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 Bandai Visual's former headquarters inShinagawa, Tokyo | |
Native name | 株式会社バンダイビジュアル |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki gaisha Bandai Bijuaru |
| Formerly |
|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Anime |
| Founded | August 23, 1983; 41 years ago (1983-08-23) |
| Defunct | 2018 (2018) (as a company) |
| Fate | Merged withLantis |
| Successor | Bandai Namco Music Live |
| Headquarters | Ebisu, Shibuya,Tokyo, Japan |
Key people | |
Number of employees | 167 |
| Parent |
|
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | bandaivisual.co.jp/ |
Bandai Visual Co., Ltd.[a] was a Japaneseanime,film production, and distribution company, established byBandai and a subsidiary ofBandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.[1][2][3]
Most of the anime and films that have been distributed and licensed by Bandai Visual have been released under the Emotion label. After the reorganization of Bandai Namco Holdings in 2006, Bandai Visual headed the group's Visual and Music ContentStrategic Business Unit. Its subsidiaries included the Emotion Music Company, Ltd. (whose logos also include theMoai from Easter Island), andLantis music publishing labels. Until 2012, it was involved in the production and distribution of severalanime titles, including those it has directly produced itself and anime series produced by the anime studioSunrise, an alternate anime studio subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. In September 2017, Bandai Visual acquired the anime studioActas.[4]
In February 2018, it was announced Bandai Visual would be merged with Lantis into a new branch of BNH, calledBandai Namco Arts. The reorganizing took effect as of April 1, 2018. Bandai Visual remains only as a label of the new company.[5]
On August 23, 1983, Japanese toy manufacturerBandai established AE Planning Co., Ltd. (Account Executive Planning), an animation and film distributor, inKōjimachi,Chiyoda.[6][7] Bandai created AE Planning following the success of Emotion, its film distribution division, in 1982, and was part of Bandai's corporate reorganization and alteration of its business strategies.[8] AE Planning primarily distributedoriginal video animations (OVAs) from other companies, most notablyPierrot'sDallos (1983).[8] Beginning in October 1984, it licensed and distributedlaserdisc films in Japan.[6] After Bandai agreed to a business alliance withThe Walt Disney Company in 1987, AE Planning became a distributor of Disney animated films across the country.[7]
In March 1989, AE Planning renamed itself Bandai Visual Sales and opened a second office inShōwa-ku, Nagoya.[6] Alongside its publishing and distribution ofVHS releases for television series such asUltraman andMobile Suit Gundam, Visual Sales operated the Emotion Theater movie theater in Bandai's B-Club Shop inTakadanobaba until its closure in 1997. Bandai Visual Sales was renamed again to Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. in August 1991.[6] In the same year, it absorbed Bandai's Media Division as a means to unify the latter company's home video distribution businesses. The acquisition also gave Bandai Visual ownership of the Emotion label, which was used for its music, anime re-releases, and other products.[7][8] As the company continued generating profits, it began expanding its operations into other entertainment industries. In 1996, Bandai Visual began publishing video games under the Emotion Digital Software brand, releasing titles such asReturn to Zork,MechWarrior 2: Arcade Combat Edition andChoujikuu Yousai Macross: Ai Oboete Imasu ka.[9][10]
In April 1996, Bandai Visual publishedMobile Suit Gundam Wing, the sixth mainline installment in theGundam media franchise. Though it was a moderate success in Japan,Gundam Wing was especially popular in the United States, being credited for single-handedly popularizing theGundam franchise for Western audiences. Following the show's success, Bandai established a subsidiary named Bandai Entertainment Inc. inCypress, California as a subsidiary of its United States division, Bandai America. Though Bandai Visual did not have any direct control over Bandai Entertainment, the latter company often licensed many of Visual's anime series for publishing and distribution in North America, such asCowboy Bebop,The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and multipleGundam sequels.[11] Bandai Entertainment also published English-translatedmanga series and Americangraphic novels,[12] in addition to offering a "fan support" program to facilitate public screenings of licensed content atanime clubs andanime conventions.[13]
Bandai Visual was listed onJASDAQ market in November 2001; by that time, the company was worth over¥2.1 billion (US$20 million).[6][14] In January 2003, the company acquired Emotion Music and made it a wholly owned subsidiary, as a means to further expand into the music industry.[15] Bandai Visual also began supplying content for broadband distribution networks, such as theBandai Channel television station.[16][17]
Bandai Visual was a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings.[18][19] Namco Bandai announced on November 8, 2007, that it would buy the voting shares it did not own between that date and December 10, 2007, and turn the company into a wholly owned subsidiary.[20][21] On December 18, 2007, Namco Bandai announced that it had owned 93.63%[22] of Bandai Visual's shares since the end of November.[20] The remaining shares were delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange on February 15, 2008, after Namco Bandai acquired the remaining 10% of the shares.
In February 2018, it was announced Bandai Visual would be merged with Lantis into a new branch of BNH, calledBandai Namco Arts. The reorganizing took effect as of April 1, 2018. Bandai Visual remains only as a label of the new company.[5]
Bandai Visual USA was established in 2005 inCypress, California to licenseanime properties from various Japanese companies for North American distribution; most of those licenses coming from Bandai and its sister companySunrise. The company also licensedmanga series for release with English translation, and published American-madegraphic novels.[12][23] Bandai Visual USA's releases were of high quality and were aimed at collectors. Their titles were released under the Honnêamise label (named after their Bandai Visual's first production,Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise). Bandai Visual USA's anime products were distributed in North America initially byImage Entertainment and later,Geneon Entertainment USA and in Europe byBeez Entertainment.[24][25] On May 23, 2008, Bandai Namco Holdings announced that Bandai Visual USA would be merged into the newly formedBandai Entertainment which was consummated on July 1, 2008.[26]
The company confirmed on January 2, 2012, that they would stop offering new DVD, Blu-ray disc and manga releases by February, but would continue to produce their current library of content. Bandai Entertainment was restructured to focus on licensing anime to other companies.[27] On August 30, 2012, Bandai America announced that it will shut down Bandai Entertainment and discontinue distributing their home video and print catalog on March 1, 2013. They made their final shipment to retailers on November 30, 2012.[28] Many former Bandai Entertainment titles have been re-licensed by other companies, includingFunimation,Crunchyroll,Aniplex of America,Discotek Media,Media Blasters,Nozomi Entertainment,Viz Media,Maiden Japan andSentai Filmworks.
Most of the notable titles that Bandai Entertainment held includedK-On!,The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya andLucky Star.
Beez Entertainment was the European branch of Bandai Entertainment that also distributed anime and music and were also owned by Bandai Namco Holdings.[29] The name is an acronym for Bandai Entertainment European Zone. Following the discontinuation of Bandai Entertainment, Beez has also stopped releasing anime in the European market.[30] Their anime releases were licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment and Bandai Visual USA.
Honnêamise was Bandai Visual USA's boutique label that distributed deluxe editions of anime and artsier products. The label's namesake comes fromRoyal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise. The label was shut down on July 1, 2008, when Bandai Visual USA was absorbed into Bandai Entertainment. The label's releases were distributed byGeneon Entertainment USA andImage Entertainment.
In August 2009, Bandai Visual had their first music release on US iTunes with Lantis Sounds. In September 2009, Bandai Visual teamed up withNamco Bandai Games for their periodic release of game sounds (classic and new) to iTunes USA.[31][32]
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