Libre (publisher) explained

Libre Inc.
Native Name:株式会社リブレ
Native Name Lang:ja

, formerly known as from 2006 to 2016,[1] is a Japanese publishing company owned by Animate. Libre primarily publishes yaoi and teens' love manga and light novels, which are run in their magazines Magazine Be × Boy and Be × Boy Gold. The company was founded on May 8, 2006, after Biblos closed in April 2006, when their original parent company, Hekitensha, filed for bankruptcy.

History

Biblos was originally formed under publisher Hekitensha in 1988 for publishing yaoi content, including magazines such as Magazine Be × Boy, Be × Boy Gold, and Junk! Boy. In 2006, Hekitensha declared bankruptcy, which caused Biblos to close in April 2006. All publications under Biblos were put on indefinite hiatus until they rebranded as Libre Publishing on May 8, 2006, with Animate as their parent company. Several magazines previously owned by Biblos were transferred to Libre, including Magazine Be × Boy and Be × Boy Gold. Other magazines and anthologies, such as Junk! and Zero, were later relaunched under different names; the anthology B-Boy LUV became B-Boy Phoenix.[2] In 2016, Libre Publishing renamed their company as Libre.[1]

Aside from print media, Libre publishes audio drama CDs under the labels Cue Egg Label and Melty Drop. Cue Egg Label was originally launched by Biblos and acquired under the rebranding; the label features audio adaptations of Libre's yaoi manga.[3] Melty Drop is Libre's original label featuring adult-oriented otome situation drama CDs marketed to women.[4]

English-licensing partnerships

In 2010, Animate USA announced that they would release some of Libre's books on the Amazon Kindle format,[5] and in September of that year, Libre sent cease and desist notices to several scanlation groups.[6]

In October 2011, the American manga publisher Viz Media launched the BL imprint SuBLime in collaboration with Libre and its parent company Animate to publish English-language BL for the print and worldwide digital market.[7] [8] In June 2016, Libre Publishing terminated their partnership with Digital Manga Publishing.[9] [10]

Controversies

After the closure of Biblos in April 2006, Libre gained the licenses for former Biblos titles.[11] Central Park Media, who held the English license for North American publication with Biblos, continued to publish their former Biblos titles, and in 2007, Libre described CPM's continued publication of their titles as "illegal", saying that they needed to renegotiate licenses.[11] [12] Central Park Media stated in December 2007 that Libre had "refused to discuss" the issue with them, and that they regarded their licenses with Biblos as still being legally binding with Libre.[13] After Central Park Media filed for bankruptcy in April 2009, Libre released another statement stating that they had not been in a business relationship for some time prior to this, and that Libre expected new titles to be released by their new US publishers.[12]

On October 11, 2015, Libre issued an apology on their official website to manga artist Harada for publishing her dōjinshi in a special issue of B-Boy without her permission.[14]

Publications

Magazines

First publicationFinal publicationMagazine nameStatusFrequencyNotes
1993Magazine Be × BoyActiveMonthlyAcquired from Biblos; first launched in March 1993
1995Be × Boy GoldActiveBi-monthlyFirst launched in 1995 by Biblos;[15] relaunched under Libre in 2006;[16] more explicit contents and short stories
20082015Junk! BoyDefunctSemi-yearlyOriginally titled Junk! by Biblos; relaunched in 2008 by Libre under the title JunkBoy. Titles transferred to Magazine Be × Boy after final issue[17]
1994ActiveMonthlyFirst launched in 1995 by Biblos;[18] relaunched under Libre in June 2006 as special issues in Be × Boy Gold;[19] novels

