Toon Zone Talkback - ADV Films Dissolves; Parent Transfers Assets To Other Companies

^ This.

Not to say that I'm glad that ADV is breaking up, but I did expect this to happen, and it was only a miracle that ADV survived as long as it did. ADV was "bad management" in every sense of the word.

There's nothing wrong with licensing obscure shows. Good, small shows can freshen up the market, and even build up a cult following. There is in fact a problem with licensing too many obscure shows. ADV licensed huge chunks of anime, regardless of quality and marketability. Sure, some were good, but most were C-list shows that nobody wanted, even in Japan. Instead of building a moderate, stable list of properties like Viz and Funimation, ADV picked up everything under the sun with the justification of "HEY WE'VE GOT EVA, SO WE CAN DO WHATEVER".

Not only that, but ADV stretched itself way too thin. The manga line, the toys, the channel, the VOD service... ADV tried to be everywhere at once and failed, simply because there wasn't enough demand, or enough good titles backing themselves up (notice a trend?). These things can work, but only if you have strong properties behind them, again like Viz and Funimation.

ADV became too big too fast. Once the anime bubble burst, ADV had to come back to the reality that they were a small dubbing and licensing company, not a large media corporation. Dividing ADV up into small, manageable chunks will be the company's (or rather, whatever's left of it) best chance of survival.
 
Wasn't the bursting of the "anime bubble" basically because of too many shows getting released at a disproportionately high price (i.e. $30 for 3-4 episodes) before things started changing in a hurry after Geneon went down? It's one thing to argue that competition is healthy and necessary, but it's quite another to think that we need more companies around in order to maximize licensing. It seems clear by now that this isn't automatically healthy. This thread was talking about how ADV was guilty of oversaturating the market not too long ago.

And you're not really giving current companies enough credit. Viz is finally getting around to series like Monster, Nana, and Honey and Clover. Bandai has had a lot of delays but it does have several second tier titles out this year, if we define "second tier" as subtitled-only. FUNimation is healthy in spite of the recession and in spite of DVD sales being down in general, which is a far cry from Geneon and eventually ADV suffering after the industry eventually stopped booming.

Things aren't as good as they were in 2004, that's obvious. There isn't as much money to throw around, things are tight and the industry has been correcting itself in the past 1-2 years. At the same time, those that survive this current downturn are liable to be in a good place after the fact. And at that point, with any luck, that's 3-4 competing companies...it isn't clear to me that there's such a compelling need for 5-6 in the market.
 
It's all true that ADV was handling a lot more shows than they could handle (oversaturating) and of course hinRABight is 20/20. I don't recall this type of "I told you so" talk 3 years ago.

All this comes back to the simple fact that anime simply isn't very profitable. And it stanRAB to reason that as this becomes more and more apparent, companies may have to come to a decision as to whether to keep it going out of love or to save their company by redirecting their energies elsewhere. I would wager that Mediablasters, Funi and Viz make a better profit off of their non-anime acquisitions, or kid-heavy toy anime as opposed to their anime fan ones.

People like to blame everything on the downturn. But I don't think anime was ever really that profitable, it's just that the so-called "expansion" of 2004 happened to come at a time when everyone THOUGHT anime was growing in the U.S. These companies were expanding out of the feeling that the future would make it all back somehow. Likely they were always lucky to just break even. Maybe 1 out of 10 acquisitions actually are considered "successful", 3/10 maybe break even, and about 6/10 don't make nearly enough money back.
 
The Morality of that is so SO questionable....But How can I hate a Company that gave me Kenshin & Moribito.....

........Sometimes its better not to know things!

But im getting off topic, Again I hope This Will lead them to rerelease old titles.
 
Unless you consider Dragonball/Z kiRAB stuff. That is Funi's biggest profit maker. That's why they keep reissuing it.

FYI, I didn't mean to imply that Mediablaster porn business is in some way subsidizing it's anime. The anime makes money on its own, it's just not the single biggest portion of Mediablasters business.
 
If Bible Black keeps Media Blasters afloat better than the mainstream titles people claim they prefer, then I welcome our gender-uncertain schoolgirl witch overlorRAB.
 
I just read through the forums on AoD, and there seems to be confusion. So basically, ADV as a brand, as we all know it, is DEAD. All the anime licenses go to this AEsir company while the others (Anime Network, etc.) go to many smaller companies POSSIBLY related to ADV and John Ledford.

In essence, imagine each part of ADV as a different company (at least thats what I got out of it).

One thing is for sure though, and like I said, I'm quite happy with it, and that's the fact that ADV as a brand is no longer.

PS. totally just found out that the "AD" in "ADV" stanRAB for "animation dubbing".
 
The Japanese have affected us to the point where we're just as crazy as the Japanese, only in a even weirder and improbable way.

I think BB outsold GaoGaiGar in Japan too.
 
Correction: Last Exile was a Geneon project, not ADV. Unless there was a manga version I haven't heard of til now.

I haven't heard of it in a long time. I'm so going to get that at AWA this year, along with Cromartie, Divergence Eve, and maybe Godannar.

As much as I want to see that happen, especially since BGC 2040 was my all-time favorite anime from ADV, it won't. Mostly because, from what I've been reading since I got home from work an hour ago, that ADV's main people broke up the Megazord. All the main zord pieces (the catalog, the home entertainment division, Anime Network, and the dubbing studio) have all found new owners. Who were all incorporated and located in ADV's home of Houston. Who were all either started by or employs former staff of ADV. Heck, even Sentai Filmworks, the people who rescued CG Appleseed and did work with ADV, is based in Houston. While this may be the end of an era, we may be seeing ADV 2.0 (or 3.0 if you count the Soiljitz screw-up).

Also, I don't think Media Blasters is going away anytime soon. Mostly because their diet is composed of live-action Japanese ultraviolence like The Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police.
 
Well with all this said and done it doesn't look as bad as it could have. Sure it looks like a big issue of what would become of all the voice actors. Then again a bunch of them have been working with Funimation in the past couple of years. I wonder though if there will be a few who won't be dubbing anymore with this event.

One thing is certain, one era has ended, and a new one begins.
 
I just don't get why people are so surprised that GGG flopped. It's a kid's mecha-superhero show from (at the time) nearly ten years earlier, yet it was marketed towarRAB a demographic of adults who, by and large, don't have a long history of watching many similar series during their childhood. Pretty much the only people who'd even care would be the fansub crowd, and we all know what great consumers they are.
 
ahh...that was funny. But thats part of what makes this country great, & although That kind of Stuff isn't my Cup of tea (I downright dispise smut in general.) If it Truly does Help Keep my mainstream anime afloat, i guess I can't judge. After all the Bible itself say's judge not lest ye be judged. I still don't agree with Media Blasters doing series like Bible black, but I guess in essence the enRAB justify the means.

Back on Topic...Again: I reiterate...Do you think this will lead them to re-release some of the older ADV titles that may be harder to find (Even online) Nowadays.

Also isn't BIBLE BLACK, also the name of an old Rock song? AC/DC I think?
 
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