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AnimEigo

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AnimEigo
Company typePrivate
IndustryEntertainment (anime)
Founded1988; 36 years ago (1988) in Ithaca, New York
FoundersRobert Woodhead
Roe R. Adams III
HeadquartersWilmington, North Carolina, United States
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Robert Woodhead
Roe R. Adams III
Natsumi Ueki
Janice Hindle
ProductsAnime, samurai cinema
OwnerMediaOCD (2024–present)
Websitewww.animeigo.com

AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. Founded in 1988 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III, the company was one of the first in North America dedicated to licensing anime and helped give anime a noticeable following in the region. Over its history, the company has released many anime titles, such as Urusei Yatsura, You're Under Arrest, Vampire Princess Miyu, Otaku no Video, the original Bubblegum Crisis OVA series, and Kimagure Orange Road.

Their name is a portmanteau of "anime" and "eigo" (英語), the Japanese word for the English language.

History

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The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York, by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III.[1] It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Woodhead's wife.[2] Their first release was Metal Skin Panic Madox 01.[3] In July 2003, the company signed a deal with Koch Entertainment to help market and distribute their titles in the United States and Canada.[4]

Between 2010 and 2013 the company lost a lot of its titles. For example, in February 2010, they announced they lost the rights to the Oh My Goddess! OVAs.[5] In April 2010, the company announced they were unable to license the remaining episodes of Yawara!.[6] They later lost the rights to the episodes they had previously licensed.[7] In February 2011, the company announced they had lost the rights to Urusei Yatsura, one of their more popular titles.[8] The company also lost the rights to the You're Under Arrest and Battle Royal High School anime series, as well as the Zatoichi, Lone Wolf and Cub, and Portrait of Hell live action movies.[9]

In October 2013, AnimEigo launched their first Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund a new release, specifically to re-release Bubblegum Crisis as a limited edition Blu-ray.[10] The Kickstarter was successfully funded in October 2013, and the Blu-ray was subsequently released in December 2014.[11] They also successfully kickstarted re-releases of Otaku no Video, Riding Bean, A.D. Police Files, Gunsmith Cats, Megazone 23, Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01, and Macross II: Lovers Again.[12]

In February 2024, MediaOCD, a post-production firm owned by Anime News Network founder Justin Sevakis, acquired AnimEigo's video distribution business. Woodhead and Ueki will stay on to assist in the transition and see existing projects to completion. After that, they plan to retire.[13]

Distribution

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The company streams their titles on Hoopla, RetroCrush, Tubi, and CONtv.[14] Some of their titles were on Hulu and VRV (via VRV Select), but they have been removed.[15][16]

The company is well known for the quality of its translation and subtitles, and pioneered such techniques as multi-color subtitles, overlapping dialogue, and supertitles that explain important cultural, linguistic and historical tidbits. They also include comprehensive cultural and linguistic liner notes with their releases.[17][18] Alert viewers will often find subtle references to pop culture and current events hidden in the subtitles when they match what the characters are actually saying. Sometimes the references are blatant; in episode 18 of Super Dimension Fortress Macross, the dying Roy Fokker not only repeats the famous words of Mr. Spock from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few..." but adds Captain Kirk's reply – "or the one".[19]

They also licensed two Lupin III films: Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy and Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon. Because of legal issues surrounding the Lupin name, which was used by author Monkey Punch without permission from the estate of Maurice Leblanc, the titles were released as Rupan III, which is the romaji pronunciation of Lupin. Even after the Lupin name passed into public domain in the 1990s, they continued to distribute the films as Rupan III.[20]

Productions

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Releases are only listed if the subtitling, dubbing, or other (localization) production work was handled by AnimEigo; rather than being licensed or redistributed from prior versions.

In print

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In print[21][22]
Title Release Medium Dub producer Notes
Subtitle Dub
A.D. Police Files 1993 1995 Show (3) Southwynde Studios Alternate dub
Bubblegum Crash 1992 1994 Show (3) Southwynde Studios
Bubblegum Crisis 1991 1994 Show (8) Southwynde Studios
Bushido — Movie —
Eleven Samurai — Movie —
Graveyard of Honor (1975) — Movie —
Metal Skin Panic: MADOX-01 1990 1995 Show (1) Swirl Films Alternate dub
Onimasa — Movie —
Otaku no Video 1993 — Show (2) —
Revenge — Movie —
Revenge of a Kabuki Actor — Movie —
Samurai Vendetta — Movie —
Shinobi no Mono — Movie —
Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance — Movie —
Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection — Movie —
Shinsengumi Chronicles — Movie —
Sleepy Eyes of Death 1: The Chinese Jade — Movie —
Sleepy Eyes of Death 2: Sword of Adventure — Movie —
Sleepy Eyes of Death 3: Full Circle Killing — Movie —
Sleepy Eyes of Death 4: Sword of Seduction — Movie —
Sleepy Eyes of Death 5: Sword of Fire — Movie —
Sleepy Eyes of Death 6: Sword of Satan — Movie —
Sword of Desperation — Movie —
The Blind Menace — Movie —
The Clone Returns Home — Movie —
The Dagger of Kamui 1995 — Movie —
The Great Samurai — Movie —
The Loyal 47 Ronin — Movie —
The Samurai I Loved — Movie —
The Secret of the Urn — Movie —
Vampire Princess Miyu (OVA) 1996 Show (4) Swirl Films Alternate dub
You're Under Arrest (OVA) 1995 1995 Show (4) Coastal Studios

