Interview with Peter Ahlstrom (Kingdom Hearts - TOKYOPOP)

By David Rasmussen
20th May 06

Rasmussen : Good day, please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about yourself and your work.
Peter Ahlstrom : I'm Peter Ahlstrom, one of the Copy Editors for TOKYOPOP. I'm from Ohio and graduated from Brigham Young University. I've been a manga fan for about five years and an anime fan somewhat longer. At TOKYOPOP, it's my job to go through printouts of the books with a red pen and mark up errors so they can be fixed before the books go to press. I also do some English adaptations and editing of manga scripts.

Rasmussen : How did you first come to work at TOKYOPOP, and what work did you do prior to your present work with TOKYOPOP?
Mr. Ahlstrom : A translator friend of mine got a job at TOKYOPOP while I was in Okayama, Japan for six months teaching English. He knew of my editing background, so when I got to California two years ago he arranged an interview for me. I completed a copy editing test consisting of two chapters of Happy Mania printouts and started working shortly thereafter. They've kept me busy here ever since. As for my experience before I went to Japan, back in college I worked extensively on the science fiction and fantasy magazine The Leading Edge (http://www.leadingedgemagazine.com/).

Rasmussen : A day in your life. Tell us a bit about the work you do on a daily basis.
Mr. Ahlstrom : With 30-40 or more books TOKYOPOP puts out every month, there is a constant stream of work in various states of completion. Because of shipping and distribution considerations, books must be sent to the press two months before street date--we just got done sending off all the July books, and we're now starting work on the August releases. In the localization process of licensed manga there are many different steps.

First comes translation, then English adaptation, then the script edit, then layout in InDesign--scanning is done concurrently to the earlier steps. After layout, each book goes through two or three rounds of corrections, followed by a QC stage, after which they are sent to the press. The presses send back proofs and we do a final check before giving the go-ahead to print. As a Copy Editor, it is my responsibility to flag errors and potential problem areas and suggest changes and solutions; the specific series' Editor then makes the decision on how to address the issue based on relevant practical considerations.

Occasionally an editor will ask me to act as the Associate Editor on a specific title, in which role I undertake responsibilities more like those of the Editor. This is the case with Kingdom Hearts, which I have been Associate Editor on since midway through the first volume. In addition to the books I work on, I do a lot of copy editing of content for ads and for our Manga magazine and Manga Online (http://www.TOKYOPOP.com/mangaonline). I also probably spend too much time moderating TOKYOPOP's new message board (http://messageboard.TOKYOPOP.com/forums).

Rasmussen : Besides Kingdom Hearts what other titles do you work on?
Mr. Ahlstrom : As a Copy Editor, there are hardly any TOKYOPOP titles that I have not worked on at least one volume of. So many books pass my desk every day that I generally limit my focus to the book right in front of my at the moment, with the result that there are days I cannot even remember offhand what books I worked on the day before, and have to check my written record. The attention I give to the few books I am Associate Editor for, however, is of a more persistent nature, since maintaining continuity is important. The same goes for the books I do the English adaptation for.

These books have included GetBackers, DearS, Lagoon Engine, Dazzle, Jing: King of Bandits--Twilight Tales, Kamichama Karin, and Dream Saga. Of those series, the ones I currently find most enjoyable are GetBackers and Dazzle. I also did a large amount of editing work on the first .hack//Another Birth novel volume, which covers the .hack//Infection game from BlackRose's point of view. Other series which I really look forward to copy editing include Fruits Basket, Sgt. Frog, Beck, +Anima, Blame!, Vampire Game, Rave Master, Faeries' Landing, Rebirth, and Dragon Voice. Two more gaming-related series I really enjoy are the Warcraft manga and iD_eNTITY, which is sort of the Korean answer to .hack.

Rasmussen : Are you presently into Anime or Manga? If so, what titles are you presently into?
Mr. Ahlstrom : How could I not be? I tend to collect mostly TOKYOPOP series for obvious reasons, but other series I enjoy include Hikaru no Go, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, Death Note, Eyeshield 21, Hunter X Hunter, Full Moon o Sagashite, and Pichi Pichi Pitch. I have also been a fan of Naruto. My favorite anime may still be Battle Athletes Victory, but I really liked the Angelic Layer anime. Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon are also old favorites... I've read a fair amount of fanfiction as well.

