Tokyopop 

(styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor,

licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German
publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original
English-language manga, as well as original German-language manga. Tokyopop's US publishing
division publishes works in English. Tokyopop has its US headquarters near Los Angeles
International Airport in Los Angeles, California.[2] Its parent company's offices are in Tokyo, Japan
and its sister company's office is in Hamburg, Germany.

Early history[edit]
Tokyopop was founded in 1997 by Stuart J. Levy.[3] In the late 1990s, the company's headquarters
were in Los Angeles.[4]
While the company was known as Mixx Entertainment, it sold MixxZine, a manga magazine where
popular serials like Sailor Moon were published weekly. Mixxzine later became Tokyopop before it
was discontinued.[11] Capitalizing on the popularity of Sailor Moon, Mixx also created the
magazine, Smile, a magazine that was half girls’ magazine, and half shōjo manga anthology, and
also continued the Sailor Moon story after being discontinued in Mixxzine.
Cultural anthropologist Rachel Thorn praised Stu Levy for opening up an untapped market for
animation with the publication of Sailor Moon and other. Before Sailor Moon, the belief among
entertainment executives was that "girls don't watch cartoons."[5] Due to Sailor Moon’s immense
popularity, Tokyopop discontinued the serial from its magazines, and released it separately as its
first manga graphic novel. They engineered prominent book distribution via retail stores,
standardized book trim size, created a basic industry-wide rating system, and developed the first-
ever retail manga displays and introduced the world of graphic novels to an audience of teenage
girls. Also, together with Diamond, Tokyopop offered retailers free spinner rack displays for
Tokyopop manga, thereby increasing the visibility of the medium in bookstores.[6]
Tokyopop also licensed and distributed Japanese anime. In 1996, Mixx Entertainment acquired the
rights to the anime biopic of Japanese poet Kenji Miyazawa, and Stu Levy produced and directed
the English version of the anime film, entitled “Spring and Chaos.” The film was directed and scripted
by Shoji Kawamori, who created Super Dimensional Fortress Macross and The Vision of
Escaflowne.[7] Taste of Cinema ranked “Spring and Chaos” thirteenth in its list of Top “25 Weird
Animated Movies That Are Worth Your Time.”[8] From 2000 to 2004, Tokyopop released multiple film
and television projects such as Street Fury, which Stu Levy created, GTO (English version for
Showtime TV), Rave Master (English version for Cartoon Network's Toonami), and Reign: The
Conqueror (English version for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.) Tokyopop also released English
version DVDs for: Initial D, Marmalade Boy, Saint Tail, Samurai Girl: Real Bout High
School, Vampire Princess Miyu, Brigadoon, FMW, High School Ghostbusters.[9]

"100% Authentic Manga"[edit]

In 2002, Tokyopop launched its line of "100% Authentic Manga", which was printed in the original
Japanese right-to-left format and included the original Japanese printed sound effects.
In Japan, most published manga is written to read from right to left, but when an English translation
was published in the U.S., however, the common practice was to use computer-reversed or mirror
images that allowed the books to read from left to right. As a result, this distorted the artwork.
[10]
 Tokyopop's decision to use the original right-to-left format allowed the artwork to keep its original
form and also enabled Tokyopop to release most graphic novel series on a frequency three-to-six
times faster than the industry standard at the time. Tokyopop volumes hit the shelves monthly, bi-
monthly or quarterly versus the six months or longer typical of competitors. It also allowed Tokyopop
to sell books for an industry-leading price point of $9.99 per book, at a time when most competitors
charged $12.99 to $16.99 per book.[11]
Tokyopop was the first U.S. publisher to adopt such a sweeping policy. While some Japanese
manga artists had required that the English versions of their manga be published from right to left,
Tokyopop was the first American publisher to unilaterally announce that it would maintain the original
format for all of its future manga titles.
An "authentic manga" how-to guide was included in each graphic novel to keep readers from
accidentally reading the final page first, and the authentic manga also featured special packaging.

