In what looks to be a reaction to the economic downturn, manga publisher Broccoli Books, the U.S. branch of Broccoli International, a Japan-based international producer of anime, manga, games and pop culture merchandise, will close at the end of this year. The shutdown was announced on the Broccoli Books production blog by Shizuki Yamashita, director of operations for Broccoli International U.S. Yamashita said all licenses will revert back to Japanese publishers at the end of 2008 and that Broccoli is also working to transfer some popular licenses to other U.S. publishers.
Launched in 2003 in Los Angeles, Broccoli Books published about 10 books a year, in addition to importing a wide variety of anime and manga related fan merchandise produced by Broccoli Japan. The company published such manga series as Di Gi Charat, Juvenile Orion and in 2007 added Boysenberry Books, a yaoi line of books that included such series as Delivery Cupid and Pet on Duty.
