The Good News or the Bad News!
It's a bit of both actually, as once again the cliché of seven days being a long time in (insert subject of choice here) turns out to be true. The past week in anime has seen some remarkable, worrying, heartening and some downright confusing developments, both in online and DVD distribution. I was just going to update the Strike Witches item, but all of this deserved an article to itself.
First online… I've found the developments in legal online distribution absolutely groundbreaking. The idea that anime gets an outlet akin to television or cinema, allowing fans to try before they buy seems to me to be a logical progression. After all there is no other easy means to watch anime, especially in the UK, and asking fans to invest in relatively expensive DVDs on the strength of word of mouth or online reviews alone, only goes so far in attracting an audience. Of course you'll get the fans that'll happily watch a series for the price of their internet connection and never buy the DVDs. Then again, not everyone buys every film they see at the cinema, and not everyone gets the DVDs for everything they see broadcast on TV. So when companies like Gonzo and ADV announced that they would be streaming shows online, it seemed like a brilliant idea.
And now for the bad news… ADV's deal with Crunchyroll to stream Welcome to the NHK was for five weeks only. Alas, it's time up for that programme, which stopped at episode 12, on a fingernail-damaging cliffhanger. If you want to see the rest of the show, you'll have to buy the DVDs, but there is an almighty proviso to that. More of which comes up later.
Gonzo have also impressed by streaming The Tower of Druaga and Blassreiter to the rest of the world, just hours after the episodes debut in Japan. Druaga finished a fortnight ago, and Gonzo announced Strike Witches to replace it. Strike Witches debuted on Thursday and is available at the usual sites, Youtube, Crunchyroll and BOST TV, although at this time Youtube hasn't created a dedicated Strike Witches Channel, you'll have to search for the episodes.
Strike Witches at Crunchyroll
Strike Witches at BOST TV
Now here's the bad news. You can stream the episodes for free, or pay to download, but in a change to the previous distribution model, the hours of streaming have been limited, and the rest of the world only amounts to North America in some idiotic eyes.
If you want to see Strike Witches for free legally, you'll have to do it on Thursday between 2pm and midnight PST. That translates to 10pm Thursday night and 8am Friday morning for us in the UK. Personally I'll be giving this series a miss. And I'm hoping that Blassreiter, which is in the middle of its run, doesn't shift to the same model.
But the good news, and there is good news, is that Funimation now want to get more firmly on the online distribution bandwagon (they have in the past offered sample episodes on their own site as tasters for series) and have set up their own Youtube Channel.
Funimation at Youtube
At the moment it's just broadcasting trailers, but as you can see in this report from
Anime News Network, the plan is to eventually offer episodes of series like Peach Girl, Kiddy Grade and Mushi-shi to watch.
In DVD distribution it's all US news, with Anime Expo in full swing. There will be a lot more news to come from there, but the bad pre-empted the expo and caused countless US anime fans to whimper in pain. And as is usually the way, what happens in the US anime industry eventually filters down to us in the UK. This January just gone, ADV US hit some seriously turbulent waters when a Japanese investor pulled the plug. Licences were left in doubt, and there was some serious belt tightening that saw ADV UK go the way of the dinosaurs and Newtype magazine fold. ADV got a lifeline with some of their licences (not Gurren Lagaan which is now in the hands of Bandai) but now it seems that the lifeline has vanished. The replacement for Newtype magazine, Piq folded after just four issues, and the ADV anime shows that were being released in the US have been put on hold.
Anime News Network - ADV woes
Apparently they have lost the licences to distribute these titles, among them my most exciting find of the summer, Welcome to the NHK. Whether it's just a temporary hitch again, or something more permanent is yet to be seen, but even though ADV UK's replacement, Lace Distribution is on much stronger footing, surely a question mark hangs on whether or not Welcome to the NHK will see a UK release. The first volume is scheduled for August, but if the final volumes don't get released in the US, that may impinge on the UK release. With Lace cancelling the final volumes of Kurau Phantom Memory and Red Garden in the UK in favour of cheaper boxsets, in much the same way that Manga did with Heat Guy J and Noein, perhaps it would be better to hope that they go straight for the NHK boxset.
