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A Chat with Lena Atanassova, Editor-in-Chief of TOKYOPOP




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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6702
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2025 10:36 am Reply with quote
So I got chance to read the interview, and I like to remind people on this:

Quote:
At one point, TOKYOPOP's reputation with readers wasn't particularly good. What would you say to those readers who still remember the end of the previous era? How is TOKYOPOP working to maintain reader trust?

ATANASSOVA: To those readers, I will honestly say: I was a big TOKYOPOP fan growing up, and I remember the rocky ending of the previous era. As editor-in-chief of 'TOKYOPOP 2.0,' I'm doing my best to come from a place of understanding as a manga fan myself. I hope that my own background and passion for manga – and storytelling in media in general – will be some reassurance that our team cares very deeply about the stories we publish, and we value readers' opinions, suggestions, and respect and understand their past frustration. I want to make our readers feel heard. During panels and interviews, I always ask for fan feedback and suggestions, and I can sincerely say these suggestions are examined and considered by the team. For example, we've heard feedback from our fan community that we need to focus on improving our communication with readers, and the company is taking significant steps toward tackling that problem in the new year.

A majority of the TOKYOPOP team are fans who have grown up reading manga and comics, watching anime, and participating in fan communities. My goal is to continue growing the company in this same way: with a focus on heart and passion, and a commitment to diversifying our team as well as the stories we publish. I'd also like to reassure readers that we will not be licensing any series we aren't 100% committed to seeing through to the end. While I can't see the future (I wish!) or make sweeping guarantees that nothing will ever go wrong, I want to say that I'm absolutely committed to publishing the series we represent with integrity and dedication to the very best of our ability.


I like her response to that. I want to remind people that the the anti-OEL backlash that was targeted toward Tokyopop (& other publishers that were doing it like Seven Seas Entertainment) is not there today like it was back in 2000's and early 2010's, the hatred toward OEL manga also unfortunately targeted manhwa/webtoons, and manhua. So I'm a bit baffled even to this day why this backlash just stopped and without a full explanation. But I don't think Tokyopop would face any backlash over OEL today compared to 2000's, and this environment is different compared to 2 decades ago, and anime/manga is more mainstream compared to decades ago when it was still considered nerdy and only limited to niche audiences. I like to know if Tokyopop will handle OEL manga better when it comes to creators rights? That's what I didn't see being ask regarding that.
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3611
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2025 12:22 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I like to know if Tokyopop will handle OEL manga better when it comes to creators rights? That's what I didn't see being ask regarding that.

At least it should be on the same level as in Japan where creators usually retain significant control/rights over their own works. An approach which TokyoPop's last attempt...definitely wasn't.
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