Infinite Stratos

[Doraneko]

If Izuru has indeed been kicked out of MF Bunko, his light novel career is ended for good. Kadokawa, the parent company of MF, is a monopoly of the entire industry publishing over 95% of all LN titles. Even for the smaller LN labels outside the Kadokawa kingdom, they dare not hiring a rouge just for pissing off Kadokawa, as they still have to rely on it for distribution channels, marketing, media-mix projects and whatnot. Of course his work ethics is an equally nasty deterrent.

Right now both physical and electronic distributions of his works has been ceased. There is no official statement from MF yet of putting an end to IS, but rumours suggest that it is only for reducing the collateral damage towards the innocent artists working on adaptations of the series. If it is true, the adaptations may be brought to a relatively quicker end but still with enough stuff to fill a volume for publishing (so that the mangakas can get their share). Official announcements from the company will then come afterwards.

Personally I am more interested in seeing him writing a non-fiction account on the dark secrets of the Japanese publishing industry and the light novel scene.

[Mystes]

I don't want that guy writing a Bakuman-LN...

Hell, why does Kadokawa hate him anyways?

Plus, what was the rumors when Haruhi's author stopped publishing?

[Doraneko]

I don't want that guy writing a Bakuman-LN...

AFAIK Bakuman is fiction.

Hell, why does Kadokawa hate him anyways?

Apparently he has some sort of personality problem and doesn't take his job seriously by the Japanese standard. Repeatedly he argued against the editors and personally attacked them on his blog, as well as paying no attention to deadlines while indulging himself in games. Once he even threatened to sue the company on disputes over the Taiwanese release of IS, but it was somehow resolved without going to the courts after he realized that the company did nothing wrong on contract and it was his fault to make a fuss out of it.

But one of the most serious mistakes he made was to miss the deadline of the bonus novel for the IS Blu-ray discs. This was worse than halting the release of the canon since it ceased to be an in-company issue (which can be quickly resolved by posting a note on the official website) and MF needed to make repeated dogezas and kowtows to the anime production committee, the Blu-ray producer and the retailers. Depending on the contract terms MF might even need to financially compensate its clients. But then the culprit brushed it off as a no-issue on twitter and teased how everyone got upset over it, which further pissed off more people, including the fans and the retailer staff.

When his contract was about to end, he kicked away MF's offer to continue IS and approached Dengeki to write a new series, which shut him out at the door. After that he tried to beg MF to let him back, but of course MF was far too fed up and pointed at the door.

Both Dengeki and MF are Kadokawa subsidiaries, btw. Also, the almost-lawsuit story and the bonus-novel story are more-or-less confirmed, but the contract-shopping story is only a rumour with no way (at the current point of time) to prove its truthfulness.

Plus, what was the rumors when Haruhi's author stopped publishing?

The Sneaker curse: all series that got the grand prize of Sneaker can never be finished properly.

On top of that the immense pressure to maintain the Haruhi franchise and the gigantic fanbase allows no failure in any future volume. Or else a large amount of people working on adaptations and Haruhi-related merchandise will have their livelihood adversely affected.

The thing is that Tanigawa is slow, but that is his only problem. The Japanese corporate culture doesn't value outstanding performance beyond the norm. What is valued are good ethics, good manners, and more importantly, conformity to the group as a team member. I don't recall any episode of Tanigawa going all confrontational against his colleagues and bringing them repeated headaches.

IS sells at an average of 150k per book, but most other LN series would already be regarded as successful if they could reach 150k sales for the entire series. Erratic creators who can bring substantial cash flows are probably greatly valued in the West, but they tend to have a hard time surviving in Japan in the long run.

[Mystes]

You said the there was a 5%; could another company decide to hire (more like "use") him to grow bigger?

[Doraneko]

You said the there was a 5%; could another company decide to hire (more like "use") him to grow bigger?

Quoting myself:

Even for the smaller LN labels outside the Kadokawa kingdom, they dare not hiring a rouge just for pissing off Kadokawa, as they still have to rely on it for distribution channels, marketing, media-mix projects and whatnot. Of course his work ethics is an equally nasty deterrent.

Even if somehow the Kadokawa Kingdom blows up and each label got "independent" so to speak, there are also other things to consider.

Tanigawa tried to write new series for Dengeki when he hit hit a writer's block for Haruhi. None of them ever reached mid-tier success, let alone achieving worldwide popularity like Haruhi. More often than not light novel is a team work thing. Apart from the writing quality, becoming a hit is a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the right resources: this is even more significant for the case of IS which is greatly benefited by the illustrator and the anime.

