An Anime Titan Exits: Geneon Entertainment(USA) Ends

[Anthro]

On Wednesday September 26, 2007, anime fans across the country got a shock when Geneon Entertainment (USA), a longtime player in the anime market, notified retailers of its plans to cease DVD sales and distribution. The news comes less than a week after a deal with fellow anime distributor ADV Films to take over the company's DVD sales and marketing fell through.

With retailers only being able to order Geneon product with street dates of November 6, 2007 or earlier, it's likely that all releases after that date are canceled (although this has not yet been confirmed). Since anime is usually released on a volume-by-volume basis before getting the box set treatment, many fans will be left high and dry as some series will not be completed before the November 6 cutoff date.

Geneon Entertainment (USA) came into the anime market in 1993, although back then it had a different name: Pioneer Entertainment (USA). Pioneer Entertainment (USA) was a subsidiary of Pioneer LDC, which was owned by the very same Pioneer Corporation that's known worldwide for its electronics. Pioneer LDC was acquired by advertising and entertainment company Dentsu in 2003 and renamed Geneon (taken from the words “generate” and “eon).

Under the Pioneer and Geneon names, Geneon Entertainment (USA) released a wide variety of series, movies, and OVAs (Original Video Animation) that were beloved by anime fans. Many people who were first introduced to anime via Cartoon Network's Toonami and Adult Swim saw Geneon titles including Tenchi Muyo!, Trigun, Samurai Champloo, and Paranoia Agent. Geneon titles have also aired on MTV, G4/Tech TV, Fuse, and the Starz/Encore networks. Other popular works released by Geneon include the anime classic Akira, the three Sailor Moon feature films, the anime versions of CLAMP's Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, and X, as well as the trippy Serial Experiments Lain.

Geneon gained a reputation among many anime fans as a fan-friendly company that delivered high-quality releases of even the least mainstream shows. For example, the special edition of Volume 2 of the Hellsing Ultimate OVA series included not only a second disc of extras but a steelbook DVD case and a book of production art. The company even released CD soundtracks of various anime series at one point under the Geneon Anime Music label.

There is no word yet as to what Geneon titles, if any, will be scooped up for distribution by the remaining companies in the U.S. anime market. It is also unclear whether the company will continue in the anime market in another form. Geneon's letter to retailers did not specify that the company was dissolving. It only noted that it would no longer be selling or distributing DVDs. There is speculation that Geneon Entertainment (USA) will become merely a licensor of properties produced by its Japanese parent.

Regardless of whether or not the Geneon name will be around next year, the loss of Geneon from the U.S. anime DVD market is a big blow for anime fans. The exit of such a major player will result in a decrease in the types of anime released in the U.S. It also makes one question the overall stability of the U.S. anime market. Is Geneon's exit the start of a trend of contraction in the anime market or is it just a case of a company not having enough mainstream titles to survive in a crowded market? Anime fans probably hope that it's the latter rather than the former.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/09/27/120544.php

[Ahzure]

This is sad if not tragic news because I’m waiting the release of the Black Lagoon; Fate/Stay Night; Karin; Kyo Kara Maoh; Rozen Maiden and Shakugan no Shana boxsets
Back when they were still called Pioneer a series like Trigun; EL Hazard or Tenchi Muyo would set you back almost R2000 a boxset. It was only with emergence of the Geneon Signature Series product line that most of their titles became affordable.

[Cure]

They'll just probably outsource their shipping and sales to someone else, seeing as how they're one of the big names in anime dubbing I really don't see them going out of business that easily.

[ZeroS]

I heard they were closed shop cos they played a middle man function. Something unneeded in the anime community atm.

[larch]

They'll just probably outsource their shipping and sales to someone else, seeing as how they're one of the big names in anime dubbing I really don't see them going out of business that easily.

Before I start with my conspiracy theory surrounding Geneon closing down let me first bring you up to speed on what happened. To some of you this might be old news and to some of you it might be the first time you heard of this, so bear with me.

On 24th August 2007 a notice was sent to all Anime DVD retailers across the globe that ADV films will be handling the distribution of Geneon titles across the board with immediate effect. Although Geneon will still be licensing and producing anime for North America, the way those titles reach the market will now be handled by ADV Films. When asked to comment about this ADV could not be reached for comment but Geneon stated this as true.

In preparation for the transition, Geneon USA laid off the majority of its sales division, including all of its sales people. Customers of Geneon USA complained that they have been unable to obtain any information from Geneon USA about the current procedure for returns and obtaining newly released titles.

