Questions Abound At Anime Expo
This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on July 8, 2008 Sign up now!
by Kai-ming Cha and Ed Chavez -- Publishers Weekly, 7/7/2008 4:19:00 PM
This year's Anime Expo drew 43,000 fans to the sprawling facilities of the Los Angeles Convention Center, up slightly from last year's 41,000 count. The uptick in attendance did little to dispel the lingering questions surrounding Borders and Tokyopop, two of the pioneers of the current manga boom. With additional rumors over Kodansha's entrance into the US rampant, a sense of uncertainty over the direction of the US manga and anime markets hung over the show.
Overall, while the organization of the convention was much improved compared to last year’s, many of the exhibitors had mixed feelings about the event. “It hasn’t evolved,” DMP publisher Hikaru Sasahara said, pointing to the lack of involvement from the Hollywood despite studio interest in manga and anime like Speed Racer and Astro Boy. “Nothing much has changed [from last year],” he added. But Carl Horn of Dark Horse appreciated the maintained focus on anime and manga. “It’s still about this culture.”
Dark Horse head of publicity Jeremy Atkins wondered if having the show in downtown L.A. hurt attendance. “L.A. is a big city,” he said. “A place like Long Beach and Anaheim is more contained.” Atkins did add that sales at the show were “amazing” and that the fans were enthusiastic. “We’re curious about exploring Otakon, too.” he said.
Despite industry fretting, those who came to have fun found it. Attendees dressed up as their favorite manga and anime characters and congregated to bask in their fandom. Naruto has retained it stronghold among fans, as many older teens cosplayed as characters from the anime and manga.
Besides DMP and Dark Horse, exhibiting publishers included Aurora, Broccoli Books, Go! Comi, UDON, and CMX. Viz Media sent representatives to give a panel and make announcements, as did Tokyopop. Many attendees at the publishers’ panels asked about Kodansha’s move to the U.S., but neither Tokyopop nor Dark Horse gave any official statements and neither was willing to engage in speculation.
DMP hosted Vampire Hunter D writer Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrator Saiko Takaki for a panel and two signings. The publisher ran out of Vampire books on Thursday, opening day, and had to fetch more from their warehouse. Aurora was in the same boat, calling on their warehouse on July 4 to replenish their supply of books. The josei (women’s manga) publisher had high attendance at a panel for their LuvLuv imprint, approximately half of whom were men. Aurora’s LuvLuv imprint features mature and sexy stories about male-female relationships. Managing editor Mika Ogata was surprised at the number of men who either attended the panel or stopped by the Aurora booth, but saw them as part of the potential audience for LuvLuv books. The imprint will add three more titles later this year. Given the current manga climate, Ogata said, “We’re going to be very selective” regarding 2009 publishing plans.
Still re-organizing after lay-offs, Tokyopop announced a number of new titles including a number of media-tie ins. In time for Halloween the publisher has plans to release an anthology based on the GhostBusters property, inspired by the planned video game from developers Terminal Reality. A Battlestar Galactica anthology is also in development. Japanese PC game Togainu no Chi, a popular romance game aimed at women, is the inspiration for the manga of the same name. Tokyopop will continue to expand their relationship with publisher MagGarden (ARIA, tactics, and Your and My Secret); new licenses include Nanase Chrono's MomoTama and Peacemaker Kurogane. Going back to the basics, the demographics that at one point made them an industry leader, Tokyopop announced new releases from the creators of Fruits Basket 's Natsuki Takaya, Tsubasa ~Those with Wings~, and KareKano's Masami Tsuda, an omnibus release of collection of short stories called Castle of Dreams.
For the second year in a row Tokyopop did not have a booth at AX. Fans at their panel wanted to see them back, but also had questions about the future of existing licenses. TP is in the process of evaluating their titles and are currently speaking with their licensors. One project that survived the re-organization is their new graphic novel initiative. The full-color GNs will debut in 2009 with at least three titles expected.
Meanwhile, Go! Comi had a large banner in the convention hall for their shonen release 07-Ghost, forthcoming in December. Go! Comi, though initially pegged as a shojo publisher, will diversify its offerings with its first boys love title, Days of Cool Idols, projected for release in 2009, while offering more manga from favored creators like Mik Takeuchi (her book Bound Beauty is slated for release this fall) and Yuu Higuri, whose Angel’s Coffin will also appear later this year.
In the back of the dealer’s room, UDON Entertainment set up shop and was moving copies of Apple, its Korean manhwa anthology, as well as its ever popular Street Fighter books. The company is gearing up for the next generation of Street Fighter games, which gaming developer Capcom is releasing in the first quarter of 2009. A feature length movie will follow close on its heels later in ’09. UDON also previewed its Street Fighter Tribute book to a select group of attendees. The book features art work by 300 different artists from around the world, including South America, Korea, Europe and North America, and will officially premier at San Diego Comic-con later this month.
Bandai announced that it would publish the manga adaptation of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, derived from the feature length anime film that Bandai will release on DVD in November. The movie is currently in limited theatrical release in the U.S. Director of sales and marketing, Robert Napton, said the manga will street in the first quarter of 2009.
CMX also has a similar manga out called The Girl Who Runs Through Time,a manga adaptation of the novel by the same name, and from which the movie is also adapted. DC Comics' manga imprint displayed galley copies of their Batman manga by Yoshinori Natsumi. CMX director of manga Asako Suzuki said that many manga fans were not aware of the book and were excited to learn of it. CMX also plugged their forthcoming properties Go West, Suihelibe, Fire Investigator Nanase and Astral Project, which iswritten by the creator of Old Boy. New books for 2009 include the Flat Earth Exchange, Venus Capriccio and Ballad of a Shinigami, which is based on the light novel by the same name published by Seven Seas.
Celebrating their 20th year publishing manga, Dark Horse's Carl Gustav Horn said, "Success in manga comes one title at a time." The company announced two forthcoming licenses: CLAMP’s Clover, a four-volume series previously published by Tokyopop, which Dark Horse will release as one omnibus in March 2009; and Ikari Shinji Raising Project, based on the world of Evangelion, to be released in spring or summer 2009. Dark Horse will also release a full volume of its Korean manhwa Banya: The Explosive Delivery Man, online at the Dark Horse Web site. (Another Korean title, Shaman Warrior, is currently available.)
At the 801 Media panel, a surprising number of young men were in attendance to hear about their yaoi offerings. The publisher announced four new titles: Black Sun, due out in November, His Arrogance, slated for December, Hey Class President and Dog x Cat, both 2009 books. DMP’s June line had over 20 new titles to announce, including Love/Knot, Pure Heart, and Tricky Prince and Cut by Toko Kawai.
Despite all the announcements, there was a slight sense of ennui about the proceedings, given the current flattening of the American manga market. Asako Suzuki of CMX commented that the “energy wasn’t there this year,” but Jim Chadwick said that he enjoys exhibiting at the show because it’s CMX’s chance to shine. “We get overshadowed by DC [at Comic-con],” he said. “Here, we get to pitch our line. This is more our demographic.”
