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 Full
Circle: The Unofficial History of MixxZine
By Adam "OMEGA"
Arnold
Part Four: "The
Anime Magazine Your Parents Warned You About"
Tokyo Pop Comes
Thundering In
"Transitions. From diapers to
undies, from grammar school up through college, even from job to
job, transitions tend to be both exciting and uncertain.
Transitions aren't always welcome either because many people hate
change. But change is a part of life. People can resist change
all they want, but life goes on and changes happen no matter how
much we wish they wouldn't. With that said, welcome to the first
issue of Tokyo Pop, formerly known as MixxZine."
- Brian Kaya, From the Editor (Tokyo Pop 3-1)
 In the first pages of Tokyo Pop 3-1 (August/September
1999), Brian Kaya, the new editor-in-chief taking over Stu
Levy's position, masterfully summarized the changes that MixxZine
had gone through and gave a glimpse at the future of Tokyo Pop,
all the while giving the first print mention of Mixx's darkest
hour; "To those readers who've hung with us through all the
controversy ("controversy"? What "controversy"?),
thank you."
Tokyo Pop as a whole
featured a more streamlined version of the layout Mixx-Zine 2-6
had sported while give readers the magazine's last appearance of Gundam:
Blue Destiny. The issue also presented the last time more
than two manga would appear in the magazine, in fact this issue
only featured three manga series: Gundam: Blue Destiny, Magic
Knight Rayearth, and Parasyte. Future issues would
rotate between Parasyte, Magic Knight Rayearth, and
the censored Sorcerer Hunters. Besides a full set of
articles the magazine also cover featured an interview with
digital cartoonist Kenichi Kutsugi supplemented with pictures of
his creation Yuki as well as a chat with Gundam: Blue Destiny's
artisit Mizuho Takayama.
At this time, the Sailor Moon
comic underwent a make-over with issue number 11. The Mixx logo
with the price under it was transformed into a box featuring the
words ‘MIXX Presents' in read letters above anew logo
signifying the book was a part of the ‘Chix Comix' line of
books. Below the box appears the standard crescent-star logo with
the issue number in it and the price appears in a set-off box
just under that. The bottom of the cover featured the Mixx logo
with the bar code, which was moved from the back cover to the
front, on top of that with the MixxOnline web address inverted
beside the UPC. According to Wizard magazine, a foil
variant of Sailor Moon #11 does exist. Months later with
the release of issue 18, the Mixx logo would be replaced by the
Tokyopop.com logo and the new words ‘TOKYOPOP.com Presents'
would replace the previous one above the Chix Comix logo. The
changes would also finally give the UPC a set layout that would
not need to vary from issue to issue.
September 17, 1999 brought word
that Mixx Entertainment had licensed the Gundam Wing manga
series and hoped to coincide the release with the anime release
by Bandai's AnimeVillage. The comic would be released in February
2000 with the first graphic novel following in May 2000 (ANN: 9/20/99 News Briefs).
 On the Chix front, Smile 1-6 (October 1999)
showcases model Melinda Smith and her ‘unique' eye-shadow as
she sports some hot truly galactic back-to-school gear. Then
there is a Shannon Elizabeth interview and a slew of bands all
capping off the first year of the magazine along with Sailor
Moon Super S and Sushi Girl.
The Ties That Bind
 Tokyo Pop 3-2 (October 1999) does a
lot of things right and on top of it all is fanboy Henry Liao's
CoCo Lee interview which touches on everything from her first
English album to boyfriends and includes a CoCo Discography.
Then, there is the Anime Expo ‘99 Exposed article which
breaks the precedence that the convention follow-up articles had
to be limited to a handful of words. The issue also debuts a new
Mixx-related manga called Otakko: The World's Greatest Otaku!
written by Brian Haya and illustrated by Henry Liao.