Digital magazines

First publicationFinal publicationMagazine nameStatusFrequencyNotes
1994ActiveSemi-yearlyFirst launched in 1994 by Biblos under the title Zero;[20] re-launched in May 2008 as under Libre; stories are all-genre with focus on the fantasy and science fiction genres. The magazine entered a joint partnership with Pixiv Comics in October 2012, where it is distributed digitally under their platform since then.[21] The magazine was renamed Kurofune on November 24, 2016.[22]
20112018ActiveSemi-yearly
2017ActiveMonthlyTeens love; first issue released on February 23, 2017
2019ActiveMonthlyOriginally a series of semi-monthly anthologies focusing on omegaverse; first issue released on June 20, 2019[23]
2019ActiveMonthlyTeens love; first issue released on November 28, 2019

Anthologies

First publicationFinal publicationTitleStatusFrequencyNotes
20062009B-Boy PhoenixDefunctSemi-yearlyPublished from July 20, 2006, to October 1, 2009, with a total of 20 volumes.
20102013CitronDefunctSemi-yearlyPublished from 2010 to 2013.[24]
2012X-BLActiveSemi-yearlyExplicit yaoi manga anthology series marketed towards women 18 years or older; includes Pink Gold series[25]
20162019DefunctSemi-yearlyA series of short stories focusing on omegaverse; first series was published digitally from August 18, 2016, to June 15, 2017, with a total of six volumes.[26] [27] A second series titled B-Boy Omegaverse Phase 2 was published digitally from October 19, 2017, to September 27, 2018, with a total of 7 volumes.[28] [29] A third series titled B-Boy Omegaverse Mercury was published digitally from October 18, 2018, to April 18, 2019, with a total of 7 volumes.[30] [31] The anthology was later relaunched as a monthly digital magazine.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Toshiko . Ota . 【お知らせ】社名変更とコーポレートサイトオープンにつきまして . (Notice) Company name change and opening of corporate website . ja . Libre . 2016-05-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161003160330/https://libre-inc.co.jp/news/detail.php?news_id=70 . 2016-10-03.
  2. Book: Demars, Anne. Les éditeurs de boys love. Brient. Hervé. Homosexualité et manga : le yaoi. Editions H. Manga: 10000 images. 2008. 978-2-9531781-0-4. 12–16. French.
  3. News: 【ララの結婚】キャスト写真＆インタビュー&試聴＆コミックス2巻の書影が公開！ ドラマCD&コミックス2巻発売は11月9日(土) . ja . Libre . PR Times . 2019-10-11 . 2020-04-15 . December 9, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191209011044/https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000290.000022435.html . live .
  4. News: 「らぶえっちなカレのおねだり＆いじわるCD」第3弾のジャケ写公開 . ja . . 2017-05-21 . 2020-04-15 . December 1, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221201083506/https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1495169987 . live .
  5. Web site: Animate to Bring More Libre Manga to Kindle in April. April 9, 2010. April 8, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100408182052/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-04-07/animate-to-bring-more-libre-manga-to-kindle-in-april. live.
  6. Web site: Japanese company stops American scanlators. September 14, 2010. January 4, 2012. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112724/http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/09/japanese-company-stops-american-scanlators/. dead.
  7. Web site: Viz Launches SuBLime Boys-Love Manga Line with Love Pistols (Updated). October 24, 2011. October 24, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111024033712/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-10-22/viz-launches-sublime-boys-love-manga-line-with-love-pistols. live.
  8. News: Balistrieri. Emily. SuBLime: Everything We Know About VIZ's New Boys' Love Line. Crunchyroll. 24 October 2011. October 25, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111025111823/http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2011/10/22/sublime-everything-we-know-about-vizs-new-boys-love-line. live.
  9. News: Crystalyn . Hodgkins . Libre Ends Publishing Agreement With Digital Manga, Inc. . . 2016-06-18 . 2020-02-24 . February 25, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200225013922/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-06-18/libre-ends-publishing-agreement-with-digital-manga-inc/.103361 . live .
