#tokyopop
‘The Owl House’ Light Novel Ceases Production after Writers Allegedly Leave Due to Low Pay
Production on the planned light novel adaptation of Disney’s fantasy series The Owl House appears to have ceased after writers walked away from the project.
The light novel, which was planned as an original story set in the world of Dana Terrace’s fantasy cartoon The Owl House was initially announced last year. The book was to be published by Tokyopop, Disney Press, and Disney Manga.
Initially slated for a March 2022 release, the light novel was pushed back before being seemingly canceled. Barnes and Nobel have also stopped taking preorders for the book.
The book was canceled because the publisher was unwilling to pay fairly for the project, according to the series creator, Dana Terrace. On March 25, Terrace tweeted, “Basically asking ppl to write a whole damn book for pennies. Every writer chose to walk away, and I can’t blame em.”
Terracereaffirmed the crew’s wish for a book or graphic novel based on the series, writing, “It’s a dream for a lot of ppl on the crew. We also want to be paid fairly for that time and effort.”
YuriMother reached out to Tokyopop for comment, but they were unable to give clarification on the status of the light novel or speak much on the issue. A representative told us, “Our contract with Disney prevents us from responding about this matter at this point – we are waiting for guidance from them.”
This incident is not the first time Tokyopop has been criticized for its treatment of artists and creators. In 2008, the company’s “Rising Stars of Manga contest” was condemned for having creators sign away “moral rights” to their work and low rates, allegedly around 20$ per page.
The Owl House is a fantasy cartoon following Luz Noceda (Sarah-Nicole Robles), a human who stumbles through a portal to a strange other world full of demons and witches. There, she becomes the apprentice and effective daughter of the world’s most wanted witch, Eda Clawthorn (Wendie Malick). The series has received praise for its characters, worldbuilding, and LGBTQ+ representation.
The series’ second season is currently airing on Disney Channel. The Owl House is set to conclude with a shortened final season consisting of three specials following the announcement of its cancelation last year.
I picked up something new from the LGBT manga section at my local bookstore (which, side note, is an amazing fucking sentence to type tbh), but I would just like everyone to know that it dealt me psychic fucking damage first. Like. Tokyopop what a major publisher when I was younger but their English division basically imploded due to way too many issues for me to list in one post. So it’s wild to see new titles from them?? I can just go into the store and find new Tokyopop manga???? Is that allowed???
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen new stuff from them, but it is the first time I actually bought any… which I hadn’t done in well over a decade XD
Also, look, I know Tokyopop has a German division that never shut down, but for me, a dumb American, it was different. It was a huge loss even before shutting down, because Tokyopop had the licenses for titles like Sailor Moon and a huge portion of CLAMP’s works, and basically never reprinted them. You wanna read Sailor Moon? Good luck finding a copy that isn’t falling apart and/or wildly overpriced!!! I was “lucky” because I actually had a subscription to Smile, Tokyopop’s manga magazine, so I had a lot of Sailor Moon in that. But still!! It was such a pain. They horribly mismanaged the titles they had so badly, I never expected to see them again.
I gotta stop ranting before I waste my whole day away- I’ve got vampire yaoi to read ;D
Finished these two this weekend. Im confident I can be done with the Harry Potter series by September. I’m really enjoying Harry Potter as well as all of the Disney manga.
~MistyMay
