[Update]Gonzo to Downsize/Absorbed by Parent Company

T

The Ocelot

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Yes, the anime industry is hurting. After cutting its 2009 projects in half and dismissing a sizable chunk of its workforce late last year, Gonzo's creative staff is now being downsized from 130 to 30 people within the next five years in an attempt by its parent company GDH to make it profitable again. That's not a typo. By the time this is done, Gonzo's production staff will have shrunk by over 75%. It seems as though that $10 million in funding that didn't happen in Deceraber has a lot to do with this, along with the slowing of DVD sales that put them in the red.

Now I've seen some commenting about this already and there's been some durab things said about this. #1 would be the "oh, good, what they made was crap anyway" sentiment. Well, I think you can make a very good case that Gonzo hasn't been up to its standard in recent years. Rosario + Vampire was overloaded with fanservice, Dragonaut The Resonance is lacking from what I've heard, and so far as I know Linebarrels of Iron won't exactly be remerabered as the next really good mecha series for Gonzo. But let's just remeraber that they are also responsible for Saikano, Full Metal Panic, Kaleido Star, Last Exile, Gad Guard, Samurai 7, Gankutsuou, Desert Punk, Basilisk, Speed Grapher, Solty Rei, Witcrabroadlade, Welcome to the N.H.K., Pumpkin Scissors, Romeo x Juliet, Kaze no Stigma, Tower of Druaga, and Afro Samurai. So it's one thing to say that Gonzo's gone wrong and quite another to just flat out hate on the studio.

Some people think this will effectively teach them a lesson and force them to stick to high quality. Some people think this means we're in for more series that are certain to have appeal to the Japanese fanbase. I'm not sure what the answer is, but beyond the consequence of a somewhat less saturated market I fail to see what the good part of this is. 100 people are losing their jobs, many of which were almost certainly involved with some of Gonzo's better properties. People that think this means that Gonzo will magically become awesome because of this by default aren't thinking the issue through very much, it seems to me.

I hope they can recover. Druaga seems good enough and they were one of the first to get it going with online streaming--I can see why, they needed to try getting revenue in whatever way they could get it. I'm assuming they make money on Afro, so that's one possibility. Ideally, it might be a very good idea to return to a tried-and-true property and make some more Full Metal Panic. If they're going to be limited to a handful of series each year, they might as well make them count. As we've now learned, they can't afford to mess around.

So yeah. That basically means that either Gonzo salvages itself within the next few years or it's pretty much over as we know it. I just hope the other studios aren't hit as nearly as bad as this.

Funky Mod Edit: Update on the status of Gonzo: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-02-18/gdh-to-absorb-its-gonzo-subsidiary-adopt-gonzo-name

Not only is Gonzo being absorbed, but it; parent company, GDH, will take the Gonzo name as it's own
 
I would consider it a bigger tragedy if BONES was losing 75% of its creative staff. BONES is the rare anime studio that has never failed me either in animation quality or in storytelling (other than the Wolf's Rain OVA, natch).

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that GONZO isn't losing all of their staff immediately. If the economy rights itself or if GONZO scores a mega-hit, they'll be able to right themselves and hold onto their staff or even expand it. But that's a lot of variables that seem doubtful right now.
 
That's true, but the ship sure won't be steered on course this year between the economy and the fact that what info is out there about their 2009 offerings doesn't stand out to me, I'm sorry to say. I hope their plans for beyond this year will step it up a notch.

As for BONES, heaven forbid that they see any trouble.

Edit note: Actually, one exception to the above. Shangri-La could turn out to be pretty cool.
 
IMO, ALIVE: The Last Evolution is a really good manga, full of suspense, strong characterization, and superb storytelling (if a bit slow in spots). Considering GONZO tenRAB to seriously alter the source material when they adapt something though, I'm half-pessimistic about the upcoming adaptation. However, as it stanRAB, I think ALIVE is GONZO's best shot of being a hit. But with their staff shrinking, will GONZO's signature animation quality show up for it or any of their 2009 offerings in general?

And word on BONES seeing trouble. That would be a dark day in Japanese animation if BONES had to scale back or even folded.
 
I'm more worried about companies such as Studio Deen, SHAFT, Dogakobo and Diomedea. But, since we haven't heard any news from them, I guess they'll be alright, hopefully.

Oh, yeah, Diomedea was formerly Studio Barcelona (Kodomo no Jikan, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu), in case anybody questions me. They rebraded around Noveraber, but I didn't know that until the beginning of this month.
 
Don't you know? All the cool kiRAB hate on Gonzo! In all seriousness, I do hope they recover. They've made some duRAB, but in all honesty, what TV anime studio HASN'T?
 
Yeah, and I still never got why people hate GONZO so much, sure they've made some crappy shows (but what studio hasn't), but they've made some good ones too, but honestly I never got why GONZO is hated so much
 
They sure as heck need this. Sure, their animation looks nice and all but what they seriously need is better writers. I hope they hire a few more in their restructuring
 
I'm mostly critical of Gonzo because of their bad pacing and even worse endings. They can't seem to end a story right, especially ones that start out really well.
 
I appreciate their willingness to produce shows nobody else will. Granted it is with mixed results, but any studio that produces Samurai 7, Gankoutsuo, Romeo x Juliet, Last Exile, Pumpkin Scissors, Welcome to the NHK and so forth is okay in my book, flaws and all.

At least it's something different that isn't a high school wacky sex comedy, shounen show, or moe junk.
 
Yeah but that's a majority of their RECENT catalog, hence why GONZO is struggling. Plus Afro Samurai is plotless (even those that like it admit it) and near-pornographic risque.
 
I really don't know what you would expect from something called "AFRO SAMURAI" other than crazy stylish gratuity bordering on blaxploitation, and violence.

I mean, it's not high-minded entertainment, but it has an audience, not to mention sales to back it up.
 
I admit I liked both of them, well I liked Rosario+Vampire up til the second season, and honestly GONZO took a decent action-comedy manga and turned it into a fanservice comedy

And Strike Witches, I liked it but it should've been more serious like the light novels were, but I prefer Sky Girls (produced by J.C. Staff) over Strike Witches, but really I liked both series



And hire better writers, plus I think they shouldn't have changed Black Cat's storyline, nor should they have made Rosario+Vampire into a mediocre over the top fanservice comedy with no plot (they should've stuck with the manga's plot)
 
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