O.O
Say it’s not so…but alas it is. Anime Insider has bitten the dust.
“Newsarama received an email from Wizard Entertainment Editor-in-Chief Scott Gramling that confirmed the magazine’s demise:“…after several years of producing Anime Insider magazine, Wizard Entertainment has decided to discontinue its publication. The last issue will be Anime Insider #67. We thank our dedicated staffers for all of their hard work, and we thank our readership for their loyal support.”“
Anime Insider was a strong, driving force behind the anime community for a really long time. I myself have fond memories of reading this magazine & still have stacks of back issues piled up, collecting dust. I’m not surprised, given the downturn printed media seems to be taking in this recession, but I’m not happy about this either. Another dreadful note (at least for me) lies in the fact that this leaves a real void in the way of anime information output & gathering. Those who’ve indulged a look at my take on saving the industry know that one of my suggestions rally for professional reviewers & ppl of that category/caliber to preview, review, discuss, etc anime & related etc. And Anime Insider did that for a really long time, but now you have tons of blogs, forums, fans, anons, grandmas and who knows who else who deem themselves experts on what’s new, what’s hot, what’s in. Not to mention the opportunity for the few still-standing anime companies to abuse said void and drive consumers to their products. So if you’re a fan or just trying to get into anime, this could present an interesting quagmire, because while Anime Insider was not the best magazine by any lengths, it did have an air of authority about it-to some degree.
“No word on how or if subscribers will be credited or refunded for the remaining issues left in their subscriptions — but it’s likely that they’ll be switched over to Wizard magazine, Wizard Entertainment’s superhero-centric, decidedly un-anime/manga sibling publication, or possibly refunds are due. “
…hmmm. Good luck with those refunds….
“The cancellation of Anime Insider is the latest of several recent cutbacks for the Wizard Entertainment group, including the ‘postponement’ of their Wizard World Los Angeles convention, the cancellation of Wizard World Dallas for 2009, and a prior round of layoffs in late February 2009.”
It should be noted that unlike previous stories I’ve covered about the state of the industry, this doesn’t include an anime company going broke so much as it includes its parent company cutting back on everything. And Wizard’s been pinching their pennies for the last several months to better its bottom line, so again, this isn’t that surprising.
[via Deb's Manga Blog]
State of the Anime Industry (Main Article)
