It’s not a big secret that Vertical has changed considerably from when it got started many years ago…and to extent, even a few years ago. Most associated the company with Ed Chavez, so when he left, it definitely was a surprise within the industry. That ultimately meant someone new would have to take over the role of Marketing for Vertical.
And that’s about where Tomo Tran comes in.
Formerly working for Sony Music a couple years ago, there’s a lot he had to learn regarding this role, and about a year and a half in, there’s still more learning to do. But as he mentions in the interview, there’s more things he’s looking to try while learning about the industry in order to help Vertical grow.
So we mainly get into a bit of his background and what exactly Vertical will be looking for in the future with this interview. This also leads into learning who exactly the MLB player Tomo worked for since it was blatantly listed on his profile on the website.
TheOASG: Tell me a bit about yourself, and how you first got into manga, anime, light novels, etc.
Tomo Tran: Well I grew up in Texas, going to Japanese school, and I first got introduced when my friend — his grandma and grandpa would send him VHS of Dragon Ball episodes *laughs* and so we would go over to his house and watch Dragon Ball on tape and really get into it.
He also had a Super Famicom and he had Super Butōden. That was the best game. We played it and he was the reason I got into anime, the games because his grandparents would send him a bunch of stuff, even Weekly Shonen Jump. Even in middle school, my classmates would bring manga and we’d be like, “Oh, what are you reading?” and get into it.
From then on to high school and up I then started working in the music industry. I worked for Sony Music, so I kind of shifted my focus to learning more about the music industry. We promoted Japanese artists at conventions and helped artists who came to New York or the US. I went to Los Angeles to help Asian Kung-Fu Generation to do recording for example. When TM Revolution came to Otakon a couple years ago, like 2013, I was one of the staff who helped them out. Like Eir Aoi, we helped her do a concert in New York and did press and publicity for that and helped her run the show.
We even did photo shoots. We went around to a lot of places and–
Uh-oh. Where’d you go?
Just the general places. And we had to get shooting licenses because New York’s pretty strict about you shooting something for commercial reasons, you have to apply–anyways, long story short, the reason why I’m telling you is I was around it. Even when I was at Sony I was around it, going to anime cons, supporting artists, and meeting people.
I was there for four years, and then I heard the job opening from a friend about Vertical. “Hey there’s an opening, look at it, I think you’d be great at the job.” And then I applied, and then I had an interview. I felt really good about it because my current boss who interviewed me was like, “You did work with Aniplex, you worked at Sony Music, you know people at Crunchyroll.” And also I looked at as a transition, from promoting Japanese music to promoting Japanese books and manga and literature, right? And once I got offered the job, it felt right. So that’s how I got into it. I wasn’t an avid reader during that time, but I kinda fell into it.
I do want to actually know about your time working for a MLB player from Japan. Who was it? How was that experience like? Share as much as you can.
So when I first came to New York, I did an internship. After the internship ended I kinda wanted to stay in NY. So a friend introduced me to a friend who said, “Hey, I’m looking for someone to help this baseball player out.”
So I did the interview and the lady was like, “Yeah, I think you’re a good match, you’re young, and this is a player.” And I was like, “Who was it?” she said, “Hiroki Kuroda.”
I was like, “Oh…I’ve never heard about him.” *laughs*
*laughs*
So yeah I didn’t really know who he was at the time! And I told one of my friends, who’s a really big baseball fan, and I was like, “Hey I think they hired me, I’m gonna help Kuroda out.” And he was like, “Oh, remember when you went to LA and we went to go watch a Dodgers game? He pitched, and you saw him.” And I was like, “Ohhhh, I did see him!” *laughs*
It was a great job. He was a great guy. What I did for him was manage his personal activities outside of the field. So anything he needed, with his apartment, stock up on tea or drinks in his fridge while he’s away. This was so he could just focus on baseball. I also helped with translation. Like when he needed to go to the store for example, I would translate for him.
How long was this?
For a full season. Also his family came, I made sure they were ok, any request that he had I helped him out.
And drive his car as well, that was really cool *laughs* He drove one of those Mercedes Benz with the really boxy car that rich people have that’s worth like the same amount as a house.