Rasmussen : Tell us a bit about Kingdom Hearts the manga. How does the title shape up against the video game version of the franchise, and what is new about the manga that differs from the video game (or is it just a straight game to manga translation)?
Mr. Ahlstrom : I have actually not played the Kingdom Hearts video games. Except for a major StarCraft fixation a few years ago (though mostly in the customization field) and a lot of Nintendo back in the Super Mario 3 days, I haven't been much of a gamer. But I've read various walkthroughs and transcripts of the Kingdom Hearts game, so I can tell you that the manga follows the game pretty closely. Some events happen in a different order, and some (like the Nightmare Before Christmas portion) are left out of the manga, but a number of the dialogue lines in the manga are lifted directly from the game script.

Other sections are expanded somewhat, and some humorous sections are given a very manga flair, but as game to manga adaptations go, the Kingdom Hearts manga is pretty faithful to the game, with no big surprises or completely new storyline directions. Whether or not you are familiar with the Kingdom Hearts video game, the Kingdom Hearts manga can be enjoyed as a good example of the fun manga storytelling style, and the art is very good as well. It's also interesting to see how well the Disney character designs fit in with the manga atmosphere.

Rasmussen : In your opinion do you see the strict game to manga translation as a good thing or a bad thing? With the title being tightly tied to the games in terms of storyline, without any opportunities to expand the game's story with original or new content to either show events only hinted on in the game or what happened to certain vital characters off camera, does it seem that the manga is selling itself short of it's true possible potential by not expanding the game's mythos with a deeper exploration of the world via new and original storylines?
Mr. Ahlstrom : I think more new ground of the type you mention would have been interesting to see. I do believe the series as it is is well done and entertaining, but it's hard to say what else it might have done. Again, there are time and space constraints--as it is, some worlds were skipped, so adding new directions of exploration would have caused even more to be left out--it's difficult to please everyone. The Kingdom Hearts manga stands up pretty well on its own--I'm a fan of judging works by their own merits.

Rasmussen : What is the strategy behind releasing the title as $6 a pop read? With only about 100-144 or so pages a book (and the $6 a book tag for the shorter format) has this translated into higher sales for the title? Also how has reader reaction been in terms of the title to date (both in the title itself and the shorter page count per volume format)?
Mr. Ahlstrom : I was not involved in the marketing and pricing strategy for Kingdom Hearts, but as the original Japanese books are shorter than the average manga, it made sense to offer them at a reduced price. It's very hard to estimate how this affected sales, but when the third volume--which has a page count much closer to other series' 200 or so pages--came out, it and the other two volumes released so far really shot up in the sales charts, so that all three books have been in the top 7 for the past two weeks. I have to assume there is no casual relationship between the perceived value of the books and how well they have sold. As for how readers have reacted, I have seen many positive comments on various message boards.

Rasmussen : Presently the title seems to be running through the events of the original Kingdom Hearts game (though I have not yet read the title yet for review). Once this storyarc is done will there be a Chain of Memories storyarc? How about a Kingdom Hearts II arc? Past the original game will there be more stories based on subsequent games? Alternatively how about original non game tie-in storyarcs? Will there be any original manga tales to look forward to?
Mr. Ahlstrom : The four volumes of the Kingdom Hearts manga cover the events of the first game. The follow-up Chain of Memories manga is two volumes long, and the Kingdom Hearts II manga is just starting in Japan. I have to assume that if their success continues, any future Kingdom Hearts games will make it to manga form as well. I know that in Japan there are also several novels based on the various games. As for whether original manga sidestories are in the works, that certainly seems like a possibility to me, but I can only speculate.

Rasmussen : Has there been any word about a Kingdom Hearts anime to compliment the present manga tie-in to the game franchise? Also (in your opinion) will TOKYOPOP consider investing in acquiring the rights to release any potential anime version of Kingdom Hearts on DVD in R1 & R2 formats since it is releasing the manga version under the TOKYOPOP banner?
Mr. Ahlstrom : I have heard nothing regarding any possible Kingdom Hearts anime series. I would speculate that if one did occur, Disney would own the worldwide licensing rights to the title as I understand they do with the manga. One can only guess whether they would exercise those rights themselves or choose to work with another company.

Rasmussen : If Disney does have as tight a control over the rights to the Kingdom Hearts franchise then how did TOKYOPOP get ahold of the right to publish the manga version?
Mr. Ahlstrom : Disney and TOKYOPOP have had a strong relationship for several years.
Shiro Amano's Kingdom Hearts manga was not the first Japanese-produced manga we released as part of this relationship--that honor went to Hiromi Yamafuji's Monsters, Inc. manga in 2002--and it will not be the last. We also publish Cine-Manga for over 20 Disney titles including Lizzie McGuire, The Incredibles, and the upcoming Cars.

