TOKYOPOP
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TOKYOPOP, formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor of many very popular manga in the United States, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. TOKYOPOP also publishes and licenses manhwa, anime, and novels, as well as the Cine-Manga (another term for "animanga") line of graphic novels using still shots taken from children's television shows and movies (both live-action and animated).
TOKYOPOP sells both traditional Japanese style manga as well as Western book style in local bookstores across the U.S.
In summer 2004, TOKYOPOP founded its first foreign branch in Germany, headquartered in Hamburg. The first manga and manhwa by TOKYOPOP Germany were published in November 2004, the first anime have been announced for late summer 2005.
TOKYOPOP, back when it was known as Mixx, sold MixxZine, a manga magazine. Mixx also sold the shōjo anthology SMILE. Mixxzine later became TOKYOPOP magazine before it was discontinued. TOKYOPOP has plans to start another magazine about manga that isn't a manga anthology named Takuhai.
TOKYOPOP also distributes some of that manga to Australia and New Zealand through Madman Entertainment.
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Success and Criticism
Many people in the industry credit TOKYOPOP for transforming the American manga market to its current state of popularity. The company achieved this by first lowering the price of their manga to a consistent price point of about 10$ (US) per volume. They achieved this by not translating sound effects (which required much touching up of the original art), and not flipping the pages like is done in most English manga editions. The lower price point was also more appealing to bookstores, because lower prices meant better sales. Other manga companies, such as Viz Media have restructured and lowered their prices as a response to this move.
In addition to lowering prices of manga, the company licensed a wider variety of titles than other companies had previously. While most translators had concentrated on shōnen (boys') manga and titles thought to have "crossover" potential with the male-dominated American comics market, Tokyopop's lineup included many shōjo titles that appealed to teenage girls who were not well served by the domestic comics market. The company also eschewed the so-called "direct market" of comic book stores, many of which specialized primarily in superhero titles and had a reputation of being "boy's clubs" uninviting or hostile to casual readers, opting instead to concentrate on sales through bookstores. As a result, the manga section in most mainstream bookstores has increased exponentially.
The company has been criticized by most notably Toren Smith of the competing company Studio Proteus, in a piece published as part of an analysis of the American manga translation industry in The Comics Journal. The critics' main charges are that Tokyopop's quality control is poor and frequently fails to catch typos and other rudimentary errors before books go to print, and that its approach to licensing titles from Japan stresses quantity over quality. Some feel that this would eventually lead to a bubble in the manga industry unless something was done to make the comics less disposable. Additionally, the practice of not flipping pages has been criticized; critics assert that, as the English language is typically read from left to right, printing manga in right-to-left format results in pages that do not flow well to English readers.
Tokyopop has also been criticized by anime fans with regards to changes in music and the naming of characters in their published anime. Critics charge that these changes compromise the anime viewing experience, watering down and Americanizing it and making it less "authentic".
Manga published in English by TOKYOPOP
- .hack//Legend of the Twilight
- A.I. Love You
- Ai Yori Aoshi
- Alichino
- Angelic Layer
- Battle Royale
- Battle Vixens (Ikki Tosen)
- Beck
- Blame!
- Boys Be
- Cardcaptor Sakura
- Chobits
- Clover
- Comic Party
- Confidential Confessions
- Cowboy Bebop
- Crest of the Stars
- Cyborg 009
- DearS
- Devil May Cry
- The Demon Ororon (Akuma no Ororon)
- D•N•Angel
- Dragon Knights
- Dragon Voice
- The Vision of Escaflowne
- Et Cetera
- FAKE
- FLCL
- Fruits Basket
- GetBackers
- Girl Got Game (POWER!!)
- Gravitation
- GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka)
- Happy Mania
- Ice Blade (Jiraishin)
- Immortal Rain (Meteor Methuselah)
- Initial D
- Jing: King of Bandits (King of Bandit Jing)
- Kanpai!
- Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances)
- Kamichama Karin
- Kindaichi Case Files
- Kodocha
- Lament of the Lamb
- Love Hina
- Lupin III
- Magic Knight Rayearth
- Mahoromatic
- Man of Many Faces
- Marmalade Boy
- Gundam Titles:
- Mobile Fighter G Gundam
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Blue Destiny
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Ecole du Ciel
- Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Astray
- Gundam Seed: Astray R
- Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
- Gundam Wing: Battlefield of Pacifists
- Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
- Gundam Wing: The Last Outpost (G-Unit)
- Monsters, Inc.
- Paradise Kiss
- Parasyte (Kiseijū)
- Peach Girl
- Pita-Ten
- Planet Ladder
- Planetes
- Princess Ai
- Rave Master
- RG Veda
- Rizelmine
- Saber Marionette J
- Sailor Moon
- Saint Tail
- Samurai Champloo
- Scrapped Princess
- Scryed
- Saiyuki
- Samurai Deeper Kyo
- Shirahime-Syo: Snow Goddess Tales
- Sorcerer Hunters
- Spiral
- Suki
- Telepathic Wanderers
- The One I Love (watashi no suki na hito)
- Tokyo Babylon
- Tokyo Mew Mew
- Tokyo Tribes
- Tramps Like Us (Kimi Wa Pet)
- Warriors of Tao
- Wish
Manhwa published in English by TOKYOPOP
- Arcana
- Blazin' Barrels
- Chronicles of the Cursed Sword
- Crazy Love Story
- Demon Diary
- Dragon Hunter
- Faeries' Landing
- Heaven Above Heaven
- Honey Mustard
- iD_eNTITY
- In Dream World
- I.N.V.U.
- Island
- Kill Me, Kiss Me
- King of Hell
- Les Bijoux
- Lights Out
- Model
- One
- PhD: Phantasy Degree
- Priest
- Ragnarok
- Rebirth
- Riverside
- Snow Drop
- Under the Glass Moon
- Visitor
- Warcraft
Manhua published by TOKYOPOP
U.S.., Canadian, and British-made manga produced by TOKYOPOP
- @Large
- A Midnight Opera
- Bizenghast
- Dogby Walks Alone
- Dramacon
- Mark of the Succubus
- MBQ
- Peach Fuzz
- Psy-Comm
- RE:Play
- Rising Stars of Manga
- Sokora Refugees
- Sorcerers & Secretaries
- Steady Beat
- Van Von Hunter
- Work Bites
Anime licensed in English by TOKYOPOP
- Brigadoon
- Great Teacher Onizuka
- Initial D
- Marmalade Boy
- Rave Master
- Real Bout High School
- Reign: The Conqueror
- Saint Tail
- Spring and Chaos
- Vampire Princess Miyu
Cine-Manga in English from TOKYOPOP
- Akira
- Aladdin
- All Grown Up
- The Amanda Show
- Bambi
- Cardcaptors
- Fairly OddParents
- Family Guy
- Finding Nemo
- Greatest Stars of the NBA
- Jackie Chan Adventures
- Jimmy Neutron
- Kim Possible
- Lilo & Stitch: The Series
- Lizzie McGuire
- Malcolm in the Middle
- Power Rangers
- Rave Master
- Shrek 2
- The Simple Life
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Spy Kids
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- That's So Raven
- Totally Spies
Novels licensed in English by TOKYOPOP
Picture books licensed in English by TOKYOPOP
External links
- TOKYOPOP official homepage (http://www.TOKYOPOP.com/)
- TOKYOPOP Germany official homepage (http://www.TOKYOPOP.de/)
- Full Circle: The Unofficial History of MixxZine (http://www.animefringe.com/magazine/00.06/feature/1/index.php3)de:TOKYOPOP