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You may have noticed a few changes around here at YaoiSuki. That's because we've moved to a new host, and in the process upgraded and altered a bunch of our features (most notably: embedded wiki and better forums). Unfortunately, we lost our user database in the move, so those of you who were signed up will unfortunately need to sign up again. It's a pretty painless process though!
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Sunday, 22 October 2006 |
For the quick summary (including licenses), click here.
Blu started their panel by talking about who they are and what they do. They noted several times that their MO is to put out one or two volumes a month, and it doesn't sound like they're planning on changing that any time soon...so don't start expecting to get swamped by Blu the way we often are by Juné. ;)
That said, there were three new licenses: Innocent Bird by Kisaragi Hirotaka, which we already knew...June Pride by writer Gotou Shinobu and artist Ooya Kazumi...and Bokura no Unsei by Matsumoto Temari.
Yaoi Con discussion thread is here.
After these, the presenter, Lillian Diaz-Przybyl (...I am not spelling that wrong. Seriously.) went on to talk about Blu's current and upcoming releases.
She apologized for a mistake in Gerard and Jacques (in which the currency was referred to as "libres" when it should have been "libres"). Volume 2 is out in Dec.
She also talked about Shout Out Loud, which isn't selling as well as they would like-- so get buying! (I just noticed we haven't got a review up of this; I'll get to it!)
Black Knight v2 is out Jan, Menkui v3 is out Jan, Gorgeous Carat...I didn't quite catch when it's due, unfortunately. Earthian is complete! Love Pistols (aka Sex Pistols) is going to come out, but it may be delayed a little bit due to some "contractual stuff."
At this point we moved on to the Q&A, and anyone who asked a question got a manga and a poster! (Until they ran out.) I nabbed first question (sitting in the front row ftw), so I got a free copy of Love Mode 4, which goes straight to Jordan's greedy little hands. ;)
My question had to do with rumors that are circulating about Blu playing down the fact that they are owned by Tokyopop. Ms. Przybyl said that actually, it's more like Tokyopop plays down owning Blu, and she doesn't foresee change in that in the future.
She was also able to tell us that Blu would like to get their hands on the rather hardcore Gravitation Remix doujinshi, but that they wouldn't otherwise normally want to pick up doujins.
Blu is considering the possibility of picking up yaoi novels, but the level of translation is so much higher that it would be considerably more expensive to do, so they don't have plans for them right now.
That said, she did mention that Tokyopop-- who DOES do novels --is hoping to have "good news soon" regarding the Kyou Kara Maou novels. Not quite yaoi, but I figure at least a few of you will be happy to hear this. ;)
Blu is also planning to get an online store available on their website soon, at which time the possibility of other merchandise-- like box sets, which are hard to sell to bookstores because they take up so much room --will increase.
One of the last questions was a very good one: where does Blu see themselves fitting in the US yaoi market? Ms. Przybyl said that they're not quite as hardcore as most of DQ's stuff, but they're more hardcore than most Juné. They skip over the fancy dust jackets, larger print sizes, etc. and keep their price point down (she mentioned that their manga pretty much always goes for $9.99, period...whereas copies of Be Beautiful's Kizuna 6 and prices for upcoming 801 Media titles look to be around $15!).
She also said that what Blu really looks for in their line is titles that are story-driven, cliché-breaking, and diverse.
They don't currently do yaoi OEL, but if they keep themselves open to the possibility if the right work comes along.
It is iffy that they will do artbooks, they are eyeing some Korean manhwa, and they'd like to do more Yoshinaga Fumi titles (but they're in competition with Juné over them).
The end! |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 23 October 2006 )
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