But there is good news, and it doesn't get much better than this. Last autumn, one of Region 1's biggest and most renowned anime distributors, Geneon, shut up shop, taking with them some excellent titles. This was a move that had anime fans anguished that some of their favourite series were left in limbo, and certain Geneon discs quickly became like gold dust. It also gave me reason to gloat in that we in the UK would get Black Lagoon Second Barrage before the US would. Well that still may happen, but it will be a tight thing. For Funimation have announced that they have acquired the rights to distribute a significant portion of Geneon's catalogue. And with Geneon still in the business as licensors and producers, their absence on the shop shelves may turn out to be a brief blip.
Anime News Network - Funimation and Geneon
As you can see, the list is mostly confined to those titles that Geneon had just released, or were in the process of releasing. Classic titles like Samurai Champloo or Trigun remain absent. That means that collectors get to finally fill the gaps in their collections, and with Shana on the list, it means that second season and the movie could come to the US, and eventually the UK through MVM, which has just started releasing the first series.
But, I wouldn't be a pessimist if I didn't leave you with one note of worry. The credit crunch hits Japan as Gonzo's parent company, GDH faces its own financial woes.
Anime News Network - Gonzo problems
Update
It's a case of blink and you'll miss it, with news flying thick and fast today. While I was writing this article, it was announced that Funimation, who have just resurrected Geneon, have also gathered to their bosom all the licences that ADV US have just lost. There's no 6-month wait for good news with this one, but it does raise a few questions about whether Funimation has the clout to act as a super-distributor in the US. There is precedent given that Madman release over 90% of the anime in Australia. But there is also the question of what this means for Lace's distribution of ADV titles in the UK, especially those titles that are midway through their runs.
Details will no doubt emerge in the following days and weeks, but for now you can read which former ADV titles will have Funimation branding at…
Anime News Network - Funimation and ADV
First online… I've found the developments in legal online distribution absolutely groundbreaking. The idea that anime gets an outlet akin to television or cinema, allowing fans to try before they buy seems to me to be a logical progression. After all there is no other easy means to watch anime, especially in the UK, and asking fans to invest in relatively expensive DVDs on the strength of word of mouth or online reviews alone, only goes so far in attracting an audience. Of course you'll get the fans that'll happily watch a series for the price of their internet connection and never buy the DVDs. Then again, not everyone buys every film they see at the cinema, and not everyone gets the DVDs for everything they see broadcast on TV. So when companies like Gonzo and ADV announced that they would be streaming shows online, it seemed like a brilliant idea.
And now for the bad news… ADV's deal with Crunchyroll to stream Welcome to the NHK was for five weeks only. Alas, it's time up for that programme, which stopped at episode 12, on a fingernail-damaging cliffhanger. If you want to see the rest of the show, you'll have to buy the DVDs, but there is an almighty proviso to that. More of which comes up later.
Gonzo have also impressed by streaming The Tower of Druaga and Blassreiter to the rest of the world, just hours after the episodes debut in Japan. Druaga finished a fortnight ago, and Gonzo announced Strike Witches to replace it. Strike Witches debuted on Thursday and is available at the usual sites, Youtube, Crunchyroll and BOST TV, although at this time Youtube hasn't created a dedicated Strike Witches Channel, you'll have to search for the episodes.
Strike Witches at Crunchyroll
Strike Witches at BOST TV
Now here's the bad news. You can stream the episodes for free, or pay to download, but in a change to the previous distribution model, the hours of streaming have been limited, and the rest of the world only amounts to North America in some idiotic eyes.
