Bandai Visual

Bandai Visual Co., Ltd.
バンダイビジュアル株式会社
Kabushiki gaisha
Subsidiary
Industry Anime production, animation and distribution
Film production and distribution
Software & programming
Founded August 23, 1983 (1983-08-23)
Headquarters Ebisu First Square
Ebisu, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Key people
 Kazumi Kawashiro, President and CEO
Number of employees
 162
Parent Bandai Namco Holdings
Subsidiaries Lantis
Website www.bandaivisual.co.jp

Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. (バンダイビジュアル株式会社 Bandai Bijuaru Kabushiki Gaisha), is a Japanese anime, film production and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai Company, Limited and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings, Inc.,[1][2][3] which is based in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.[4] Since the reorganisation of Bandai Namco Holdings in 2006, Bandai Visual now heads the group's Visual and Music Content Strategic Business Unit. Its subsidiaries include the Emotion Music Company, Limited, (whose logos also include the Moai from Easter Island), and Lantis Company, Limited music publishing labels.

Until 2012, it was involved in the production and distribution of several anime titles, including those it has directly produced itself and anime series produced by the anime studio Sunrise, a subsidiary of Bandai.

History

Bandai Visual is currently a fully owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings.[5][6][7] Bandai Namco 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.[8][9] On December 18, 2007, Bandai Namco announced that it owned 93.63%[10] of Bandai Visual's shares since the end of November.[8] The remaining shares were delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange on February 15, 2008 after Bandai Namco acquired the remaining 10% of the shares.

Subsidiaries

Bandai Entertainment

Bandai Entertainment is a defunct subsidiary of Bandai America, founded in 1998.[11][12] Their first releases were under the AnimeVillage.com label up until 1999 when Bandai Entertainment started releasing its titles. Despite its name it was not directly established by Bandai Visual. Originally separate from Bandai Visual USA, Namco Holdings announced that Bandai Entertainment would absorb Bandai Visual USA in 2008.[13] Headquartered in Cypress, California, it licensed anime properties from various Japanese companies for North American distribution; most of those licenses coming from Bandai and its sister company Sunrise. The company also licensed manga series for release with English translation, and published American-made graphic novels.[14] As with many North American anime distributors, Bandai Entertainment offered a 'fan support' program to facilitate public screenings of licensed content at anime clubs and anime conventions.[15] 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.[16] On August 30, 2012, Bandai Entertainment announced that it will discontinue distributing their home video and print catalog on March 1, 2013. They made their final shipment to retailers on November 30, 2012.[17] Many former Bandai Entertainment titles have been re-licensed by companies like Funimation Entertainment, Discotek Media, Nozomi Entertainment & Sentai Filmworks.

Beez Entertainment

Beez Entertainment was the European branch of Bandai Entertainment that also distributed anime and music and were also owned by Bandai Namco Holdings.[18] 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.[19] Their anime releases were licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment and Bandai Visual USA.

Bandai Visual USA

Bandai Visual USA was established in 2005 to distribute and market Bandai Visual's productions in North America.[20] Unlike Bandai Entertainment, 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 by Image Entertainment and later, Geneon Entertainment USA and in Europe by Beez Entertainment.[21][22] On May 23, 2008, Bandai Namco Holdings announced that Bandai Visual USA would be merged into Bandai Entertainment.[13] Bandai Visual USA was dissolved on July 1, 2008.

Honnêamise

Honnêamise was Bandai Visual USA's boutique label that distributed deluxe editions of anime and artsier products. The label's namesake comes from Royal 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 by Geneon Entertainment USA and Image Entertainment.

Beez Entertainment

Beez Entertainment was the European branch for Bandai Visual that also distributed anime and music and were also owned by Bandai Namco Holdings.[18] 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.[19]

List of licensed anime

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Music

In August 2009, Bandai Visual had their first music release on US iTunes with Lantis Sounds. In September 2009, Bandai Visual teamed up with NAMCO for their periodic release of game sounds (classic and new) to iTunes USA.[23][24]

Headquarters

Bandai Visual's headquarters are in Ebisu, Shibuya, Tokyo.[25] When Bandai Visual was established in August 1983, its headquarters was in Kōjimachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. In December of that year the headquarters moved to Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo and in June 1984 to another building in Roppongi. In May 1985 the headquarters moved to Shibuya, Tokyo and in March 1990 to Shinjuku, Tokyo. In August 1991 the headquarters moved to Taitō, Tokyo and in March 1994 to another location in Taitō. In September 2004 the headquarters moved to the Shiodome Sumitomo Building in Shiodome, Minato, Tokyo.[26] The headquarters moved to the current location in November 2014.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "Bandai Visual" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 21, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
  2. ↑ "NAMCO BANDAI Holdings Inc. – Group Companies". Archived from the original on March 7, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
  3. ↑ "IR information : Press release Third Medium-Term Plan". Retrieved 2007-03-07.
  4. ↑ "About us : History BANDAI VISUAL CO.,Ltd". Archived from the original on February 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
  5. ↑ "バンダイビジュアル株式会社". Bandai Visual. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
  6. ↑ "NAMCO BANDAI Holdings Inc. to Fully Acquire Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. and Bandai Networks Co., Ltd.". Reuters. 2008-01-15. Archived from the original on February 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  7. ↑ "Bandai Visual Co. Ltd.: Private Company Information". BusinessWeek. 2008-01-19. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  8. 1 2 Schilling, Mark (2007-12-17). "Bandai Namco buys up subsidiaries". Variety.
  9. ↑ Schilling, Mark (2007-11-08). "Bandai taking over subsidiaries". Variety.
  10. ↑ "NAMCO BANDAI Holdings announces complete takeover of BANDAI VISUAL". KatanaXtreme.com.
  11. ↑ "Bandai Entertainment Inc.". Goliath. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  12. ↑ "Bandai Entertainment". Archived from the original on June 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  13. 1 2 "Bandai Visual USA to be Liquidated by September". Anime News Network. 2008-05-23. Archived from the original on May 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  14. ↑ "Bandai Entertainment". Archived from the original on July 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  15. ↑ "Bandai announces anime club support program". Anime News Network. 2002-12-02. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  16. ↑ "Bandai Entertainment to Stop Releasing New DVDs, BDs, Manga". Anime News Network. 2012-01-02. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  17. ↑ "Bandai Entertainment to Discontinue Home Video, Manga, Novel Sales". Anime News Network. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  18. 1 2 "About Beez: Company Profile". Beez Entertainment. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  19. 1 2 France's Beez Entertainment Stops Releasing New Anime - News. Anime News Network (2012-01-05). Retrieved on 2014-05-12.
  20. ↑ "Bandai Visual Establishes US Office". Anime News Network. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  21. ↑ "Bandai Visual USA to Launch Honneamise Label". Anime News Network. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  22. ↑ "Bandai Visual USA New Licenses and Distribution Label". Anime News Network. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  23. ↑ "Bandai Visual's new project – game sounds on iTunes". J!-ENT. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  24. ↑ "Bandai Visual and Namco Games partner up for Game Sounds (Japanese)" (PDF). Bandai Visual. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  25. 1 2 沿革 [History] (in Japanese). Bandai Visual. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  26. ↑ "History". Bandai Visual. Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 16 March 2010.

External links

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