Cloverway Inc.

Last updated

Cloverway Inc. [1]
Industry Multimedia entertainment;
Anime licensing and distribution
Founded1991
DefunctAugust 2007
FateClosed [1] [2]
Headquarters Long Beach, California, U.S.
Area served
 North America and Latin America
Key people
Yasuo Matsuo (President)
Mary Jo Winchester (Vice President)
Daniel Castaneda (General Manager)
Takeshi Okajima (Accountant Manager)
Products Anime, Manga, Merchandising
OwnerYasuo Matsuo

Cloverway Inc. (abbreviated as CWi, also branded as Cloverway) [3] was a media licensing agency based in Long Beach, California which specialized in Japanese animation and manga licensing, and they were best known for being the representative office of Toei Animation for the Americas, mostly distributing Toei properties for syndication and home video. They were also acting as an intermediary agent between Japanese companies (Shueisha, Shogakukan, Nippon Animation, etc.) and local companies both in the U.S. market (Viz Communications, [4] Tokyopop, [5] Pioneer Entertainment, [6] ADV Films, and Bandai Entertainment) and Latin American market (Televisa, TV Azteca, Turner, PlayTV), for film distribution or manga publishing of their contents in the continent, to various TV channels in each country, regionally and pan-regionally as well as arranging publishing deals with several manga publishers in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Contents

History

The company was founded in 1991. In 1992, the first anime series distributed by Cloverway for Latin America was the Knights of the Zodiac TV series, first broadcast in Mexico and Brazil. It was followed by Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball some time later. [7]

In 1995, Dragon Ball was re-dubbed by Cloverway, after Bandai [8] failed distributing their first episodes and a movie, dubbed under the title of "Zero y el Dragón Mágico" ("Zero and the Magic Dragon", based on the Harmony Gold version [9] [10] ).

Generally, Cloverway commissioned dubbing for the Spanish versions to the company Intertrack  [ es ] (until its closure in 2005, later on to Optimedia Productions in 2006) in Mexico, and the Brazilian versions to Álamo  [ pt ] (with exceptions like Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho and Mirmo ) in São Paulo Brazil, while some other works were dubbed into Spanish through Cloverway's arrangements with Televisa's owned Audiomaster 3000  [ es ] in Mexico. Other Cloverway's arrangements were made with International Telefilms Inc. for first-run syndication broadcasting in Chile (ETC TV and CHV) and Spanish dubbing recorded by Technoworks/HispanoAmérica Doblajes  [ es ] in Santiago. As for the series owned by TMS, Spanish versions were already dubbed by VDI Multimedia in Los Angeles and previously distributed by other companies, but Brazilian versions were never produced and Cloverway couldn't get a deal for them to be dubbed and broadcast in Brazil. Also, Spanish versions of Kimba (Tezuka Productions) and Nippon Animation series distributed by Cloverway, were formerly dubbed and licensed by other companies, so Cloverway just distributed and offered them for reruns or inside TV programming packages.

Parallel in the United States, Cloverway tried to distribute the same series by himself as in Latin America, but due to the regulations that led to the series censorship, they delegated licenses to local distributors who managed the production of English localization, dubbing and distribution. However, Sailor Moon S and Sailor Moon SuperS were the only two licenses whose English versions were produced by Cloverway, dubbed in association with Optimum Production Services in Canada. As for the U.S. Hispanic market, Cloverway syndicated the series Tenchi Universe to Univision (Univision [11] and Telefutura [12] networks) and Dragon Ball Z to Telemundo [13] [14] networks.

When Shueisha became a joint owner of Viz Communications in 2002 and with the subsequent merger with ShoPro in 2005, [15] Cloverway eventually lost the representation of Shueisha (for N.A. and L.A.) and Shogakukan [16] (for L.A.) for publishing licensing in the Americas.

The company's representation of Toei Animation in America ceased, due to Toei's decision to start licensing and distributing directly since 2004, thus ending the contracts with their agents Tokyo Business Consultants [17] in Europe and Cloverway in America, and launching their own offices in 2004 ( Toei Animation Europe [18] [19] based in Paris and Toei Animation Inc. based in Los Angeles). In 2005, the Toei Animation licenses arranged by Cloverway were transferred to Toei Animation Inc. as a requirement, leaving Cloverway only with the catalog of the other Japanese producers they licensed. As a consequence of this, there has been a chain of irregularities, such as the loss of master tapes of many series formerly distributed by Cloverway, with the Latin American versions being the most affected for this change in distribution.

