After our initial coverage of Bandai Entertainment’s decision to end manga and anime publishing in North America (see “Bandai Shuts Down New Manga”), Bandai clarified some aspects of the manga situation. Initially, Bandai sent out an announcement, and executive Ken Iyadomi did an interview on Anime News Network. We asked for clarification on the reasons for the shutdown of the manga publishing operation, as many of the reasons discussed in the interview related specifically to the anime publishing shutdown. Robert Napton told us, "Basically when the decision was made to end packaged media it was an all or nothing decision, so with anime goes manga for Bandai Entertainment."
We asked whether the "huge returns" discussed in the interview were both anime and manga, or just anime. "The returns Mr. iyadomi referred to were anime returns from the mass market," we were told.
The last Bandai manga titles to ship will be Code Geass Queen Vol. 5 (February 7) and Code Geass Knight Vol. 5 (February 21).
Bandai would not speak to the fate of the manga licenses, "as that’s still being worked out." We were directed to a statement that Bandai would not be releasing the books.
We asked whether the "huge returns" discussed in the interview were both anime and manga, or just anime. "The returns Mr. iyadomi referred to were anime returns from the mass market," we were told.
The last Bandai manga titles to ship will be Code Geass Queen Vol. 5 (February 7) and Code Geass Knight Vol. 5 (February 21).
Bandai would not speak to the fate of the manga licenses, "as that’s still being worked out." We were directed to a statement that Bandai would not be releasing the books.
