On Wednesday September 26, 2007, anime fans across the country got a shock when Geneon Entertainment (USA), a longtime player in the anime market, notified retailers of its plans to cease DVD sales and distribution. The news comes less than a week after a deal with fellow anime distributor ADV Films to take over the company's DVD sales and marketing fell through.
With retailers only being able to order Geneon product with street dates of November 6, 2007 or earlier, it's likely that all releases after that date are canceled (although this has not yet been confirmed). Since anime is usually released on a volume-by-volume basis before getting the box set treatment, many fans will be left high and dry as some series will not be completed before the November 6 cutoff date.
Geneon Entertainment (USA) came into the anime market in 1993, although back then it had a different name: Pioneer Entertainment (USA). Pioneer Entertainment (USA) was a subsidiary of Pioneer LDC, which was owned by the very same Pioneer Corporation that's known worldwide for its electronics. Pioneer LDC was acquired by advertising and entertainment company Dentsu in 2003 and renamed Geneon (taken from the words “generate” and “eon).
Under the Pioneer and Geneon names, Geneon Entertainment (USA) released a wide variety of series, movies, and OVAs (Original Video Animation) that were beloved by anime fans. Many people who were first introduced to anime via Cartoon Network's Toonami and Adult Swim saw Geneon titles including Tenchi Muyo!, Trigun, Samurai Champloo, and Paranoia Agent. Geneon titles have also aired on MTV, G4/Tech TV, Fuse, and the Starz/Encore networks. Other popular works released by Geneon include the anime classic Akira, the three Sailor Moon feature films, the anime versions of CLAMP's Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, and X, as well as the trippy Serial Experiments Lain.
Article comments
1 - Katie McNeill
OH! That makes me sad. :(
2 - Chris Beaumont
That's rather shocking. Too bad to as they put out good product (based on the sampling I have).