Kodansha Publishing Company - Attack on Titan
Kodansha Ltd. is a Japanese publishing company that was Established in 1938 in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It is owned and operated by the Noma family and was first founded by Seiji Noma in 1909. Kodansha has published and has the rights to many famous Japanese mangas such as Attack on Titan and Fairy Tail. The company publishes manga magazines, literary magazines, novels, light novels, children's books, manual books and dictionaries. In 1994, Kodansha received the Japan Foundation Special Prize. It is the largest publishing company in Japan which has now expanded globally, having a branch in the U.S.
Kodansha Abroad
The "Kodansha International" company operated until April 2011. This branch was mainly into exporting English translated books from Japan to North America and selling them in the local market. After the company was dissolved, the Kodansha Public Relations Department explained that as the Japanese Yen continues to be strong, exporting complete set of works became difficult considering the cost. "Kodansha USA" then took over the company's published books.
Kodansha USA is an American publishing company as well as a subsidiary of the Japanese company, Kodansha. The company publishes books related to Japan and manga. Kodansha Comics created an iPhone app where the users could purchase the digital version of their favorite comics. Most of the manga have a price of $4.99 per book. This is around half the price of regular books. Also, they are in the works of beginning a 2 week subscription service, which the price will be $2.99 per book.
In 2016, Kodansha Comics announced a new "Attack on Titan" app in a press release. This app has special contents based on the manga series. The app includes interesting features such as a catalog of all chapters and volumes of the manga. Spin-off series are also included. Latest manga chapters, free motion books, news feeds, exclusive interviews and videos can also be found in the app.
Relationships with Other Companies
In addition to media publishing, Kodansha owns various broadcasting companies as well. It holds shares in Nippon Cultural Broadcasting and Kodansha. Kodansha has complex relations with NHK, Nippon Hoso Kyokai. Many manga and novels by Kodansha have created anime adaptations on NHK such as, Cardcaptor Sakura and the children's show, Okaasan to Issho. However, these two companies clash as the The October 2000 issue of Gendai accused NHK for presenting footage used in a news report on dynamite fishing in Indonesia. NHK then sued Kodansha to publish a retraction and to pay four million yen in damages. Kodansha reached a settlement of only issuing a partial retraction, and to pay no damages.
Publishing Works
Here is a list of magazines and books published by Kodansha.
Shonen Manga Magazines
- Weekly Shonen Magazine
- Monthly Shonen Magazine
- Shonen Sirius
- Bessatsu Shonen Magazine
- Magazine Pocket
Seinen Manga Magazine Produced by Kodansha
- Morning
- Morning 2
- Afternoon
- Evening
- Weekly Shonen Magazine since
Literary Magazines Produced by Kodansha
- Gunzo, monthly literary magazine
- Mephisto, literary magazine focusing on mystery and detective stories
- Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten
Books and Manga Published by Kodansha
- Kamen Ride Eve -Masked Rider Gaia-
- Heisei Kamen Rider Novels
- Kodansha Series MOOK Kamen Rider
- Kamen Rider (manga)
- Kamen Rider Black (manga)
- Kamen Rider Spirits
- Kamen Rider Hibiki & The Seven Senki (manga)
- The Men Who Made Kamen Rider
- Ganbaride Battle Ride Masters
Chief Editor of Attack on Titan
Shintaro Kawakubo, the Editor at Kodansha and the Chief Editor of Attack on Titan began working at Kodansha in 2006, where he was sent to the editorial department of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. After a month, he was already handling the manga, Attack on Titan written by Hajime Isayama.
In an interview with one of the Wakamon staffs from Dentsu, he stated that he has always loved manga since Elementary school. Coming back from school on the way home, he would always drop into the convenience store and read all the manga displayed there. His parents would come to pick him up because it was often late by the time he got back home. He was also interested in novels but his priority was manga.
"In August 2006, Mr. Isayama comes into the office with his manga, Attack on Titan. Since I received his phone call, I had the right to check his manga. It was only my first year, so it was the first-year workers job to respond to calls. The characters and setting in his script varied from what is known now, but I felt flushing passion after reading the script." Kawakubo's interview continues, "I gave Mr. Isayama my name card and told him that I wanted to support him. I simply thought that this man was a genius." Soon later, the manga received Fine Work Award for Magazine Grand Prix of Shukan Shonen Magazine.
It was then released as a series in 2009. It was the first time for both Isayama and Kawakubo publish a manga series. Kawakubo stated, "It was as if we were learning how to create manga together. Even when we had two different opinions, we worked together to find a good solution".