Shortly afterwards on the 20th September 2007 it was announced that the distribution deal was canceled and that ADV wouldn’t be responsible for the the marketing and the release of Geneon titles anymore. Rumors had it that ADV films was the one that pulled out of the deal before it was to be written in stone. This has also affected Dentsu Inc., Geneon USA’s parent company, causing it to plan to close its doors on the 31st of December 2007. It is not known what is to be done with ongoing projects, such as the Hellsing Ultimate anime series, that will not finish in Japan before December 31.

This has caused people to go on a Geneon buying spree buying up the last boxsets and other related products as they are about to go out of production and become collectors items, causing a massive shortage in Geneon products.

Most people who frequent the online anime community would know that ADV films have gotten a reputation as the anime distribution company that uses bully tactics in acquiring anime titles. And when they do manage to get the title they screw it up, as can be seen with Neon Genesis Evangelion. Each year there is a release of the boxset of the series/movie milking as much as they can out of the already milked franchise. And there desist orders against funsub groups have become legendary to say the least. They have even gone as far as to tell fansubbers to stop fansubbing an anime title that they were thinking about licensing.

Okay now that we got the basics down of what happened we can start with my little conspiracy theories. Geneon are known for quality releases - just check out the Hellsing Ultimate series and Black Lagoon (that’s if you are still able to find the DVD`s for sale). My conspiracy theory is rather simple: ADV wanted to have a bigger market share in the anime industry and the only way to achieve that was to go into a partnership with Geneon. But they didn’t want to share the profit nor the glory of this new relationship, so they signed a contract but bailed at the last moment leaving Geneon dead in the water.

But it doesn’t stop there: they can kill two birds with one stone by totally removing Geneon as competition in the different regions, leaving a huge gap inhttp://www.hellsingultimate.com/ the market. And guess who will be there standing behind Geneon to fill this void in the market? Yes you guessed right - ADV films. Interesting conspiracy theory isn’t it?

It is really a shame that Geneon is closing their doors - they were doing a great job with their releases and were even on par with Bandai in their quality. And I really feel for the people who were collecting currently released titles by them (people like me). Let us hope someone else picks up these titles in the future.

And I leave you with a letter that was sent to all the Geneon fans on their forum:

To our fans,

Recently, we announced that we will not be accepting orders on Geneon products after Friday, September 28, 2007. We have read your comments that you have emailed and posted on various web sites, and received your numerous calls.

At this time, we are internally discussing plans to explore all available options to continue distribution of Geneon titles, both old and new, at a later date. However, nothing is certain at this time. We will release more information to the public once we have any concrete plans, if any.

We would like to thank you for your support over the last 20+ years - first as Pioneer and then as Geneon. We have worked hard to bring you the best in Japanese animation and you have responded with an intense passion and support for our products.

As Geneon evolves, we hope that we can continue to be a part of your future.

Thank you,

(signed)
Eiji Orii
President and CEO, Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc.

My proper article can be found here: http://www.animescene.za.net/anime-mang ... onspiracy/

[Ahzure]

They'll just probably outsource their shipping and sales to someone else, seeing as how they're one of the big names in anime dubbing I really don't see them going out of business that easily.

Your words do offer a glimmer of hope as does the fact that Funimation has expressed interest in certain Geneon titles.

[larch]

Yeah not the best of the bunch but its better than nothing i guess

[Ahzure]

They'll just probably outsource their shipping and sales to someone else, seeing as how they're one of the big names in anime dubbing I really don't see them going out of business that easily.

Before I start with my conspiracy theory surrounding Geneon closing down let me first bring you up to speed on what happened. To some of you this might be old news and to some of you it might be the first time you heard of this, so bear with me.

On 24th August 2007 a notice was sent to all Anime DVD retailers across the globe that ADV films will be handling the distribution of Geneon titles across the board with immediate effect. Although Geneon will still be licensing and producing anime for North America, the way those titles reach the market will now be handled by ADV Films. When asked to comment about this ADV could not be reached for comment but Geneon stated this as true.

In preparation for the transition, Geneon USA laid off the majority of its sales division, including all of its sales people. Customers of Geneon USA complained that they have been unable to obtain any information from Geneon USA about the current procedure for returns and obtaining newly released titles.

Shortly afterwards on the 20th September 2007 it was announced that the distribution deal was canceled and that ADV wouldn’t be responsible for the the marketing and the release of Geneon titles anymore. Rumors had it that ADV films was the one that pulled out of the deal before it was to be written in stone. This has also affected Dentsu Inc., Geneon USA’s parent company, causing it to plan to close its doors on the 31st of December 2007. It is not known what is to be done with ongoing projects, such as the Hellsing Ultimate anime series, that will not finish in Japan before December 31.

This has caused people to go on a Geneon buying spree buying up the last boxsets and other related products as they are about to go out of production and become collectors items, causing a massive shortage in Geneon products.