And most important of all, Brian
Kaya gives word of Parasyte's departure in 2 issues to
avoid repeating "past" mistakes when the manga totally
vanishes from the magazine. It seems the forthcoming Pocket Mixx
collections would actually surpass the magazine release at some
point. Magic Knight Rayearth takes a break as the Magic
Knights finally confront the final enemy and make it back to
Tokyo. Then there is the slogan contest which gives readers a
chance to give Tokyo Pop a subtitle. Anything is better
than the humorous ideas the staff gave; The OTHER Anime Magazine,
Our Giant Robot is bigger than theirs, The magazine that tastes
like chicken, Buy two copies. Please!
 (smile2-1.jpg)Smile 2-1 (December 1999)
evolves as the cover features Vitamin C in place of a model
centerfold cover. The magazine is also the final issue of the
year, though it starts the second volume of the Smile
story. It's more of the same great gurl related content that
seeks to enlighten the cyber-gurlz with more of the blending of
the real world with the digital. Oh yeah, Sailor Moon Super S
and Sushi Girl are along for the ride as well.
Now, months after the uproar about
Mixx-Zine 2-2, Anime-Manga.Net slowly went down in flames
over the course of three weeks during the final weeks of October.
Among the fallen sites were the Eye on Mixx watchdog page as well
as the original beta version of the ANIMEfringe, an Evangelion
web site entitled The NERV Geofront as well as a host of fan art
and information sites.
 Over on the entertainment side of things,
it became clear that Disney's Sailor Moon movie had fallen
off the face of the moon. But, then came Sony's announcement of
an Astro Boy movie and the anime to film movement had
started once again. Then on November 4, 1999, more word trickled
down the grape-vine that a live action Parasyte movie was
in the works by the new company Angry Films. Angry Films would
bring Hitosi Iwaaki's violent parasitic alien manga to the big
screen with the help of Jim Henson Pictures, which would help
fund the movie. The writing team of Matt Manfredi and Phil Hey
would take the reigns in the adaption which will take place in
America. Besides the move from Japan to the U.S. the most
noticeable change comes in the form of the main characters name,
Shin, which would be renamed Mike (IGN Sci-Fi: ‘Parasyte' Latches Onto Hollywood).
The Most Valuable
Thing in This World
 Tokyo Pop 3-3 (November 1999)
features the new ‘hired-gun' Mike Limbert's debut as the new
art director as Hassan Abdul-Wahid depart for the television and
film industry. And Brian Kaya made sure to repeat that Parasyte
would be saying "Ja Matta Ne" after the next issue and
that Rayearth would be taking a breather until then when
the second half of the story begins. Until then, Sorcerer
Hunters and Parasyte would form a manga duet.
As the Japanese content continues
to escalate, a batch of negative letters dominate the letter
column page as a testament that not everyone thinks change is
good. Likewise, a second batch of equally funny staff slogans are
given for the title contest: Can leap over Giant Robots in a
single bound!, The sound of out overworked Editor's head makes
when it explodes, We pick out noses better than we pick our
slogans, The more you read, the more surprised we are, Blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah. And to top it all off is John Cairn's
cover story ‘Wanna See Something Really Scary?: Japanese
Horror Flicks' and a slew of Studio Ghibli articles.
December 1, 1999 brought the
announcement that Tokyo Pop had formed a partnership "with
Spinner.com to expand its music offerings with artists form
Japanese Pop. The catalogue of Asian musicians, the result of
Tokyo Pop's partnerships with Asian music labels, will be
featured over the next year on Spinner.com's Playlist-To-Go."
The announcement goes on to mention that visitors will be able to
download mp3s, view information on the artist, and be provided an
opportunity to buy import albums and related products. As a
whole, this move will help "introduce Americans to a new
world of Asian pop music. (ANN: Tokyo Pop Adds J-Pop Content To
Spinner.com)"
Spirit of Wonder
 Anything with Princess Mononoke and
Ulala on the cover has got to be good, and Tokyo Pop 3-4 (December
1999) doesn't disappoint. After Brian's initial apology about the
error made concerning the Titanic outselling Princess
Mononoke problem (‘"Princess Mononoke" was the
highest grossing film in Japan UNTIL "Titanic" came
along') the magazine really shines; the letter page is once again
full of juicy hate mail and then some equally good phan mail, the
interview with Hayao Miyazaki is less philosophical and more down
to Earth than Animerica's interview, and top it all off
with a look at the Tokyo Game Show ‘99 Autumn. The manga
features the final serialized installment of Parasyte, and
another installment of Sorcerer Hunters and Mixx's own Otakko.
