Bandai Entertainment is Dead!

Rui said:
We in the UK will still probably get a K-On! box set. The second series, however, is in doubt. There probably won't be a USA K-On! box set any time soon but that is unlikely to affect anyone here much :)

The only outright cancellations are the three unreleased shows in the first post.

HdE: Having to buy a blu-ray player and pay a little more (Unicorn looks particularly lovely on blu-ray and I consider it worth every penny!) is still less of a problem than with the completely lost shows, IMO.

R
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Ohh, i see. Thank you :)
 
Rui said:
Sentai/S23 are definitely the most interesting licensor in the US these days.
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Really? I think I have a grand total of three Sentai releases, though their early 2012 schedule definitely contains a few gems (SoreMachi, Broken Blade, Merry).

As for Bandai, I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner. They stubbornly clung to their outdated barebones singles release model (albeit with more episodes per disc) for most of the the scant number of shows they put out over the last couple of years, and no doubt the Kurokami and K-On debacles didn't help.

I can't say I'll miss them all that much, sadly.
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
Really? I think I have a grand total of three Sentai releases, though their early 2012 schedule definitely contains a few gems (SoreMachi, Broken Blade, Merry).
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In terms of actual new releases (which materialise!) they've definitely felt like the most productive to me in 2011. Funimation has probably been putting out more in volume, but it's mostly rehashes of previous releases and I've only been buying 1-2 of their releases each month at best. I find it disappointing though that Sentai tend to quietly drop things which don't perform (Gintama, Glass Mask etc), and they do tend to stick to a couple of genres for the most part.

I prefer Funimation's actual releases as they feel nicer quality, but Sentai are a welcome alternative, and I've already racked up a large stash of their stuff. It helps that I like trashy fanservice comedies >_>

R
 
Bad news for Bandai (and potentially Beez) but it could be good news for other distros if they can get their acts together and start picking up licences from them. I don't know exactly how it all works, but if I were Funi or Sentai (or possibly even Manga or MVM) I'd be poised to grab the good licences from Bandai's corpse the minute it hits the floor.
 
ayase said:
Bad news for Bandai (and potentially Beez) but it could be good news for other distros if they can get their acts together and start picking up licences from them. I don't know exactly how it all works, but if I were Funi or Sentai (or possibly even Manga or MVM) I'd be poised to grab the good licences from Bandai's corpse the minute it hits the floor.
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There is at least some small hope that this'll happen. Although, like I said, if Bandai's asking prices for the licenses are too crippling, that's likely to deter distributors.

It strikes me as well that this news shouldn't really have any bearing on European / UK releases of Bandai owned shows. No reason at all why the likes of Beez can't put out Turn A, for example. The relationship between Bandai and them wouldn't change from what it is now, if I understand things correctly.

The unbridled optimist in me wonders if this could be a way for other distributors to snag and put out shows that Bandai Entertainment seemed uninterested in pushing themselves. Might be a sneaky way to get Gundam X and Victory / ZZ Gundam out there, for one thing. Or more GaoGaiGar. Or whatever.

Incidentally, Ayase - have I mentioned how much I like your avatar? I freakin' LOVE Transmetropolitan!
 
devilrules666 said:
Jesus only into the second day of the year and already we get this piece of **** news.

One question isn't sunrise studio owned by bandai? Does this mean that all sunrise stuff will never come out over here. Damn that would mean no more gundan ever again...... just asking because the only company that carries sunrise stuff over to the west is bandai.

Well bandai US were really expensive so they only have themselves to blame. If they did more half season boxsets instead of singles they might have made more money!
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Sunrise is owned by Namco Bandai, a Japanese company. Bandai Entertainment is a subsidiary of that company. What I would imagine happening is either Namco Bandai directly releasing stuff (like Aniplex USA) or ,more likely judging by the article on ANN, Namco Bandai selling the rights to other companies in the West such as Sentai or Funimation (in other words like Geneon).

While it is disappointing to hear of this news it isn't a total surprise as Bandai Entertainment said they were closing their online story towards the end of last year.
 
animefreak17 said:
ummmmm well hope that someone else will pick up there pieces.

just out of curiosity what titles do Bandai have anyway
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Annoying the Gurren Lagann manga amongst other things.
 
