So far in Australia we have a few companies that release animated titles, however the big three for anime so far are Madman Entertainment, Siren Visual and Magna Home Entertainment – albeit the latter seeming to focus on more children oriented series and long-running series such as Pokemon. While I wasn’t able to make it to the Melbourne Supanova (But keep an eye out for all my coverage of this weekends Gold Coast Supanova), AnimeNewsNetwork who were at the expo unveiled that Hanabee, a new company headed by former Siren Visual CEO Eric Cherry “launched quietly” at the event.
Their booth only featured non-anime titles such as Red vs. Blue and The Guild, they managed to interview Eric Cherry briefly, making it seem like their company was focused on licensing Japanese anime and other pop-culture related programs. He also alludes to the innovative ways companies such as NIS America and Aniplex of America are releasing their titles through the market, and hope to expand upon it Down Under.
Regarding the licenses to Red Vs. Blue and The Guild…. these were licenses that he held outright and therefore have carried over with him to Hanabee. No anime licenses have been announced as of yet, but more information is to follow in the coming weeks and months. The question is…. will it be able to join and form the Big 4 Aussie Anime Distributors? Given Mr Cherry’s experience – I think they are definitely something to keep an eye on.
See AnimeNewsNetwork AU’s entire article HERE.
