Daran Culture Enterprise

Once the largest manga licensee and publisher in Taiwan, Daran had had more than 200 full-time employees and printed more than 1.5 million copies per month in its heyday in 1990s. However, incorrect business moves brought it to downfall.

(2003-03) Sued by Shueisha for failure to pay license royalties on time. Other Japanese publishers followed suit, retracting licenses and severed s.

(2003-03-31) Daran declared bankruptcy.

(2003-05-03) Shueisha and Tong Li held a t press conference, transferring three popular Shōnen Jump titles: Hikaru no Go, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, among other titles formerly licensed by Daran, to Tong Li. Soon most Daran titles were transferred to other licensees.

(2003-08-22) Shogakukan signed a memorandum with Daran: all licenses would expire at the end of August 2003, but Shogakukan gave Daran a six-month grace period to clean up stocks.

(2004-01) With the deadline of the grace period drew near, Daran still could not give Shogakukan exact numbers of remaining volumes and the clear amount of unpaid royalty. Shogakukan held a press conference and transferred its popular titles (e.g. Inuyasha) to other companies.

All licenses listed on this page have long expired, but many volumes are still circulating in used bookstores and auction websites.