HarperCollins To Handle Crunchyroll’s Manga in France, Germany

HarperCollins To Handle Crunchyroll’s Manga in France, Germany

France and Germany are two countries with many otaku residents, and Crunchyroll is in the process of inking a deal with HarperCollins Publishers, allowing HarperCollins to acquire Crunchyroll’s manga publishing operations in those nations.

HarperCollins Japan publishes manga, and the company as a whole wants to get more into the manga business. President and CEO of HarperCollins Brian Murray remarked, “We are thrilled to expand our manga portfolio in Europe, building on our already successful Japanese business. As the only major western publisher operating in Japan, this acquisition strengthens our expertise and capabilities in this fast-growing category. This is a significant step toward broadening the HarperCollins manga program around the world, not only in the Europe, but the English language markets as well.”

HarperCollins’s children’s graphic novel imprint HarperAlley in the U.S. has recently begun publishing manga titles.

French and German Crunchyroll workers will become part of HarperCollins, and leadership is not supposed to change. Hideki Iyama-Desseigne, Crunchyroll’s senior publishing director for Germany and France, will be in charge of the team and reporting to CEO of international foreign language publishing at HarperCollins Chantal Restivo-Alessi.

Restivo-Alessi commented, “We look forward to welcoming and investing in the French and German publishing teams and their business, and to enhancing our relationships with Japanese manga publishers.”

Rahul Purini, the president of Crunchyroll, also released a statement on the reveal: “I want to thank the Crunchyroll manga employees in France and Germany whose new home at HarperCollins will allow them to continue to bring the joy of manga to fans in those markets.”

The exact terms of the deal have not been made public, and there still needs to be regulatory approval. But if all goes according to Crunchyroll and HarperCollins’ plans, the transaction will officially close within the next few months, before the year is over.

Source: Publishers Weekly

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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.