Most important of all is the full
page ad that gives a hint that Spring & Chaos: The Life
Story of Kenji Miyazawa is finally coming in 2000. And Aimee
Gallentine became the first, and only, slogan winner with "Tokyo
Pop, the anime magazine your parents warned you about."
Though the slogan appeared on the cover, the ‘From the
Editor' column pointed out that a different winner's slogan would
appear on the cover of future issues. This, however, turned out
to be the only issue to feature a slogan, for future covers would
only have the web address ‘www.tokyopop.com' below the title.
 The stunning Lisa Ling of ABC's The View
takes center stage for an issue and Magic Knight Rayearth
returns to the manga section along with Sorcerer Hunters
in Tokyo Pop 3-5 (January 2000). Likewise, the excellent
layout in the interview with Ming Tran, "Hook-Ups girl",
and Open All Night: The Wonderful World of Japanese Convenience
Stores both show where Tokyo Pop can go in the future.
Yet, Mixx Entertainment continues to go through a transition of
staff members as Susan Jaget (Tokyo Pop's ad coordinator and Smile's
publisher) and Livia Ching (Smile's associate editor) both
bid a fond farewell to the company. On the other hand, new art
director, Juliann Brown, and art production assistant, Yuka
Komatsu, join the team.
 Continuity to prosper, Mixx Entertainment
rang in the new year with a slew of new Mixx Manga books
including the first volume of Sorcerer Hunters and Sushi
Girl as well as the third volume of Sailor Moon Super S.
Yet, the biggest release came in the form of the stand-alone
monthly comic book Cardcaptor Sakura #1, CLAMP's tale of a
fourth-grade girl who finds an enchanted book called ‘The
Claw' and is thrust into a mystical journey to capture all the
escaped Clow Cards before they unleash their destructive power
upon the world. Cardcaptor Sakura joins the growing line
of Mixx's Chix Comix line and is set to prep the market for the
Sakura phenomenon that will strike in the fall when the WB
premiers the anime series.
After the initial releases of the Sailor
Moon novel series, Mixx soon followed with the first of five Scout
Guide books that would be fully devoted to an individual
Sailor Scout; Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, and Sailor Moon. The
first of these books would be Sailor Moon Scout Guide-Meet
Sailor Mars: Fire featuring everything thing you ever wanted
to know about Raye but were afraid to ask because of her hot
temper. The books would average 96 pages each and would be loaded
with pictures and facts for each of the scouts all for the low
price of $12.96 per book.
 Next comes the staff of Tokyo Pop
wishing former editor-in-chief, Brian Kaya, good bye and Matthew
Galgani takes over the helm in Tokyo Pop 3-6 (February/March
2000). For the first issue of ‘The Pacific Century,'
actor Tadandel Asand is featured, as info on the upcoming Parasyte
movie is reviled, and the magazine takes an even more hip turn.
Meanwhile, Sorcerer Hunters and Magic Knight Rayearth
continue to please as the only manga in the magazine.
The Ultimate
Destination for Asian Entertainment
During this time, as Dave Baranyi
of CompuServe's Anime/Manga Forum points out, "Tokyo Pop has
moved its offices from Orange County to somewhere in LA proper,
has moved its shipping operations to some third party in the
MidWest US and Mike Kiley, the founder, has left the company.
They are presently trying to train up a bunch of new people who
don't know the old customers. They are also trying to educate the
shipping company, where there isn't anyone who can read Japanese."
More importantly, the Tokyopop.com
web site underwent a drastic make-over in which the product line
was revamped, as promised, and a slew of community features were
added. These new features include instant messaging, chat,
message boards, free web sites, free e-mail, and various other
user perks.
