That Chick from the Bookstore

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

The Dumbest Question of the Day

While watching TV coverage of the events today, I noticed this exchange from a reporter outside the hospital interviewing Trauma Surgeon Peter Fagenholz:

Dr. "We've got 8 patients who are in critical condition..."

Reporter: "Do you think the people who are in critical condition at this point, if things will be looking OK for them?"

Dr. "Well, they're not looking OK because that's not what critical condition means"

You can watch the whole interview here. I don't know what sort of credentials you need to get a job as a reporter today, but I wouldn't give that one a mop job.

Good thoughts to the folks in Boston.

Just in case the world does end tomorrow...

...I’ll miss you guys. After all, I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. -_^

What's Going on With Some of Funimation's BD Releases?

I'm cutting this into the blog from our last weekly newsletter . So many people are asking us about it that this post will give the issue a permanent home here that we can link to. :-)

We've had several people ask us last week about some of Funimation's recent quirkiness towards BD releases (stuff like Heaven's Lost Property Forte, Strike Witches S2, and Panty & Stocking to name a few) and thought I would clarify what's been going on since the beginning of the year. In a nutshell, it seems the folks at Kadokawa have become positively paranoid regarding the threat that international BD releases pose to their indigenous sales in Japan, and have decided to put the kibosh on international BD releases - at least for awhile.

We knew since January that the issue revolved around some bitching from the Japanese about certain BD releases being scheduled in the US a little too soon (in their opinion) after the Japanese BD release, but a couple of weeks ago Humberto Saabedra (who edits some of Crunchyroll's news feeds) posted a scathing editorial regarding Funi's plans to release Panty & Stocking as DVD only (for now) even though they have affirmed that they do have the BD rights as well.

Here's the full text of Mr. Saabedra's post:

"During a Twitter conversation last night, the subject of Funimation's release of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt came up after preliminary listings for the show may have confirmed that the release would exclude a Blu-Ray version and only be released on DVD, despite the company confirming that the show would indeed be released on Blu-Ray the weekend before during its convention appearances at Anime Boston and Sakura-Con respectively. The discussion then circled around to Kadokawa's apparent new rules on international Blu-Ray releases. Back in February, Funimation Entertainment had finally confirmed that the second season of Sora no Otoshimono in Forte would be released on DVD/Blu-Ray as a combo pack in March after months of delays, only to be forced to announce to retailers that the release would not be released as a Blu-Ray/DVD combo as originally solicited, but would only be released on DVD, with no real explanation on why the Blu-Ray version was excluded only after being solicited to retailers 2 weeks before.

The sudden exclusion of the Blu-Ray version after being announced as such for months came as a surprise to fans of the show and led many to cancel pre-orders due to the lack of a Blu-Ray version. While many were quick to point the finger at Funimation for screwing up the solicitations, the real blame should be placed at the feet of the master licensor of the show in Kadokawa Pictures, which controls international licensing for many of Funimation's most popular shows.

Recently, in statements made by Manga Entertainment UK via Twitter, it was revealed that Kadokawa had issued new mandates on home video releases to its international licensing partners that allude to the requirement that no Blu-Ray releases by international licensors would be allowed this calendar year and to adjust release formats accordingly.

Specific reasons were not given as to why the rule was put into place by the company, but recent activity by Funimation involving home video announcements may have confirmed the veracity of the statements, as The Future Diary was only confirmed for a DVD release later this year while no mention was made of a Blu-Ray version. Kadokawa Pictures controls international licensing rights for the show as Kadokawa Shoten also publishes the manga.

While Funimation also announced Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt as a Blu-Ray/DVD combo release during Anime Boston, the earliest listings for the show are beginning to confirm that Kadokawa is indeed forcing international licensors to drop Blu-Ray releases from release plans and announcements.

Why Kadokawa is doing this now, when some of the most popular shows controlled by the conglomerate will see release on home video this year is unknown, but if I were to make an educated guess, the idea of reverse importation may be too great for the conglomerate to ignore and it appears perfectly willing to lose money on international licenses in order to protect its shrinking home market.

