[...] Tokyopop reorganized in June of last year, word leaked out that they would not be printing any more of their OEL (original English language) manga, instead releasing them [...]

With Tokyopop, I am just trying to snatch up the available CLAMP titles, in case they go out of print like the other CLAMP titles from T-pop. Once I’m satisfied, I don’t have to worry and can therefore purchase titles from other companies.

I actually became dissatisfied with Tokyopop about 2 years ago (or so). I wrote to them at the time, telling them that “in my opinion” they were making some mistakes, which I detailed for them. Going in the direction of digital media was one of the things I didn’t like about the changes they made at the time. (I hate their new website).

Because I can afford them, the 10$ price tag didn’t bother me so much. But when the new manga they were adding to their lineup weren’t ones I was interested in, coupled with the focus on digital media, coupled with the the price tag became the new “norm” for Tokyopop, I found myself looking for their titles less and less. Previously I had sought out Tokyopop like a starving man looking for the free lunch buffet.

I have been consistantly disappointed by American Manga publishers, who all too often drop a beloved series before finishing it, leaving fans hanging. It’s like buying a novel that was published in two parts, and the second part was never published. The disappointment and anger end up being directed at the publisher.

I started learning Japanese about 5 years ago, because that was the only way I could be sure I could read a steady supply of Japanese manga. I’m not completely fluent yet (I still work fulltime), but now I buy the series I want in Japanese from Amazon.jp. If it’s translated in English and available, I might buy it, but the American manga publishers have made me too leary to count on them.

[...] had a bunch of bad news and changed plans; now Newsarama runs down the status of the existing OEL titles. Of the ones I cared about that [...]