Rising Stars of Manga[edit]

Tokyopop launched their Global Manga publishing program in 2003 via the introduction of its "Rising
Stars of Manga" talent competition.[12] The competition called for American manga artists to submit
15-25 page English-language stories of any genre. The top 10 entries, as judged by Tokyopop
editors, received cash prizes (between $500 - $2500) and were published in an anthology of the
winning works. The grand prize winners were also given the chance to pitch full-length manga
projects to Tokyopop for a chance to become professional manga-ka.
Tokyopop launched its first "Rising Stars of Manga" contest on August 15, 2002 and ended it on
December 16, 2002,[13] with more than five hundred American artists submitting their 15–25 page,
English-language stories.[14]
The 5th Rising Stars of Manga competition added the People's Choice award, where the top-20
finalists had their entire entries judged by the fans on the Tokyopop website. “We are really pleased
to open up the Rising Stars judging to the fans," commented Tokyopop editor Rob Valois. "Since so
many people have been vocal on the message boards and at industry conventions, we’re offering
them all a chance to shape the future of manga. I’m personally excited to see how the fans’ favorite
will compare to our own."[15]
Tokyopop held eight Rising Stars of Manga competitions between 2002 and 2008, as well as one in
the UK in 2005.[16]
Several Rising Stars of Manga winners went on to publish full-length graphic novels with Tokyopop,
including Josh Elder with Mail Order Ninja, M. Alice LeGrow with Bizenghast, Mike Schwark and Ron
Kaulfersch with Van Von Hunter, Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges with Peach Fuzz, Wes
Abbot with Dogby Walks Alone, Felipe Smith with MBQ, Nathan Maurer with Atomic King Daidogan,.
[citation needed]

Rise of Tokyopop[edit]
Tokyopop became one of the biggest manga publishers outside Japan, and as such, was attributed
with popularizing manga in the United States. By 2004, it boasted the largest market share of manga
sales in the U.S., reaching as high as 50% of manga exports to the United States, according to
Nissei Weekly.[17]
Tokyopop was also instrumental in the introduction of manhwa to western audiences. Brad Brooks
and Tim Pilcher, authors of The Essential Guide to World Comics. London, said that Tokyopop
"published many Korean artists' work, possibly without Western fans even realizing the strips don't
come from Japan. Series like King of Hell by Kim Jae-hwan and Ra In-soo, and
the Gothic vampire tale Model by Lee So-young are both Korean, but could easily be mistaken for
manga."[18] In 2005, Tokyopop began a new, free publication called Manga (originally Takuhai) to
feature their latest releases.
In March 2006, Tokyopop and HarperCollins Publishers announced a co-publishing agreement in
which the sale and distribution rights of some Tokyopop manga and books, under this co-publishing
license, would be transferred to HarperCollins in mid-June 2006. The agreement enabled Tokyopop
to produce original English-language (OEL) manga adaptations of HarperCollins' books. Meg
Cabot's books were the first to be adapted into the manga format, along with the Warriors series
by Erin Hunter.[19] The first line of Tokyopop-HarperCollins OEL manga was released in 2007 with the
goal of publishing up to 24 titles each year.[20]
Tokyopop has released several series based on American games, films, and characters, such
as Warcraft,[21][22] the Kingdom Hearts video game series, and Jim Henson films.[23] They released the
first volume of a series based on the Hellgate: London video game in April 2008.[24]
Tokyopop also helped to pioneer the Cine-Manga format, a blend of cinematic properties and
sequential art that uses imagery from movies and television series. Levy secured licenses to publish
Cine-Manga with major entertainment brands including Disney, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks,
Paramount, Universal, and the NBA.[25]

