This has been a topic that has been brewing in my head for a few days. Now I haven’t been watching anime for ages honestly it’s been almost one year. In that one year I’ve completed about 30 animes, met a lot of new people, began blogging on this awesome site.

Being an American, getting into anime was hard because it’s stepping into something new. I found a lot of great anime via help over at Anime On DVD (Animeondvd.com) a great R1 review site along with forums. I quickly realized that the “new” anime that was hitting American shores was sometimes quite outdated or by the time it hit American shores it was already on it’s third or fourth varation over in Japan.

While learning more about anime I began to really like certain distribution’s of the DVD I have my favorites, Funimation, ADV, Geneon in that order. I than opened up to fan subbing, I had heard about it but didn’t really know where to began recently I’ve gotten into looking forward to the newer anime in Japan. It’s also really fun to discuss something that isn’t “outdated” to some people as well.

Recently their has been trouble for Geneon, they laid off a large amount of their sales staff and than attempted to reach a deal with ADV Films to handle distribution, marketing and sales of Geneon properties on October 1. Geneon, however, will still be able to acquire, license and produce anime in North America, but everything else will be handled by ADV.

So in a nutshell Geneon would still exist their brand name intact and if you weren’t an anime insider or a news reader you wouldn’t have a clue ADV had their hand in keeping Geneon afloat. Unfortunately On September 21, 2007, Dentsu confirmed the distribution deal as canceled through a press release, no details were given other than Geneon and ADV were “unable to reach a mutual agreement.” and that “From October 1, 2007, Geneon USA will focus mainly on management of its works portfolio.

So I ask you the readers and mainly any American anime fans that buy and otherwise watch subbed anime should we worry? is this a hint of something bigger to come? also where does this leave Geneon with their titles that they’ve already annouced.

Now I’m not into business and all that but it seems to me “will focous mainly on mangement of its works portfolio” Now I heard that they are trying to make the company work like Kadokawa is doing and just publishing. But I don’t know I dont’ have any inside contacts or really understand the whole business model I’m just a fan. Where does it leaves the titles that they have currently licensed and waiting to be released, last year they licensed Magical Lyrical Girl and most recently A’s as well.

So do those titles still get released or will they be let go and back to being unlicensed? What do you think will be the outcome in all this? do you see more, less anime being licensed next year, less releases being released in America or less dubs?

Personally I don’t know what to say I mean maybe this is a freak thing where a company just isn’t being handled very well by the top brass, maybe it’s a sign that anime isn’t a viable market to be in America I know that Bandi has been losing boat loads of money over in Japan. I guess if I had to give you my opinion I think it’s possibly a wake up call and that other companies should watch this with interest.

I consider anime an expensive hobby $20 – $50 per volume how much longer will that be the price in three or four years will we be looking back saying that was a cheap price to pay for a volume of anime? personally I just hope that this Geneon, ADV doesn’t affect the American anime industry as a whole that it just happens to be bad choices on the side of Geneon and not early look into the future of the rest of the industry crashing down around us.

I’d love to read your comments on this issue, am I thinking too much into, is enough nothing be said about it tell me.