Despite the drops, the Japanese manga market is still over $4 billion annually. ![]() Manga in Japan seems to have hit a peak in 1995 and has been on a downward trend ever since. According to the Tokyo-based Research Institute for Publications, sales of manga fell 4% in Japan in 2006 and another 2.3% in 2007. Manga sales in Japan have actually been declining for years now. Manga has been one of the few forms of printed media that have actually enjoyed steadily increasing sales in recent times. You can find loads of statistics that show that Americans would rather watch TV or movies than read anything longer than the story synopsis on the back of a DVD cover. Most Americans don't read fiction of any kind, illustrated or otherwise. The State of the Publishing Industry Today Let's be honest, folks. We've enjoyed an explosion in interest in manga in the past few years, but is this the first sign of a "manga bubble" popping? If not, is this just an important shift in focus that will be better for everyone in the long run? Or, even more blunt, is this just an example of a company trying to recover from poor business decisions? This news leaves a lot of people wondering about the future of manga in the U.S. And in the midst of all this, TokyoPop has pulled out of the 2008 San Diego Comic Con International as well. TokyoPop executive John Parker said he intends to "significantly reduce our annual output, focusing on the most successful continuing series and the most promising new titles." The Japanese part of the company will also be separated into two new units. The company is also slashing the number of titles it plans to release. The restructuring brings with it about 39 layoffs. publishing unit and TokyoPop Media, a digital media and comics-to-films unit. TokyoPop has announced a major restructuring that will create two separate divisions, the TokyoPop Inc.
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