Aaaalrighty, it’s about time for TOKYOPOP to start. I see Lillian Diaz-Przybyl here, and a few other familiar faces who I’m sure I’ll put names to as soon as they introduce themselves. I just heard her mention that they have some new announcements, so looks like this time we’ll have some actual licenses. Yay!

Last chance for T-pop questions, btw.

Kasha(?) is the Gakuen Alice cosplayer; Michelle Nguyen is dressed in Gothic Lolita fashion to go with her job, editing the Gothic & Lolita Bible. And while waiting on technical dificulties they are handing out some free swag, starting with a Gakuen Alice bag and volume 1. Next up is a Princess Ai notecard box thingie. And a giant hardcover copy of Battle Royale (the Ultimate Edition).

Taking some questions now: starting with the Slayers novels. They want to, but the sales have been incredibly low. So BUY THE DAMN NOVELS.

Kino no Tabi volume 2 is officially on hiatus indefinitely due to trouble with their licensor. No details on the problems but they’re working to get it resolved. Someone asked about TOKYOPOP’s occasional anime licenses and DVD stuff, and it’s been noted that FUNimation handles that stuff for them.

Okay, now the real panel begins, starting with an OEL title: Hellgate London, by Arvin Nelson. It’s actually something they’re working with Flagship Studios on. It looks gorey and violent and not manga-ripoff-y. Awesome!

More general notes: Sgt. Frog is being repackaged for when the anime comes out; volume 15 is out in May and 16 in the summer and which apparently has a lot of fun stuff on TOKYOPOP.com. At NYCC they’ll have a Sgt. Frog giant costume and prize wheel, so I’ll be sure to check that out when I’m there.

And then, of course, Fruits Basket, which will come to an end this year I think? (Maybe ‘09?) Stickers, temporary tattoos, etc in a $14.99 book. TONS of stickers, dang. Makes me wish I liked Furuba. A Furuba planner is coming out this summer too. It’ll be an exclusive at Barnes & Noble, interestingly, until October– which may tie into my question later about what they think about the Borders issue (if I get around to asking it– I’m going to ask them about the state of the yaoi industry as well).

On the G&L Bible, they note that 50% of the content will be original, including an interview with Sakura guest ALI Project and photos of gosurori from the con. They’ll also have a big fashion show at New York Comic Con, and then something REALLY big, a famous designer, is coming to New York Anime Fest– but they can’t announce who yet. (Hmm!)

OEL title Bizhenghast is getting a novelization, and Diaz-Przybyl notes that it is one of many novel spinoffs T-pop has planned. A new Princess Ai trilogy is in the works, starting probably in the winter. Drawn by the original artist, Misaho Kujiradou, and it takes place a year after the original series finishes. In July there will also be a Princess Ai comic strip collection…they’re really working to push Ai, have you noticed? The iManga video is also on the way. Wonder if they’re working on putting Ai out in Japanese?

Vassalord, which will feature sexy vampires, is up next. Hey, I’m sold. Now Silver Diamond, a BL title that is being published by T-pop and NOT its BLU line due to the mangaka’s wishes. It’s purdy though. First volume in July.

Now Daemonium, a manga by Kosen, a Spanish duo who has made a bunch of BL manga for Yaoi Press (though Daemonium isn’t BL). Jyu-Oh-Sei, which made a shitty anime, but I’m hoping that the manga isn’t quite so bad. (The anime just suffered from really terrible pacing.) T-pop says they’ll also present more by Natsumi Itsuki, Jyu-Oh-Sei’s creator, so there’s a hint I guess.

TOKYOPOP will be bringing Jrock bands MUCC, the Underneath, and D’espairsRay (the Taste of Chaos tour) to Dallas on April 1st, Long Beach on the 10th, and San Jose on the 12th, meaning I will miss aaaaall of them. Meh! T-pop is also supporting ketchup mania, and there will be a raffle at 3pm, and the winner will get a VIP pass to the concert.

