solicitations for a long list of Tokyopop titles that were set to release in July and June (EDIT: my bad, they were merely being… uh, pre-ordered in July and June? It’s not really clear T_T) A full list of volumes affected is here; included on the list are Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel v. 9, Nosatsu Junkie v. 7, Gakuen Heaven: Nakajima, Shin Megami Tensei: Kahn v. 3, and a few novels.
Hmmmm. Shall we analyze this?
First of all, does ’solicitations’ refer to the act of trying to get bookstores to buy the comic? If so, then as the ANN article states, they can be resumed. However, only one title was specified to be rescheduled for a later date (Star Trek: The Next Generation v. 1) so I’m thinking most of the others are gone for good, if not for at least a year.
Secondly, let’s look at the affected titles. I’m VERY bummed about future releases of Ecole du Ciel being in limbo; I was looking forward to starting that series. ;__; However, it’s definitely not the most popular Gundam manga ever created, possibly because it stars a girl. (Sad, but that’s reality, ladies.)
I know someone was really hoping that Nosatsu Junkie didn’t get pulled, but it seems that it wasn’t particularly popular, either. I wasn’t shocked to see a BL title like Gakuen Heaven get pulled, and Shin Megami Tensei may be cool but it’s manga adaptation was allegedly not so great. The novels, however, surprised me somewhat. Missing had tons of potential, and while the Trinity Blood novels weren’t as popular, they still provided reading material to those opposed to/denied the right to comic books. (To clarify that last bit, to this very day my mom prefers that I buy light novels instead of manga. ^_^; It’s not always about what the underage fantasy fans want; it’s sometimes about what their parents dictate.)
The rest of the titles on the list were either little-known manga, little-known manwha or, in Snow’s and Kat and Mouse’s cases, little-known OEL. (If I’m not mistaken, Snow is an OEL, but considering the vagueness/commonness of the title I may even be wrong about that one.) As many other bloggers have noted, it seems like Tokyopop’s system of “throwing spaghetti at the whall to see what sticks” has finally backfired.
But like I said above, they might not all be completely canceled. I hope they aren’t. ^_^;
~CJ
EDIT 2: An editor for BLU, Tokyopop’s imprint that published Gakuen Heaven and Love Mode, said that those two titles are not fully canceled but postponed (for now).
Well i dont really know how old you are but imo its better to read full novels when u’re younger for those pesky English exams, and move on to manga when u’re older. That’s what I did. I was tricked into thinking that manga and comic books were stupid largely by parental and societal influences, and would say this does improve your language when you’re younger. But ultimately, manga and related media are far superior to those stupid novels lol. I believe I formally got into anime/manga when I was around 19 or 20.
I am disappointed the most about Love Mode volume 11 and Gakuen Heaven – Nakajima. Aside from that, volume 11 of Love Mode is the final one, so why did they have to go and cancel it? It just doesn’t make sense, does it? I mean, they released all 9 volumes and volume 10 will come out in August, so why not release the final volume and finish with it? I really hope this is not finalized and that there is still a chance for those volumes to survive.
@dKiWi: Hehe, I guess I get your point, ’specially about those english exams. (But I must say, I normally have no problem on those anyway ^_^) But IMO not all of the novels are stupid. Yes, I read a very annoying Pita-Ten light novel just yesterday (ugh) but I loved Kino no Tabi more than most manga I’ve read. (By the way, I’m 15 ^_^)
@Noura: It was the final one?!? That’s very disappointing; I mean, as a buyer I’m very turned-off by unfinished series (Zombie Powder, anyone?) so if they’d release that last volume it’d increase their potential future sales of the entire series.
Ridiculous indeed :P
Kino no Tabi rawks. Too bad Tokyopop doesn’t seem to be releasing the rest of them. :(
@dKiWi: PRECISELY. :P Heck, I bet releasing the rest of Kino no Tabi could’ve helped pull them out of their apparent financial hole T__T;; But now there’s liek NO chance of it ever coming back, despite some rumors that surfaced in April. ;~~~~;
Thank god Karin and Keroro Gunso survived. Hopefully Aria will continue to live, as it has 11 more volumes to go before it’s done….
Yubisaki Milk Tea is going damn strong, but that’s understandable though XD
I didn’t see anyone mention they would miss sorcerer hunters yet. I was looking forward to reading the rest of the manga. But I guess its for a smaller audience as it has mature-ish content and is action comedy. I hope they finish it though so I can complete my set.