I know this is quite a late “news” but oh well… better late than never I believe this issue concerns not only Americans but the entirety of the Geneon consumers, hence I decided to write about this as well. Much of the focus however would be in the American anime industry which is directly affected by the incident.

Geneon USA has officially informed retailers that as of 5 PM PDT this Friday, September 28th, the company will cease all DVD production, sales, and distribution. All Geneon USA DVD titles scheduled for release after November 6, 2007 have apparently been canceled (ANN)

Back in August, it was announced that a merger between ADV and Geneon is in the works, leaving many fans in turmoil because of the risks it posed to the future of the US anime industry, with the dangers of having less competition in the scene. This alliance was apparently cancelled and after a few days comes the appalling news of Geneon’s “exit”. With the number of titles they have acquired for license, it is but natural for many fans to be greatly disheartened by this news. Fangirls would certainly be grieving over Kyou Kara Maoh, Saiunkoku Monogatari, and Shounen Onmyouji, among others, all of which are licensed by the aforementioned company.

Does this spell doom for the entire American anime industry? Will anime now crumble along with Geneon?

A Close Look at the Roots and Aftermath of the Issue

Why did Geneon close down? What will be the aftermath of this, particularly what will become of the titles left unfinished? These are but some of the many questions lingering in the minds of many. A few days after the news of the cancelled alliance between Geneon and ADV, Dentsu (Geneon’s parent company) reports of a loss amounting to 5 billion yen, which could be an accumulated loss over the years (not simply due to the recent downsizing they did). As John of ANN also wrote in his article which addresses these questions, it is suspected that the company suffered major loss in the poor sales of some of its recently acquired titles, all of which are but speculations at this point. Despite how people want to stay optimistic and hope that some other company would re-acquire these licenses (especially the unfinished series), there still isn’t much said about the possibility of this happening in the near future.

Ongoing and completed titles alike are affected by this incident. “But if Geneon’s titles are not re-licensed due to licensing conflicts or excessive licensing costs, eventually Geneon’s current anime DVDs will become more difficult to find and easily purchase”, said John.

High-selling titles, or yet-to-be released titles which are perceived to have such potential, will certainly have the greatest chance of being rescued by other companies, while the fate of other titles catering to minorities is less certain.

Possibilities for Re-Entrance

This incident shouldn’t be viewed as an apocalypse, because there still is hope. Forums and other sites mention about the possibility of Geneon undertaking the same business model as Kadokawa, which license series and outsource its projects’ production and distribution. Another possibility mentioned, which I think is less likely to happen, is a major refurbishing for the company, as it starts out again from ground zero.

Will Anime Crumble with Geneon?

It should be noted that Geneon’s “exit” is not at all reflective of what the entire American anime industry is like. Other major players such as ADV, Funimation and especially VIZ continue to stay strong in the business, as was mentioned by Zac Bertschy, Mr.Answerman of ANN.

He adds: “…the R1 industry is facing new challenges, and there are problems they’re not addressing competently, but the world is not ending, the major players will continue to be major players, and fans will continue to buy anime”

Empowah the Consumer in You

“This is AMERICAAAAAAAAAAA”

The fact remains that the fate of the anime industry lies in the hands of fans, who have within themselves the power to keep this industry alive.

“Fans have much more influence over the health of America’s anime industry than they may realize”, said John, who also said that purchasing official North-American release DVDs not only serves for collection purposes, but also acts as a literal contribution to keep the American anime industry alive and strong.

He adds: “I don’t think that America’s anime industry is literally on the verge of wholesale collapse, but fans who don’t want to face that risk should make a personal effort to help the industry that they love”