AnimEigo

AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. Founded in 1988 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III, the company was one of the first in North America dedicated to licensing anime and helped give anime a noticeable following in the region. Over its history, the company has released many anime titles, such as Urusei Yatsura, Vampire Princess Miyu, Otaku no Video, the original Bubblegum Crisis OVA series, and Kimagure Orange Road.

AnimEigo
TypePrivate
IndustryEntertainment (anime)
Founded1988 (1988)
FoundersRobert Woodhead
Roe R. Adams, III
HeadquartersWilmington, North Carolina, United States
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Robert Woodhead
Roe R. Adams, III
Natsumi Ueki
Janice Hindle
ProductsAnime, samurai cinema
Websitewww.animeigo.com

Their name is a portmanteau of "anime" and "eigo" (英語), the Japanese word for the English language.

History

Rise and fall

The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III.[1] It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife.[2] Their first release was Metal Skin Panic Madox 01.[3] In July 2003, the company signed a deal with Koch Entertainment to help market and distribute their titles in the United States and Canada.[4]

Between 2010 and 2013 the company lost a lot of its titles. For example, in February 2010, they announced they lost the rights to the Oh My Goddess! OVAs.[5] In April 2010, the company announced they were unable to license the remaining episodes of Yawara!.[6] They later lost the rights to the episodes they had previously licensed.[7] In February 2011, the company announced they had lost the rights to Urusei Yatsura, one of their more popular titles.[8] The company also lost the rights to the You're Under Arrest and Battle Royal High School anime series, as well as the Zatoichi, Lone Wolf and Cub, and Portrait of Hell live action movies.[9][10][11][12][13] At its worst, the company was in danger of going bankrupt.[14]

Kickstarters

In October 2013, AnimEigo launched their first Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund a new release, specifically to re-release Bubblegum Crisis as a limited edition Blu-ray.[15] The Kickstarter was successfully funded in October 2013, and the Blu-ray was subsequently released in December 2014.[16] They also successfully kickstarted re-releases of Otaku no Video, Riding Bean, A.D. Police Files, Gunsmith Cats, and Megazone 23.[17][18][19][20][21]

Distribution

The company streams their titles on VRV (via VRV Select), Hoopla, RetroCrush, Tubi, and CONtv.[22][23][24][25][26] Some of their titles were on Hulu, but they have been removed.[27]

Production values

The company is well known for the quality of its translation and subtitles, and pioneered such techniques as multi-color subtitles, overlapping dialogue, and supertitles that explain important cultural, linguistic and historical tidbits. They also include comprehensive cultural and linguistic liner notes with their releases.[28][29] Alert viewers will often find subtle references to pop culture and current events hidden in the subtitles when they match what the characters are actually saying. Sometimes the references are blatant; in episode 18 of Super Dimension Fortress Macross, the dying Roy Fokker not only repeats the famous words of Mr. Spock from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few..." but adds Captain Kirk's reply – "or the one".[30]

They also licensed two Lupin III films: Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy and Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon. Because of legal issues surrounding the Lupin name (which was used by author Monkey Punch without permission from the estate of Maurice Leblanc), the titles were released as Rupan III (which is the romaji pronunciation of Lupin). Even after the Lupin name passed into public domain in the 1990s, they continued to distribute the films as Rupan III.[31]

References
  1. "The Secret History of AnimEigo". AnimEigo. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  2. "About Us". AnimEigo. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  3. "MADOX-01 (Sub.VHS)". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  4. "AnimEigo Celebrates 15 Years". Anime News Network. December 11, 2003. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  5. "AnimEigo's Oh My Goddess Video Series License Expires". Anime News Network. February 4, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  6. "AnimEigo Unable to License Rest of Yawara! Anime". Anime News Network. April 29, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  7. @AnimEigo (August 8, 2012). "#Yawara going OOP on 8/31. 40 ep. box set for $19.95 + s&h while supplies last. Pass the word to #anime and #judo fans" (Tweet). Retrieved January 11, 2021 – via Twitter.
  8. "AnimEigo's Urusei Yatsura License Expires in September". Anime News Network. February 9, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  9. "AnimEigo's You're Under Arrest License Ends in January (Updated)". Anime News Network. July 7, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  10. "AnimEigo's Battle Royal High School License Expires". Anime News Network. August 23, 2011. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  11. "AnimEigo's Lone Wolf & Cub Live-Action Films Out of Print". Anime News Network. November 3, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  12. @AnimEigo (August 15, 2012). "#Zatoichi 1-6 (and the set of all 7) go out of print on September 18th, 2012. $7.99 per movie while we have any left!" (Tweet). Retrieved January 13, 2021 – via Twitter.
  13. @AnimEigo (February 16, 2011). "Portrait of Hell goes out of print Feb-28-2011; remaining copies are only $3.99" (Tweet). Retrieved January 13, 2021 – via Twitter.
  14. "Also, avoiding bankruptcy, which we’ve managed to do despite our best efforts…""AnimEigo official website". AnimEigo. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  15. "AnimEigo Starts Bubblegum Crisis Kickstarter Funding Campaign". Anime News Network. October 25, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  16. "Bubblegum Crisis Blu-ray Kickstarter Meets Pledge Goal". Anime News Network. October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  17. "AnimeEigo Meets Otaku no Video Blu-ray Kickstarter Goal". Anime News Network. July 2, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  18. "AnimEigo's Riding Bean Kickstarter Funded in 50 Minutes (Updated)". Anime News Network. March 6, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  19. "AnimEigo to Launch Kickstarter for AD Police Video Anime". Anime News Network. September 27, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  20. "AnimEigo's Gunsmith Cats Kickstarter Reaches Goal Within 5 Hours". Anime News Network. March 24, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  21. "AnimEigo's Megazone 23 Blu-ray Kickstarter Reaches Goal in a Day". Anime News Network. August 18, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  22. "Bubblegum Crisis - Watch on VRV". VRV.co. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  23. "Showing 1 - 2 of 2 results for "AnimEigo"". Hoopla.com. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  24. "Bubblegum Crisis (Subbed)". RetroCrush.tv. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  25. "Watct Bubblegum Crisis". Tubi.tv. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  26. "Bubblegum Crisis-ConTV". ConTV.com. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  27. "Media Blasters Anime Titles to Expire on Hulu". Anime News Network. May 6, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  28. "Bubblegum Crisis Collection VHS Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  29. "Otaku no Video 1982 & 1985 Review". Anime News Network. January 20, 2002. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  30. "Macross TV Boxset Review". Anime News Network. April 24, 2002. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  31. "Rupan III: The Fuma Conspiracy DVD Review". Anime News Network. May 4, 2003. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
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