[...] was one of the most popular OEL titles from Tokyopop, and the previous volume came out at the end of June 2010. Based on this cover image, [...]

[...] have the rights to upload any licensed properties, only those they own. Titles announced include Bizenghast, Dramacon, and Princess Ai, the book written by Tokyopop’s CEO Stuart [...]

[...] there are similar stories, where a girl (rarely a boy) falls into a magical world, such as Bizenghast, Coraline, or The Clarence [...]

“Wow, Erika Sakurazawa. I haven’t gotten a question about those… ever, I think…”

Still, thanks for replying. :)

“…But yeah, M-rated josei titles were pretty much a no-go in the US even back in 2003 when everything sold (whereas they did great for TP-Germany), so I doubt you’ll ever see those in English. Alas…”

Now I’m wondering, what might the odds be of us maybe seeing those as classic editions in English ~5-10-15 years from now…? I bet this would depend on how the economy changes, how the publishing industry changes over time, how much competitors like manhua and bédé gain interest here, how many of today’s shôjo Anglophone fans grow up into tomorrow’s josei Anglophone fans, etc…(and if you think this is wild-ass speculation, it sure is and go here for wilder-ass speculation). :)

Speaking of M-rated josei, I’m also glad to know you’re resuming translations of Suppli. :)

“…Good question about The Embalmer, though. Volume 5 didn’t come out in Japan until after our big restructure last year, and unfortunately, as much as we liked her work internally, Mihara has never been a big seller here…”

That actually surprises me. Somehow I’d got the impression that the “Elegant Gothic Lolita” thing (the clothing of which I heard was inspired in part by Mihara’s drawings in some of her other manga) was getting more popular in the U.S. among some girls. In turn, this made me guess that Mihara’s other stuff would be bigger sellers here and that maybe the “Gothic Lolita Complex” chapter of The Embalmer might have offended that crowd enough to make its sales drop a lot. Now I know how wrong that guess was!

“…so Embalmer hasn’t been on the priority list. But it’s certainly worth considering, if things do conclude in vol. 5…”

If things do conclude in vol. 5? As if there’s a chance they might not and Mihara might release a vol. 6? Interesting…

[...] Johanna Draper Carlson declares Vol. 6 of Bizenghast a [...]

Good question about The Embalmer, though. Volume 5 didn’t come out in Japan until after our big restructure last year, and unfortunately, as much as we liked her work internally, Mihara has never been a big seller here, so Embalmer hasn’t been on the priority list. But it’s certainly worth considering, if things do conclude in vol. 5.

“…No word on whether we should still expect to see Book 7, the concluding chapter, next year…”

That reminds me of 3 more last volumes I’d like to see Tokyopop release in English:

Angel Town (sequel to Angel and Angel Nest)
The Aromatic Bitters vol. 2 (of 2)
The Embalmer vol. 5 (of 5) (as the commenter Somniel said on 03.18.2008 12:00 AM, “Odd how we’re kept dangling for nearly a year for the end of a series about closure.”)

Since they’re so close to the end, Why not wrap these up and get them out of the way (even if only via ebook releases, which is worse than ideal but better than no English translation) instead of leaving them loose ends?

LillianDP Says:

“Bizenghast 7 is indeed on track for publication next summer. Actually, we haven’t been as vocal about this as we could have been, but Re:Play 3 is going to be out in print this winter, and Kat & Mouse 4 is available in print in September. So while Bizenghast was the first to make it to store shelves in a while, it’s not the last…”

Nice to know that B7 will be out soon! :) Could this also mean the chances are good for the other ones I mentioned too?

And while they went totally under the radar all around (again, our fault as much as anything else), we did have two OGM volume 1s come out in print earlier this year (Orange Crows and Tantric Stripfighter Trina). It remains to be seen what will happen with volume 2s for several series that launched in 2008/2009, but I’m glad we got those initial volumes out, at least.

[...] Johanna Draper Carlson looks at Bizenghast, the long running OEL manga, now reaching its sixth volume. Even though I’ve never read earlier [...]