Breaking out of her lucrative silence for a brief update, Gia relayed her finding of a press release issued by the Japanese parent company Broccoli, bringing some sad news for the few customers they still had over in North America. By the end of this year, Broccoli International USA will be shutting down, and by February 2009 no trace is expected to be left of them stateside, as their liquidation completes.


Broccoli International USA was established back in March 2002 as a subsidiary focused on publishing manga and artbooks (as Broccoli Books), and it's always been a pretty tiny operation - leaving it with little chance to survive the mounting competition from recent years. They also managed manga, anime and game properties locally for their parent company, including Di Gi Charat, Galaxy Angel, Aquarian Age, Bushilord, Disgaea, Murder Princess and sola - whose ageless loli-in-a-box Mayuko is sadly pictured above.

Buh-bye, cauliflower-kun!