And you got to drive it.
Yeah. So what we would do is whenever he would go to an away game, he would drive and I would go with him to Yankee Stadium, and he’d ask me to drive him back home and park it into the garage because after he comes back from the game he just wants to go straight home. Some players go back into the stadium and then they drive home, but he’s like, “I’m tired, I don’t want to drive,” which is understandable.
And sometimes I would go take it for a car wash and…yeah, that was a fun experience to be able to drive one of those. Especially in New York City, because once you’re driving those you feel really powerful, and people actually are getting out of the way, they don’t want to hit you *laughs* they hear the engine roar…it was really cool. That was one of my fondest memories, getting to drive his car, and also I ate out with him. We would go out to eat dinner when he was off and we really didn’t talk about baseball. As a professional when you’re off you really don’t want to talk about work. Also I wasn’t an expert on baseball.
He really thanked me after the year because at that time his contract was about to end and we didn’t know what was gonna happen. So he was like, “Yeah, thanks for all your help.” And from his manager he told me I did a really good job.
The funny thing, after that was an opening at Sony Music and that’s how I got into that. They really thought that was a great transition, from professional baseball player to professional artists.
Can you describe a general day-to-day for you at Vertical?
As the Marketing Director, anything in terms of promotion of our titles, what we do at conventions, titles we should push…where to spend money in terms of ads. I come up with the ideas on what would be good and what would the fans want. Then I present that to my boss and he signs off on the promotional ideas.
Also, I talk with my boss about what titles we want to license and basically scout what kind of works do we want to publish at Vertical, and also the scheduling. Like what’s the timing, and if we know about the anime release, we can then time the manga release as close to the anime as possible before or during its run.
Also partnerships with other companies. For example, Pop Team Epic. I was just reaching out to FUNimation, we wanted to do something together. It worked out because the home video release and manga were going to be released on the same day.
Like you even explained at the Kinokuniya event that this wasn’t coordinated at all. It just happened you were both releasing it on the same date, why not do something together?
Yep! So just doing those kind of partnerships and working together. That’s kind of my role.
Also, as an overall picture, I also do sales meetings with our distributor Penguin Random House where I present them with our titles, these are the ones we want to release for this season. We make sales sheets and do presentations to help sell our book to retailers like Amazon, B&N, Books-A-Million, and international retailers. They’re a really great help to us.
They also give us feedback and ask us questions. For example, at the Kodansha/Vertical panel I showed the Sherlock Holmes cover. We were discussing with PRH what would be a great cover — like we had five different covers — and they gave us suggestions, particularly since they know about the Sherlock Holmes fans because they publish Sherlock Holmes works. Maybe add this information, maybe add that information. It helps get us in the mindset of the consumers too because they ask us questions like we get in sales meetings.
What’s surprised you the most since you’ve been in this role?
I guess one thing has been the people in the publishing industry. They’re really hardworking people, especially our production. I think of this in general, but for Vertical, it’s just like, we have a small staff and we produce five books a month — four manga and one novel. The production team works hard to make sure to make the deadline, and our editorial team…it’s because of their hard work that we are able to publish our books on time.
What surprised me also was how many books are sold, how many manga are sold every week. I didn’t realize how popular manga and light novels were because this was a new genre in North America. People are kind of getting to know these novels, there’s not too many pictures in it, just words. Learning about this, going, “wow, this is really popular, why is this popular, and why do the people love the Monogatari series so much?”
But I also saw the potential, like how can I market these to the general public, that’s kind of my challenge.
I’m just gonna say you came in right as the manga and light novel numbers were rising. More publishers were bringing LNs over. And more light novels were being adapted into anime.
Yeah.
Ok, let’s talk about Vertical’s present and future: the past couple titles, you’ve released works like The Delinquent Housewife, After the Rain, and My Boy. Can you say those are the types of titles that the company will be looking to release down the road?
So for us, our market and our strength is seinen and josei titles, and that’s what makes us unique. Kodansha Comics, we’re sister companies, and they specialize in more shōnen and shōjo titles. So what is our market? That’s the market. That’s why we have the titles that you mentioned.
