Gonzo (TSE: 3755) stock prices from 2005 to 2009. Prices listed in Japanese Yen.

On July 28th, 2009, Gonzo Digimation Holdings was officially removed from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Citing more than two years of consecutive loss, the corporation was forced to stop trading in compliance with TSE regulation. How did Gonzo, a company once renowned for its innovative style and unique productions, fall to such financial ruin? Fans speculate that Gonzo’s failure began when it abandoned innovation for fanservice with shows such as Rosario and Vampire, Kurogane no Linebarrels and the (in)famous Strike Witches. Bear in mind that DVD sales for Strike Witches was considerably greater than sales for any other series hitherto produced by the studio. Yet, the animation department was indeed losing money; by Fiscal Year 2008, it was operating on a loss of several hundred million yen (several million US dollars.) Gonzo’s collapse as a corporation was not a simple result of shoddily-produced anime; rather, many reasons led to its collapse, including an over-ambitious push into the global market, declining DVD sales and the global financial meltdown of 2007-2008. In this multi-part series, I will attempt, to the best of my limited ability, to chronicle and comment on the anime industry’s first casualty in its relentless push into the global market.

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Copyright © 2009 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By Akira | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Tweet! | AnimeBlips - vote it up!
Post tags: ADV, FUNimation, Geneon, Gonzo, Kurogane no Linebarrels, Microeconomics, Rosario + Vampire, Strike Witches, Transformers

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I’ll admit it, I do have more than just a passing interest in these types of awards. Obviously one affords as much credibility to a set of awards like these as one agrees with the results, and it always surprises me just how much people RAGE when they don’t, c.f. SaiMoe and its multiple incarnations. Then again, there’s more emotions involved in SaiMoe than there are in these.

This year’s list of nominations is a little more “credible” than last year’s, where, for whatever reason, titles like 5cm/s and Baccano! were snubbed in categories that they could have possibly won had they made it past the nomination round. There are a few titles here and there that I would have liked to have seen given nods, but for the most part they’ve captured the likely winners, which isn’t an all-too-easy thing to do in something that’s determined by an open popular vote. Anyway, this post is an attempt to predict the winners, which is much more challenging than just telling you who I think should win (but I’ll tell you that too ). Particularly with the AnimeSuki Forums, which is a real mix of varying tastes. I haven’t done any counting of the current votes, but I have flipped through the thread, so I have a (highly) vague idea of what people have been voting for at this stage.

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Copyright © 2009 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By Sorrow-kun | Permalink | 23 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Tweet! | AnimeBlips - vote it up!
Post tags: Allison to Lillia, AnimeSuki Choice Awards, Aria The Animation, BAMBOO BLADE, Clannad, Code Geass Hangyaku no Lelouch, Detroit Metal City, ef -a tale of memories, Gundam (all), Itazura na Kiss, Kaiba, Kaiji, Kannagi, Kanokon, Kara no Kyoukai, Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de, KimiKiss pure rouge, Kurenai, Macross Frontier, Mnemosyune Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi, Mouryou no Hako, Natsume Yuujinchou, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rosario + Vampire, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Shigofumi, Shion no Oh, Spicy Wolf, Strike Witches, To Love-Ru, true tears, Tsubasa Chronicle, Zero no Tsukaima

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zzeroparticle recently panned the ED theme of Chaos;Head, “Super Special” by Seira Kagami, in a review he posted on the Anime Instrumentality Blog. Now I can understand why he gave it a bad rating, he outlined a reasonable enough justification based on the bizarre, nonsensical lyrics and some rather noticeable technical shortcomings, but, while I can see where he’s coming from, I can’t help but find the song charming and fun to listen to. Arguably my attachment to the song is totally irrational, and I’d have a tough time formally reviewing it, since I just couldn’t put it at arm’s length and reason my way through it in a way required for a good review (add to that the fact that I just don’t have the knowledge to confidently write music reviews).

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Copyright © 2008 Behind The Nihon Review. All licensed material are owned by their respective parties.
By Sorrow-kun | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Tweet! | AnimeBlips - vote it up!
Post tags: Allison to Lillia, Aria The Animation, Chaos;Head, Rosario + Vampire, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

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