But, the only way to get all these
perks is to join. By signing up for the free membership there is
no cost and a registered user gets a free 1-year Tokyo Pop
magazine subscription as well as access to all the community
content and special Tokyopop.com prices. Yet, by joining at the
annual rate of $29.95 you get all that and a free Mixx Manga, a $10
e-coupon, VIP Member Prices, an @ Cost Program, and free shipping
for domestic orders over $25 (TokyoPop: Club Tokyopop). All these additions help make Tokyopop.com a
major contender in the ‘one stop for everything' Internet
war.
A Far Away Feeling
 Smile 2-2 (March 2000), with an interview
with the Sailor Moon novelist, Lianne Sentar, anime, video
game, and music reviews, and great manga, the magazine does
everything right as a blending of a fashion magazine and manga
magazine. But, it's too much like a female version of Tokyo
Pop by this time. For this reason, Susan Jaget and Livia
Ching's departure from Mixx Entertainment is the harbinger of
change which comes in the announcement on the Smile's
Mailbox page; "Attention All Smile Readers: We have an
exciting announcement here at SMILE. Because of all your
loyalty and faithful support. SMILE has grown to become a
fresh and original entertainment magazine for girls. By far the
most popular section in SMILE has been Naoko Takeuchi's
amazing manga (Japanese comic) Sailor Moon SuperS. Also,
our original manga character contest was wildly popular and the
Phan Art keeps pouring in. We've read everyone's letters–thousands
of them–and have found the overwhelming popularity of Sailor
Moon SuperS and manga in general to be mind-blowing. You just
absolutely LOVE manga!!
Beginning in the next issue. SMILE will become the first
TRUE all-shojo manga (girl's comic) magazine. We are currently in
discussions with our partners to add several exciting new manga
to SMILE. Right now, we can't yet announce which manga
stories will be added, but we know you'll be really psyched! The
new SMILE magazine will join other CHIX COMIX lines in
bringing more of the freshest Shojo Comix available. Current CHIX
COMIX include the monthly Sailor Moon Comic, and Cardcaptor
Sakura Comic, with more coming soon. SMILE and SMILE's
website, www.smilegear.com, will carry your Phan Art, letters,
Shout Outs, and contest. We live in the internet age, and SMILE
magazine and SMILEGEAR.com will continue to be an exciting
magazine/online team for you. It's gonna be a great year, and
we're excited to be sharing it with you, our loyal readers! =) =)
=)"
 Due to the
changeover in Smile magazine occurring after Previews
Vol. IX, No.2 had ran the solicitation for Smile 2-3,
the issue blurb read like just another issue of Smile as it had
appeared up to that point: "Let's get rocked with the "Girl
Band" issue of the only magazine geared to the "next-gen"
girl. Get the 411 on up-and-coming girl groups that will dominate
radio in the year ahead. And don't miss out on our regular
features including: Girl Gear, URL's for gURLS, and a brand new
chapter in Sailor Moon SuperS." However, that version
of Smile 2-3 never saw print and was replaced by what was
solicited for Smile 2-4 in Previews Vol.IX, No.4:
"It's a brand new era for SMILE magazine–an era
of fun and comics cool enough for boys, but made for girls. SMILE
is changing its format to be the only Shojo (or girl comic)
magazine on the market. Catch all the new anime and manga series
to join Sailor Moon SuperS in this brand-new incarnation
of entertainment." It is important to keep in mind Dark
Horse comics joined in the manga anthology market with the
introduction of Super Manga Blast! at the end of March
2000.
The Shooting Star
She Saw
Gundam Wing, the sensation
that blasted its way onto Cartoon Network at the beginning of
March 2000 made its way to the comic shelves as Mixx
Entertainment unveiled the first issue of the monthly Gundam
Wing comic book in the middle of March. The 48 page book
follows five ruthless Gundam pilots as they find themselves in
the middle of a power struggle between the Earth and the outer-space
Colonies. And with any manga, the story diverges a great deal
from that of the anime series giving a truly unique perspective
on the events taking place in A.C. 195.
On March 20, 2000, TokyoPop.com
officially celebrated their "hatching" from USC's EC2/Annenburg
Center incubator program which the the company had been a part
of since mid-1997. The night was filled with presentations and
partying as the TokyoPop.com staff and special guest celebrated
the monumenteous occasion that thoroughly broke in the new offices
of TokyoPop.com.