As for moving the entire IS franchise to somewhere else, this would depend on the contract terms with MF, but I would assume it to be by no way an easy job considering how this is Izuru's first light novel (less beneficial terms for newbies) and the amount of investment MF put into it. FYI the illustrator also holds the character design rights, and the merchandising rights of the series (figures, etc) go to the company (with a certain percentage of income flowing back to the author as royalties).

And even if we pretend all of the above is non-existent, acquiring Izuru alone will not topple the Kadokawa kingdom for sure. The entire MF represents 6% of the light novel market before the Kadokawa acquisition. Izuru certainly worths much less than one-sixth of the total value of MF considering how much hits and blooming series MF possesses. A very optimistic estimate would put him to be around 10% of MF's worth, which is 0.6% of the entire light novel market. Do you think without the illustrator, the strong Kadokawa marketing and media-mix (i.e. anime/manga) support, he can maintain the 0.6% share? And how good is <0.6% against the gorilla?

Practically, the fact that MF can happily throw him away like a banana skin (assuming the rumours are true) shows that he likely contributed much less than 10% worth of the entire company. More like 5% I'd estimate. This would put his value in the entire LN market to be 0.3%.

5% less income for less headaches, less embarrassment, less liquidated damages and higher staff morale, which probably increases the overall productivity of the company and allowing it to focus on grooming the next IS from the countless titles it possesses (instead of wasting time to deal with Izuru), doesn't sound bad at all in the long run.

[Mystes]

Then, the rumors of him re-writing the last volume are to end the series because he pissed of MF?

[Doraneko]

Then, the rumors of him re-writing the last volume are to end the series because he pissed of MF?

[Mystes]

People mentioned that the reason he's bot releasing volume 8 is because he wants to re-write it.

[Doraneko]

People mentioned that the reason he's bot releasing volume 8 is because he wants to re-write it.

Sounds more like an all-purpose excuse anyone can come up for any delay in novel releases... Considering Izuru's character and past record, he would have rather cleared a bunch of games and indulge himself in an overseas trip, than wasting his own precious time to rewrite something that has been done.

Not that it is in itself invalid as a speculation though. The current rumours are no more than rumours after all and are not drastically better than generic guesses.

[Mystes]

Is there a possibility that the argument between MF and the author is cow-poop and that the latter is just having a block?

[Doraneko]

Is there a possibility that the argument between MF and the author is cow-poop and that the latter is just having a block?

Why is it even necessary to have such a fuss that is damaging to both sides if it is simply an issue of writer's block? It isn't like he is the first writer to suffer from such in the history of mankind.

Heck, every other light novel I read has breaks that last for years, but I have yet to see anything as epic and amusing as MF vs. Izuru.

Again rumours are rumours. You could be right and we simply can't tell at the moment.

[Mystes]

Well, that's something interesting to follow, but I wouldn't like the result of that...

[fazri]

hahaha...
now that interesting.
if that rumor true than probability for IS will get cut down is really big.
i don't know about the truth about the trolling in izuru twitter real or not that makes him re-write the story.
but he make a giant power become his enemy,the probabilitity he can back to LN industry really small well there only way he can back is first he need make apoligize statement to the publiser and fans formally,repairing his work attitude,also pays for all the publisher losses.
after that all maybe MF will re-contract izuru-sensei again.
if not we only can said good by charlote forever.

[larethian]

I personally value attitude and team play more than anything else.

In some fields such as sports, writing, singing etc., talent is important, but it is not enough and not the only thing. In all fields, regardless of whether talent is important or not, interpersonal skills, a good work ethic, being a responsible team player, are what can bring people to the top and help them stay there.

I have followed Izuru for 1 week during IS anime season, and I get the impression he either enjoys grabbing attention or spends a lot of time on the net, since my twitter gets flooded with his tweets so much that I decided not to follow him anymore. I have seen some comments on 2ch (not 2chan), and if the rumors as stated by Doraneko, and the 2ch posts about how he's not repentant at all, are true, then I don't feel sorry for him at all. He can choose to blame it on others and fall lower, or make corrections and learn from his mistakes, and attempt to make a comeback in future, be it in LNs or other areas. Ie. of course, if the rumors are true.

And guys, fiction is fiction. Remember that. They serve as recreation and 'recreate' you, spur your imagination, etc. Don't get overly sucked into it. It may be a pity for fans, but not really a big deal. And I will say the same thing if this happens to my favorite series.

[Mystes]

...spends time on twitter and slacking in his job...

It sounds like me.