http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-09-26/geneon-usa-to-cancel-dvd-sales-distribution-by-friday
I hereby Salute Geneon USA. I was there for your birth and you will be missed. Farewell Old Buddy. *trying to withhold tears*

NO WAY, your kidding. Most the anime I watch was distributed by them. That means that Hellsing OVA and When they Cry won't be finished.

All titles scheduled to be released in October are still going on. Nothing new is said to be coming out unless other distributors pick up the titles and/or licences.

Unfortunately Geneon is packing its bags and won't be much of a player in the anime industry anymore.

Though I only own one Geneon title, they've brought over some of my favorites and it's rather saddening to see them go. The merger with ADV would have been phenominal. Too bad it didn't work out that way.

Hopefully one of the other companies will pick up all the titles that are going to be dropped. Better yet would be for Geneon to come back in action in several years. There's always hoping.

This is indeed a travesty. Geneon was definitely #1 in quality when it came to North American localization of anime. I'm deeply hurt and dissapointed by this development and hope that somehow the anime industry can recover from this crushing blow.

A rather unfortunate turn of events as I am still two volumes short of completing Kyou Kara Maou! and have just recently purchased two volumes of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

nychi002

All titles scheduled to be released in October are still going on. Nothing new is said to be coming out unless other distributors pick up the titles and/or licences.

I believe the most pressing question among consumers would be the status of titles which have been released but yet to be completed. No one wants to be left stuck with an incomplete collection.

Currently I believe it is unknown whether Geneon's original intention with the distribution alliance is a result of sales losses (i.e. cost cutting strategy) or just a business strategy to boost sales/market share (also can be a cost cutting strategy but does not necessarily mean Geneon is making a loss in the first place). Either way, the sudden call-off left Geneon in a rather tight spot with the premature firing of its sales and distribution staffs. Cancelling all distro and marketing operations is pretty much temporarily a damage control attempt. Without any way of getting its products to the retailers (or unable to coordinate its supply chain in the first place), Geneon would be left with inventory collecting dust in its warehouse or worse yet, get entangle in a logistics nightmare. Hence it is better to cease all production and incur only overhead costs rather than to continue production which entails incurring everything from overheads to direct manufacturing costs (i.e. variable costs) to warehousing costs.

The only upside is that my wallet gets a lighter burden from my monthly imports as I only have Witchblade to purchase.

I hope this doesn't mean ADV will pick up any of Geneon's stuff...ADV is okay with localizing but they tend to leave out things like honorifics and such that I like with Geneon. I hope Geneon's staff can possibly form a new company similar to Geneon in quality...

Well, I hope some other company will pick up the titles that haven't had the chance of being completed (e.g. Hellsing OVA, Higurashi, etc.). Geneon was alright, but their DVDs were typically bare bones at best.

I still prefer subbed animes

According to Anime News Network, there was a press release concerning Geneon in which it said:

Anime News Network / Geneon

The anime licensee Geneon Entertainment (USA) notified members of its Geneon Spot fan club that the club will be closing as part of the company's restructuring. It also sent the following message (PDF format) from its President and CEO, Eiji Orii:



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 5, 2007
To our fans,

Recently, we announced that we will not be accepting orders on Geneon products after Friday, September 28, 2007. We have read your comments that you have emailed and posted on various web sites, and received your numerous calls.

At this time, we are internally discussing plans to explore all available options to continue distribution of Geneon titles, both old and new, at a later date. However, nothing is certain at this time. We will release more information to the public once we have any concrete plans, if any.

We would like to thank you for your support over the last 20+ years - first as Pioneer and then as Geneon. We have worked hard to bring you the best in Japanese animation and you have responded with an intense passion and support for our products.

As Geneon evolves, we hope that we can continue to be a part of your future.

Thank you,

(signed)
Eiji Orii
President and CEO, Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc.

Hopefully, they'll a new resource to keep releasing the current Geneon titles that are out and to finish up the titles that they were already working on.

Geneon does not want to close its doors the employees still very much believe in the company. Looking at my stacks in my closet I believe in them too. Densu, the Japanese parent company, is the one looking to close doors. They have been one of my favorite companies to buy from and the one I always look forward to at Otakon. Their booths were always the best, their representatives great people.

Interestingly enough there is no talk of their licenses dropping. All of the press releases to date have simply stated they will stop production and distribution but has not mentioned the release of the licenses back to their proper owners. There may still be a miracle in this yet but I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope.

Geneon lost a lot of money last year (exact figures are sketchy but some reach as high as $40 million). Even if Dentsu has big pockets it can't back a company that loses so much forever. Whether Dentsu wants to or not to safest bet for them is to just cut loses now and (hopefully) sell off the remaining titles.

The largest problem with Geneon has always been that they have had no big money maker. All of the companies have had at least one uber-franchise to help them when times are hard or allow them to take a finical hit. Funimation has had DBZ and FMA, Viz has Bleach and Naruto, Bandai has Gundam, even Media Blaster had Kenshin.

Geneon had several series that could have possibly pulled their bacon out of the fire if they had been marketed or been given a chance. Law of Ueki screamed for being televised and Fighting Spirit(Hajame no Ippo) could have done a run on Adult Swim. Fact is in recent history they didn't have a series with real merchandising power. Merchandising is what makes or breaks series. DVD sales are fine but other products is where the money is really made.

Well that does suck for Geneon. I wonder what's going to happen to all titles nows. Are they up for grabs for other company's.

I really hope Geneon fine's a way to survive this. They're one of the best companies in America who process and dubbed anime.