HanaLaLa ceases publication; Issue 55/2010 to be the last issue

The Indonesian Hana to Yume/LaLa Farewell Edition releases 8 December 2010 (earlier in some areas).

Front cover - HanaLaLa 55/2010 (Farewell Edition)

HanaLaLa 55/2010 (Farewell Edition)
Front cover: Sugar Princess © Nakajo Hisaya/Hakusensha

This tweet from @TheRealHanaLaLa came out of nowhere today:

Dear readers, HL55 akan menjadi edisi penutup, terima kasih bykk atas dukungan selama ini u/selengkapnya mohon klik link http://cot.ag/fbfrNT

*wails* I feel like I've lost a good friend.

The linked Sayonara & Arigato message doesn't cite reasons for the axing, but reassures readers that HanaLaLa manga will continue to release — directly to tankou. The mangazine launched May 2006 serializes, among others, Nakamura Yoshiki's Skip Beat!, Hino Matsuri's Vampire Knight, Higuchi Tachibana's Alice Academy, Hatori Bisco's Ouran High School Host Club and Nakajo Hisaya's Sugar Princess (which wraps in Issue 55).

Front cover - HanaLaLa 1

HanaLaLa premiere edition
[V.B. Rose © Hidaka Banri/Hakusensha]

Still, the lack of explanation makes the official admission —

Untuk bisa bertahan, ada target-target tertentu yang harus dicapai HanaLaLa, dan HanaLaLa bersyukur berkat dukungan kalian semua HanaLaLa bisa bertahan selama empat tahun lebih.

—that the mangazine met targets set by Japanese publisher Hakusensha even more confusing. If it had been performing according to expectation, then what gives?

But before this Good night, Sweet Princess and flights of tenshi sing thee to thy rest post deteriorates into so much conspiracy theorizing, I will stop editorializing there. I will, however, note that despite no warning in the penultimate HanaLaLa 54—which was all Business as Usual—the closure had obviously been in the works for some time (as evidenced by the Farewell Edition slapped on to the HanaLaLa 55 front cover).

The announcement spawned a wave of disbelief and mourning on teh internets; here's a smattering of reactions to HanaLaLa's impending demise:

✱ Kenangan d/Hanalala: mati-matian jmpt HL pdhl lg hujan lebat smpe bantu angkat buku2 krn tk buku langganan kebanjiran:') #Hanalala (@wenzara)

✱ Kenangan bersama Hanalala ikutan ekskur bareng Ou-Host yang gokil,imut dan fun abis #Hanalala (@dalina02)

✱ #HanaLaLa introducing me to good shoujo mangas #SkipBeat #Ouran etc etc @TheRealHanaLaLa thank you ^^ (@freakenari)

✱ berkat HL sy bs kenal byk manga Hakusensha yg selama ini tdk kukenal. I love Dragon's fiance berkat km #Hanalala (@wenzara)

✱ I thought Hanalala was doing rather well for a periodic comic magazine... *garuk2 kepala* #Support #Hanalala (@tezumo)

✱ Sayang sekali @TheRealHanaLaLa harus berhenti terbit. Padahal itu majalah komik favorit saya :( (@baka_girl)

✱ Menangis meraung2 karena #HanaLaLa ga akan terbit lagi. I HATE MONDAY!!! (@oebee_cherry)

✱ #thingsimiss #Hanalala, will be missed :| (@coffeewing)

✱ RIP my dear friend (-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩___-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩-̩̩̩) (@tamaki_sou)

More farewells here. If you have your own HanaLaLa bye-bye to share, please feel free to use the comments box below. If you have a Twitter account, you might also want to retweet this post (use the Share button) or retweet my I support #HanaLaLa. Pls don't stop publishing the Indonesian Hana to Yume/LaLa tweet. Who knows? We might be able to overturn the closure decision.

If not, much as it pains me to say: Farewell, HanaLaLa, and thanks for the manga memories.

Iamque opus exegi,
~niki DBA 30uɐlnɯɐnɥ (花木蘭03)
Mistress of Adoxography and HanaLaLa fangirl

HanaLaLa serials past and present

HanaLaLa one-shots (partial)

If I missed anything, do add in the comments, k?

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