Unfortunately for Kadokawa Pictures, the home video market for anime in the US is moving swiftly away from DVD and rushing towards Blu-Ray as the preferred release method for newer shows, with many making purchasing decisions based on whether the series will have a Blu-Ray version available. For Kadokawa to make such mandates to its international licensor partners is not only short-sighted, but it only hurts those that want to support their favorite shows and the companies that work to license them. If I had the ear of the executives at Kadokawa Pictures, I would strongly suggest they reconsider their stance on international Blu-Ray releases outside Japan, otherwise they face the wrath of a fanbase that is perfectly willing to spend their money elsewhere, or worse, not give them any more money at all and even resort to piracy, which only hurts everyone in the end. I really would like to be proven wrong and see Panty & Stocking get a Blu-Ray release when it gets released later this Summer, but based on the previous release in Sora no Otoshimono Forte, that looks less and less likely and places other Kadokawa Pictures controlled titles in doubt for their own Blu-Ray releases."

This really looks like something I might have written minus the copious swearing. -_^

So it seems Kadokawa Pictures has suspended most or all international Anime BD releases for the time being. Now with the word that the upcoming release of Future Diary will also be DVD-only, this has fired up quite a shit storm around the community. I can attest personally to the massive amount of pre-order cancelations of Heavens Lost Property Forte, as that last minute change in particular caused us about ten thousand headaches and really hurt our sales of this title. So, does anyone out there still have any illusions that Japanese Anime producers care about any market outside of Japan? I think this issue should firmly put that fantasy to rest. Xenophobic levels of protectionism are nothing new to the Japanese, and the recession over the last few years has just made the situation even worse.

I contacted Funimation for comment prior to putting this info into our newsletter - hoping to hear something about how they are trying to get this situation overturned and how they are fighting tooth and nail for their US fans base - but Funi's PR department has been quiet as a mouse and choose instead not to call me back. I can only assume that they would prefer that none of this information be in the public domain, or simply do not want to be critical of their licensing partner, even if that partner is giving the US market the shaft. As for Kadokawa's decision, not only is it stupid, my opinion is that if they are producing a product for Japan that is worth the Japanese market premium, they would have nothing to be concerned about from re-imports. Instead, they want to control the distribution of said product like gangsters in order to artificially inflate it's value in certain markets. This thinking is certainly not unique to Kadokawa - AniPlex does exactly the same thing here in the US. You know - make it available, but also make sure it's unaffordable so it doesn't compete with releases in Japan. I've been in this business for 14 years, and I can attest to the problems that Japanese Anime executives have understanding the US market, but sometimes I have to wonder if they even want to try. Or more likely, they probably really just don't care. ~sigh~

Anyway, now you know what's going on with some of Funi's BD releases (or lack there of) and that's the most important thing.

Quick Update: Good grief, Humberto Saabedra wrote me, via FB of all places (rather than sending me a personal e-mail for some reason - ahhhh you kids and your social networking...) and very nicely requested that if I'm going to use the text of his statement on my blog, he would appreciate a 'proper' citation including a link back to his site. Well, here is your link Humberto. FYI, I'm not much for asking anyone's permission about anything. I did cite you in the article however (twice), and in the future I would suggest that you not worry so much about etiquette of usage when someone is talking you up and giving you a little free publicity. Especially when I do it. Nuff said.

TokyoPop Shutting Down All North American Publishing Operations

Here, sadly, is a big one today from the Anime Economatrix, posted a couple hours ago:

Tokyopop Senior Vice President Mike Kiley has confirmed that the company will shutter its Los Angeles-based North American publishing operations on May 31.

In a post on the website for Tokyopop's America's Greatest Otaku reality web series, the company's CEO, Stu Levy, announced that he will spend the next year in the Japanese prefecture of Miyagi, making a documentary about the effects of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake disaster of March 11. The proceeds of the documentary will go to support the victims. He also posted a farewell message on the official Tokyopop website.

The company's film and European operations will be unaffected by this closure, and its office in Hamburg, Germany will continue to handle global rights sales for the company.

May 31 is less than three weeks after the first major feature film based on a Tokyopop property, Priest, will open in American theaters.

Last month, Levy commented that the February bankruptcy of the Borders bookstore chain had played a significant role in its decision to lay off a number of the company's employees.

The bankruptcy of Borders, a key retailer of manga, and the associated disruption of cash flow and likely losses, was undoubtedly a final nail in the company's coffin.

Not much I can say here. So that's the end of TokyoPop manga (and BLU). It's not like we didn't know it was coming, and I think making movies is a much better endeavour for Stu than publishing manga. He's a creative person but he never really did know what he was doing in the manga business. His business ideas for Digital? DOA. Print on demand? DOA. Concentrating on bookstore channels and alienating your directs? DOA. Selling direct from TP's website and alienating ALL your channels? DOA. On and on and on. From what we've seen going on in the supply chain for over a year, we're surprised they lasted this long. Stu "fought the good fight", but in the end, he lost - and now so do we.

