July 3rd, 2015 
AstroNerdBoy TokyoPop can kiss my big, fat oshiri!
So there I am, being lazy and deciding to take the evening off since it is a holiday weekend and by George, I’m going to goof off. And then word comes to me from multiple sources, saying that at Anime Expo, TokyoPop (or rather Stu Levy) says, “We’re back!”Β here’s a recreation of Stu making his announcement.
Well, you know what I say to that? DJ Milky Milk and the Funky Bunch on the Stu da Man Tip can kiss my big, fat oshiri!
On second thought, no! I don’t want them anywhere around me. I might catch some dread disease that makes me actually believe Princess Ai is a really good title.
Man, I despise TokyoPop with a passion. No, I take that back. It’s Stu Levy, aka “DJ Milky” (’cause he’s pretty fly, for a white guy) that just drives me spare. As I said back in October 2011,
Stu Levy is a complete and totalβ¦a word has yet to be invented to describe what he is, but he is one, and a complete and total one at that!
When DJ Milky Milk did a Cartman in May 2011 and said, “Screw you guys, I’m going home,” he left us hanging on titles. Some were rescued, others reverted to other publishers who’ve done little to nothing with them, and the rest we were given the big middle finder for.
So what on Earth makes this egomaniac think that I’ll give him another bleeding penny of my hard earned money? Even before DJ Milk the Cow bailed out on manga fans, TokyoPop was already ticking me off when their quality went down the tube in 2009 due to cost cutting. So that’s two strikes I have on them, so what kind of fool would I have to be to give them another chance?
Well, we already live in an insane world were up is down, right is wrong, good is evil, etc. With that in mind, I guess that explains why I’ve seen so many people gushing about this “exciting” news. I guess some of these folks think that the titles TokyoPop left hanging will now resume. To quote Nicola on Twitter,
To people going crazy over Tokyopop republishing, they won’t finish any of the beloved titles you want them to.
Seriously folks, I will never trust Stu Levy, nor will I trust TokyoPop (and I wasn’t even one of the folks screwed by TokyoPop’s OEL licensing terms). I supported them back in the day by buying several manga titles they were publishing. Today, my money will go elsewhere.
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Hear, hear.
π
Um, its 2015, who buys manga when its all online?
people like I of whom, desire to cease pirating manga.
I only deign to purchase series I really enjoy…which at this point mostly only consists of Negima. Having bonuses and extra content in with the physical additions also helps sweeten the deal.
I do have a paid subscription to Crunchyroll, so I have access to their anime and manga. I will admit that my anime purchases have seriously dropped off, but for manga, I still love the feel of a book in my hand. I like standing at my little library and say, “What manga series should I start now for bedtime reading?”
You almost sound like a disgruntled Negima fan talking about current Akamatsu.
But yeah, how this zombie of a publishing company that refuses to die continues to twitch pretending its relevant is beyond me.
π Well, except I’ve ranted about DJ Milky Milk for years. π
It is basically down to Stu’s ego, which is massive.
An open challenge: Oi, Levy. If you actually do rescue even one of the titles you abandoned, I’ll gladly donate $1000 to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in your name.
How about it? Will you try to clear your justifiably-bad name, or will we hear before the year’s out that you’ve taken your ball and gone home again?
Yeah, what you said!
For what it’s worth, the offer is entirely legitimate. CBLDF is an eminently-worthy organization that’s quietly been fighting censorship of manga and other graphic arts, particularly the kind that’s born of ignorance and intolerance. If I were to “lose” this challenge because Levy does want to begin to clear his name, I would consider it a win-win for the community… and sometimes I can be a sucker for redemption. (I blame it on the influence of manga, personally. (^_~))
I would not be unhappy to be proven wrong here.
Redemption is a good thing. π
It looks like I’ll need to find another excuse to contribute to CBLDF.
I took a look at the allegedly-resurrected Tokyopop’s website. It’s a zombie blog / content aggregator / redirect hub that’s “partnering” with real businesses (Comixology, CafePress, and RightStuf) to offer their old crap.
Their product “news” page includes deals on a lot of leftover Tokyopop-branded shirts/totes/bandanas/etc, but the only manga-related product* on it in two years was a June 2015 plug for a German manga about goth girls who play soccer. Which they licensed in… wait for it… 2007.
* – Unless you count Princess Ai “military-inspired field bags”.
I may lose my lunch over that one, and I haven’t even eaten it yet.
Tokyo Pop thats a name i havent heard in years…
It is one of those things that just refuses to die.
This may be a dumb question, but ever since a random thought sent me on a Google search with mixed results I’ve been wondering: Does anyone know for certain what happened to the Fruits Basket manga license?
I have a very horrible suspicion that DJ Milkit still has it in his closet somewhere, and brings it out now and again to do unspeakable things while fantasizing about how he’ll bring TP back some day by not letting anyone else have it.
I haven’t heard anything.
Yeah, I’ve wondered that myself. One would have thought the title would be an easy license rescue since it was clearly the best selling shoujo title. Fruits Basket is published by Hakusensha. Viz has licensed a lot of their stuff. Yen Press has also licensed their stuff in the past. One would have thought either of them would have gladly picked up the title.