Bandai Entertainment in North America that has been responsible for some major releases such as K-ON! and The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya will stop offering new DVD, Blu-ray and manga releases as of next month. While this doesn’t mean they will not be distributing their existing line-ups through other retailers (As they closed their own online store as of December), but it does mean that a number of pending releases have been cancelled – potential resulting in no English dubbing being released for the titles in the near future. The list of currently known dropped titles is as follows:
Anime Releases
- GOSICK
- Nichijou
- Turn a Gundam
Manga Releases
- Code Geass: Renya
- Gurren Lagann Volume 7
- Kannagi Volumes 4-6
- Lucky Star Boo Boo Kagaboo
- Mobile Suit Gundam 00I
- Tales of the Abyss: Jade’s Secret Memories Volumes 1-2
Instead of actually distributing titles, Bandai Entertainment will still exist and focus more on licensing rights to other companies, primarily for digital distribution, broadcasts and merchandising. However, this will unfortunately mean that most of its contractors and three out of its five full-time staff will be laid off. This is most certainly a disappointing announcement for fans of anime or manga as I won’t deny that Bandai’s anime releases were of a consistently good quality – and it also means that other anime companies will be looked to in order to pick up the slack.
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- Madman Entertainment’s War Against Empty Bookshelves
- Some Future Madman Entertainment Titles
- Namco Bandai Partners to Publish Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance in Australia and New Zealand