So I'm sure everyone will be wondering what will happen to TP's licenses and what previously announced upcoming manga will be published and won't be published. Don't know yet, but I'm sure there won't be much good news if any - only 2,000 headaches. I'll post more info when we have it.

UPDATE: Well, it's official. All TokyoPop and BLU titles scheduled for release after May 4, 2011 will be canceled and not published. We'll begin removing these books from the site shortly, and all pre-orders for them will automatically be canceled. Sorry folks, I'm just the messenger.

The 'Anti-Sale' Promotion - HEH

We make a few mistakes on the store site from time to time - and fans NEVER fail to immediately call us out on them, so when I saw this from Mr. Perfect's site circulating around the Anime webs, I thought it was funny. Seems Brand X was recently having an 'Anti-Sale' on Gilgamesh boxes:

Damn, you can't even get an affiliate commission or club discount on that one. Looks like they are returning to their old pricing strategy. HEH. -_^

Funimation Pushes Rosario Yet Again - Now to December

Funi just sent over a note letting us know that they have pushed Rosario - again - now to December. All things considered, I'm really not sure what the point of even giving it a date at all. Perhaps they should just list it as TBD until they workout whatever the issue is that's holding it up.

Rosario+Vampire Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13) - Sep 27 to Dec 20
Rosario+Vampire Capu2 (Season 2) Complete DVD Boxed Set (Eps #14-26) - Sep 27 to Dec 20

I was told a while back that the Rosario delays were unique and were being caused by a materials issue, which would makes sense if it was delayed a couple three month, but this is something else. I wonder if they are having an issue with a license approval or some other legal requirement? These delays feel contractual in nature...

Anyway, sorry folks, I'm just the messenger.

Borders Troubles Hit TokyoPop Hard

I've been talking about this a lot recently in our newsletter and blog posts, and have been doing a lot of speculation as to how the Borders failure would effect the US Manga industry (i.e. how hard the publishers would be hit). I think this is a bigger deal than most people realize, but now I'm wondering if perhaps I've been under estimating the impact.

Today Stuart Levy, the CEO of TokyoPop, made this statement to ICv2:

“The facts are simple. Borders—our biggest customer—went bankrupt, owed us a lot money, which they didn’t pay us, and as a result we are in a very challenging situation, and have had to react quickly to the situation. We did need to let a few people go—and it’s horrible for everyone involved to ever have to let people go. We will continue to do everything we can to evolve the manga business and we very much appreciate the support of our fans, our partners, our creators, and out retail customers.”

Borders, believe it or not, once represented about 40% of total US manga sales, but that share has fallen to around 20% last year. Shojo was one of key demographics that helped move the manga market along in recent years at the bookstore level, but this audience is now aging, and many former shojo fans are not graduating to josei (comics for older women), instead seeking out other forms of entertainment. Also, over the last couple of years, new series have failed to replicate the success of older shounen titles such as Naruto and Bleach.

It looks like several of the key people TokyoPop picked up last summer when CMX closed down have now lost their jobs again, plus a few others. The most disconcerting thing in DJ Milky's statement is "we are in a very challenging situation". That's CEO speak for "things are looking pretty bad". TokyoPop is already having enough problems keeping their back catalog in print as well as keeping their front end output up. Actually, that's an understatement, as they have 'already' pretty much given up keeping their back catalog in print. I imagine they are in a situation that will require further cuts to their current release schedule of only 10-12 new issues a month.

Former powerhouses CMX and Del Rey are now gone from the manga market. Dark Horse has already seriously curtailed their manga genre output, which is down to only 1-2 volumes per month now. They are focusing on more US based series now. And Viz will ultimately find themselves in the same position of having to eliminate any 'marginal' series (that they already haven't) from their release schedule and only focus on the things that are the most profitable. This would explain their sudden cancellation of Inubaka, which has left fans of the series (like me) scratching their heads as to why they would do away with a series only 5 volumes short of the end (not to mention that it sets such a bad precedent). I hope this sudden change in the market does not persuade Kodansha to change their plans about their summer release ramp up either, as they are the only hope for the continuation of many of those former Del Rey licenses that dropped out of print last year.

