AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

samurai film , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of '' ...

s and

Japanese cinema The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...

. Founded in 1988 by

Robert Woodhead Robert J. Woodhead is an entrepreneur, software engineer and former game programmer. He claims that a common thread in his career is "doing weird things with computers". Career In 1979 he co-founded Sirotech (later known as Sir-Tech) with ...

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 is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from September 1978 to February 1987. Its 366 individual chapters were published in 34 ''tankōbon'' volume ...

'', ''You're Under Arrest'', ''

Vampire Princess Miyu is a Japanese horror manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano, as well as an anime adaptation by the same creators. The anime was originally presented in a 4-episode OVA (Original Video Animation) licensed by AnimEigo i ...

'', ''

Otaku no Video is a 1991 anime OVA spoofing the life and culture of otaku, individuals with obsessive interests in media, particularly anime and manga, as well as the history of Gainax, its creators. It is noted for its mix of conventional documentary film s ...

'', the original ''

Bubblegum Crisis is a 1987 to 1991 cyberpunk original video animation (OVA) series produced by Youmex and animated by AIC and Artmic. The series was planned to run for 13 episodes, but was cut short to just 8. The series involves the adventures of the K ...

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

series, and ''

Kimagure Orange Road is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Izumi Matsumoto. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine from 1984 to 1987, with the chapters collected into 18 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shueisha. The story follows tee ...

''. Their name is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words

History

The company was founded in 1988 in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

and Roe R. Adams III. It is now based in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

and run by Natsumi Ueki, Woodhead's wife. Their first release was ''

Metal Skin Panic Madox 01 is a 1987 original video animation produced by AIC, Soeishinsha and Pony Canyon and directed and conceptualized by Shinji Aramaki. It has been licensed in the United States by AnimEigo. The plot centers on a mechanic who comes across the MAD ...

''. In July 2003, the company signed a deal with

Koch Entertainment Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company Entertainment One in 2005. History First years The company began in 1975 as part of Koch Inter ...

to help market and distribute their titles in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. 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! , or ''Ah! My Goddess!'' in some releases, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It was serialized in Kodansha's Seinen manga, ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from September 1988 to ...

'' OVAs. In April 2010, the company announced they were unable to license the remaining episodes of ''

Yawara! ''Yawara!'' (also stylized as ''YAWARA!'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. It was serialized in ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1986 to 1993, with the chapters collected into 29 ''tankōbon'' volumes by p ...

''. They later lost the rights to the episodes they had previously licensed. In February 2011, the company announced they had lost the rights to ''

'', one of their more popular titles. The company also lost the rights to the '' You're Under Arrest'' and ''

Battle Royal High School , originally known as is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Shinichi Kuruma. It was serialized in the Tokuma Shoten magazine ''Monthly Shōnen Captain'' infrequently between the May 1986 and August 1989 issues. Originally released i ...

'' anime series, as well as the ''

Zatoichi is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay , part of Shimozawa's ''Futokoro Techō'' se ...

'', ''

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, and i ...

'', and ''

Portrait of Hell , also titled ''A Story of Hell'' and ''The Hell Screen'', is a 1969 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Shirō Toyoda starring Tatsuya Nakadai and Kinnosuke Nakamura. The film is based on the short story ''Hell Screen'' by Ryūnosuke Akutaga ...

'' live action movies. In October 2013, AnimEigo launched their first Kickstarter campaign to

crowdfund Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

a new release, specifically to re-release ''

'' as a limited edition

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

. The Kickstarter was successfully funded in October 2013, and the Blu-ray was subsequently released in December 2014. They also successfully kickstarted re-releases of ''

'', ''

Riding Bean is a 1989 anime original video animation following the exploits of courier-for-hire Bean Bandit and his partner, gunwoman Rally Vincent. A manga was also published in the Japanese magazine that was left unfinished (due to the closure of the ...

'', '' A.D. Police Files'', ''

Gunsmith Cats is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenichi Sonoda. It was published in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from 1991 to 1997 and was followed between 2004 and 2008 by a sequel series ''Gunsmith C ...

'', and ''

Megazone 23 is a four-part Japanese cyberpunk original video animation created by Noboru Ishiguro, written by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama and Emu Arii, and directed by Ishiguro, Ichiro Itano, Kenichi Yatagai, and Shinji Aramaki. The series debuted in 1985. It ...

''.

Distribution

The company streams their titles on VRV (via VRV Select), Hoopla, RetroCrush,

Tubi Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In January 2021, Tubi reached 33 million monthly ...

, and

CONtv CONtv is an Over-the-top content, OTT streaming service launched in March 2015 as a joint venture between Cinedigm and Wizard World. The service is catered towards fans of geek and nerd culture, featuring cult classic films and television serie ...

. Some of their titles were on Hulu, but they have been removed. 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 Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

with their releases. 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 is an anime television series from 1982. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war. It is the first part of two franchises: The ''Super D ...

'', 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 James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in '' Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk lea ...

's reply – "or the one". They also licensed two ''

Lupin III , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch. It follows the endeavors of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsèn ...

'' 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 , known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist, best known for his series ''Lupin III''. Life and career Katō was born in Hamanaka, Hokkaido; he began drawing at a very young age, but did not draw manga until junior high school, when h ...

without permission from the estate of

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French c ...

), the titles were released as ''Rupan III'' (which is the romaji pronunciation of Lupin). Even after the Lupin name passed into

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

in the 1990s, they continued to distribute the films as ''Rupan III''.

Productions

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

Out of print

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Animeigo 1988 establishments in the United States Anime companies Companies based in Wilmington, North Carolina Entertainment companies established in 1988 Home video companies of the United States Video production companies