After losing Toei's successful catalog, Cloverway continued representing and distributing anime from other Japanese companies, adding new properties and selling most of their new catalog to Cartoon Network L.A. and other local TV stations in Brazil and Hispanic America. At the middle of 2006, Cloverway licensed an Anime Free-TV programming block titled "Otacraze" [20] to Brazilian broadcaster PlayTV [21] who begun airing the block in March 2007, including the series Ranma ½ , Samurai Champloo , Trigun , and Love Hina .

Due to economic problems, Cloverway closed its operations in August 2007. [22]

Licensed titles

The following list features the anime and live action series licensed by the company: [23]

Anime

Japanese live action

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vegeta</span> Fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series

Vegeta, also referred to as Prince Vegeta or more specifically Vegeta IV is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Vegeta first appears in chapter #204 "Sayonara, Son Goku", published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on November 7, 1988, seeking the wish-granting Dragon Balls to gain immortality.

The history of anime in the United States began in 1961, when Magic Boy and The Tale of the White Serpent became the first and second anime to receive documented releases in the country. Anime has since found success with a growing audience in the region, with Astro Boy often being noted as the first anime to receive widespread syndication, especially in the United States. Additionally, anime's growth in popularity in the US during the 1990s, commonly referred to as the "anime boom," is credited with much of anime's enduring relevance to popular culture outside Japan. While anime has commonly been distributed illegally by pirates and fansubbers in the past via bootleg releases, especially in the 1990s and early 2000s, and continues to be on torrent sites and bootleg streaming avenues, the popularity of such practices has drastically decreased due to the advent of legal streaming services such as Crunchyroll which simulcast new anime series, often within a few hours of their domestic release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toei Animation</span> Japanese animation studio

Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including Sally the Witch,GeGeGe no Kitarō,Mazinger Z, Galaxy Express 999, Cutie Honey, Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya, Sailor Moon, Slam Dunk, Digimon, One Piece, Toriko, World Trigger, The Transformers and the Pretty Cure series.

NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan LLC is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan.

<i>Sailor Moon SuperS</i> Fourth season of the Sailor Moon anime series

The fourth season of the Sailor Moon anime series, Sailor Moon SuperS was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. It adapts the "Dream" arc of the Sailor Moon manga series by Naoko Takeuchi and follows the adventures of Usagi Tsukino and her fellow Super Sailor Guardians. The series is divided into two story arcs: the first arc for 22 episodes depicts a mighty deity known as Pegasus, entering Chibiusa's dreams to flee from the Amazon Trio, minions of the Dead Moon Circus, who are trying to steal the legendary Golden Crystal from him. The second arc for 17 episodes depicts the arrival of the Amazoness Quartet, a group of enemies who dream of remaining young forever, as well as Queen Nehelenia, the depraved ruler of the Dead Moon Circus.

VIZ Media LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is owned by Japanese publishing conglomerates Shueisha and Shogakukan, as well as Japanese production company Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions (ShoPro). In 2017, Viz Media was the largest publisher of graphic novels in the United States, with a 23% share of the market. In 2020, Viz Media saw a 70% growth in the U.S. market, in line with a 43% increase in overall manga sales in the United States the same year.

Ocean Productions, Inc., is a Canadian media production and voice acting company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that is part of the Ocean Group of businesses. Ocean Group is involved in intellectual property acquisition and development, co-production and the creation of English versions of animation for worldwide distribution.

Manga, or comics, have appeared in translation in many different languages in different countries. France represents about 40% of the European comic market and in 2011 manga represented 40% of the comics being published in the country. In 2007, 70% of the comics sold in Germany were manga. In the United States, manga comprises a small industry, especially when compared to the inroads that Japanese animation or Japanese video Games have made in the USA. One example of a manga publisher in the United States, VIZ Media, functions as the American affiliate of the Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha. Though the United Kingdom has fewer manga publishers than the U.S., most manga sold in the United Kingdom are published by U.S. publishing companies like Viz media and Kodansha Comics which are in turn owned by their Japanese counterparts. Alongside the United Kingdom, the U.S. manga publishers also sell their English translated manga in other English speaking nations like Canada, Australia and New Zealand with manga being quite popular in Australia compared to other English speaking countries.