Rasmussen : Without telling us too much can you give us any idea what the future of TOKYOPOP is in coming releases for the latter half of 2006? Anything coming that we should be looking out for as readers and collectors?
Mr. Ahlstrom : New series we've got this month are Rozen Maiden (from the creators of DearS), +Anima, Boys of Summer, Shrine of the Morning Mist, Death Jam, and Confidential Confessions Deai. The rest of this year, our great series like Fruits Basket and Dramacon continue, and some draw to a close--Vampire Game, for example, finishes up with a great volume 15--but we have new series starting all the time.

Some anime-related titles we've got coming up are Elemental Gelade, Grenadier, Trinity Blood, MY-HiME, and Strawberry Marshmallow. We've also got some new series from old favorites, like Genju no Seiza from the creator of Pet Shop of Horrors, new books from short story master Mitsukazu Mihara such as The Embalmer and RIP Requiem in Phonybrian, not to mention Tohru Fujisawa's original tale of Eikichi Onizuka--before he became the world's greatest teacher--in GTO: The Early Years--Shonan Junai Gumi. There's some fun sports manga like Angel Cup. We've got books for young readers such as Kat & Mouse and Zapt!, and we're pretty excited about our original titles like Fool's Gold, Re:Play, and Atomic King Daidogan--the Return to Labyrinth and Legends of the Dark Crystal manga are going to make a splash as well.

Our most exciting new initiative though is our Pop Fiction line of Young Adult novels, which is launching in September with Kino no Tabi, Scrapped Princess, The Adventures of Duan Surk, and Magic Moon. Kino no Tabi especially is a great series to look out for--I really enjoyed the first volume. There are also more fiction books that fit into the Manga Novels line you can find Slayers in, such as the first Crest of the Stars book in the Seikai series.

Rasmussen : Confidential Confessions DEAI, how will it shape up against the original Confidential Confessions, and in comparison to the hot button topics of the first batch of books (suicide, prostitution, sexual harassment and drug addiction for instance) what hot button topics will be faced by this new era of Confessions.
Mr. Ahlstrom : Well, this seems now like a completely different interview! Anyway, the two Deai books are one complete story that explores the seedy yet all too common practice of pay dates--basically prostitution without sex.
Rika is a typical Japanese high school girl trying to pay her mobile phone bill and buy her boyfriend presents, and these two books explore how loosening one's standards for just a few pay dates or underwear sales to get some extra cash can start a chain of events leading to life-threatening danger. It's not for the faint of heart, and it's incredibly disturbing to see how easily good intentions can lead to dire straits. Along with another of our series--Life, which deals with a teenage girl driven to cutting herself--it's a gritty foray into the emotionally wrenching lives of teenagers today.

Rasmussen : Genju no Seiza. How does this shape up in comparison to Pet Shop of Horror, and what can readers expect from this when it hits?
Mr. Ahlstrom : Unfortunately I haven't actually read the first book yet. All I really know is that the series has been successful in Japan, lasting even longer than Pet Shop of Horrors. You might want to talk to the series' editor, Tim Beedle.

Rasmussen : Each year I hold "The Best Of" awards, ranking the best of anime and manga. In your opinion what titles TOKYOPOP has out this year do you see as being top runners in fan’s reading list as their Best of 2007 mangas, and what titles do you see as Cinderella sleeper hits that will sneak up on fans and become cult favorites?
Mr. Ahlstrom : Best of 2007? I haven't started thinking about that yet.

Rasmussen : !!… sorry, my bad, I meant Best of 2006. Sorry.
Mr. Ahlstrom : As for this year, Fruits Basket is still leading the pack among our mainstream titles, though Kingdom Hearts has recently been nipping at its heels. Sleeper hits are by their nature very hard to predict, but there are some series like MBQ that have a very dedicated, vocal, yet pretty small fanbase, which haven't found as much success among the wider audience. That is of course the nature of cult classics, and the market can support a certain number of titles like that, but it's important to balance them out with enough mainstream titles.

Rasmussen : Any parting words for our readers?
Mr. Ahlstrom : I guess just a bit of general advice for how you can show support for your favorite series, whatever it is--start by supporting your local bookstore. If there's a book you want to buy but your local store doesn't have it in stock, instead of just ordering it online, have the bookstore order it in for you. That way the people who run that store will know there's demand for that series; if enough people special order the book, they'll get extra copies to go on the shelf so people who don't know about that series already can have the chance to check it out and fall in love with it just like you.

-- David Rasmussen 20th May 06