Ahh, Geneon! I remember being introduced as if it was only yesterday. So many good shows came from these guys. Good times, good times…Geneon was a anime distribution company fairly new to the game as it were. They had evolved from Pioneer Entertainment. They became very popular/successful practically overnight, I’d like to think, in large part to their licenses.
They decided to merge with ADV (the guys from the NTUSA debacle) towards the latter part of their tenure. The merger would’ve signaled the dawn of a new era, but never went legit and while the details are sketchy at best, it seems Geneon kept operating as usual, but ADV cut a good hella chunk of staff, and then ADV decided to run off and the two companies “could not come to a mutual agreement”.
Geneon closed its doors later that year much to the dismay of the anime community. It was a dark day indeed, but only a preview of the coming storm. Luckily for many FUNimation acquired many of the Geneon titles that were up in the air. So a lot of the work that was in process when they went under has since been finished or collected at long last. There is a small silver lining however. The company has gone on to greener pastures in a decision to merge with NBC Universal’s Universal Pictures International Entertainment. And since they’re still making anime in Japan, there is no dount in my mind that Geneon will find its way back to America in some way, shape or form.
Now while this story is bittersweet to be sure, it pisses me off for 2 reasons. The 1st-it happened. Geneon was fucking awesome!!! A good deal of my DVD collection is Geneon; I loved those guys. The 2nd-the outrageous fan reactions. According to most fans you survey, Geneon went under for 1 of 2 reasons, and only 1 of 2 reasons. The company either A) sold too many obscure titles, or B) got beat out by fansubs. Now I’m not saying those weren’t factors, but they clearly weren’t the ONLY factors, and it’s that type of narrow-minded thinking that led to what I like to call (because I’m not as witty as I’d like to be) “The Fansub War”.
Geneon’s Fall ushered in a real sense of uncertainty. Geneon certainly seemed on top of things, and for them to fall so easily….it was almost as if anything could happen, and not in a good way…but things were about to get a whole lot uglier…