  10. News: Crystalyn . Hodgkins . Libre Publishing Comments on Termination of Agreement With Digital Manga Inc. . . 2016-06-23 . 2020-02-24 . February 25, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200225013923/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-06-23/libre-publishing-comments-on-termination-of-agreement-with-digital-manga-inc/.103537 . live .
  11. News: Kai-Ming . Cha . Calvin . Reid . Japanese Publisher Claims CPM Infringes . . 2007-03-29 . 2020-02-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071017222511/http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6428918.html . 2007-10-17.
  12. Web site: Notice on Unauthorized Translations by Central Park Media . Libre Publishing . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080714224359/http://www.libre-pub.co.jp/info17.html . 2008-07-14.
  13. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-12-09/cpm-speaks-on-manga-license-dispute-with-libre CPM speaks on manga license dispute
  14. News: BL漫画誌「特濃b－BOY」 作者に無断で作品を改変掲載 HPで謝罪 . . 2015-10-11 . 2020-03-12 . November 8, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201108105613/https://www.sankei.com/life/news/151010/lif1510100041-n1.html . live .
  15. Book: ビーボーイゴールド ビブロス [編] ]. Be × Boy Gold (Biblos version) . ja . . 1995 . ビブロス . 2020-04-15 . April 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220412144154/https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000000098445-00 . live .
  16. Web site: ビーボーイゴールド . Be × Boy Gold . ja . . 2020-04-15 . April 26, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220426051856/https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000008306080-00 . live .
  17. Web site: Junk! boy = ジャンクボーイ . ja . . 2020-04-15 . April 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220412144159/https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000010541891-00 . live .
  18. Book: 小説ビーボーイ : 小説b-Boy ビブロス [編] ]. Shosetsu B-Boy (Biblos version) . ja . . 1994 . ビブロス . 2020-04-15 . April 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220412144155/https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000000093371-00 . live .
  19. Web site: 小説ビーボーイ . Shosetsu B-Boy . ja . . 2020-04-15 . April 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220412144158/https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000008306057-00 . live .
  20. Book: ゼロビブ ロス [編] ]. Zero (Biblos version) . ja . . 1994 . ビブロス . 2020-04-15 . October 20, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201020173543/https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000000093853-00 . live .
  21. News: クロフネZEROが「ZERO」と「百」2つのWEBマンガ誌に . ja . . 2012-10-10 . 2020-04-15 . April 9, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190409102131/https://natalie.mu/comic/news/78002 . live .
  22. News: リブレ発、pixivで読めるWeb雑誌2誌がスタート！新連載は計9本も . ja . . 2016-11-24 . 2020-04-15.
  23. Web site: b-boyオメガバース 2019年6月号 . ja . Libre . 2020-04-15 . July 28, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240728224526/https://libre-inc.co.jp/catalog/detail.php?product_id=16682 . live .
  24. Web site: Citron = シトロン . ja . . 2020-04-15 . July 28, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240728224525/https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000010778314 . live .
  25. Web site: X-BL 女子による女子のための18禁レーベル . ja . Libre . 2020-04-15 . April 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200419052750/https://x-bl.jp/ . live .
  26. Web site: b-boyオメガバース vol.1 . ja . Libre . 2020-04-15 . July 28, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240728224525/https://libre-inc.co.jp/catalog/detail.php?product_id=14675 . live .
  27. Web site: b-boyオメガバース vol.6 . ja . Libre . 2020-04-15.
  28. Web site: b-boyオメガバース phase2 vol.1 . ja . Libre . 2020-04-15.
  29. Web site: b-boyオメガバース phase2 vol.7 . ja . Libre . 2020-04-15 . July 28, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240728224527/https://libre-inc.co.jp/catalog/detail.php?product_id=16257 . live .
  30. Web site: b-boyオメガバース Mercury vol.1 . ja . Libre . 2020-04-15 . July 28, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240728225034/https://libre-inc.co.jp/catalog/detail.php?product_id=16298 . live .
  31. Web site: b-boyオメガバース Mercury vol.7 . ja . Libre . 2020-04-15 . July 28, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240728225034/https://libre-inc.co.jp/catalog/detail.php?product_id=16594 . live .

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