Most people who frequent the online anime community would know that ADV films have gotten a reputation as the anime distribution company that uses bully tactics in acquiring anime titles. And when they do manage to get the title they screw it up, as can be seen with Neon Genesis Evangelion. Each year there is a release of the boxset of the series/movie milking as much as they can out of the already milked franchise. And there desist orders against funsub groups have become legendary to say the least. They have even gone as far as to tell fansubbers to stop fansubbing an anime title that they were thinking about licensing.

Okay now that we got the basics down of what happened we can start with my little conspiracy theories. Geneon are known for quality releases - just check out the Hellsing Ultimate series and Black Lagoon (that’s if you are still able to find the DVD`s for sale). My conspiracy theory is rather simple: ADV wanted to have a bigger market share in the anime industry and the only way to achieve that was to go into a partnership with Geneon. But they didn’t want to share the profit nor the glory of this new relationship, so they signed a contract but bailed at the last moment leaving Geneon dead in the water.

But it doesn’t stop there: they can kill two birds with one stone by totally removing Geneon as competition in the different regions, leaving a huge gap inhttp://www.hellsingultimate.com/ the market. And guess who will be there standing behind Geneon to fill this void in the market? Yes you guessed right - ADV films. Interesting conspiracy theory isn’t it?

It is really a shame that Geneon is closing their doors - they were doing a great job with their releases and were even on par with Bandai in their quality. And I really feel for the people who were collecting currently released titles by them (people like me). Let us hope someone else picks up these titles in the future.

And I leave you with a letter that was sent to all the Geneon fans on their forum:

To our fans,

Recently, we announced that we will not be accepting orders on Geneon products after Friday, September 28, 2007. We have read your comments that you have emailed and posted on various web sites, and received your numerous calls.

At this time, we are internally discussing plans to explore all available options to continue distribution of Geneon titles, both old and new, at a later date. However, nothing is certain at this time. We will release more information to the public once we have any concrete plans, if any.

We would like to thank you for your support over the last 20+ years - first as Pioneer and then as Geneon. We have worked hard to bring you the best in Japanese animation and you have responded with an intense passion and support for our products.

As Geneon evolves, we hope that we can continue to be a part of your future.

Thank you,

(signed)
Eiji Orii
President and CEO, Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc.

My proper article can be found here: http://www.animescene.za.net/anime-mang ... onspiracy/

I hope you don’t mind if I gave my take on the situation.
I believe most of the blame for their recent problems should fall on their own shoulders. One of their biggest mistakes was when it took Geneon 3 - 4 years to release the boxsets of certain series (Ai Yori Aoshi, Chobits) forcing people to buy titles volume by volume or wait year after year for the boxsets, although when Geneon do decide to release boxsets it’s usually in the $130 - $180 price range, where almost any other companies’ boxsets would cost $90. A couple of Media Blasters titles are also in the $100 prince range but within 18 months those titles would be marked down to somewhere between $30 - $50. No such luck with Geneon titles though.
I was very disappointed when Geneon brought out the Ikki Tousen Thinpak because it was retailing for the same amount as the regular boxset. Wasn’t a thinpak supposed to cost you a lot less?

There is no denying the fact that Geneon titles are the cream of the crop, English dubs of the highest standard but maybe they could’ve followed the example set by Media Blasters. In recent years the anime released by Media Blasters have only been subtitled. Insiders estimate the dubbing of a 25 minute anime episode costs about $10,000. A 26 episode series would cost $260,000 to dub; the distributor would then have to releases that series on 7 DVD volumes at a $15 wholesale cost per volume, the distributor must then sell roughly 2,500 copies of each disc just to recover the dubbing cost. Given that the fact there are many anime series don’t sell that many copies per disk (2,500) Media Blasters decision makes perfect sense.

I believe Geneon was heading in the right direction with their string of current releases such as the Ai Yori Aoshi/Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi Brick Set and Fighting Spirit boxsets reasonably priced somewhere between $50 - $65. I don’t know what prompted the change but alas it looks like it was a little too late.

[larch]

To be honest there DVD`s were of the highest quality since they used the be Poineer before they changed there name. Actually they didn't go bankrupt because if financial woes they got a nice push from ADV films and ADV has a rep for being the bully of the play ground.

[Ahzure]

To be honest there DVD`s were of the highest quality since they used the be Poineer before they changed there name. Actually they didn't go bankrupt because if financial woes they got a nice push from ADV films and ADV has a rep for being the bully of the play ground.

True but Geneon is quite stingy when it comes to extras. I’m used to getting the same 3 trailers spread over six volumes on their DVDs . You’d sometimes have to buy the expensive limited editions to really get any extras, where if it was ADV Films or Media Blasters the extras form part of the regular/ normal volumes

[larch]

To be honest there DVD`s were of the highest quality since they used the be Poineer before they changed there name. Actually they didn't go bankrupt because if financial woes they got a nice push from ADV films and ADV has a rep for being the bully of the play ground.

