Forum - View topicNEWS: Sojitz to Dissolve ARM Subsidiary for Anime Overseas
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10420 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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Well, as I said, and ADV has publicly said, the "breakup" was because ADV's management team and Sojitz did not agree on how things should be done (the specifics of those disagreements haven't been publicized). So Sojitz did put plenty of input into ADV. ADV's management just didn't like the input. Who was right ? We'll probably never know. Could be that Sojitz's ideas would have bankrupt ADV, could be that they would have lead to significant improvement. Bandai Visual USA was a different story altogether. They entered the market in an attempt to move it upscale. To say that they completely failed would be inaccurate, the Honeamise Line will continue at BEI as a home for high end releases for certain titles. The reason that BVUSA was shut down was that, now that Bandai Visual is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai, there was no reason to have two competing subsidiaries in the USA. Still, IMHO, BVUSA's business model was unsustainable the way they were going about it. The anime market is too small to sustain a company that is geared exclusively towards high-end, high-price DVD releases. Geneon / Dentsu is again a third very different scenario, but you described it pretty accurately. Dentsu's belief was that if they threw massive amounts of money at anime that their company would grow to a dominant and profitable position. Problem is that they overspent on manufacturing, under spent on promotion and made very questionable licensing decisions. Of course, there is a common thread through the three companies. Japanese management felt things would work in a certain order, and at the end of the day they were either wrong or perceived to be wrong and blocked from going any further. Of course, it would be very silly to come to the conclusion that Japanese management can't run a successful American anime/manga company. Look at BEI and VIZ. There are clear differences between the way all five companies are/were operated, but obviously BEI and VIZ have found a working balance between their Japanese owners and the American market. The same can be said for Pioneer prior to its involvement with Dentsu. -t |
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angel_lover
 Posts: 645 Location: UK |
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I think the underlying issue is that no-one knows exactly how the anime distribution business outside of Japan ought to work. It's all very well blaming this and that constituency (I love "fansubby-wubby", btw), but finger pointing doesn't increase sales. The truth is that Big Media had it coming, and tragically anime has been caught up in the aftermath. |
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TornadoTatsumaki
Posts: 145 Location: Mission Bend,Texas |
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CCSYueh
 Posts: 2707 Location: San Diego, CA |
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minorities are the only ones defaulting? I didn't know that I've been putting this whole debacle down to shady loan writers. My late husband had a friend who at one time sold cars, but he got out of it because he couldn't stand all the pushy sellers who sold cars regardless of whether the person could afford it or not. They just wanted their commission & if the car was repo'd inside of 6 mos, that was the bank's problem I wasn't too shocked about a year ago when one of my new clients commented he hadn't worked since he lost his job as a mortgage loan writer. I didn't ask, but I wouldn' be shocked if my convicted felon wasn't padding the loan info as so many allegedly were. Again, this was greed. "I get mine. Don't care about you" Which is what some seem to feel happened with Sojitz & ADV-greed, self-centered business practices, etc. Realistically, Japan had their long recession. I'm sure businesses there are nervous about what they're seeing going on in the US. Don't blame them |
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Serge
 Posts: 162 |
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I don't really understand this, so those titles shown
* 009-1 * Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy * Air Gear * Air movie * Air TV * Blade of the Phantom Master * Comic Party: Revolution * Coyote Ragtime Show * Devil May Cry * Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor TV * Jing, King of Bandits: Seventh Heaven * Jinki:Extend * Kanon * Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora (Shattered Angels) * Le Chevalier D'Eon * Magikano * Moeyo Ken TV * Moonlight Mile * Murder Princess * Nerima Daikon Brothers * Pani Poni Dash! * Project Blue Earth SOS * Pumpkin Scissors * Red Garden * Sgt. Keroro 1st & 2nd * Tokyo Majin * UFO Princess Valkyrie * Utawarerumono * Venus Versus Virus * The Wallflower * Welcome to the NHK * Xenosaga Will not be released by FUNimation? so does that mean that the Wallflower vol 4-6 won't be released? |
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hikaru004
 Posts: 2306 |
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No the titles shown are what FUNi has. 2 movies are not on that list: Synesthesia and Ghost Train.
