Bah! 'tis a shocking news indeed!

[mierin]

Ugh.. I wanted to go to the KL International Book Fair, but decided not to. My parents were having a spring cleaning of our front porch--basically cleaning up the floors that's gotten dirty with soil and moss using a high pressure water gun. Which is pretty awesome XD but it hurts if you accidentally sprayed yourself D:

But in a way, I'm kinda glad I didn't go, because it was raining heavily just now, which would suck because I would've gone by train, and not car. Do not like being soaked by rain.

My sister is finishing up her Master's degree thesis, and I'm helping her to proofread the draft, which I will get down to once I finish procrastinating on the web (lol). I'm not sure whether I want to continue my own studies. I definitely have an interest to do so, but I'm not sure which field of study I should go to. Apparently you need at least 2 years of working experience before you can apply for an MBA. And since I just graduated last year, it's a no go---for now.

And off to some not very pleasant fandom related news.

Tokyopop is shutting down their North American division

 

Yep. So run and get your published by Tokyopop releases soon! Which reminds me that I must go to Kinokuniya soon and grab whatever I can of the Trinity Blood light novels I've been reading. I admit I don't buy much of the official NA release manga (they're just too expensive to buy in bulk for someone with my income level). But it doesn't mean I don't buy them at all. I foresee that Tokyopop releases will actually rise in value very soon. And since it's been a week since the announcement was made, I'm sure many manga fans, especially in the US, will actually be on the lookout to complete their manga collection.  Ironic, really.

Some interesting reads if you have the time.

Matt Thorn's The Tokyopop Effect

Essential Reading: Matt Thorn on TOKYOPOP  (the comments part especially)

Indeed, Tokyopop might have been damning themselves with the decisions they've taken over the years. But it probably isn't fair to blame just Stu Levy over the bad decision making. The Borders bankcrupcy in the US might have something to do with it as well, considering how shockingly random the announcement was. They just revamped their website and then suddenly they're shutting down. What was the revamping effort for then?

I'm curious to see how this will play out eventually. And what the other remaining NA publishers will do now that Tokyopop USA is pretty much out of the competition. I've heard talks that Tokyopop's Germany branch will still hold the licenses, but as they mostly focus on releases for the German speaking audience, I don't think it will be of much help. Even the stuff that's sold in the UK are actually from the NA branch, the UK branch closed a few years ago. And surely they can't take on every single title. (And specially the OEL stuff that Tokyopop NA publishes).

The really popular titles might get license-rescued by other publishers (Heart no Kuni no Alice, Hetalia, Maid Sama! etc.), but the not well known ones probably won't see the light of day, and I'm wondering which end my Trinity Blood releases will meet.