Anime Expo 2007

Tokyopop

Panelists: Lillian Diaz-Przybyl, Jeremy Ross

Diaz-Przybyl noted that there would not be many new announcements at this panel because most new releases had already been leaked by Amazon. Also, the "Tokyopop 2.0" website revamp is currently delayed but should be up by Comic-Con. Among other upcoming news, there are plans to have a special guest for Otakon.

Current releases for the publisher include the Brave Story manga, King of Thorn, and Kingdom Hearts II. New releases in upcoming months include Mizuki Hakase's Demon Flowers series and one-volume works Asian Beat and Baku; also due in September are Cherry Juice, Fantamir, and a long-awaited new volume of I.N.V.U..

October will see the release of Aqua (the prequel to Aria); other former ADV licenses to be released by Tokyopop include Peace Maker (the prequel to Peacemaker Kurogane) in August and Your and My Secret in February 2008. Other October releases include Rure and Shinshoku Kiss.

New November releases include Hands Off: Don't Call Us Angels, Psychic Power Nanaki, Suppli (adapted as a live-action drama series in Japan) and Zig*Zag.

December features Love Attack, Noise (by Blame! artist Tsutomu Nihei) and The Other Side of the Mirror by Taiwanese artist Jo Chen.

Due in 2008 are Gakuen Alice in January and .hack//G.U.+ in February. One major new license, due in September 2008, is Jyu-Oh-Sei, the anime of which has been licensed by Funimation. Because of the anime license, Tokyopop is working to move up the release date.

New original series include Bombos vs Everything, me2, Undertown, and We Shadows. Other original titles scheduled for later in the year are Dark Moon Diary, Poison Candy, a new volume of Star Trek Manga, Vampire Kisses (based on the HarperCollins franchise), The Dark Crystal, a new volume of Warriors (based on the children's novel series) and Spy Goddess.

Special edition releases include the Chobits artbook Your Eyes Only, a Fruits Basket fanbook, the Gothic & Lolita mooks (magazine-books), including sewing patterns and bonus material, and an omnibus 300-page-per-volume edition of Manga Sutra (Futari Ecchi). There will also be boxsets for Fruits Basket, Sgt. Frog and Kingdom Hearts. A new "Ultimate Edition" line will feature hardback omnibus editions of Princess Ai, The Demon Ororon, Warcraft, Fruits Basket and Battle Royale.

New novel releases include the ongoing Trinity Blood series (the first volume came out earlier in the year), Full Metal Panic!, Welcome to the N.H.K., Good Witch of the West, Missing, a paperback edition of Twelve Kingdoms, FLCL and D. J. Milky original Karma Club.

New releases in the BLU boy's-love line include June Pride and a second volume of Barefoot Waltz, Just My Luck and Voice or Noise.

Diaz-Przybyl then discussed the new Tokyopop ratings system, downloadable cell phone manga, and turned the panel over to questions. When asked about picking up other dropped ADV licenses, Diaz-Przybyl said that there were no further plans, although the Detective Loki series might be a possibility. The absence of a Tokyopop booth at the con was duly noted; the company is putting its efforts towards Comic-Con and chose not to set up a booth at Anime Expo. Another interesting point brought up was the difficulty of selling manhwa; the lack of anime tie-ins makes Korean titles a challenge.

The panel ended with a showing of animated clips based on original Tokyopop series.

This report has been verified by a company representative.