2008 restructuring[edit]
In June 2008, Tokyopop announced that it was being restructured, with its name being changed to
Tokyopop Group, a holding group for several new subsidiaries. The Tokyopop operations in the
United States were split into two subsidiaries: Tokyopop, Inc., and Tokyopop Media. Tokyopop, Inc.
consisted of the company's existing publications business, while Tokyopop Media focused on the
company's digital and comics-to-film works.[26] Tokyopop Media managed the Tokyopop website,
which continued to promote its publications.[27] According to representative Mike Kiley, the divisions
would allow the company to "set things up in ways that would very clearly and definitively allow those
businesses to focus on what they need to do to succeed. The goals in each company are different
and the achievement of those goals is more realistic, more possible if everyone working in each of
those companies is very clearly focused."[27]
During the restructure, Tokyopop laid off 39 positions, equating to 35%–40% of its American
workforce. Most of the positions cut were those involved in the direct publication of its books which
resulted in a scale back of publication output from Tokyopop, Inc.[26][27] Tokyopop reported that it
would be cutting the volumes released per year by approximately 50%, to an average of 20–22
volumes per month.[27][28][29]
Tokyopop's Japan division was also to be split, with one unit operating under Tokyopop Media and
the other becoming a subsidiary under the overall Tokyopop Group.[29] In response to Tokyopop's
restructuring, declining sales, and losing 20% of its manga market share, Tokyopop UK cut its
publication release schedule from approximately 25 volumes a month to 20.[30]
In December 2008, citing "dramatically low sales" in the publishing industry as a whole, Tokyopop,
Inc., laid off eight more employees, including three editors, and noted that the company would have
to rearrange some of its upcoming publication schedules.[31]

Loss of Kodansha licenses[edit]

Licenses from the Japanese manga publisher Kodansha, historically, were a large part of
Tokyopop's catalog. In the years leading up to 2009, the number of Kodansha titles licensed by
Tokyopop decreased. The final new Kodansha title was Tokko by Tohru Fujisawa, and the final
batch of volumes of Kodansha titles appeared around March 2009. Around that time Kodansha
began to consistently give licenses to its manga to competitor Del Rey Manga. Deb Aoki
of About.com said "Well, more or less. You get the idea. If you're the type who reads the tea leaves
of the manga publishing biz, you kinda sensed that things weren't quite the same as they used to
be."[32]
On August 31, 2009, Tokyopop announced Kodansha was allowing all of its licensing agreements
with the North American and German divisions of Tokyopop to expire for reasons unknown. Due to
this loss in licensing, Tokyopop was forced to leave several Kodansha series unfinished, including
the popular Rave Master, Initial D, GetBackers, and Life series. It would be unable to reprint any
previously published volumes, rendering all Kodansha-owned Tokyopop releases out-of-print.[33]
Several other titles licensed and published by Tokyopop, including best sellers Cardcaptor
Sakura, Chobits, Clover, and Magic Knight Rayearth, were reacquired by Dark Horse Comics,
though two other titles Kodansha licensed to Dark Horse had since transferred to Random House by
then.[32][33] Samurai Deeper Kyo was relicensed by competitor Del Rey Manga, a division of Random
House, which published the remaining volumes of the series.[33]
Tokyopop said that it expected the loss of the licenses to have minimal impact on the company
economically due to its diversification of their holdings over the last few years, though they
acknowledged the loss would hurt fans of the ongoing series who face uncertainty about the
completion of those titles from other companies. ICv2 reported that Tokyopop would continue to
publish light novels from Kodansha and that Kodansha appeared to be planning to publish its own
titles through its partnership with Random House.[34]

Resignations and layoffs[edit]

In February 2011, the president and chief operating officer, John Parker, resigned from the company
and took the position of vice president of business development for Diamond. This came shortly after
Diamond became Tokyopop's new distributor, taking the business from Harper Collins. Tokyopop did
not name a replacement for Parker. Parker's departure left only three remaining executives: the
founder and CEO, Stuart Levy; Publisher, Mike Kiley; and Vice President of Inventory, Victor Chin.
On March 1, Tokyopop continued to layoff workers, removing many high-profile employees such as
long-time manga editors Lilian Diaz-Przyhyl and Troy Lewter. Tokyopop's management also
eliminated the position of director of sales operations. In an interview with ICv2, Stuart Levy revealed
that the layoffs were due to Borders Group, Tokyopop's largest customer, filing bankruptcy in March
2011, no longer carrying Tokyopop stock, and not paying debts that the company owed to
Tokyopop.[35]