Dont particularly want a dominant monopoly on anime related stuff...
For Dubbing, you'd hear the same voices over-and-over again. For distribution, you could have either good service or bad service, especially on releases - no choice.

And I really liked the mecha Bandai brought... But whose going to carry that torch now, is anyone's guess.
R.I.P Bandai, and thx for the biscuits.
 
Rui said:
We in the UK will still probably get a K-On! box set. The second series, however, is in doubt. There probably won't be a USA K-On! box set any time soon but that is unlikely to affect anyone here much :)
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Yeah about the K-ON! boxset...MangaUK is ignoring tweets about it, so I'd assume it's cancelled now.

As for season 2...yeah, that's disappointed me. I can only hope that another company rescues the license for season 1, sees it sell well (they'll probably compile it into said boxset Bandai will never release) and then license season 2. I just hope whoever does pick it up uses Bang Zoom again; I like the dub cast.
 
Bandai Entertainment, the subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA) that handles anime and manga in North America, has announced that it will cease to offer new DVD, Blu-ray and manga releases next month.

Bandai Entertainment will continue to offer existing releases from its current catalogue, and even produce new stock when required until the licenses expire, but it will cease the production of new releases this February and will now focus on digital distribution, broadcast, merchandising and licensing to other companies. Known casualties of this decision are:

<strong>Anime</strong>
Gosick
Nichijou
Turn A Gundam

<strong>Manga</strong>
Code Geass: Renya
Gurren Lagann vol. 7
Kannagi vol. 4-6
Lucky Star Boo Boo Kagaboo
Mobile Suit Gundam 00I
Tales of the Abyss: Jade's Secret Memories vol. 1-2

While this restructuring is bad news for North American anime fans and the Bandai Entertainment staff that have been laid-off there is no news as to how or if this affects Beez Entertainment, the European arm of Bandai visual which is owned by Namco Bandai Holdings. To keep abreast of any news, announcements and to offer your opinion join Just Passing Through&rsquo;s <a href="http://forums.animeuknews.net/viewtopic.php?t=15325&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0">thread</a> in the news forum.

<a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.co.uk/news/2012-01-02/bandai-entertainment-to-stop-releasing-new-dvds-bds-manga">Source</a>
 
Assuming this does impact Beez even if it's just to mean less access to dubs to release here, they've had a terrible year of it with the riots too. They seem a tenacious bunch.

R
 
Can we expect Nichijou and GOSICK to reappear somewhere? Other Gundam shows seem dead in the water, time to hit "go" on some of my amazon.co.jp bookmarks I guess.

Is it as bad news as people are making out, though, with them remaining in the game on the licensing side of things?

Rui said:
Given that the struggling companies have had some really brilliant titles in their stable (00, Geass, K-On, Star Driver etc) but still failed, yet LEs from NISA, AniplexUSA and Funimation are selling out regularly, I wonder if we'll see more experimentation with LEs over there to appeal to the shrinking group of buyers.
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Imagine how craaaaaaazy it would be if it turned out that anime was a niche product that needed to be sold at a decent price to survive? :s
 
I would expect Gosick to be grabbed by someone else eventually. Nichijou however...

Allegedly there is going to be an update tomorrow with more solid news, which will supposedly also answer questions about their future distribution plans. I'm hoping they'll announce a partnership with someone they can feed licenses to.

ilmaestro said:
Imagine how craaaaaaazy it would be if it turned out that anime was a niche product that needed to be sold at a decent price to survive? :s
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My favourite quote in the ANN thread (before I stopped reading it and went to do something more productive with my life) was "Why can't Japan do things the correct American way? What do they think is going to happen?" (on the topic of Bandai collapsing due to charging too much). Some people still seem to believe that the solution to poor sales is to continue reducing the price indefinitely ^^;

R
 
Rui said:
It helps that I like trashy fanservice comedies >_>
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I'm sure it does! Sentai are putting out more new product than anyone else, which is only a good thing for consumers. Thing is, I'm forever scratching my head trying to work out how they're making any money from most of it.

Regarding the NISA LEs, I think the only ones to have sold out are Toradora set 1 and Wagnaria. Everything else seems to be readily available, which makes me wonder if they've over-produced. But they are continuing to license and release anime, so it would seem they're doing okay.

The best thing that can come from the demise of Bandai is another licensor rescuing Cowboy Bebop when the license expires and giving it the release it deserves (i.e. with remastered video).
 
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