The legendary Rob Bricken over at Topless Robot, who pushed the original quarterly Anime Invasion magazine into the monthly news-and-mild-snark-fest Anime Insider we know and love, heard the news from his former coworkers, who have been fired.
I've always loved the magazine and its “if it's not good we don't include it” attitude, so I'm really sad to see it go. What I'm not sure about at this time is whether or not the magazine will publish its next issue or two (being print, they work very far in advance-- the next issue is probably already complete). Nor do I know what Wizard will be doing to compensate subscribers.
But you can bet that I'll be finding out as much as I can, so I'll keep you guys informed.
Maybe if Otaku USA actually covered stuff OTHER than the mainstream crud I've seen over and over again and focused on off-the-beaten-path shows more often then I'd get a subscription... (I mean, how many times can you use Gurren Lagann and DBZ as your front cover article?)
As for anime insider, *takes off kamina glasses and salutes*
This is sad. Only after following AI for the past year, I found it to be fairly enjoyable. The writers seemed to enjoy what they were doing, and that makes for a better reading experience.
I am weary for other anime magazines, now with both Newtype USA and AI gone in just over a year's time (NUSA ended Feb '08, IIRC). I didn't expect AI to go with its Wizard connection, but now I'm also wondering what'll happen to Wizard's other titles.
I am curious as to if any money-saving tactics were taken before the overall cut was made. Perhaps a switch to a quarterly or something.
It's sad to hear the AI staff fired though. Does this also mean the removal of the anime section in regular Wizard?
So many questions.
As for money-saving tactics, I'd heard rumors that their freelance budget had been cut, although I continued to do my usual column and occasional larger features as regular, so I can't really confirm that or anything. I definitely know they didn't switch to quarterly though.
Unfortunately it's really not the right time for me to go and ask the staff anything, I think, but Rob is going to try and find out what he can from the Wizard people in the meantime. I'll definitely keep everyone updated.