Also while we are owned by Kodansha, because we were independent before we have licenses from publishers like Kadokawa, Takeshobo, or Shogakukan. That’s our strength. Just being able to work with different companies and finding titles we think fans will enjoy, that’s what you’re seeing.
Personally I think next year we have a lot of strong seinen titles that are coming out. And I’m a big fan, and feel I’m the market for these manga too — like I’m over 30 years old — so something like Kino’s Journey. I really enjoy that title and I think fans will love it. Going with the Clouds by Aki Irie, which is an adventure title, that blew me out of the water. It’s kind of ecchi a little bit, in a sense too. Look out for more of those cool titles.
Can you share some of the manga titles that have done well for you this year?
Well from our backlist titles, Nichijou was a big hit–
So I presume CITY is doing well.
Yes, CITY is doing well for us too. Ajin has been a big seller, that’s a great seinen title that I love as well. Blame! has been strong for us. Flowers of Evil — as an omnibus with the four volumes and the bigger trim size — that has been doing well. Flowers of Evil fans were asking for it, and we just finished it this year.
Gundam The Origin, those have been solid for us. People love the finish, the hardcover, and the matte, so that’s been selling for us. Chi’s been solid sales. People love her, and we’ve released Chi’s Sweet Adventures. That’s been great. We love Chi.
It’s interesting, we do seinen titles but there’s a kid’s book in there too *laughs*
Right.
I like how there’s a variety of that.
Also After the Rain’s been really good for us. Sales for that have been pretty solid, also because the anime has been out and we’ve been kinda telling people, “Hey FYI, there was an anime.”
And I watched the anime, it was really beautifully done. When you read the synopsis you’re like, “Oh, is this like a weird love story?” But they don’t get together or anything. It’s a finding yourself kind of manga, so I try and push it that way.
Devils’ Line is also strong for us too. We did a promotion for in LA at AX, and a lot of the fans found out about the series because of the anime.
Do want to touch upon a few manga coming in 2019, first with The Golden Sheep. What caught your attention regarding this particular Kaori Ozaki title?
So for this manga, the title might change. It might be misleading to people because this has nothing to do with sheep. There’s no sheep in it. The Golden Sheep refers to — and this could be a spoiler — a place where they meet as kids at a golden sheep statue. It’s like Hachiko, the dog statue in Japan, and they just meet there.
But what’s really cool about it is it’s about a bunch of friends. They were best friends in elementary school, and one girl, the main character, moves away during middle school, and she actually comes back in high school. When they come back together, the girl, who’s a musician and plays the guitar, she thinks her friends are still best friends. That actually isn’t the case. For example, one of the boys is bullying the other boy.
So what I think is great and what the fans should take away from it is that it addresses a lot of social issues, like bullying, friendship — like one of the boys tries to commit suicide because he thinks everything is his fault. I think a lot of people who are going through these kinds of problems — I think a lot of people have been through bullying — they can read it and this can give them hope and strength. I think a lot of places are also looking for that kind of manga, like this is a real issue. Like My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, that was a breakout manga that addressed LGBT+ topics.
What led to the decision to publish a 20th Anniversary edition of Paradise Kiss?
My boss approached me about making an omnibus version of it. We could make it a collector’s edition, or something like Summer Wars—
So the release is going to be a bit like that?
I think it’s going to be paperback. It could change, and production will make the decision. But we wanted to do an omnibus similar to Summer Wars so the fans have a complete version of it, kind of a collector’s edition.
We kind of also were saying, “When did Paradise Kiss come out?” We were talking about and having conversations, and we found out, when we release it (the manga is set for June 18), it will be 20 years since the original manga came out in Japan.
So we just went like, “Hey, why don’t we do a 20th Anniversary of this?” and have older fans really enjoy it and also new fans who are just getting into it. And Paradise Kiss has been a strong title for us too, as the author is known for NANA. So we felt it was great timing to make it an omnibus.
Now, onto novels! You mentioned this at the panel, but for Eiji Mikage’s upcoming novel, what ultimately led to it being renamed, and can you share any other names you were considering?