The reality of Border's troubles is that there will probably be more such cancellations in the coming months as the publishers try to reorientate their business models to adjust to a 20% smaller distribution network. US Manga output has already fallen from 1513 in 2007, to 1115 in 2009, to about 850 last year. The worst part of all this is that we will never know about the great licenses that now get passed on that might have been picked up in a better market. And given the current environment, we might end up down in the range of 500-600 new issues this year. At that rate there will be many more weeks that go by with few or no new manga arrivals here at RACS. That hasn't been the case for at least 8 or 9 years. ~sigh~

Viz Media Put's the Ki·bosh on Inubaka Crazy for Dogs (いぬばか) at Vol #17

Just FYI everyone. Viz Media has confirmed on that Yukiya Sakuragi's manga Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs is currently on hiatus in North America and that Vol #18 (which was set to release this month) has been canceled.

According to a statement from a Viz Media representative, no new volumes are currently on the company's release schedule. The manga ended in Japan last April, and the 22nd and final volume shipped there last May.

Man, only 5 volumes short of the end too. Screwed again! And how sad, I really loved this series! Damn.

AnimEigo Will Not Renew License for Urusei Yatsura

After nearly 20 years on the market in one iteration or another, AnimEigo will finally be retiring the Urusei Yatsura franchise, letting the license expire this fall:

Via AnimEigo:

"Urusei Yatsura to go out of print on 30-September-2011

It is with heavy hearts that we must announce that we will be unable to renew our license for Urusei Yatsura. We will be unable to accept orders after the 30th of September, 2011, and individual DVDs will almost certainly become unavailable before that date as our stocks become exhausted.

So if you've always been meaning to complete your collection of UY, now is the time."

Of course, UY has actually been out of print since about 2006, it's just that there are so many DVD's still left in the supply chain it's remained available. We've had it on 'discontinued' status for a long time, but we certainly still have plenty of them left in our warehouse, and so does AnimEigo, which I imagine is the motivation behind this big announcement. AnimEigo won't be renewing any of their old Anime licenses once they come due, and no one else is going to pick them up afterwards.

Still, the permanent retiring of the UY franchise ends an era. AnimEigo, a flagship company in the early days, no longer does Anime releases (Yawara! was the last Anime title they did), but they are still hanging around doing a Live Action flick from time to time. It's a little sad really, but the sort of titles that AnimEigo published no longer appeal to today's Anime fan. In fact, I doubt there are many younger fans that even know what 'linear notes' are as related to Anime, or care. Most everything AnimEigo did used to have those. They were truly the 'class act' of the Anime business.

Funimation Changes Date (Again) for Rosario / YuYu Hakusho BD

Ugggg, what can I say? Today we heard that Funi is moving Rosario out even further on the release schedule. Here are the date changes they announced today:

Rosario+Vampire Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13) - Jul 19th to Aug 30th
Rosario+Vampire Capu2 (Season 2) Complete DVD Boxed Set (Eps #14-26) - Jul 19th to Aug 30th
Yu Yu Hakusho Season 1 Box (Eps #1-28) (BLURAY) (Classic Collection) - Apr 26th to May 30th

It seems like the release date for Rosario has become the ultimate moving target. In the last 45 days it has moved from Mar 29th to May 19th to Jul 19th and now to Aug 30th. Seriously folks, I hope this is the last change because if it moves out any further the light from it alone will take millions of years to reach us...

Section 23 Cancels Guin Saga BD Release

Section 23 just send over their April schedule (we'll have that up in a few minutes) along with an announcement that they have CANCELED the Guin Saga Collection 1 DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13) (BLURAY) SFB-GS100.

Section 23 only cited 'circumstances beyond their control' as a reason for the cancellation.

The regular edition Guin Saga Collection 1 DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13) SF-GS100 is unchanged and will still be released as scheduled on March 29th.

All current RACS pre-orders for the BD edition will automatically be canceled, and we will need customers who pre-ordered the BD to place a new order for the regular edition if they are still interested in purchasing the title.

Funimation Delays More Titles

In what is becoming a pretty regular event from ALL the R1 studios this summer, we heard from Funimation today who gave us another grocery list of release delays, but most of these are only 1 week pushes so it's not too bad. Here's the changes:

Slayers Revolution DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13) (BLURAY) - 9/14 to 9/21
Slayers Evolution-R DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-13) (BLURAY) - 9/14 to 9/21
Full Metal Panic FUMOFFU Complete DVD Set (Remastered) - 9/28 to 10/5
Full Metal Panic FUMOFFU Complete DVD Set (BLURAY) (Remastered) - 9/28 to 10/5
Eden of the East Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-11) - 9/28 to 10/19
Eden of the East Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-11) (BLURAY) - 9/28 to 10/19

Funi cited inventory delays for the changes. We've already made the date changes on the store site this afternoon. As always, if anyone has an order holding for one or more of the above items and wants to make a change, just drop us an e-mail.