True but Geneon is quite stingy when it comes to extras. I’m used to getting the same 3 trailers spread over six volumes on their DVDs . You’d sometimes have to buy the expensive limited editions to really get any extras, where if it was ADV Films or Media Blasters the extras form part of the regular/ normal volumes

Then u haven't seen the 2 disk hellsing ultimate 2 disk metal DVD case with bust figurine for about R100 more than the normal DVD

I was really lucky to complete the 1st season of Black Lagoon by Geneon before they went belly up:

[Ahzure]

Somehow I knew you’d mention Hellsing Ultimate and I’ll admit it does come with a decent amount of extras but you’ll have to remember extra does not just include figurines; stickers or a metal case. Extras like interviews; a behind the scenes look; commentary by the cast; outtakes and maybe a soundtrack all adds to the enjoyment of a title and is something I would not mind spending a little extra cash on. I’m not sure (I’ll double check later) but I don’t think the Samurai Champloo boxset comes with extras yet it costs about $199 or R1400. Crazy

[larch]

Somehow I knew you’d mention Hellsing Ultimate and I’ll admit it does come with a decent amount of extras but you’ll have to remember extra does not just include figurines; stickers or a metal case. Extras like interviews; a behind the scenes look; commentary by the cast; outtakes and maybe a soundtrack all adds to the enjoyment of a title and is something I would not mind spending a little extra cash on. I’m not sure (I’ll double check later) but I don’t think the Samurai Champloo boxset comes with extras yet it costs about $199 or R1400. Crazy

Actually its a 2 disc set 2nd disk has all the extra`s like interviews and making of and trailers. But the fact still remains Geneon was one of the best DVD companies out there till they got killed of

[Ahzure]

The only thing I can say in my defense (for not knowing what extras Hellsing Ultimate has) would be that I’m still in the process of collecting the last 2 the DVDs of the first series so I have avoided all mention of what Hellsing Ultimate might entail plus I have to avoid the first series currently shown on Animax as well because I wish to avoid spoilers.
One thing that I always found strange was that ADV would hold the rights to a great/best selling series and then you’d find Geneon holds the rights to the soundtrack of said series.
If I’m not mistaken it’s only in last 36 months or so that Geneon DVDs have been released with noteworthy extras.

[larch]

The only thing I can say in my defense (for not knowing what extras Hellsing Ultimate has) would be that I’m still in the process of collecting the last 2 the DVDs of the first series so I have avoided all mention of what Hellsing Ultimate might entail plus I have to avoid the first series currently shown on Animax as well because I wish to avoid spoilers.
One thing that I always found strange was that ADV would hold the rights to a great/best selling series and then you’d find Geneon holds the rights to the soundtrack of said series.
If I’m not mistaken it’s only in last 36 months or so that Geneon DVDs have been released with noteworthy extras.

Actually Geneon has given away nice extras with there dvd`s for ages since Geneon used to be the old Pioneer who were one of the first companies to bring out Anime of DVD all those years ago.

I hate ADV with a passion

[Ahzure]

FUNimation Takes On Geneon
FUNimation Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Navarre Corporation, and Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc., a leading producer of Japanese animation, announced today their partnership to distribute select DVD titles in North America.

Under the terms of the agreement, FUNimation Entertainment obtains the exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of established Geneon titles, including international successes "Ergo Proxy", "Hellsing Ultimate" and "Black Lagoon".
Among the first titles to be released includes the special edition of "Hellsing Ultimate", directed by Tomokazu Tokoro and produced by Satelight (“Aquarion” and “Baldr Force EXE Resolution”).

Follow up releases include "Black Lagoon Second Barrage", “Karin”, "Kyo Kara Maoh Season 2", and "Lyrical Nanoha".
“Geneon is a strong producer, known for excellent production and quality of its anime series,“ said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO of FUNimation Entertainment. “We are pleased to partner with them and we are committed to the successful release of these series.”
"FUNimation’s momentum as the leading anime distributor continues to build," said Yushin Soga, president and CEO of Geneon. "We are sure this partnership will only grow the prominence of our portfolio."
Additional titles include: “Black Lagoon”, “Elemental Gelade”, “Fate Stay Night”, “Kamichu”, “Ninja Vixens”, “Paradise Kiss”, “Rozen Maiden”, “Rozen Maiden Traumend”, “Shana”, “Shonen Onmyouji”, “The Familiar of Zero”, “The Story of Saiunkoku”, “When They Cry”, and “The Law of Ueki

This is great news. I can’t wait for the release dates to be announced