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Tokyopop CEO Considers Using Fan Translators (Updated)
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The North American manga publisher Tokyopop hosted a "webinar" in Tokyo on Wednesday with company founder and CEO Stu Levy and editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl.
During the webinar, Levy said he was curious to see if fan translators would be interested in translating work for Tokyopop. Levy said he was interested in how fan translators, professional translators, and fans would feel about that idea. He said that Tokyopop is currently talking with the partners of a scanlation website regarding this idea, to see if teaming up is a possibility. Both Levy and Diaz-Przybyl said they were curious after seeing how the streaming website Crunchyroll went from streaming fansubbed anime to a legitimate website that can charge for membership.
During the webinar, Levy also said that the live-action movie adaptation of Kei Toume's Lament of the Lamb manga was still in the script-writing stage, with Levy himself and Takahiko Akiyama (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within's visual effects art director, Hinokio director) co-directing the project.
Levy and Diaz-Przybyl, when asked about manhwa titles currently on hiatus, said that some titles may be coming back sooner than expected, and fans should not give up hope on those manhwa titles.
Levy also hinted at a big announcement next year, where Tokyopop will be "doing something … that no other manga companies have ever done." According to Levy, it will "involve more conventions than ever in the past."
Update: Tokyopop is considering using scanlations only for titles that are on hiatus due to low sales.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history