Media Blasters Delays More Titles

It's only been three weeks since their last big delay announcement, and today Media Blasters let us know they they will be delaying the release dates of another batch of Anime titles, a few for the second time.

Here are the date pushes that will directly impact us:

Queen's Blade: Wandering Warrior, Vol #2, The Beaten Path DVD (Eps #5-8) - From Sep 7 to Oct 26

Kanokon: The Girl Who Cried Wolf, Vol #2, Wolf in No Clothing DVD (Eps #5-8) - From Aug 31 to TBA
Kanokon: The Girl Who Cried Wolf, Vol #3 DVD (Eps #9-12) - From Oct 26 to TBA

Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin, Vol #3, Journey's End DVD (Eps #9-12) - From Oct 26 to TBA
Queen's Blade Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-12) - From Oct 26 to TBA
Queen's Blade Complete Collection DVD Boxed Set (Eps #1-12) (BLURAY) - From Oct 26 to TBA

Voltron: Fleet of Doom Movie (BLURAY) - From Sep 28 to TBA

Most of the pushed releases have been shoved off the release schedule and thus are now dated TBA until they can be rescheduled. At this point I don't want to speculate but most of these will probably not get back on the schedule before November or December of this year. MB's 'official' statement on the TBA's is 'removed from the schedule until further notice'.

They have also delayed a few Adult titles from their Kitty line including Fleshdance (9/7 to 10/5), Twin Dolls (9/28 to 10/26), Oh My Sex Goddess: Megachu (11/2 to 11/30), and Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend DVD and BD (10/15 to 11/16). None of these releases are currently up for pre-order on the RACS store site - and won't be until their schedule firms up a bit.

And yes, I know, it sucks. But anyone who is not expecting things like this in this market has clearly not been reading my weekly newsletter.

Signs Of The Apocalype - CMX Manga Shutting Down in July

From ICv2:

"DC is closing down its CMX manga unit, effective July 1st. The company will cease publishing all CMX titles other than Megatokyo (its OEL title) which will continue under the DC Comics imprint.

We asked DC whether U.S. publishing rights would revert to the Japanese publishers or if DC was planning to try to sell or sub-license the rights, and received a 'No comment' from a DC spokesperson.

In a statement on the shutdown, DC Co-publishers Dan Didio and Jim Lee said, 'Over the course of the last six years, CMX has brought a diverse list of titles to America and we value the books and creators that we helped introduce to a new audience. Given the challenges that manga is facing in the American marketplace, we have decided that CMX will cease publishing new titles as of July 1, 2010.'"

The news story speaks for itself, but this one has really caught us by surprise as CMX is one of the few imprints we considered 'large' and 'safe'. It's not just the little guys that are getting hit hard by the economy now, and this news comes on wake of last weeks announcement that Viz was reducing their staff by 40%, and that both the Video Game and Domestic Comic sales crashed in April. Sadly, there are other layoffs and down sizing's going on in the industry that you aren't hearing about.

The folks at CMX said that they will ship the following June volumes:

Musashi #9 Vol 17
Orfina Vol 8
Polyphonica: Cardinal Crimson Vol 1
Stolen Hearts Vol 2
Teru Teru X Shonen Vol 7
Two Flowers for the Dragon Vol 6
Venus Capriccio Vol 4

These will be the final volumes published by CMX, and I think we can assume that their entire back catalog will effectively fall out of print as of July. We'll be updating those items to 'stock on hand' on the store site as warranted, but we will continue to restock them from distributors and other sources until replacement stock is no longer available.

So again, where is that economic recovery I keep hearing about in the news?

AnimEigo Unable to Complete Yawara

AnimEigo has announced that they will not be able to complete Yawara. From ANN:

"Robert Woodhead, CEO of the North American anime distributor AnimEigo, has announced on his Twitter account on Thursday that "so far, we have not been able to secure a license to release the rest of Yawara." AnimEigo licensed the television anime adaptation of Naoki Urasawa's Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl manga in 2006. After giving away the first four-episode disc for free at Comic-Con International 2007, AnimEigo released the first 40-episode DVD set in 2008. "

Robert W. didn't cite a reason but is suspect it's financial. I said last year that the 1st Yawara box would probably be AnimEigo's last R1 Anime release, though they do continue to license and publish classic live action Samurai films.

I was hoping they would prove me wrong though. Most studios these days don't care a wink about things like linear notes and accurate honorifics like AnimEigo always did. Robert W.'s interests seem to have moved on to other things anyway (combat robots for example). ~sigh~