Geneon Leaves US Anime Industry

by ReverseHarem
Sep 26, 2007 7:26 AM | 49 Comments

Geneon's US branch, Geneon USA, has informed all of its US retailers that it will cease the sales, production, and distribution of all its DVDs. The official date for the pullout is this Friday (September 28th) and it will go into effect at 5pm PDT. Source: Anime Nation.

20 of 49 Comments Recent Comments

I need to get my Fate/Stay Night dvds quick!! And Ergo Proxy………oh I need a job first!! O.O F/SN!!!!!!

*obsessed F/SN fan*

Oct 7, 2007 11:07 PM by YoshikoHatake

As a memeber of that Geneon Spot thing, I got an e-mail that came attached with a letter from Eiji Orii, CEO of Geneon USA.

October 5,2007

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 e-mailed 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,
Eiji Orii
President and CEO, Geneon Entertainment (USA)slnc.

Anyone else get this? Hope they do figure something out.

Oct 5, 2007 5:31 PM by Asrialys

marukawa said:
near the very end of the report on ANN, it says:

"from October 1, 2007, Geneon USA will focus mainly on management of its works portfolio."

what does that mean, exactly? that they'll just be working on the series that they're in the middle of working on?

i don't get it. T__T

ender650 said:
someone needs to release a more thorough article about whats happening to Geneon because no one seems to know what they are doing

They'll probably be working on the production of anime in Japan. Don't know if you know this, but the company is based in Japan. Geneon USA is finished (for now?), but the main branch will still be involved in anime.

Sep 27, 2007 6:36 PM by Asrialys

someone needs to release a more thorough article about whats happening to Geneon because no one seems to know what they are doing

Sep 27, 2007 5:24 PM by hot

near the very end of the report on ANN, it says:

"from October 1, 2007, Geneon USA will focus mainly on management of its works portfolio."

what does that mean, exactly? that they'll just be working on the series that they're in the middle of working on?

i don't get it. T__T

Sep 27, 2007 5:05 PM by i_died_the_end

Geneon to Cease DVD Sales Operations
Posted on: September 26, 2007

According to a letter that we received today, Geneon plans to cease DVD sales and distribution by the end of this week, accepting only non-returnable orders for releases with scheduled street dates through 11/6/2007.

We are verifying now whether the remainder of the releases will be canceled completely, but it is our guess that the 11/13 releases and beyond are canceled. Rest assured that we have adequate incoming inventory on all of the titles through 11/6 on order and will be able to fill all customer orders -- if you haven't ordered these titles, order them now!

Things are still a bit unclear as to how things going forward for Geneon will be handled, in terms of licensed properties that are in mid-release or have not yet been released. As more information is available, we will certainly update you.

http://www.rightstuf.com/

ANN Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-09-26/geneon-usa-to-cancel-dvd-sales-distribution-by-friday

Kinda doubt its a marketing scheme.

Sep 27, 2007 3:59 AM by Despised

DeathfireD said:
someone should e-mail Geneon and ask them http://geneonanimation.com/MainContentPage.aspx?PageUID=6bdd75f1-64cf-41dd-a18e-bef07f6bd169

lol

I actually did for the heck of it yesterday when I heard the newsXD
I seriously doubt I'll get a response~ I was just boredXD

Sep 27, 2007 2:57 AM by Bluesnow

On a totally lame attempt...

"Geneon leaves US" = Geneon leaves us

¬_¬;

Sep 27, 2007 12:02 AM by Asrialys

woah... thats a suprise indeed o_O.... .Wonder why ...

Sep 26, 2007 11:22 PM by Siing

I might pick up Samurai Champloo and Last Exile..

Not going to bother getting hirugashi.. I'll wait to see what happens with that >_>

Maybe if anime dvds weren't so fucking expensive..

Sep 26, 2007 10:13 PM by SY_IS_DEAD_IRL

As I understand it, Geneon hasn't said they're shutting down and dropping all of their series. They're just ending their merchant partnerships and tabling releases for now. They could still come back from this...

Sep 26, 2007 9:15 PM by hounddog

Current priorities:

-Kamichu (where the hell is it that boxed set?)
-Haibane-Renmei
-Serial Experiments Lain
-Last Exile

Then there are a bunch of other things. And damn me for not getting the $34.99 Paranoia Agent set at Suncoast yesterday. Went today and it was gone. Hope Rozen Maiden, Higurashi, and Karin are eventually completed one day.

I'll assume that the Kamichu set was delayed due to all this going on. Anyone know if there were any other Geneon releases for the 25th that also didn't come out on time?

Sep 26, 2007 9:13 PM by Asrialys

Although I hate dubs Geneon was one of the better dubing companies...

Geneon doesn't dub anime, they only distribute and work on the production aspect. They just outsource dubs to studios such as Ocean, Bang Zoom, NewGen and others.

LOL, you guys should check out the doomsayers on ANN's forums about this.....funny stuff.

According to them, fansubs/bootlegs are the reason why Geneon ended up like this. One guy even put up an online petition to get the "remaining" R1 companies to pick up Geneon's licenses >_>

OMG GENEON'S DEAD, THE FUTURE OF ANIME IS DOOOOMED

Whatever.

The reason Geneon ended up like this 15% fansubbers, 65% the Japanese, American and Canadian economies, 20% other projects/issues.

The remaining R1 companies will probably pick up Geneon's shows. Media Blasters' John Sirabella has hinted at it. ADV, BEUSA could as well. Let's not forget FUNimation either, which would actually be bad.

It's by no means doomed. Geneon was only 12% of the total market. Nothing too bad to worried about.

Sep 26, 2007 9:08 PM by Whims

This sucks! This will definitely send a huge ripple effect through the anime industry in the US. Geneon was such a major distributor of anime. A lot of the Adult Swim anime came from Geneon distribution. T________T

I will definitely miss sitting at the Geneon booth at the next anime con. T______T

Sep 26, 2007 8:12 PM by Gemelle

Sep 26, 2007 7:52 PM by Kimura

Although I hate dubs Geneon was one of the better dubing companies...

Sep 26, 2007 6:17 PM by cloudtheclow

Well that sucks.
I need to buy me those released Higurashi DVDs soon then. :/

Sep 26, 2007 6:07 PM by Miriette

Very sad news. Geneon was one of my favorite R1 companies. Most of my DVD collection consisted of shows they had licensed. I just started collecting Rozen Maiden (which is a great show, btw), so it's kind of disheartening to hear the last two discs won't be getting released anytime soon. :(

Sep 26, 2007 4:41 PM by LunarCharm

whats a Bargain Bin? O.o;

i can see it now, all other anime companies will quit and then ill be stuck with tokyo pop. -___-; sigh* i got no money atm and i want the rest of those hellsing ultimate dvds..Geneon..just killed me deep inside. >.<

Bargain Bin = Where you get stuff cheap.

All the other companies won't quit. ADV, FUNimation and Bandai Entertainment USA -- the Big Three -- still are around and aren't leaving or quitting anytime soon. Don't worry. :)

Tokyopop is technically no longer in the anime business, just manga.

Sep 26, 2007 3:56 PM by Whims

AnomalousOne said:
Oh, man, this sucks! I'm so glad I'm not following any of their current series. At least maybe some of their old titles will hit the bargain bin? *wantss to buy Paradise Kiss and Gankutsuou soon*

Sep 26, 2007 3:51 PM by DimmuBorgir

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