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NEWS: ADV Films Reportedly Suspends 4 DVD Titles Indefinitely

I'm only hesitant to buy a new series, if it looks generic, or if it's friggin' long.

Yes. It's called company loyalty. I've got plenty of anime and manga I never finished! But I'm not going to complain, because I appreciated what I could get.

Kanon Vol 6 might be in stores on the 8th..... I hope.

Chii85 wrote:

Kanon Vol 6 might be in stores on the 8th..... I hope.

Although I never played a dating sim game so I'm not familer with this title.

I predict that ADV and Tokyopop will fall apart within the next two years. And it will be for the better.

The American anime/manga industry is evolving. Companies are learning to meet their consumer's demands; to license and release intelligently; to provide solid translations, steady releases, and to keep consumers informed. That is, most companies are, anyway.

Funimation is licensing titles that will sell, as well as reclaiming titles from fallen companies (4kids/Geneon). They're no longer licensing any piece-of-crap series that happens to catch their eye, without paying a speck of attention to the fanbase. They're also producing quality translations and proper dubbing. They're making rational decisions that will make them money, and will please the American fans.

Bandai is finally coming to the realization that Japanese DVD prices do not work in an American market. Now they're employing business strategies that make sense, by releasing desirable special editions to cater to the hardcore fans, and cheaper bulk-episode sets for the more casual fans and/or the less willing to pay. They've realized how to properly handle the American anime market, and they'll profit from it.

On the other hand, ADV is setting itself up for failure. They produce unsteady releases, in terms of both anime and manga, and do very little to meet consumer demands. Their translation and dubbing quality is unsteady. They license major titles, and yet do a horrendous job of promoting them. They also keep fans in the dark, by not updating their website and only occasionally revealing information to the press. ADV is falling, and it will be a better industry without them.

Geneon followed a similar pattern before its fall, in that they seemed to have stopped making an effort to produce quality. There are DVDs that I would have been willing to buy from them; Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Black Lagoon, particularly. Yet I was so appalled by their mediocre voicework and horribly slopping translations, I was forced to refrain from buying them, despite my strong desire to own hardcopies of those series. I was happy to see Geneon go, as I am happy to see ADV failing now.

The manga industry is in much better shape. Dark Horse does amazing work with their translations, and seems to have quite a bit of sense when it comes to licensing. I'm more than glad to buy their products, despite the slightly higher prices. Del Rey is more of a newcomer to the industry, but they're doing spectacularly well. They have the best licensing-sense I've ever seen, and produce what I would call the best translations in the industry. In fact, I'm more likely to buy manga if it's published by Del Rey.

Viz occasionally produces questionable translations, and has performed some completely irrational acts of censorship, but on the whole, they're not too bad. Smaller distributors, such as CMX D/Books, and Dr. Master (excuse me if I got any of the names wrong), tend to produce very good work and license highly desirable titles, despite being up against much larger competitors.

Tokyopop is the scourge and the shame of the American manga industry. Many of their translations are outright horrendous. I've refrained from buying manga many times, only because I know how badly they handled the translations. They also have the worst licensing-sense in the industry, seeming to license whatever they can get their hands on, paying no attention to quality or the wants of the fanbase. They seem to believe manga is an undifferentiated commodity, where no particular series is better than another. They also extensively license many of their better series without reason.

They have made some good licensing decisions in the past, however, with GTO, Love Hina, and some others. But as far as recent licenses go, I can't remember the last time something licensed by Tokyopop caught my eye. The only real redeeming factor present in modern Tokyopop is their work on light novels, such as Full Metal Panic, Slayers, and Kino no Tabi. I love light novels, and love seeing more of them brought to the U.S. And yet...not-so-surprisingly...Tokyopop neglects this portion of their business, cutting off series midway-through and keeping to a bumpy, unpredictable release schedule.

Tokyopop and ADV will collapse, and it will be for the better. Geneon has collapsed, and it has been for the better. Funimation and Bandai will continue distributing anime in the United States, and will lead the industry into a vastly superior modern age of anime distribution. The manga industry is doing well for itself right now, and with the fall of its one blight, Tokyopop, it will be nearly perfect.

To think that Funimation started out with crappy editing and dubbing of Dragonball Z.

RX78-2 wrote:

To think that Funimation started out with crappy editing and dubbing of Dragonball Z.

Now they've grown in the monster that has basically taken control of the R1 Anime industry. I hope they don't fudge this up.

Chii85 wrote:

Kanon Vol 6 might be in stores on the 8th..... I hope.

Although I never played a dating sim game so I'm not familer with this title.