TOKYOPOP.com Graduation Party
 Tokyo Pop 3-7 (April 2000) features the
popular angry spacefish mascot, which made its debut on the
Tokyopop.com web site back in June of 1999 thanks to Tsurukame-sensei,
in place of the Tokyo Pop soft drink can beside the logo.
Also, the magazine features an interesting cover picture of the
band Puffy as well as free CoCo Lee Poster inside. Plus there is
word that Spring and Chaos is coming to DVD.
And the issue manages to cram in a
new section called Tokyo Pop People which will feature just about
any thing that readers want, but this issue just has more Phan
Art. Most of all the issue is a topic-a-page experience like no
other. What other magazine out there exists where you can turn
the page and find a Chinese-American Diva, then tons of anime
sneak peeks, then video games, full interviews, CD reviews,
articles about Japanese society, and then manga all in one
package?
In the April 2000 issue of Previews
magazine, the Mixx Entertainment solicitations made the big move
to a new section called Tokyopop.com. After 3 years of being
crammed in the middle of mature and independent comic titles, the
books finally were moved to a section that was more fitting for
the titles being released. Likewise, the new section put Tokyopop.com
closer to its competitor Viz Communications in the magazine.
Promises Fulfilled
 You go to get the latest issue of Smile,
issue 2-3 (May 2000) and notice the magazine has become the size
of a comic book and the weight has increased, yet, the price has
stayed the same ($3.99). You look at the cover and see Sailor
Moon with three titles on the cover. Something is definitely
up. You flip through the magazine and find tons of black and
white pages and make it all the way to the back where the Smile
Letters page is and find the bolded introduction where everything
becomes clear: "Welcome to the new face of SMILE! I
hope you like the new all-manga format. Now, I know there are
some of you out there who didn't read the letter from the editor
in the last issue. So, for those of you who are shocked and
disappointed, let me just say, I feel your pain. I know it's hard
when the powers that be mess with a good thing. But hang in there
with us. I think you'll like the changes. The one thing SMILE
readers always seemed to agree on was that there just wasn't
enough manga in the mag! And that's not all, starting in June,
there'll be a brand new issue of SMILE coming out each and
every month.
Well, here it is. All manga, all the time! Otanoshimi ni!"
So, what does the new incarnation
of Smile have to offer? Smile Letters, Fan Art, a few ads,
and over 100 pages of full page manga! There is the eighth
chapter of Sailor Moon Super S and the introductory
chapters of the newly licenced Peach Girl and Juline.
Miwa Ueda's Peach Girl has
it all; high school romance, hot fashions, and back-stabbing
friends. And worst of all, Momo is considered a bad girl because
she has a tan (because she tans really easily) and only girls
that are easy have a tan in this world. What's a girl to do?
Loose that tan, catch the guy's eye, and get revenge on that
conniving friend, that's what!
And to top it all off is Narumi
Kakinouchi's Juline, a modern-day martial arts epic, in
the tradition of the comedy Ninja Cadets, that seems to be the
odd-ball manga in the group, much like Ice Blade was in
the first issue of Mixx-Zine. But, the story is intriguing
none-the-less as the mysterious Black Pearl sets out to uncover
the secret of the Kenga Clan so the ultimate power of the three
sacred treasures may be unleashed. And Juline is in the middle of
all the controversy.
Interestingly enough, the issue
received ‘mixxed' emotions on various newsgroups with
comments such as; ‘too little too late,' ‘I was
pleasantly surprised,' and ‘Smile could turn into a
completely different magazine 6 months from now,' among numerous
of others. But, regardless of the fan reaction, the manga market
finally has a fully shoujo manga anthology. And quite an
excellent one at that.
Remember the Future
 In Tokyo Pop 3-8 (May 2000), the
Tokyo Pop People section takes a look at a few of the members who
take a part in the TOKYOPOP online community. It may not be the
cover of Rolling Stone, but at least these guys and gals
can write home that they were in a magazine. And the best part is
users of TokyoPop.com can submit themselves for consideration for
future profiling.