There were a few. I can’t remember all of them. But yeah, it was originally Serial Killer Detective — that was the direct translation of the Japanese novel. We felt like that was just too direct. Like I mentioned, “Snakes on a Plane” *laughs* novel kind of thing. “Yeah, it’s a serial killer and a detective guy. Is there a killer detective?”
The editor and the translator read the book, and once it was complete they said, “Hey, what’s a good title for this?” They always think of titles while they’re translating and editing. So they came to the conclusion of that name. And Eiji Mikage, his novel The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria for Yen Press has been doing well. We see him as a novelist and he has so many good titles, so we decided we wanted to try this one out.
And obviously, the Monogatari series we have to touch upon. I know it’s one of your best sellers, but can you share any numbers as to how well it’s doing?
Yeah, I can’t share numbers for the series.
Well, does each version of the series always beat your expectations for it or does it meet them?
Yeah. We’re always reprinting that book. And I mentioned this at NYCC, how the box set came about. The Japanese version came in with a box sleeve. I thought it looked cool, and we were just talking and one day we were like, “Hey why don’t we put them in a box so US fans can have them in a box?
“And then why don’t we ask VOFAN if he could make a cool, new artwork? That’d be something cool for the fans.” And he said ok. He was really happy to take on that project as well.
I thought the sales would change because it was a box set. But no, it’s strong! And people have asked about that, just having the box. It’s a special thing. Limited edition.
Yep, limited edition.
5,000 run.
Only 5,000?
Yep, and pre-orders and retail sales almost reached that. So that’s why I’ve been telling people online that we can’t guarantee anything. First we’re gonna fulfill the orders, and then if we have anything left we’ll re-evaluate just the box because I understand the fans’ feelings. “You already have it, why am I buying the novels again?” And I totally understand that.
But when we started the project, we said we have to include the book because it makes it what it is. And that’s why we did a limited run. If it was unlimited then…yeahhh *laughs*
That’s kind of what I wanted to get into — would you treat this a bit like the Akira Box Set situation was? Like would you consider doing another reprinting?
Probably not, because on the box it says it’s 5,000 something. So we’d be lying to the fans.
Finally, what’s gonna be next for Vertical?
Well, I think about this a lot honestly. Like…Vertical, I was looking at the past, from old pamphlets to old titles. From the Tezuka stuff, to the more edgy stuff, to the more niche stuff. Since I’ve joined too, it’s kind of morphed as well. We’re bringing in titles that are unique, but also appeal to the masses I think. Like My Boy and The Delinquent Housewife. The art’s great and the mass market can enjoy it. It’s not like the niche of the niche.
We are going to be a bit more careful in our title selections. Not just fans saying, “bring this and bring that!” But really do an analysis and if this is going to sell. The VP of Vertical who’s visiting from Japan, he’s really giving us advice and tips on what he thinks will be great for the US market because he was the Editor-in-Chief for Shonen Magazine. So he’s seen and read a lot of titles, he’s talked to a lot of mangaka, and deals with the business in Japan, so his role is really helping us to grow as a company. Sales-wise and brand-wise. So we’ll have some exciting titles coming next year, but I think in like, 2020, you’ll see Vertical really morph.
And for me as a Marketing Director, I want to do more fun stuff. Like with the After the Rain with what we did with the download card. Doing more partnerships, collaborations, and working with companies. Like for example we worked with Aimer, and I watched the anime and went “Oh, that’s Aimer!” Because I worked with her at Sony. So I approached my old colleagues and went, “Hey, can we do a promotion with her? Like she sings the After the Rain ending, we’re publishing After the Rain.” And the management said, “Oh that’s great! Let’s make some download cards!” And she was happy, management was happy, and we made it happen.
So doing more collaborations like that, fun things. Maybe on a bigger scale, like retail shops, and not just at conventions. Something unique, something you’ve maybe never seen publishing companies do before. When I first took the job I said, “Hey, I wanna bring more entertainment to this.” Like not just, yes, selling books because I didn’t come into this knowing about publishing, but more the entertainment aspect of it. I want to try something that none of the publishers have done. So that’s just one example. I have some ideas, and hopefully you’ll see that.
Interview has been edited for clarity.