Friday's State of the Manga Industry Panel seemed to be a last-minute affair, as Del Rey Manga Associate Publisher Dallas Middaugh, VIZ Media Vice President Liza Coppola and TokyoPop Senior Editor Lillian Diaz-Pyrzbyl seemed a bit confused that there wasn't a moderator on hand to keep things rolling.
But soldier on they did, as they answered questions about manga sales (Very steady, but not growing as explosively as it was a few years ago), manga magazines (It's a whole 'nother ballgame than publishing books) and trying to find the next big thing after Naruto, Negima and Fruits Basket (It's hard, but they're always trying to find that hit that gets fans a-buyin' and they're hoping to expand the market to younger kids and adult readers).
- See more new and upcoming releases from Del Rey Manga
- Preview new manga from VIZ Media
- Read a profile of TokyoPop