If you want to see Strike Witches for free legally, you'll have to do it on Thursday between 2pm and midnight PST. That translates to 10pm Thursday night and 8am Friday morning for us in the UK. Personally I'll be giving this series a miss. And I'm hoping that Blassreiter, which is in the middle of its run, doesn't shift to the same model.
But the good news, and there is good news, is that Funimation now want to get more firmly on the online distribution bandwagon (they have in the past offered sample episodes on their own site as tasters for series) and have set up their own Youtube Channel.
Funimation at Youtube
At the moment it's just broadcasting trailers, but as you can see in this report from
Anime News Network, the plan is to eventually offer episodes of series like Peach Girl, Kiddy Grade and Mushi-shi to watch.
In DVD distribution it's all US news, with Anime Expo in full swing. There will be a lot more news to come from there, but the bad pre-empted the expo and caused countless US anime fans to whimper in pain. And as is usually the way, what happens in the US anime industry eventually filters down to us in the UK. This January just gone, ADV US hit some seriously turbulent waters when a Japanese investor pulled the plug. Licences were left in doubt, and there was some serious belt tightening that saw ADV UK go the way of the dinosaurs and Newtype magazine fold. ADV got a lifeline with some of their licences (not Gurren Lagaan which is now in the hands of Bandai) but now it seems that the lifeline has vanished. The replacement for Newtype magazine, Piq folded after just four issues, and the ADV anime shows that were being released in the US have been put on hold.
Anime News Network - ADV woes
Apparently they have lost the licences to distribute these titles, among them my most exciting find of the summer, Welcome to the NHK. Whether it's just a temporary hitch again, or something more permanent is yet to be seen, but even though ADV UK's replacement, Lace Distribution is on much stronger footing, surely a question mark hangs on whether or not Welcome to the NHK will see a UK release. The first volume is scheduled for August, but if the final volumes don't get released in the US, that may impinge on the UK release. With Lace cancelling the final volumes of Kurau Phantom Memory and Red Garden in the UK in favour of cheaper boxsets, in much the same way that Manga did with Heat Guy J and Noein, perhaps it would be better to hope that they go straight for the NHK boxset.
But there is good news, and it doesn't get much better than this. Last autumn, one of Region 1's biggest and most renowned anime distributors, Geneon, shut up shop, taking with them some excellent titles. This was a move that had anime fans anguished that some of their favourite series were left in limbo, and certain Geneon discs quickly became like gold dust. It also gave me reason to gloat in that we in the UK would get Black Lagoon Second Barrage before the US would. Well that still may happen, but it will be a tight thing. For Funimation have announced that they have acquired the rights to distribute a significant portion of Geneon's catalogue. And with Geneon still in the business as licensors and producers, their absence on the shop shelves may turn out to be a brief blip.
Anime News Network - Funimation and Geneon
As you can see, the list is mostly confined to those titles that Geneon had just released, or were in the process of releasing. Classic titles like Samurai Champloo or Trigun remain absent. That means that collectors get to finally fill the gaps in their collections, and with Shana on the list, it means that second season and the movie could come to the US, and eventually the UK through MVM, which has just started releasing the first series.
But, I wouldn't be a pessimist if I didn't leave you with one note of worry. The credit crunch hits Japan as Gonzo's parent company, GDH faces its own financial woes.
Anime News Network - Gonzo problems
Update
It's a case of blink and you'll miss it, with news flying thick and fast today. While I was writing this article, it was announced that Funimation, who have just resurrected Geneon, have also gathered to their bosom all the licences that ADV US have just lost. There's no 6-month wait for good news with this one, but it does raise a few questions about whether Funimation has the clout to act as a super-distributor in the US. There is precedent given that Madman release over 90% of the anime in Australia. But there is also the question of what this means for Lace's distribution of ADV titles in the UK, especially those titles that are midway through their runs.
Details will no doubt emerge in the following days and weeks, but for now you can read which former ADV titles will have Funimation branding at…
Anime News Network - Funimation and ADV
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