And Del Rey (sort of) Went Under
October 4, 2010
So, news dropped today that Del Rey did indeed fold, but that Kodansha USA would be working with Random House as a manga publisher. According to the press release (found here), “Del Rey’s ongoing manga titles which were licensed by Kodansha will be gradually taken over by Kodansha USA Publishing on a per-title basis.” So, it looks like it’ll be a while before we know what’s happening with some favorite manga titles.
Update: According to Deb Aoki and Melinda Beasi, Kodansha USA will be publishing starting this December. According to a Publishers Weekly article, the president of Kodansha USA, Irie has said they’ll be announcing 2011 titles by the end of this year.
Also, can I say, I told you so? (sort of)
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kelakagandy's ramblings 
I TRUST KODANSHA! 8)
I don’t know about Kodansha USA but I TRUST KODANSHA! 8)
Why am I speaking in CAPSLOCK? xD;And uh…bye-bii, Del Ray. Bye-bii~
well, let’s hope the new guys are up to the task of bringing localization out in time now instead of dragging feet (which imo is the biggest problem to their sales — when localization lags behind scanlations by that much).
@Xiao yay~ I haven’t really heard much about their Akira and Ghost in the Shell releases yet, but I think since they’re the original company, that they’ll do a good job on their own properties~ :D I hope this means more adorable Nakayoshi releases~ (and hopefully some ARIA manga because so far what I’ve seen of it has been freaking awesome!!)
@zanaikin I think they have a better chance than most of the companies, since they basically own the titles already and just have to localize them (aka they should be able to do it in a more timely manner, because they don’t have to go through as much red tape and such). I really hope they’re able to churn some great stuff out!!
I’m guessing Shugo Chara and other titles will probably be repicked up or something. Not much else to say that’s been otherwise said.
@kel-san That’d be awesome. Seriously, there are too many titles that should have been licensed and officially translated already but aren’t yet. I think since Kodansha should be closer to its Japan branch that those series can get more of a chance now. I especially want Bakemonogatari and Katanagatari since they were released by Kodansha BOX (or something like that). :(
Well, this should be interesting. Like you said, I hope this means we`ll get more Nakayoshi titles. (One I’m really hoping for is Watashi ni xx Shinasai) They’ll probably pick up where Del Rey left off. Maybe translations will be better. For some reason, I’m really excited for this outcome. Bye, Del Rey…I appriciated your choosing of titles but not so much your mistakes that bothered me so much I whited them out and fixed them. X)
I need to grab the last omnibus of Psycho Busters ASAP D:
And Zaregoto
(whenever rightstuf has a Del Rey sale of course)
You definitely did call it girl!
Your underground network of spies have done it again! jk
Well, hopefully Kodansha USA releases the rest of Del Rey’s stuff
(including light novels PLEASE!!!!! ;__;)
@warriorhope: Yeah, I’m thinking they’ll pick up the ones that were most profitable for Del Rey, like Shugo Chara! and Fairy Tail for sure, not sure about other things. One the plus side the books they’ve published aren’t going out of print, so they’ll still be readily available, unlike with CMX.
@Xiao: I completely agree! I don’t understand why more of the Nakayoshi series haven’t been licensed… And the light novels by Nisioisin would kill! Bakemonogatari has been a huge seller in Japan, and despite some feelings of trolling that I’ve seen from people online, I bet a lot would get them.
@cookiekarin5: I really hope translations will be better, but it looks like they’re using most of the same Del Rey staff, just under the Kodansha USA title now…so we’ll have to wait and see… :[
@sylphalchemist: You should be good, since ANN said that the Del Rey titles will stay in print~ :D
haha, I wish I had an underground network of spies (though would be totally bad ass!!), I just have no life! xD
I really, really hope this means that they’ll be more willing to publish more light novels. They’re rather big in Japan, since they’re super easy to read and people can read them on commutes, so I hope they’ll try and profit off that in America too!