Bandai ceasing North America operations

I finally watched The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya movie on blu-ray with the Bandai English dub a few nights ago and this really feels like the end of an era for English dubs )-:.
 
DAMN %*#&$*#&%*#$

i was going to buy jade's manga, aff, i'm so pissed off ¬¬
 
There are a few reasons why this upset me.

1. US release of Turn A Gundam cancelled. After 10 years, we were finally going to get a release...well, no more.
2. DVD release of Gosick cancelled. This was by far one of the better series from last year and it deserves much better than the junk job that Crunchyroll did.
3. Final two episodes of Gundam UC will have to be imported from Japan and will only be available on Blu-ray. Seriously, BEI?
 
First Tokyopop, now Bandai...is the North American market for anime and manga really that bad? :rain:
 
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ninetales said:
First Tokyopop, now Bandai...is the North American market for anime and manga really that bad? :rain:
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You mean first Geneon, then ADV, then Tokyopop, then Bandai so to answer your question, yes.

I think there's maybe one station that consistently airs anime and a only maybe two or three others that air occassionally. Gone are the days of dozens of stations having anime on at least once a day.
 
^ Oh, them too...I didn't know about that. :spotlight:

Is the internet hurting their profits drastically, I wonder? Do most people go online and watch fan-dubbed anime or something? :confu:
 
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ninetales said:
^ Oh, them too...I didn't know about that. :spotlight:

Is the internet hurting their profits drastically, I wonder? Do most people go online and watch fan-dubbed anime or something? :confu:
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Fansubs probably contribute somewhat to this but I think the root of this stems from the fact that the industry is not attracting new fans. Most anime fans in the US either grew up watching things like Robotech, G-Force, and Voltron, or for the newer generation: Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Digimon. Anyone else typically gets into anime because he/she has a friend that introduces him/her to it. I know I've introduced at least seven or so people to anime that would have never watched it otherwise. It also doesn't help that the pervading perception among the populace (wow...I've never used alliteration that well before) is that anime = cartoon so it must be for kids.
 
^ Canadians too :rain:

It also doesn't help that the pervading perception among the populace (wow...I've never used alliteration that well before) is that anime = cartoon so it must be for kids.
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If I ever encounter anyone who thinks that, I'm going to make them watch the KnK movies. :knife:
 
^ Same. :ohoho:

I guess I kind of understand. I haven't been able to buy any anime recently, and see a lot still on the shelves, despite some being on sale. It's a sad thing to see. :cry:
 
Most anime fans in the US either grew up watching things like Robotech, G-Force, and Voltron, or for the newer generation: Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Digimon. Anyone else typically gets into anime because he/she has a friend that introduces him/her to it.
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I remember both Voltron and Pokemon broadcast on Russian TV channels. I liked Voltron back in my childhood, except I had no idea it was called "anime". But seriously, apart from Voltron, there were Robotech, Wonderbeat Scramble, LunLun, Transformers Masterforce, Sailor Moon... not to mention a number of anime-adapted classics like The Wild Swans.
Nowadays? It's mostly Naruto, Naruto and Naruto. With a bit of Shaman King inbetween. Occasionally some Miyazaki, except that nobody including himself considers his films "anime". There were some other series, sometimes broadcast on music channels, of all things. :XD: But in general, you have to be introduced to anime by someone before you so much as start hearing about things like Evangelion, Death Note and Haruhi Suzumiya. Anime has never been advertised to the broadest audience to begin with. Unlike Japan where all probably 90% of animation can be classified as anime in the sense western anime fans understand the term, here in the west children don't get introduced to it early. And even when they are... Naruto just can't appeal to everyone, can it?

It also doesn't help that the pervading perception among the populace (wow...I've never used alliteration that well before) is that anime = cartoon so it must be for kids.
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I heard of a girl who looked at Madoka cover and immediately assumed it was like WinX. :ohoho:
I dislike this prejudice a lot, really. Atlantis and Treausure Planet, both being MARVELOUS Disney animations, owe much of their commercial failure precisely to the fact that they were teen-oriented, but teenagers didn't care enough for "Disney cartoons" to go to the movies specifically, and the company did little to nothing to properly advertise them (ever since Shrek, they were prepared to throw 2D out the window anyway). :blood:
 
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Nick Hunter said:
Nowadays? It's mostly Naruto, Naruto and Naruto. With a bit of Shaman King inbetween. Occasionally some Miyazaki, except that nobody including himself considers his films "anime".
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That basically sums up the situation perfectly. The only anime that ever gets aired is mindless action shounen.

On another note, Beez Entertainment (another distributor for BEI) is ceasing all licensing operations in Europe according to the latest reports.
 
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