Forum - View topicGetting back into anime.
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splff3000
Posts: 5 Location: Chesapeake, VA |
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Hey everyone, I used to lurk these forums a looooong time ago, but kinda got out of anime. Since I've recently gotten back into it ( the last few months) I've noticed a lot of things have changed. There's no ADV anymore and Pioneer doesn't own Geneon anymore. The one thing that is really hurting me though is it seems that there is no more animatedbliss.com.
 Is there some site out there now, that is similar to what animatedbliss used to be.
Also, like I said, I've been gone for awhile so I'm kinda out of the loop as to what has happened in the anime world over the last 3-4 years. Can anyone catch me up on any of the BIG things that have happened? Things like what happened to ADV and Geneon. Finally, I need to find out what's good nowadays and what's not. I'm mostly into action/ fantasy/ horror anime. In fact, I'm good with anything that's not drama or comedy lol. I'll take a lil comedy if the movie/ series has good action ala Bleach. So to recap, I'm looking for: - Website similar to animeatedbliss.com - Big anime news over the last few years - Good/ bad anime for my tastes. I know this is alot of stuff, but I'm pretty much trying to catch back up as soon as possible. I really don't expect any one person to answer all these, but anything posted would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there are any other little anime nuggets that someone might want to share, like good anime sites, that's cool too. I'm looking forward to getting back involved in the anime community and staying this time. 
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John Casey
 Posts: 1853 Location: In My Angry Center |
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Well...I dunno if they'll really let a post like this hang round, but I don't mind giving you a head restart. :3
1-Now, I don't know this "Animated Bliss", but I know a few decent sites you can check out: -http://www.anime-evo.net/ (This one is run by some seriously sorry ass people. But, as long as you stay away from the forums or the contact page, you'll survive and find some neat things.) -http://www.themanime.org/ (Probably the best anime review site out there) 2-Uhh... Nothing HUGISH. The biggest is...probably Funi re-releasing FLCL at last? 
3-And, I guess I'll just list a few damn good shows that are easy to get into, and you'll have a blast with: -Samurai Champloo -Black Lagoon -Baccano! -Moribito -Full Metal Panic! -Fate/stay Night -Code Geass Not masterpieces by any chances (although Baccano!...well, that IS a masterpiece  ), but just some fun stuff you can easily get into.
Have fun, dude. |
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splff3000
Posts: 5 Location: Chesapeake, VA |
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Thanks for the heads up man. I've seen Samurai Champloo and Code geass recently and they both were good so I know I can trust your taste. Cool thing is I got fate/stay night, baccano, and black lagoon ordered so I'm on the right track. Full Metal Panic? I saw the first few episodes of that and it looked like it was all comedy. There was action in that? If so, I might have to give another shot. Anyway, thanks for the list. One quick question, why would this get closed? I read "teh rules" and there was nothing in there about this. Anyway, if this IS a violation I apologize in advance. EDIT: OK, I see the "no asking for Anime" sticky now, so please PM your anime suggestions, if you don't mind. I think everything else is fair game though......... I think. 
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John Casey
Posts: 1853 Location: In My Angry Center |
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This post of mine doesn't fall into "anime suggestion"...so, I'll loophole around it.
Full Metal Panic! is a bit of an odd duck. The first season is comprised of two sub-sets: high-school slap-stick comedy, and a serious storyline featuring ze mecha ass-kickage. The second season is made up entirely out of high-school tomfoolery. And the third season is composed entirely of the serious story and ass-kicking. It's also quite notable for being exceedingly darker and more violent than its predecessors. Personally, the first two seasons are damn good in their own right, but watching them only to arrive to the third season is downright rewarding in it's own merit. Yeah...TSR is that good... |
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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I'll take this one. I'm assuming you know how Pioneer sold off it's entertainment division to Dentsu, and how that ultimately became Geneon. Basically, the downturn in the anime industry hit Geneon hard. Add to that them loosing their biggest franchise in Pokemon, and the money that went with it, they were in trouble. Unfortunately, they continued to do business as much nothing was wrong. The overbid on titles in attempts to get them from ADV, Funi and Bandai, which ultimately caused the titles to be unprofitable. There is an excellent podcast on this site that discusses it with a former Geneon marketing guy. In the fall of 2007, Geneon announced a deal in which ADV would take over all distribution and marketing for their titles. However, they announced the deal before due diligence had been performed by both sides, and eventually they were unable to come to a deal. When the deal was cancelled, Geneon had already laid off much of it's staff in anticipation, and basically went into a coma for a year. In 2008, Funi announced a deal to handle distribution for select Geneon titles, though most have since had their licenses expired. Geneon will continue on as a rights holding company until the remaining few licenses expire, then it will shut down entirely. Several of their licenses have been picked up by Funimation and Sentai Filmworks (the new ADV). In Japan, Geneon was sold to Universal, and the merger has created some complications as to licensing their properties for America. No one knows the status of this at the time. |
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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The ADV story is much more complicated, and there are parts of it we will never know. However, their downfall basically started in 2006, when they sold a 20% stake in themselves to a consortium of Japanese investors and the Sojitz corporation. The company that directly invested in ADV was known as ARM Holdings, and basically acted as their licensing arm. They acquired shows in Japan for ADV to sell in the US. From what we know, it seems that Sojitz was unhappy with financial performance of ADV and it's titles, and wanted a better return on it's money. Eventually, it pulled all 30+ titles ARM had acquired for them and sold them in bulk to Funimation in the summer of 2008. There were also a few titles that went into licensing limbo, and their status is still uknown today. ADV did very little for several months. They continued putting out re-releases of their catalog titles. It was in the fall of 2008 when Matt Greenfield announced they had acquired Clannad, which would have been their first license in nearly a year. A few months later, it was revealed that Clannad and several other titles were actually licensed by Sentai Filmworks and ADV would be distributing them. At around the same time, ADV also began distributing live action Asian and Pink Cinema films for Switchblade Films. Though further investigation revealed that John Ledford (ADV's founder) was one of the people responsible for starting Sentai. Sentai's first titles would come out in the spring of 09, albeit sub only, with the exception of it's license rescues from Geneon and Urban Vision. ADV would later pick up distribution rights to some Central Park series, just prior to their bankruptcy and liquidation. Sentai continued to pick up new series, and by the fall of 09 they were announcing 2 to 3 new titles every month. Eventually, ADV announced they were closing up shop, and divesting all their holdings. All of the "liabilities" and catalog licenses went to AeSir holdings. All of the distribution business became a new company called Section 23 holdings. Sentai continues on as it has, as a separate company. It's dubbing and production studio was spun off and is now known as Seraphim Digital. The Anime Network was also spun off and continues to broadcast on VOD services and it's online player. The new company was called Section 23 due to a section of Texas law, which allows a company to escape debts and certain liabilities by spinning off or selling assets. It's been suggested that ADV restructured to escape a volatile share holder, most likely Sojitz or a financing bank, and the name Section 23 was a big ol' middle finger. So basically, the ADV name is gone, but the company continues. It is scaled down quite a bit, and all legally separate entities, but there has been little change behind the scenes. It's still the same people running the show, and they seem to have learned from their past mistakes. They released all of their initial releases subonly, but are currently working on a few dubs, and may even be going back and dubbing Clannad and Legends of The Dark king. |
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