Del Rey To Cease Publishing Manga, Restore Licenses To Kodansha USA

In a surprise announcement, book publisher Random House, who have been publishing manga under their Del Rey imprint for seven years now, recently revealed that they would cease to continue publishing manga in-house.

Instead, all of Del Rey’s manga licenses, originally acquired from Japanese manga publisher, Kodansha, will be diverted to Kodansha USA, who will be publishing their parent company’s series directly in the U.S. This is part of a sales and distribution arrangement with Random House, and will take effect in December.

However, as CEO of Kodansha USA, Yoshio Irie, revealed to Publishers Weekly, Random House will still be heavily involved in the overall publishing process, such as editorial, production, sales and marketing of Kodansha USA’s manga. Additionally, Kodansha in Japan will continue to license their series to other American publishers as per usual.

Del Rey are well-known for publishing a wide range of manga, from Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei to School Rumble to Basilisk. They’re remaining mum on the subject of their staff, although they have specified that the arrangement with Kodansha will not affect their non-manga publications.