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Taiyz
 Posts: 202 Location: Canada |
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I'm just wondering if ARM has any more licenses left, and what would become of the licenses if ARM dissolves without transferring them. |
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Leon Evolon
 Posts: 212 Location: Crazytowne |
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So it looks like ADV is left out in the cold now. I mean, do they even have any big-sellers left? I don't think they can rely on reselling Evangelion to bring in that much capital since the majority of the fan base already owns a copy of it.
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Zhemos88
 Posts: 52 |
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Well, ADV has Clannad.
I'm sure not how well It'll do over here, but It might sell good. Does anyone know if Kanon sold well? Anyways, I'm glad this doesn't affect the license Funimation got from them. I can now continue to look forward to a Pani Poni Dash boxset. ^^ |
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hikaru004
Posts: 2306 |
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The 2 live action movies were part of the ARM deal IIRC and are not on the FUNi list so they are in limbo I guess. The FUNi list that you see is all the Sojitz/ARM titles that they have. Also does anyone know the status of Kurau: Phantom Memory? It's not on the FUNi list either. |
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decepticons2
 Posts: 56 |
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Why is it just recently i have been noticing decent priced box sets? And why is no one discussing the US TV model of releasing seasons on DVD?
I have personaly stopped buying most anime dvds and rent from a local store as they get single disks in. Then usally i don't have much desire to buy it. Yes some anime companies depend on US dollars to pad there bottom line, or cover expenses. But if they dont understand how TV dvds are priced here then they shouldn't be counting on this market for dollars. The old pricing model was fine when the market was new. But now that you can buy a season of heroes or family guy for the price of one anime disk it just looks stupid in the same store. |
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ShugoYotsuba
Posts: 150 |
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Good, I'm glad Sojitz is paying for what they did to ADV!!!
Good for FUNimation, and good for ADV for making a comeback by rescuing Mahoromatic, Tsukihime, Jewel BEM Hunter Lime, and Pet Shop of Horrors Now everything can pretty much go back to normal!! 
R.I.S.P. (Rest in Shattered Pieces) Sojitz (2004-2008)!! WE WON'T MISS YOU, BECAUSE YOU DIED LIKE THE PIECE OF CRAP YOU WERE!! |
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GATSU
Posts: 15305 |
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Tempest: Sorry, but BVUSA did fail. They even admitted they were running on deficit sales in their last quarter. Only incompetent CEOs fold profitable subsidiaries into other subsidiaries. And it's bs that there was no desire to have two competing companies, since it's clear that BVJapan was hoping to cut out the middle man[I.E. Bandai Entertainment], and carve their own niche in the American market. They even tried to sell the last Galaxy Angel and one of the Gundams, for eff's sake! Not to mention they had the gall to criticize fans for wanting anime to be sold according to the American model of business, and not the Japanese model.
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bci110
 Posts: 391 |
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Well that's because the license to Kurau is still the property of ADV Films. Remember they acquired the license back in 2004, two years before the Sojitz deal. EDIT: I stand corrected. Someone on the AoD/Mania.com forum informed me that the status of the Kurau license is still in limbo. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18186 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Oh, they probably understand how TV DVDs are price in the States. . . but keep in mind that those are American TV DVDs, not imports. Anime, even if localized, is still an import, so it won't necessarily follow the same pricing principles. Season sets of American TV programs get sold relatively cheap because all production costs on it, except for printing the DVDs and making Extras, have already been covered. There's no licensing fees involved, so it's mostly a cash cow. Anime isn't.
Why would I want to buy a season set of Heroes when I can just DVR it or record it off the TV? That seems no less stupid to me than what you're saying about anime DVDs. Besides, most anime DVDs concern programming I can't get from the TV, so (to me at least) that inherently makes it worth more. The recent shift of some companies to release first-run season sets of some anime titles is probably more an indicator of licensing fees dropping to the point where it's cost-effective than anything else. |
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