Out of print

[edit]
Out of print[21][22]
Title Release Medium Dub producer Notes
Subtitle Dub
13 Assassins (1963) — Movie —
Arcadia of My Youth 1993 — Movie —
Ashura 2007 Movie Coastal Studios
Baoh: The Visitor 1995 1995 Show (1) Coastal Studios
Battle Royal High School 1996 1996 Show (1) Southwynde Studios
Battle of Okinawa — Movie —
Black Rain — Movie —
Crusher Joe: The Movie 1997 1997 Movie Coastal Studios Alternate dub
Crusher Joe: The OVAs 1997 1998 Show (2) Coastal Studios
Genesis Survivor Gaiarth 1993 1995 Show (3) Swirl Films
Growing Up With Hello Kitty 2012 Short (16) Coastal Studios 12 episodes dubbed
It's Tough Being a Man — Movie —
Kimagure Orange Road — Show (48) —
Kimagure Orange Road OVA — Show (8) —
Kimagure Orange Road: The Motion Picture — Movie —
Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy 1995 1995 Movie Coastal Studios AKA Rupan III: The Fuma Conspiracy
Miyamoto Musashi — Movie —
Oh My Goddess! 1994 2001 Show (5) Coastal Studios
Shogun Assassin 3: Slashing Blades of Carnage 2007 Movie Coastal Studios
Shogun Assassin 4: Five Fistfuls of Gold 2008 Movie Coastal Studios
Shogun Assassin 5: Cold Road to Hell 2008 Movie Coastal Studios
Shōnan Bakusozoku — Show (13) — 3 episodes subtitled
Spirit of Wonder: Miss China's Ring 1996 1996 Show (1) Coastal Studios
The Ballad of Narayama — Movie —
The Geisha — Movie —
The Razor — Movie —
The Razor 2 — Movie —
The Razor 3 — Movie —
The Wolves — Movie —
Tora-san, His Tender Love — Movie —
Tora-san's Cherished Mother — Movie —
Tora-san's Grand Scheme — Movie —
Urusei Yatsura (Those Obnoxous Aliens) 1992-2006 1995 Show (195) Southwynde Studios 2 episodes dubbed

Alternate dub

Urusei Yatsura 1: Only You 1995 2003 Movie Swirl Films
Urusei Yatsura 3: Remember My Love 1995 2004 Movie Swirl Films
Urusei Yatsura 4: Lum the Forever 1995 2004 Movie Swirl Films
Urusei Yatsura 5: The Final Chapter 1995 2004 Movie Swirl Films
Urusei Yatsura 6: Always My Darling 1996 2005 Movie Swirl Films
Wakeful Nights — Movie —
Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl — Show (124) — 40 episodes subtitled
You're Under Arrest (TV) 2002 2002 Show (47) Coastal Studios
Zatoichi meets Yojimbo — Movie —
Zatoichi the Outlaw — Movie —

References

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  1. ^ "The Secret History of AnimEigo". AnimEigo. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  2. ^ "About Us". AnimEigo. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  3. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (April 27, 2021). "AnimEigo's Metal Skin Panic MADOX-01 BD Kickstarter Launches on April 30". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  4. ^ "AnimEigo Celebrates 15 Years". Anime News Network. December 11, 2003. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  5. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (February 4, 2010). "AnimEigo's Oh My Goddess Video Series License Expires". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  6. ^ Loo, Egan (April 29, 2010). "AnimEigo Unable to License Rest of Yawara! Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  7. ^ Woodhead, Robert [@AnimEigo] (August 8, 2012). "#Yawara going OOP on 8/31. 40 ep. box set for $19.95 + s&h while supplies last. Pass the word to #anime and #judo fans" (Tweet). Retrieved January 11, 2021 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ Manry, Gia (February 9, 2011). "AnimEigo's Urusei Yatsura License Expires in September". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  9. ^ *Bunao, Daryl (July 7, 2011). "AnimEigo's You're Under Arrest License Ends in January (Updated)". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  10. ^ Loo, Egan (October 25, 2013). "AnimEigo Starts Bubblegum Crisis Kickstarter Funding Campaign". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  11. ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (October 29, 2013). "Bubblegum Crisis Blu-ray Kickstarter Meets Pledge Goal". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  12. ^ *Loo, Egan (July 2, 2015). "AnimeEigo Meets Otaku no Video Blu-ray Kickstarter Goal". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  13. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (February 15, 2024). "Justin Sevakis' Video Production Company MediaOCD Acquires AnimEigo". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  14. ^ *"Showing 1 - 2 of 2 results for "AnimEigo"". Hoopla.com. Archived from the original on February 29, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  15. ^ "Media Blasters Anime Titles to Expire on Hulu". Anime News Network. May 6, 2016. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  16. ^ "Bubblegum Crisis - Watch on VRV". VRV.co. Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  17. ^ "Bubblegum Crisis Collection VHS Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  18. ^ "Otaku no Video 1982 & 1985 Review". Anime News Network. January 20, 2002. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  19. ^ "Macross TV Boxset Review". Anime News Network. April 24, 2002. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  20. ^ "Rupan III: The Fuma Conspiracy DVD Review". Anime News Network. May 4, 2003. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Liner Notes". AnimEigo. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  22. ^ a b "AnimEigo Liner Notes - Out of Print | AnimEigo". archive.animeigo.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
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