Whatever happened to Ecole du Ciel?

[Red Comet90]

For anyone who knows about this manga it was being released by tokyopop and volume 9 was supposed to be released October of last year but it still hasn't been released and I've heard nothing about it at all.

Does anyone know if Tokyopop cut it short or is it still running in Japan?

[Leroy Landers]

I heard it got canceled because of low sales.

[Red Comet90]

Has there been any official announcements or just no word at all from Tokyopop? I would really hate it if they just dropped the manga. I'm pretty sure only 3 more volumes are left in the series and I really want to read the end. Hopefully, they continue it soon.

[Mark064]

The series is ongoing in Gundam Ace, but there hasn't been a chapter in the last few volumes I had. Up to volume 11 has been serialized. Companies don't have a tendency to to say if they cancel something, it's just usally a quiet deal. Better for business that way.

[Red Comet90]

I could understand why it makes for better business but its so disheartening. Every time something Gundam comes over here there's always some kind of cut back on it and we fans take it silently. Hopefully Bandai might continue the series since they seem to be publishing books lately.

So its still on going? Thats good. At least I have more than 3 volumes to look forward to. If it ever gets over here that is.

[J-Lead]

I could understand why it makes for better business but its so disheartening. Every time something Gundam comes over here there's always some kind of cut back on it and we fans take it silently. Hopefully Bandai might continue the series since they seem to be publishing books lately.

So its still on going? Thats good. At least I have more than 3 volumes to look forward to. If it ever gets over here that is.

I hear some scanlators here and there are considering picking up where Tokyopop left off if they continues to neglect it, but there hasn't been any word on that lately (and besides, they were discussing it on /m/, which says a lot.) It's a shame not being able to own the rest of the manga, though...

I'll stop there, since discussion of fan translations on material such as this is against the rules. I just figured I'd throw that out there, so it's not completely hopeless yet.

The series is ongoing in Gundam Ace, but there hasn't been a chapter in the last few volumes I had.

Is that usual for said magazine? For segments to skip a volume or two every once in awhile? (I don't get the magazine, so I wouldn't know.)

[Mark064]

Note: I don't have the last 3 months issues, I really need to pick them up.

For Ecole the last issue with a chapter was August 2008, and I have till January 2009. It is a bit unusual for things to go on long breaks like this but it does happen every once in a while. The two biggest offenders for this are Ecole and CDA. Usually the manga will run and maybe every once in a while they'll skip out on a month. Not sure if the guys behind Ecole are just lazy, out of ideas, or what.

[trioknight]

Currently, I think Ecole is on hiatus since Mikimoto's had a lot on his slate recently. After all, he's recently started the Macross the First manga for the new Macross Ace mag, so he may be focusing on that for a while until he can find a balance.

[Dynames]

Currently, I think Ecole is on hiatus since Mikimoto's had a lot on his slate recently. After all, he's recently started the Macross the First manga for the new Macross Ace mag, so he may be focusing on that for a while until he can find a balance.

Well lets hope that it and they didn't cancel it

[Red Comet90]

Currently, I think Ecole is on hiatus since Mikimoto's had a lot on his slate recently. After all, he's recently started the Macross the First manga for the new Macross Ace mag, so he may be focusing on that for a while until he can find a balance.

Well lets hope that it and they didn't cancel it

Would they cancel a Gundam manga over there and leave it hanging like that or would they at least attempt to give it a decent ending.

[Prana]

As stated by Mark064, Ecole has been published every single month since its debut on vol.3 of Gundam Ace (the only exceptions being January and May 2007 and May-June 2008). Since August 2008 we have no clues about what happened (I have at least up to April of 2009 issues)

[thanatos]

The series is ongoing in Gundam Ace, but there hasn't been a chapter in the last few volumes I had. Up to volume 11 has been serialized. Companies don't have a tendency to to say if they cancel something, it's just usally a quiet deal. Better for business that way.

I dunno. This long period of anxious waiting and wondering certainly doesn't make me want to rush out and buy more manga. Ecole was the first long (more than 4 volumes) manga that I ever decided to buy. If they have dropped with (which I'm pretty much convinced of that now), at least I've learned a valuable lesson: don't buy anything until the series is completed.

[Lans]

don't buy anything until the series is completed.

Not really an option. Most will out of sales and out of print before the series even ended.

[Mark064]

Well lets hope that it and they didn't cancel it

Would they cancel a Gundam manga over there and leave it hanging like that or would they at least attempt to give it a decent ending.[/quote]

Yup. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to the Gundam Wing manga that originally ran in Gundam Ace. Due to various factors it sometimes becomes impossible for the manga to be finished. Rare but not impossible.

[kupoartist]

Ecole is certainly not the only Tokyopop title on the chopping block, and the fact that it was pushed back twice (summer to winter 2008) is actually somewhat encouraging since they had some vague intention to keep up with it.

Tokyopop is quite unhealthy at the moment, the lack of an official announcement is perhaps a symptom of staff problems (their messy website and forums are seemingly neglected. No-one reads the forums certainly). BUT, the official word is that 'cancelled' titles are in fact just 'postponed' until they can be rehabilitated into a longer term schedule. Allegedly, they've cut back from 500 volumes a year to "between 200 and 225", so even if they do want to continue to publish Ecole Du Ciel, it'll squeeze into the schedules over an extended period. Also, Paul Morrissey who was editing the series was one of the staff cuts, for whatever that could mean for the series.

Don't hold your breath though. Ecole's reception always seemed lukewarm even within the Mecha community. I want to see it pull a Yotsuba-like act of necromangacy, but that just seems too unlikely. A shame, as the proper AEUG arc had just started up.

[Red Comet90]

Yup. I'm pretty sure that's what happened to the Gundam Wing manga that originally ran in Gundam Ace. Due to various factors it sometimes becomes impossible for the manga to be finished. Rare but not impossible.

Let's hope that it isn't completely dropped and that they eventually bring it back even if it is never released ever again over here.

Don't hold your breath though. Ecole's reception always seemed lukewarm even within the Mecha community. I want to see it pull a Yotsuba-like act of necromangacy, but that just seems too unlikely. A shame, as the proper AEUG arc had just started up.

Wow it got all the way to Z Gundam? I thought it would only bridge the gap between 0083 and Z. I wonder if it had such bad reception since the protagonist was a girl.

[Mark064]

Also, Paul Morrissey who was editing the series was one of the staff cuts, for whatever that could mean for the series.

Not only that but the translator is gone too.

[FinalSin66]

Has anyone heard anything new about EDC status or what TokyoPop is doing?

[MV6000 the Ace Zeon Pilot]

Its really sad since I got Volume 1-8 when they first came out. I really like UC Side Stories but they always get cancelled like The Blue Destiny.

I really want to know what happens next I hope they continue soon.

[Red Comet90]

Some of the other manga that were "postponed" according to Tokyopop have continued, but what really worries me if it has continued in Japan. Previously others had said that it hadn't been published in Gundam Ace for quite some time. That might be affecting why we aren't getting a delayed release of Volume 9. I hope they finish it one day.