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Samantha Ferreira Is Back On Her Book Bullshit

@sam-animeherald.northsky.social

Y'all hear the news in 1997? AnimEigo's DEAD :0

Some rando on Usenet said so!

(Yeah, I'm having some fun tonight and finding a LOT of these takes as I look for info from CPM's 1998)

Ryan Mathews
Oct 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM
to

Yes, I realize that technically, AnimEigo isn't dead, but since they're
out of the anime business (save perhaps for the KOR box), ANIME-go is
dead. If they're only doing live-action from here on out, calling
themselves "AnimEigo" is ridiculous and I'd expect them to change their
name.
Bless Robert Woodhead; he was the fan's friend and kept his integrity
to the end. But if the end proved anything, it's that he was never
much of a businessman.

When AnimEigo began releasing anime in the U.S., they were the only
game in town, except for the putrid Streamline. They actually had
Japanese studios calling *them*, offering their rights. AnimEigo
ruled.

Then came the competitors.

From the beginning Woodhead explained at every con that AnimEigo had
integrity. They didn't sell porn. They didn't sell fluff. They only
released good anime. More than that, they only released anime that
Robert Woodhead himself personally liked.

Meanwhile, ADVision bought everything they could get their hands on.
They released porn. They released fluff. They sold lots of tapes, and
made lots of money. And soon they could outbid AnimEigo for the rights
to the anime that Robert Woodhead liked.

If there is a lesson to be learned it is this: The first rule of
business is to make money. You can't achieve your goals as a business
if you don't have it. And if that means comprimising your principles,
well hey, welcome to America, dude!

I think we as fandom would be better off today if AnimEigo had created
a company to compete with ADV's SoftCel. If a little hentai from
AnimEigo meant they could have successfully bid for the YOU'RE UNDER
ARREST TV series, I could have lived with that.
--

March 18, 2025 at 1:27 AM

Comic Book Yeti 🎃

@comicbookyeti.com

The Anime Business, a first-of-its-kind documentary series from @animeigo.com featuring interviews with a variety of pioneers of the Western anime industry has a new episode up on YouTube with British Manga producer Laurence Guinness.

www.comicbookyeti.com/post/animeig...