This might not be “news” so much as a history piece, but I didn’t really know what else to tag it.
If you have only recently started reading manga, then you might not have any idea who or what Tokyopop is. However, for a good while, they were one of the only, and best sources for translated manga in North America. They published series like Fruits Basket, Sailor Moon, Chobits, Planetes, and many others.
This article goes a bit into some of the events leading to the end of Tokyopop, from the Great Recession, Borders Bookstores closing, and losing some valuable licenses. However, it focuses specifically on a reality TV show Tokyopop produced in an effort to reinvigorate the brand, but was such a disaster that it ended up just heralding its demise.
It is a really interesting bit of the story that I was not at all familiar with.
Ah… I didn’t know any of that and it’s not quite what I imagined, but it makes sense.
I just knew Tokyopop by its products, which were mostly cringily over-localized shit.
As much as I visualized what the organization was like, I just assumed that it was run by a bunch of self-serving suits cynically trying to make money off a product they didn’t even begin to understand, much less appreciate, marketed to an audience they didn’t even begin to understand, much less appreciate.
Turns out it was actually a desperate egomaniac with dreams of media mogul fame cynically trying to make money off a product he didn’t even begin to unerstand, much less appreciate, marketed to an audience he didn’t even begin to understand, much less appreciate.