Tokyopop, now certified by BookScan as the leading U.S. manga publisher, is expanding its reach to include the United Kingdom and opening a London office for its British subsidiary, Tokyopop U.K., Ltd.  Obviously Tokyopop editions have already been getting distribution to English comic and hobby outlets via Diamond U.K., but since the bulk of Tokyopop's sales in the U.S. are now outside the comic shop market, the key component of the publisher's move to the U.K. will involve a partnership with the British distributor Red Route to reach the more than 2,000 British bookshops.  Founded with backing from the retail company Gosh Comics and the publisher Knockabout, Red Route Distribution Ltd. already distributes a number of American graphic novel publishers, including Dark Horse, Slave Labor, Oni Press, and Cartoon Books to the English book trade.

During the past year Tokyopop has more than doubled its revenues and increased its penetration into the American bookstore market by some 300%.  For the past six months Tokyopop titles have typically dominated the BookScan weekly Graphic Novel Bestseller charts as the company has used its increasing exposure in traditional bookstores to gain an enormous number of female readers for its burgeoning line of graphic novels.  Tokyopop is hoping that Red Route can bring about a similar expansion in sales through British bookshops.