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 is an essential spot for local anime companies that obtain licensing from Japan and develop their business with games, internet distribution, TV broadcasts, and more to promote their works.)
The massive U.S. anime convention Anime Expo (AX) is an essential spot for local anime companies that obtain licensing from Japan and develop their business with games, internet distribution, TV broadcasts, and more to promote their works. Among them is the industry leader Funimation, as well as the influential companies VIZ Media, Aniplex of America, NIS America, and others. For the duration of AX, each company set up a booth, held activities, participated in panels, and appeared together at the event.
Sentai Filmworks, a company which has been advancing rapidly in the past one to two years, gathered attention at this year’s AX. In 2009, staff from A.D. Vision, a past multimedia entertainment company, started up Sentai Filmworks. Just last year, they acquired licences for many popular works making up an extraordinarily diverse group. Such titles include everything from the sexy Queen's Blade, adventurous Phi Brain, romantic Hakuoki, and even sci-fi Gatchaman, a relatively older work. It is a lineup the exemplifies the diversity of Japan’s anime.
Girls und Panzer is one of the works they have been promoting. A tank from the work was put on display in front of the convention building to show the work’s appeal. Girls und Panzer was actually very popular among fans throughout the convention center. On the afternoon of July 4 at Sentai Filmworks’ introduction of new works, the series also caused a big stir. Also, the works that Sentai Filmworks are currently promoting could be understood from their booth’s visual decorations. The booth staff also cosplayed as characters from Kids on the Slope, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, and Bodacious Space Pirates. Such cosplay of each title was popular with fans who visited the booth. Among the works on display, The Garden of Words, which just released in Japan a month prior, was a leading title. Director Makoto Shinkai came from Japan to hold the U.S. premiere of the film as well as participate in a panel and autograph gathering.
Even though the company was popular, that doesn’t mean that there weren’t those who were questioning the company’s decision to purchase a large quantities of licenses for works. Though the current cost of acquiring a license in North America has decreased significantly compared to where it was previously, there are many who think that the main factor for the collapse of the Japanese anime DVD market in the mid 2000s was due to excessive acquisition of licenses by North American companies. There is also indication that the shift toward digital business has changed said companies’ profit structures, but this isn’t fully understood. Due to various reasons, Sentai Filmworks is becoming an anime company that those in North America should take notice of.
Source: AnimeAnime
Source article written by Sudo Tadashi