New project: the Bishonen explosion 18-month calendar, with Vassalord on the (tentative) cover. Yowza. It’s purdy-lookin’.

TOKYOPOP.com version 2.5 is coming up in a few weeks. Hopefully it’ll suck less than 2.0, which was about equally sucky as 1.0 (just in different ways). More on TOKYOPOP iManga…and now Rave Master, which will be released on TOKYOPOP.com– all 100 episodes, sometime in the late spring or early summer. She THINKS it’s going to be free but don’t quote her on it. Oops! So we’ll see what happens on that.

So I guess no new licenses, actually. But now we’ll get back to Q&A…asked my question about yaoi and whether it’s hit a plateau, which she thinks has more to do with DMP putting out a million books a month whereas BLU focuses more on quality. She also mentioned new deal with a Japanese publisher that she can’t talk about yet, but will allow them to pick up some really cool stuff. Woot.

More questions on OEL…blah blah, it takes ages to put out a book! etc. Previews have been greasing the wheels for sales, as proven by Fruits Basket. One fan asked how they decide about things like dust jackets and other printing decisions. Diaz-Przybyl says dust jackets aren’t really doable in the US because people thumb through the books so much and damage the jackets…which doesn’t seem to hurt DMP, but then, a lot of their books need to be shrinkwrapped anyway.

A Canadian has just asked what’s up with the difference in US and Canada prices given that the two dollars are worth about the same amount now. They ARE lowering the Canadian price with new books, but they can’t go back and do it retroactively to older books. They do it based on their distributor’s advice.

Someone asked if they’ll ever bring over drama CDs, which is always a great idea until you realize, how do you do it? I mean, sitting there with a book of translations reading and listening doesn’t sound fun; redubbing would defeat the purpose. So, unlikely, but they might do it for some of their original titles.

Scrapped Princess novels aren’t selling too well, so whether or not it will continue remains to be seen, and it’s on hold-ish for the time being. Talking a bit more about Jyu Oh Sei, which was apparently originally serialized in LaLa in ‘98-’03 (current LaLa titles include Ouran High School Host Club and Vampire Knight.

DNAngel just reappeared after several years of hiatus, with something like 120 pages. Not quite a full volume, so we’ll see when TOKYOPOP manages to release it, but they say they’ll push it as fast as they can.

Legal Drug 4 is allegedly being worked on finally, but since xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa Chronicle, leaving a lot of speculation on what CLAMP is doing, it’s possible. But we’ll just have to wait and see.

We’re technically over time now, but no one’s yelling so we’re all kinda hangin’ around asking more questions. I think it’s winding down a little bit. Okay, it’s done. Bye!

Alrighty guys, my favorite FUNiboy Adam Sheehan has appeared. He’s got a few minutes before he has to start (and yay, some technical fun), but in the meantime, he’s mentioned that we all have to stop by the booth and watch the most Offensive Promo Ever (for Shinchan). He knows how offensive things turn me on, so I guess I’ll be checking it out.

Keep reloading this post for news as I get it.

I’m sitting next to Jevon from Hi-Sci-Fi, who will be recording this panel. He says he’ll be posting it to their blog as soon as he gets back to the hotel room, so if you actually want to hear Sheehan’s presentation (which I will preemptively vouch for the humor of), there’s a spot for you to do it.

We are now wiggling the screen to try and get the projection to be even across instead of oddly angled. Aaaand we are now giving up! It’s close enough.

Aaand Sheehan opens by commending fans for being honest and then telling us NOT TO PANIC about the anime industry (oh shi– where’s my towel!?). They’re looking at Geneon titles (Black Lagoon gets a mention) but no news there; they’re also looking at the digital distribution and putting out more episodes on a disc for regular stuff. Blah blah xxxHOLiC and stuff.

