Select Kodansha Bilingual Manga To Cease Export

According to Anime News Service, Kodansha Publishing of Japan has decided to cease international distribution of its Japanese published bilingual Japanese and English Card Captor Sakura, Love Hina, Ah! Megami-sama & GTO manga. Considering that other bilingual titles including Kindaichi Shounen’s Mystery Files, OL Shinkaron & Sazae-san will continue to be officially exported internationally, it may be that domestic publishers have urged Kodansha to discontinue export to cease competition with domestic translations. The Japanese bilingual manga are not mainly intended for consumers outside of Japan. They are published as aids for native Japanese speakers to learn English.

Because AnimeNation does not import these Japanese bilingual manga directly from Kodansha Publishing itself, this drought should not affect the price or availability of these books through AnimeNation.