Madman Entertainment - Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)
Often referred to as Madman Entertainment, Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd. is an Australia-based rights management and distribution business. Madman Entertainment’s primary focuses include the distribution of feature films, documentaries and TV series, as well as the distribution of Japanese anime across Oceania in both home entertainment and theatrical release formats. Founded in 1996, the headquarters of Madman Entertainment are found in Melbourne, Australia.
History
Madman Entertainment was created in 1996 with a soul focus upon the distribution of anime. Since its conception, the company has diversified its portfolio and now has a variety of subsidiaries including labels like Madman Sports, Bollywood Masala, and Planet Mad, as well as a cinematic distribution company known as Madman Cinema.
In 2006 the Madman Entertainment group was acquired by Funtastic Limited because the company wanted to combine the media rights that Madman entertainment possessed with the toy rights the company currently owned. Madman Entertainment’s relationship with Funtastic Limited ended in 2014, with its original founders repurchasing the company for two-thirds of the price Funtastic Limited had purchased it for.
From 2008 to 2016 Madman Entertainment were in partnership with US anime and manga distribution powerhouse Viz Media, and distributed the companies titles throughout Australia and New Zealand. By 2016, however, these rights were gained by UK company Simon & Schuster, and Madman Entertainment ceased all distribution of manga and graphic novels.
2016 saw Madman Entertainment’s 20th anniversary and the first year of the companies now annual Madman Anime Festival. Which is now held across three locations in Australia with the flagship Melbourne event being held over four days at the start of September.
Madman Anime Group
As of November 15th 2017, Aniplex had become the majority shareholder of Madman Entertainment’s anime subsidiary ‘Madman Anime Group’. In early 2019, Madman Entertainment chose to sell Madman Anime group to the Sony Music Entertainment Japan owned company for a reported $35 million AUD. Following this merger, Madman Anime group confirmed a new distribution deal with Funimation.
In late 2019 it was announced that Aniplex, Madman Anime Group’s parent company would be consolidating their existing anime streaming services, meaning that Funimation, Madman Anime Group, and Wakanim would be fused together into one platform.
Anime Lab
Anime Lab is Madman Anime Group’s on-demand video streaming service which is devoted to simulcasting and streaming popular Japanese anime series to residents of Australia and New Zealand such as, Attack on Titan, Cardcaptor Sakura, Death Note, My Hero Academia, and Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer). The service was created in 2014 and now features not only anime from Madman’s existing catalogue, but also from Adult Swim’s back catalogue. The service operates for free with adverts, or as an advert-free monthly-based subscription service. Anime lab now has over 1,000,000 users.
Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) Anime on Anime Lab
Madman Anime Group subsidiary Anime Lab currently offers the complete first season (26 episodes) of the Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) anime in both Japanese and English. The site classifies the anime as adventure/fantasy/historical/martial arts, and has rated it on their website as MA15+ meaning that persons wishing to watch the programme who are under the age of 15 must have the permission of, or be accompanied by an adult.
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kyōdai no Kizuna (鬼滅の刃 兄妹の絆)
Before the release of the first series of the much awaited anime interpretation of 18-volume smash hit manga series Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer), the first five episodes of the series were compiled into a feature-length theatrical release entitled Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kyōdai no Kizuna (鬼滅の刃 兄妹の絆). This was first released in Japan and screenings were held over a period of two-weeks beginning March 29th 2019. The film was then screened in the USA by Aniplex of America at the end of March, and Madman Entertainment secured the exclusive rights to a one-day screening event of Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kyōdai no Kizuna (鬼滅の刃 兄妹の絆) in Australia in selected cinemas in early April of the same year.
Reception
Reception to Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)’s first series was just as phenomenal as the original manga release of the series two-years prior. Fans and critics expressed their pleasure at the authenticity the anime had to the original source material, as well as remarking upon the technologically advanced visuals which were particularly noticeable during combat scenes. Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)’s first series won six Newtype anime awards, firmly cementing itself as one of the most successful anime series of the last decade.
Future
After the last episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) anime was released, it was announced that a feature length film entitled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train (鬼滅の刃 無限列車編, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha-hen) was already in production and is set to be released some time in 2020. It is not yet clear whether Madman Entertainment will obtain the exclusive rights to the screening of this film in Australia and New Zealand.