Update: Shakugan no Shana Is Gone

The rumor was right. Shakugan no Shana as of late last night was removed from Baka-Tsuki for good. It’s still listed in the Projects List, but clicking it merely tells you that the page you are looking for doesn’t exist.

Now all that is left to do is to pray that Viz will release book 3, seeing now that there is no other way to read the rest of the series.

Baka-Tsuki Shuts Down

It’s official, Baka-Tsuki shut down…….the “Haruhi Suzumiya” and “Spice and Wolf” light novel projects.

What? You thought for a moment I meant the entire site? Dear heaven’s no! lol

But in all seriousness, the projects are gone, at least that is, in English.

Why? If you really have to ask, you’re quite out of the loop.

Here’s the official announcement as taken from the front page of Baka-Tsuki:

On Jan 20, 2010 a cease and desist letter was sent by Hachette Book Group in regards to the copyright infringement of series 1. Suzumiya Haruhi and 2. Spice and Wolf. As per request, Baka-Tsuki has immediately deleted all infringing pages. Should you have any question or concern, please contact (e-mail removed).

Thank you for your cooperation.

—Thelastguardian 23:28, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

I think anyone who understood the playing field that B-T was on, understands that this was inevitable. But in truth, the biggest surprise is that it took so long.

Or rather, its a surprise to some, but not to me.

It actually makes a lot of sense.

For one thing, anyone who DOES understand the playing field, realizes that Baka-Tsuki is a major player in the Light Novel Industry. Some could say its one of the remaining things keeping it a float in this sea of uncertainty. But of course, that’s an entire article for an entirely different time.

The fact is, Hachette didn’t ask for them to be taken down till now for several reasons.

1. Baka-Tsuki was part of the main reason there were fans for the books in the first place and it helped to give a lot of immediate sales for when the books came out officially (yes, this is all guessing, but I would say it’s an educated guess that anyone could come to. After all, without B-T many wouldn’t even know there WERE light novels for Haruhi or Spice and Wolf.)

2. It costs around $4,000 to issue a C&D order. So you have to feel pretty motivated about your product in order to spend that cash. And if you notice, they didn’t issue it until now, as they are preparing for the 3rd book of Haruhi and 2nd of Spice and Wolf. The reason is that its successful, its selling almost as well as many manga. So its actually a profitable item for them, something they want exclusivity to.

Should you be mad about this? I don’t know why.

Fact is, it was bound to happen. Hachette legally owns both series. And honestly, you should be buying them already if your a fan. The whole idea of the B-T translations were never to allow you to skimp on buying the books, but to be able to read them since they were unavailable.

So don’t get mad, just go out and buy them.

Either that, or if your lucky enough to have an Android phone, go and download a certain book app that will go unnamed and search for Haruhi and Spice and Wolf. Oh my…they’re all there. Shhh… Don’t tell anyone. (But seriously, were telling you to BUY them. Only use the floating PDFS and e-book versions as secondary ways to read them. )

If your a fan, support the series.

So what’s next? Could we be seeing other book series on B-T get cut?

Well, there’s really only two that are in trouble.

1. Shakugan no Shana (licensed by Viz, 2 books released, no announcements of further books)

2. Zero no Tsukaima (licensed by SevenSeas, no books released, is on indefinite hiatus)

There are currently rumors that Shana will be taken down from B-T within 24 hours. *hint**hint*

In other news though, some new projects are being added to B-T such as “Dantalian no Shoka”.

Many fans will be watching the situation closely, only time will tell how it will all turn out.

Back…Again

Hmm…it’s starting to sound like a bad joke, right?

But it’s still as true as ever, I’m busy. >.< lol

However, I do apologize for the lack of news and so forth. I shall try and update the blog regularly. I emphasis Try. I also thank anyone who checks back here every so often to see if I’ve posted something new. It is very encouraging to see so many people visiting the blog, even just by accident.

So without further a-du, I shall start reporting the news.