Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Multimedia entertainment |
Genre | Anime, East Asian films, hentai, manga, manhwa, yaoi |
Founded | April 11, 1990 |
Founder | John O'Donnell |
Defunct | April 27, 2009 |
Fate | Bankruptcy |
Headquarters | New York City, New York |
Area served | United States and Canada |
Divisions |
|
Website | centralparkmedia.com 2009 archive |
Central Park Media Corporation, often abbreviated as CPM, was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York and was headquartered in the 250 West 57th Street building in Midtown Manhattan (on the corner of Central Park, hence their name). They were one of the first companies to be active in the distribution of East Asian cinema, television series, anime, manga, and manhwa titles in North America, notably helping to make hentai popular in the region. Over its history, the company licensed several popular titles, such as Slayers , Revolutionary Girl Utena , the Tokyo Babylon OVAs, Project A-ko , and Demon City Shinjuku .
They had multiple divisions, each of which focused on offering different types of products and services. While a majority of their divisions handled anime and manga distribution, they also offered anime-related software and ran a website for UFO conspiracy theorists.
CPM filed for bankruptcy on April 27, 2009 but remains nominally active as of July 3, 2023 without holding many of its former assets. [1] Since their bankruptcy, many of their former titles have been re-released by other companies.
Central Park Media was founded in 1990 by John O'Donnell as an anime supplier. [2] During its heyday, CPM incorporated MD Geist as part of its U.S. Manga Corps logo. Curiosity by anime fans seeing the "corporate spokes mecha" in CPM's titles resulted in MD Geist becoming one of the company's bestselling titles. In 1996, CPM commissioned MD Geist creator Koichi Ohata to write and direct a sequel; at the same time, Ohata made a director's cut of the first title, adding new scenes and expanding the storyline. [3]
In 1992, CPM – through its Anime 18 division – released Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend , which became the first animated film to be given the NC-17 rating. Since its release, Urotsukidoji has become a cult classic among fans of anime, science fiction and horror genres, while at the same time, being one of the first anime titles to introduce the western public to the hentai genre. It was released in theaters across the United States in both subtitled and dubbed formats. [4]
In the mid-1990s, CPM expanded to distributing manga and manhwa through CPM Manga and CPM Manhwa, respectively. CPM Manga also featured adaptations of MD Geist, Armored Trooper Votoms , and Project A-ko by American writers and artists. [5]
Central Park Media headquarters was in the Fisk Building, located at 250 West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan. [6] [7] They started out with just 3,400 square feet, but grew to 7,000 square feet in 1996 and would expand further to 10,000 square feet in January 2000. [8] Through its history, the company has employed numerous figures in the video retail industry like Steven Kramer, [9] Peter Castro, [10] and Tom Reilly. [10] In 2003, John Davis, Allen Rosenberg, and Stacey Santos were hired as account executives. [11]
On May 26, 2006, Central Park Media laid off many of its employees, and rumors erupted that the company was planning to declare bankruptcy, supported by a statement from a representative at the convention Anime Boston. The following Monday, the company's managing director issued a statement acknowledging the lay-offs and attributing the cost-cutting to creditor problems following the January bankruptcy of the Musicland group. [12]
The previous year, in 2005, CPM had discontinued its CPM Manga and CPM Manhwa line, also due to monetary problems. But CPM representatives have said that they had relaunched their manga and manhwa lines in January 2006. [13]
On March 19, 2007, Japanese yaoi publisher Libre posted a notice on its website saying that CPM's Be Beautiful division was illegally translating and selling its properties. The titles in question were originally licensed to CPM by Japanese publisher Biblos, which was bought out by Libre in 2006 after a bankruptcy. [14]
Central Park Media filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 27, 2009, and liquidated with a debt of over US$1.2 million. [15] Officially, the company had plans to re-release some older titles in the future. [16] Right up until their bankruptcy, CPM still licensed their anime titles for North American television and VOD distribution, despite having not released anything on home video for over a year. Many of their titles have been shown on the Sci-Fi Channel, [17] as well as Anime Selects, AZN Television and the Funimation Channel, [18] and were available through iTunes. [19] Some of their titles were also re-licensed by various anime companies, such as ADV Films, Bandai Entertainment, Funimation, Sentai Filmworks, Discotek Media, Nozomi Entertainment, and Media Blasters, [20] and were re-released from 2004 into the present day. Some of their titles were either re-dubbed, such as Here Is Greenwood and Area 88 by Media Blasters and ADV Films, respectively, or have retained the original dub. Grave of the Fireflies was later re-licensed by ADV's successor Sentai Filmworks and was re-released in 2012. [21]
Its website became offline permanently after its closure. The centralparkmedia.com domain was eventually transferred to a New York-based art dealer Atelier VGI several years later.