Moving right along…downloads on iTunes and XBox Live, still dub only, $1.99 an episode, $38.99/series. Afro Samurai, Trinity Blood, Gunslinger Girl. It’s just hard to get subs onto an iPod, and the market they’re trying to reach is the n00bs, so no subs. (Boo!)

And now of course is their new download to own on FUNimation.com, which DOES include subbed episodes, $1.99 an episode. Black Blood Brothers is currently up in its entirety. But we already knew that! (I plan to ask what they think of Gonzo’s bypass of the US companies for BLASSREITER and Tower of Druaga later.) Also, Canadians CAN download their download-to-own stuff. In case you were worried.

They’re working on Operation Anime, their free screeners for anime clubs project. I’m not surprised that they’re pushing it, since ADV closed down their free screeners program.

And now more talk about the FUNimation channel. I know someone wanted me to ask about the channel, and they’re pushing it as hard as they can, but as they’ve said in the past, it’s really up to the fans to bother their local cable companies. Apparently some small town in the midwest somewhere had a tiny group of anime fans who literally called their company every day and got the channel.

More box sets (the discount Viridian Collection) and also FUNimation Green, where the products use recycleable components and sustainable things and stuff.

Now we’re going over all the upcoming releases: Shuffle! first, which may get an “ender” set, but not a starter set from the look of it. Depends on how well it sells. They’re also working on the Shuffle! Memories license, but nothing yet. Now Black Blood Brothers, whose DVD will feature Japanese commentaries as well as the usual textless OP/ED and trailers. It DOES have a starter set, although not an awesome box like Beck or School Rumble.

BIG applause for One Piece, the first uncut release being the film Adventures in Alabasta. Aquarion’s 13-episode, 3-DVD release will include an interview with the director, Shouji Kawamori, and stuff from TAF05. DBZ, blah blah, The History of Trunks & Bardock on blu-ray, two flicks in one collectors tin, etc.

Baldr Force EXE is coming out on one DVD on May 20th, School Rumble’s OVA is also coming out on DVD on June 17th, followed eventually by season two. xxxHOLiC’s starter set will include four episodes and a purdy box, plus the usual image gallery/textless songs/trailers.

After this panel there are some bookmarks made from One Piece film cells from Japan. That is fucking awesome. I don’t even watch One Piece but I want one.

Ouran info should be coming up this summer and it should be awesome info, but we still don’t know what. Why so slooooow?

Now we’re getting into the Q&A. Haven’t picked up the Tsubasa OVAs yet.

Got to ask my question: their stance is still the same on Crunchy Roll– CR takes down videos when asked so they’re okay –and of course they don’t have any real pull with Gonzo, who will do what they want to do. It’s really their business, he says, and he hopes it works well for them.

They’re carrying on with the International Film Channel, who just got FUNimation’s title Speed Grapher. FUNi would love to do more Full Metal Panic! but nothing new on that. They will include any One Piece extras they’re given by Japan, but he doesn’t know what that includes.

They are working for more box set releases but the Japanese companies were a little slow picking up on why. They’re still looking at Geneon titles but have not yet acquired any nor named any names. But they have some awesome stuff so they’re still looking.

No word on any of the original Dragon Ball but they’re hoping to release the rest (including GT if they can get the materials. On One Piece, they may go back to the rest of the movies (Alabasta is the 8th) depending on how well the TV series does.

Ouran will be released un-cut. I’m not sure what they would cut, but hey, someone asked. This is getting pretty long, isn’t it? I’m never sure how much of these little tidbits y’all want, so yell at me if you hate them.

Someone’s asked: if they DO acquire a Geneon series like, say, the partially-released Rozen Maiden, will they release them from the beginning or start where it was left off? The answer: don’t know. Depends on the deal, the companies, etc.

Last question: blu-ray for shows like FMA and other stuff, but no dates or anything yet. They’re keeping an eye on it.

So! That’s the end. If you have any follow-up questions I can follow Sheehand to his booth later. Ja!