Editing Tokyopop (section)

=== Early history ===
Tokyopop was founded in 1997 by [[Stuart J. Levy]].<ref name="founding">{{Cite news | last=Jarvis | first=Michael | title=The Godzilla-Sized Appeal of Japan's Pop Culture | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/430966331.html?dids=430966331:430966331&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+26%2C+2003&author=MICHAEL+T.+JARVIS&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=I.9&desc=Metropolis+%2F+Chat+Room%3B+The+Godzilla-Sized+Appeal+of+Japan%27s+Pop+Culture | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225175830/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/430966331.html?dids=430966331:430966331&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+26%2C+2003&author=MICHAEL+T.+JARVIS&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=I.9&desc=Metropolis+%2F+Chat+Room%3B+The+Godzilla-Sized+Appeal+of+Japan%27s+Pop+Culture | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 25, 2009 | magazine=[[Los Angeles Times]] | page=9 | date=October 26, 2003}}</ref> In the late 1990s, the company's headquarters were in [[Los Angeles]].<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20001029221527/http://www.mixxonline.com/mixxonline/company/press_releases/pr_990618_sailor_tops.html MIXX'S SAILOR MOON MANGA IS THE NUMBER 1 GRAPHIC NOVEL OR TRADE PAPERBACK IN AMERICA!]" [[Mixx Entertainment]]. June 18, 1999. Retrieved on August 21, 2011. "Mixx Entertainment, Inc. 746 W. Adams Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-7727"</ref>
 
Tokyopop published a manga magazine called MixxZine which serialized four classic manga including ''Sailor Moon'', ''Magic Knight Rayearth'', ''[[Parasyte]]'', and ''[[Ice Blade]]''. Eventually, MixxZine became an Asian pop culture publication entitled [[Tokyopop (magazine)|Tokyopop Magazine]]. Additionally, the company published a manga and tech magazine entitled [[Smile (magazine)|Smile Magazine]].

Cultural anthropologist [[Rachel Thorn]] praised [[Stu Levy]] for opening up an untapped market for animation with the publication of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' and other. Before ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', the belief among entertainment executives was that "girls don't watch cartoons."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://matt-thorn.com/wordpress/?p=495 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120824211531/http://matt-thorn.com/wordpress/?p=495 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 24, 2012 |title=Matt Thorn's Blog}}</ref> Due to ''Sailor Moon''{{'}}s immense popularity, Tokyopop discontinued the serial from its magazines, and released it separately as its first manga graphic novel. They engineered prominent book distribution via retail stores, standardized book trim size, created a basic industry-wide rating system, and developed the first-ever retail manga displays and introduced the world of graphic novels to an audience of teenage girls. Also, together with [[Diamond Comic Distributors|Diamond]], Tokyopop offered retailers free [[spinner rack]] displays for Tokyopop manga, thereby increasing the visibility of the medium in bookstores.<ref>{{Cite web|title = TOKYOPOP, Diamond Offer Free Spinner Rack Display through October 31!|url = http://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1/1/3/124?articleID=14099|website = www.diamondcomics.com|access-date = November 25, 2015}}</ref>

Tokyopop also licensed and distributed Japanese anime. In 1996, Mixx Entertainment acquired the rights to the anime biopic of Japanese poet [[Kenji Miyazawa]], and Stu Levy produced and directed the English version of the anime film, entitled ''[[Spring and Chaos]]''. The film was directed and scripted by [[Shōji Kawamori]], who created ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' and ''[[The Vision of Escaflowne]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Spring and Chaos {{!}} TOKYOPOP|url = http://tokyopop.com/spring-and-chaos/|website = tokyopop.com|access-date = November 27, 2015}}</ref>  Taste of Cinema ranked "Spring and Chaos" thirteenth in its list of Top "25 Weird Animated Movies That Are Worth Your Time."<ref>{{Cite web|title = 25 Weird Animated Movies That Are Worth Your Time|url = http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/25-weird-animated-movies-that-are-worth-your-time/2/|website = Taste Of Cinema – Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists| date=November 23, 2015 |access-date = November 27, 2015|language = en-us}}</ref>  From 2000 to 2004, Tokyopop released multiple film and television projects such as ''Street Fury'', which Stu Levy created, ''[[Great Teacher Onizuka|GTO]]'' (English version for Showtime TV), ''[[Rave Master]]'' (English version for Cartoon Network's Toonami), and ''[[Reign: The Conqueror]]'' (English version for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.) Tokyopop also released English version DVDs for: ''[[Initial D]]'', ''[[Marmalade Boy]]'', ''[[Saint Tail]]'', ''[[Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School]]'', ''[[Vampire Princess Miyu]]'', ''[[Brigadoon: Marin & Melan|Brigadoon]]'', ''[[Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling|FMW]]'', ''[[High School Ghostbusters]].''<ref>{{Cite web|title = Stuart J. Levy|url = https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1646305/|website = IMDb|access-date = November 27, 2015}}</ref>