Central Park Media was a key player in popularizing anime, with numerous firsts and promotions designed to introduce various works to American viewers. They were one of the first suppliers to sell anime box sets. [22]
In 2002, the first instance of an anime having the storyboards as an alternate viewing option was released on the Collectors Edition of Grave of the Fireflies , more than 2,700 hand drawings synced to the audio tracks. [23] They also focused on increasing TV airings of shows to capitalize on the International Channel, the Encore Channel and the streaming service Cartoon Network short-lived Toonami Reactor website. [24]
Anime Test Drive was a promotion that started in 2003 which tested the markets and introduced American's to anime at a discounted rate. [25] It was a way to market titles that may have been viewed as to expensive or inconvenience to purchase separately. [8] Anime Test Drive DVDs offer two episodes of the listed anime series and 45 minutes of trailers. [8]
In 2004, Central Park Media introduced Korean animation works into America after the success of the Animatrix, Aeon Flux, and Cubix with the release of Doggy Poo. [26] In 2005, it sub-licensed seven anime titles to the US-based International Channel. [27] It also licensed titles out to the broadband streaming service Movielink. [28] In 2006, Central Park Media licensed some of their works to IGN Entertainment's digital download retail store Direct2Drive. [29]
In 2007, Central Park Media licensed out Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie , Roujin Z , the Record of Lodoss War series, the Project A-ko series, Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer , and Grave of the Fireflies to the Funimation Channel. [18] These titles aired on the channel in 2007 before ADV Films took over the rights to Grave of the Fireflies [20] and the film was streamed on VOD in the United States and Canada by Anime Network, [30] following their bankruptcy. [15]
Asia Pulp Cinema was CPM's East Asian live-action film distribution division that began in 1999. [31] They were most known for carrying Japanese erotic films, mostly starring actress Kei Mizutani, and films targeted at admirers of the otaku subculture, such as the Akihabara Trilogy. [32]
US Manga Corps was the main anime distribution division for Central Park Media, catering to middle/high school students and older audiences. [33] The US Manga Corps mascot is from MD Geist , from an OVA from the 1980s. [3]
Software Sculptors was founded by John Sirabella, Sam Liebowitz, and Henry Lai in 1993, and specialized in anime-related software, such as screen savers featuring Ranma ½ and Bubblegum Crisis , as well as releasing anime on CD-ROM. [34] [35] They also released several anime titles, most notably Slayers , Revolutionary Girl Utena , and Cat Soup . The company was bought by CPM and was turned into one of their division labels. Sirabella stayed on with CPM until 1997, after which he would go on to form Media Blasters. [36]
CPM Press (originally CPM Comics, then CPM Manga) was the manga and manhwa publication division. [37] [38] Manga titles were published under the label CPM Manga, and manhwa under CPM Manhwa. CPM also had an adult division under CPM Press known as Bear Bear Press, which largely published Americanized versions of some of their Anime 18 releases such as La Blue Girl . This division started in 1996 and folded the same year releasing only La Blue Girl and Demon Beast Invasion . [39] Bear Bear Press was succeeded by Manga 18.
Anime 18 (A18 Corporation) was Central Park Media's distribution division for pornographic anime. [40] Among its releases were Toshio Maeda's Legend of the Overfiend and La Blue Girl . [41] The release of Legend of the Overfiend was the first hentai released in America. [42] Anime 18 released its titles under several labels, with the main label – Anime 18 – used for hentai anime, Manga 18 for manga and manhwa pornography, and Be Beautiful Manga for yaoi manga. When Central Park Media went bankrupt in 2009, the licenses for some of Anime 18's products and movies were transferred to Critical Mass Video and Kitty Media. [43]
Some Anime 18 titles were published under the label Anime HotShots starting February 2005 [44]
Manga 18 was an English-language publisher of pornographic manga and manhwa which was the manga counterpart of Anime 18 and successor to Bare Bear Press. [45]
The counterpart of Anime 18 that specialized in yaoi manga. On March 19, 2007, Japanese yaoi publisher Libre announced that Be Beautiful Manga was illegally translating and selling their properties to their original owners. [14]
Below the Radar was a label that focused on live-action independent and non-mainstream media. Formed in March 2007. [46]
Central Park Media's website unit that operated AnimeOne.com, a website that was dedicated to anime fandom, [47] and UFOCity.com, a website that specialized in alien UFO sightings and hosted a community of UFO enthusiasts. It was shut down in 2004. [48]
Releases are only listed if the subtitling, dubbing, or other production work was handled by Central Park Media; rather than being licensed from prior versions. All of the titles are now published by other companies, if at all, due to Central Park Media's liquidation.
Hentai is a style of Japanese pornographic anime and manga. In addition to anime and manga, hentai works exist in a variety of media, including artwork and video games.
Slayers is a Japanese light novel series written by Hajime Kanzaka and illustrated by Rui Araizumi. The novels have been serialized in Dragon Magazine since 1989, before being published into individual volumes. They follow the adventures of teenage sorceress Lina Inverse and her companions as they journey through their world. Using powerful magic and swordsmanship they battle overreaching wizards, demons seeking to destroy the world, and an occasional hapless gang of bandits.
Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated war drama film written and directed by Isao Takahata, and produced by Studio Ghibli. It is based on the 1967 semi-autobiographical short story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka.
A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Greenfield and David Williams. The company specialized in home video production and distribution, theatrical film distribution, merchandising, original productions, magazine and comic book publishing. They also ran Anime Network, a television channel devoted to airing the company's titles. Some of their titles were Neon Genesis Evangelion, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, RahXephon, Full Metal Panic, Azumanga Daioh, Elfen Lied, Gantz, Red Garden, and Le Chevalier D'Eon.
Funimation was an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime and other foreign entertainment properties in North America. It streamed popular series, such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, YuYu Hakusho, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, Black Clover, Fruits Basket, Assassination Classroom and Tokyo Ghoul among many others. The service and its parent company were acquired by Sony, who ran the service through Sony Pictures Entertainment from 2017 to 2019 and then through SPE and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex from 2019 to its closure in 2024. In 2021, Sony acquired Crunchyroll.
Tokyopop is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well as original German-language manga. Tokyopop's US publishing division publishes works in English. Tokyopop has its US headquarters near Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. Its parent company's offices are in Tokyo, Japan and its sister company's office is in Hamburg, Germany.
Comic Party, sometimes abbreviated to ComiPa, is a dating sim video game by the Japanese game studio Leaf. It was first released on May 28, 1999, for Windows with adult content, but re-released with it removed for the Dreamcast, Windows, and PSP. The main focus of the game is the creation of various dōjinshi by the player's character, during which there are varied opportunities to interact with a cast of girls.
Darkside Blues is a manga series by Hideyuki Kikuchi. The story has been adapted into an anime film directed by Yoshimichi Furukawa. The film was originally licensed by Central Park Media and then later licensed by ADV Films.
Shadow Star, known in Japan as Narutaru (なるたる), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mohiro Kitoh, originally serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon from 1998 to 2003. The Japanese name is an abbreviation of Mukuro Naru Hoshi, Tama Taru Ko, which roughly translates to Corpse of a Star; A Precious Child. In North America, it was licensed by Dark Horse Comics and serialized in Super Manga Blast!. A 13-episode anime adaptation by Planet was broadcast in 2003 and was released in English by Central Park Media.
John Robert Ledford II is an American entrepreneur and audio engineer in the anime industry. He founded A.D. Vision, Anime Network, Newtype USA, and Sentai Filmworks, and has been an executive producer for hundreds of anime titles including Halo Legends, Appleseed Alpha, Short Peace, Sailor Moon, Hello Kitty, and the dubbing of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Adventure Kid is an erotic manga series written and illustrated by Toshio Maeda. It was published by Wanimagazine into four volumes from 1988 to 1989 and it was adapted into an original video animation (OVA). Mixing horror, fantasy and comedy, it follows Norizaku and Midori as they find a demonic computer that sends them to Hell and destroy their world. They are transported to a World War II setting and they have to prevent their future to be ruined.
M.D. Geist is an anime and comic book series about a post-apocalyptic world.
Judge is a manga series written and illustrated by Fujihiko Hosono, published in Futabasha's Action Brother and Comic Action Character. The story focuses on the Japanese hell, where judgment is passed on the living.
Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment company that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga and anime compilations, Asian films and television series, adult anime, monster movies, concert films, independent films, horror films, and exploitation films. Over its history, the company has licensed several popular titles, such as Rurouni Kenshin, Berserk, Bakuman, Shamanic Princess, Jungle De Ikou!, Weiß Kreuz, Jubei-chan: The Ninja Girl, Chu-Bra!!, Holy Knight, Elf Princess Rane, Voogie's Angel, Ultimate Girls and Blade of the Immortal.
Shinchosha Publishing Co, Ltd. is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award.
The Finder series is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Ayano Yamane. It is serialized in the semimonthly yaoi manga magazine Be × Boy Gold since 2002. Several adaptations of the manga have been released, including original video animations, light novels, and audio drama CDs.
SXION 23 LLC, doing business as Section23 Films, is an American multimedia distributor based in Houston, Texas specializing in releasing anime and Japanese films. Established in 2009, Section23 is one of five successors to ADV Films; alongside Sentai Filmworks, Switchblade Pictures, Maiden Japan, and AEsir Holdings. The company is named after a Texas tax code.
Libre Inc., formerly known as Libre Publishing from 2006 to 2016, is a Japanese publishing company owned by Animate. Libre primarily publishes yaoi and teens' love manga and light novels, which are run in their magazines Magazine Be × Boy and Be × Boy Gold. The company was founded on May 8, 2006, after Biblos closed in April 2006, when their original parent company, Hekitensha, filed for bankruptcy.
Source New York Department of State, 3 Jul 2023