Anime Central (ACEN) Recap
Written by Jeremy Snow
Published on 05/14/2007
Originally from Binary Culture / [the-lowdown.net]
http://www.binaryculture.net

Anime Central (ACEN) took place this past weekend in the Donald E. Stephens convention center in Illinois. The largest convention in the midwest, the biggest names flocked to ACEN to make some very important announcements regarding licenses and new products. Here are some of the biggest announcements that ACEN had to offer from some of the biggest names in the industry.

ADV: After confirming their latest licenses (including Pumpkin Scissors, Red Garden and four other titles) by showing trailers, ADV's co-founder Matt Greenfield announced new retail strategies for some of their upcoming releases.These new retail strategies includes releasing the volumes of the 'fan-centric' series, Air, monthly. Also, due to the fact that four new Evangelion movies are in production, Mr. Greenfield announced that the 10th anniversary Neon Genesis Evangelion box set would be delayed for the time being. Still committed to releasing thinpaks of older titles, Matt Greenfield also mentioned that while ADV would love to produce all of the old series, it just wouldn't be possible with some series due to lack of interest. NYAV Post, the dubbing company that was in charge of ADV's first season of Ah! My Goddess, has been brought on board for the second season as well. Special features on the upcoming DVDs will include an interview of Eileen Stevens, who voiced Belldandy in the original Oh my Goddess! OVA.

In manga news, ADV announced that their manga developing branch will be making a comeback, however, many titles that ADV had previously licensed will not be continued due to lack of interest.

As Matt Greenfield was answering some questions, the inevitable fansub issue came up. Matt Greenfield said that fan subtitling is hurting the industry in the United States and in Japan, but that "the industry has to learn and adapt to new technology, and has to find ways to work around it."

My thoughts: I've met Mr. Greenfield before, and he's a really cool guy. I think that the way he addressed the fansub issue, rather than simply denouncing it and moving on, shows that he cares about the way that his industry reaches out to their demographic. I'm also pretty excited about their recent licenses (especially Pumpkin Scissors), and I'm looking forward to ADV's upcoming fiscal year.


Funimation- Sole panelist Adam Sheehan addressed a packed room at ACEN, starting the panel he pointed out that Funimation has roughly 31 percent of the market and that the Dragonball Z season 1 box set is currently the best-selling anime in the United States.

Sheehan went on to discuss Funimation's presence on Itunes, announcing that Trinity Blood and Galaxy Railways would soon be joining the roster of shows already available for purchase. Afro Samurai is also being released this month, and DC Unlimited (a company that produces figures and other collectibles for DC Comics) has agreed to make figures for the show. The School Rumble special edition, being released on August 21st, will be a tin resembling that of Fullmetal Alchemist's, except that it will be designed to look like a locker.

Slayers will also be re-released on July 17th in a box set (also check out the latest press release from ADV regarding their July 17th releases), with Slayers Next being released approximately eight weeks later.

Finally, Funimation has one new license announcement: Black Blood Brothers. A 12-episode action series based on a series of novels by Kouhei Azano. This series will be released in early 2008 along with the Tsubasa and xxxHolic theatrical movies.

My thoughts: Funimation certainly has made their mark on the anime industry. Ever since Fullmetal Alchemist picked up speed they've been a pretty dominant force in the industry, competing with ADV over some of the biggest titles from the land of the rising sun. Though the Dragonball Z box set is controversial (arguments over the cropping quality has sparked a number of complaints regarding the lack of quality compounded with the fact that nobody seems to care), Fuinmation's classic releases (Dragonball Z) and newer titles (School Rumble, Afro Samurai) are what keep them going and will bring them through the rest of the year strong.

Geneon- Covering the production of the Trigun OVA, Black Lagoon and the controversial When They Cry- Higurashi, the Geneon panel was run by Steven Tang, Andrew Huang and producer Satoshi Fuji. In the course of the Q&A session, sad news was confirmed: due to the lack of popularity in Hajime no Ippo, the sequel OVA Hajime no Ippo- Mashiba vs. Kimura will not be licensed by Geneon. They did announce that the successful re-releases of the Tenchi series (Tenchi in Tokyo, Tenchi Muyo films, etc.) are helping them gauge the re-release success of the original OVA series.
Finally, Geneon announced (in response to a question from Anime News Network) that they would not be entering tha manga market, because they feel that Tokyopop, Viz and Del Rey have such a powerful hold on the market that the cost to enter would simply be too costly.

My thoughts: Hajime no Ippo is a great show. I was disappointed mainly with Geneon's inability to market the show well. Seeing Tenchi being released for what seems like the millionth time is a bit of a disappointment as well. I feel like Geneon pulled a Sony on me with their panel, nothing all that impressive...in fact most of it was pretty much depressing. I am excited about the Trigun OVA though. Here's hoping they don't mess that up.

Anyways, I'll update this news blog if I get anymore interesting tidbits. The majority of this information was pulled from Anime News Network's coverage of the Anime Central convention.

Also, I've got an interview with Crispin Freeman coming up soon, so keep an eye out for it! I'm going to be asking him about his latest role as Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya in addition to many other things.