As a whole the exceedingly
diversified magazine can be summarized best by the editors
comments; "What do crowded trains, Korean night clubs,
threaded eyebrows, and exploding barbed wire wrestling rings have
in common? To the uninitiated: not a whole hell of a lot. To
those more familiar with TOKYOPOP: not a whole hell of a lot."
All the while, TokyoPop.com's new
spin-off site GoldenSilk.com, a web site featuring today's Asian
lifestyles and sport cars, silently launched with expanded
versions of some of Tokyo Pop magazine's hottest articles.
The site uses the TokyoPop.com member formula with a blending of
the articles that made Tokyo Pop interesting to read and
the models that made Smile fun to look at, yet it is
totally geared towards the Asian demographic.
To increase the exposure of the Sailor
Moon Scout Guides, TokyoPop.com and Pioneer Entertainment
joined forces to give the edited VHS and uncut DVD release of the
second Sailor Moon movie, Sailor Moon S The Movie:
Hearts of Ice, a special premium. Instead of offering a mail-away
watch as with the first volume, TokyoPop.com created an Exclusive
Sailor Moon S Movie Edition Scout Guide previewing both the Meet
Sailor Mars: Fire and Meet Sailor Venus: Love books.
The May 23, mass-market, release of the movie to department
stores and specialty stories alike not only put the excellent
movie in the hands of moonies, but put a great book in their
hands which would surely lead many to purchase the whole set and
many more Tokyopop.com products.
 Tokyo Pop 3-9 (June 2000) was rushed to the stands
with a tell-all interview with Spawn creator, Todd
McFarlane that was host to questions that no one would ever
expect to see answered in a magazine like Wizard. From
there the magazine becomes a barrage of topics ranging from sub-features
like Japanese Vending Machines to the new animated movie Titan
A.E.. Top it all off with the same great columns and manga
that have made the magazine great and you have an unbeatable
magazine that blends the best of the Asian culture with the best
of the American culture into a magazine geared towards the people
who know what's kewl.
 In August 2000, Tokyopop.com will host the
first annual AnimeOnline Festival 2000, an online convention in
the tradition of Scifi.com's Sci-Fi Dot Con. The festival will
showcase a wide array of original anime Internet works in Flash,
Shockwave, or Quicktime formats, all competing in five Asian pop
culture categories for a cash Grand Prize of $10,000. And best of
all the winners will be judged by experts who will decide the
finalist, and those will be posted on Tokyopop.com for the
visitors to decide the winner (Tokyopop.com: AnimeOnline Festival 2000
Information).
Finally, in the coming months Smile
2-4 will feature the unveiling of CLAMP's futuristic cyber-fantasy,
Clover, while Tokyo Pop will feature a look into the new
movie Jay Luck Club, host a class in Anime 101, and have a
sit-in with martial arts super-star Jackie Chan and film partner
Chris Tucker. Tokyo Pop will launch their new High Voltage
Video subdivision with the mind-numbingly popular Japanese
Hardcore Pro Wrestling League, FMW: Frontier Martial Arts
Wrestling. In October a slew of new Pocket Manga dedicated to the Chix
Comix line will be released with first volumes of Miracle Girls,
Juline, Saint Tail, He Says/She Says, and Peach Girl.
And cap it all off the promised release of the fourth
volume of the Parasyte Mixx Manga. All this and more will
become a reality as Mixx Entertainment d/b/a TokyoPop.com moves
into it's fourth year.
So, from manga to features, Sailor
Moon to Gundam, Mixx-Zine to Tokyo Pop,
readers to hackers, hecklers to people, gurlz to manga, Mixx
Entertainment has gone through the toughest ups and downs that
any normal magazine would not be able to cope with. Yet, Mixx
stuck it out through the hard times and emerged a better magazine
in the process. Though they got some things wrong, they got a lot
of things right. Proving, that the Mixx story is a testament to
all magazines and the anime industry.
Appendix: Mixx
Entertainment Product Chronology -->
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