North American publishing shutdown[edit]

On April 15, 2011, Tokyopop announced that it would close its Los Angeles, CA–based North
American publishing operations on May 31, 2011. According to the release, Tokyopop's film and
television projects, as well as European publishing operations and global rights sales, would not be
closing. The UK branch would cease to operate after May 31 due to their reliance on the importing of
the North American branch's product. Stuart Levy, Tokyopop's founder, released a personal
statement reaffirming Tokyopop's role in introducing manga to the mainstream North American
audience and thanking fans, creators, and employees for their dedication.[36] On May 24, Tokyopop
stated that the manga they licensed would revert to their original owners, who may license the titles
to other companies.[37]

New incarnation[edit]
In October 2011, Tokyopop's official Twitter account released a message stating that its "ultimate
goal is to start publishing manga again."[38]
On December 10, 2012, Tokyopop's website relaunched with a letter from management stating that
the company was down to a few select employees who were starting a 'new incarnation' of the
company. Partnered with 'Right Stuf on Demand', they began offering ebooks of various titles for
which they retained the rights.[39]
Their company blog article stated:
Luckily new technologies that have only very recently become practical are enabling us to re-
emerge. Conventional publishing has irrevocably changed, and it is impractical for all but the largest
and most established companies to pursue publishing as it has gone on for centuries. But by
embracing ebook and print-on-demand technologies, we believe we can move forward and continue
to produce some amazing manga as well as bring you Asian Pop Culture in many forms.[40]
A letter from Levy on January 6, 2013 stated:
Digital technology has transformed many industries including publishing. This hit TOKYOPOP very
hard since we didn't have ebook rights to most of our series (except OEL). Unfortunately our
Japanese licensors did not move fast enough to provide a legitimate alternative to piracy, and piracy
shows no mercy. As a result, TOKYOPOP had to shut down its LA office and the licenses to
Japanese titles expired, reverting to the Japanese licensors. What that means is TOKYOPOP is
evolving as a company. I know many fans would prefer us to return to being a manga publisher like
we were for most of our history. However, manga will never disappear – we will do what we can to
deliver manga. I plan on experimenting with new ways to bring you Asian pop culture. Please keep
an open mind – and give feedback (not just negative when you don't like something but also positive
when you like something) so we can tweak our approach.[41]
Throughout the publishing closure, Tokyopop Media remained open for business, continuing its
efforts to produce film and TV adaptations of Tokyopop's manga, as well as reinvigorating the
Tokyopop YouTube channel, launching several original web series and adding trailers for Japanese
film and TV. In 2013, Tokyopop partnered with MondoMedia to release an animated short film based
on the Tokyopop manga Riding Shotgun,[42] which was directed by Michael Davis and starred the
voices of Yuri Lowenthal and Jessy Schram. The short film garnered over a million views in its first
month, and led to an IndieGoGo campaign to finance a full animated series.[43]
In 2015, at Anime Expo and San Diego Comic-Con, Tokyopop announced that it would be
relaunching its publishing operations in North America in 2016 and hinted that its first major licensor
would be Disney.[44][45]
In January 2018, Tokyopop announced the release dates for three new properties: Konohana
Kitan, Futaribeya: A Room for Two, and Hanger.[46] Additionally, TOKYOPOP initiated "International
Woman of Manga" to showcase female manga writers with the publication of five titles: Ocean of
Secrets, Goldfisch, Kamo, Undead Messiah, and Sword Princess Amaltea.[47] Tokyopop's "Nightmare
Before Christmas: Zero's Journey" was nominated for two 2018 Diamond GEM awards in the
categories "2018 Best All Ages Series" and "2018 Licensed TP or HC of the Year".[48][49]