Sailor Moon, originally released in Japan as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon and later as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, is a Japanese superhero anime television series produced by Toei Animation using Super Sentai motifs. It is based on the manga of the same title written by Naoko Takeuchi that was published from 1991 to 1997 in Nakayoshi. Sailor Moon first aired in Japan on TV Asahi from March 7, 1992, to February 8, 1997, and was dubbed for release in various regions around the world, including North America, Southeast Asia, Greater China, Australia, Europe, and Latin America.

Studiopolis, Inc. is an American post-production studio located in Studio City, Los Angeles. It specializes in voiceover recording and dubbing for cartoon, anime, and video game projects. They were formerly known as Screenmusic Studios and then Studio E Productions until 2005. The studio is owned by Jamie Simone. It has another studio located in Burbank, California.

<i>Sailor Moon S</i> Third season of the Sailor Moon anime series

The third season of the Sailor Moon anime series, Sailor Moon S, was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. It began broadcasting on TV Asahi on March 19, 1994, and ended on February 25, 1995. It adapts the "Infinity" arc of the Sailor Moon manga series by Naoko Takeuchi, and follows the adventures of Usagi Tsukino and her fellow Sailor Guardians. In this season, they must fight against the Death Busters, who are planning to take over Earth. In 2000, Cloverway Inc. licensed the season for an English-language broadcast in North America. Optimum Productions dubbed the season, continuing over from the first two seasons that were licensed by DIC Entertainment and General Mills' The Program Exchange. The series aired on YTV in Canada, who adjusted the episode numbers to match those of the original Japanese version, from June 12, 2000 to August 1, 2000. The season later aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block in the United States. Edited and unedited VHS tapes and uncut bilingual DVDs of their adaptation were released by Pioneer Entertainment. In contrast to DIC's handling of the first two seasons, Cloverway retained the background music and sound effects from the original Japanese version. Eventually, the season was re-licensed by Viz Media in 2014 for an updated English-language release, produced by Studiopolis. The first 18 episodes of the season were released as Part 1 on November 15, 2016, and the remaining 18 episodes were released as Part 2 on June 20, 2017. While Sailor Moon S began very similarly to the first two seasons, it eventually took a darker, more emotional turn.

<i>Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods</i> 2013 Japanese film

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods is a 2013 Japanese animated science fantasy martial arts film, the eighteenth feature film based on the Dragon Ball series, and the fourteenth to carry the Dragon Ball Z branding, released in theaters on March 30. It was the first Dragon Ball film in 17 years to have a theatrical release, the last being the tenth anniversary film in 1996, and the first to use digital ink and paint, which followed the first three Dragon Ball films and the thirteen Dragon Ball Z films. Unlike previous theatrical Dragon Ball releases, this was a full feature-length production with a stand-alone release and not shown as part of the now-discontinued Toei Anime Fair.

<i>Dragon Ball Z</i> 1989–1996 anime based on the Dragon Ball manga series

Dragon Ball Z is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the Dragon Ball media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 Dragon Ball anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama. The series aired in Japan on Fuji TV from April 1989 to January 1996 and was later dubbed for broadcast in at least 81 countries worldwide.

<i>Sailor Moon Crystal</i> 2014 Japanese anime series

Sailor Moon Crystal, known in Japan as Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal, is a 2014 original net animation adaptation of the shōjo manga series Sailor Moon written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi, produced in commemoration of the original series' 20th anniversary. Produced by Toei Animation and directed by Munehisa Sakai and Chiaki Kon, the series was streamed worldwide on Niconico from July 5, 2014, to July 18, 2015. Season 1 and 2's episodes were released twice a month. Instead of remaking the 1990s anime series preceding it, Toei Animation produced Crystal as a reboot of Sailor Moon and as a more faithful adaptation of the original manga by omitting much of the original material from the first series. The story focuses on Usagi Tsukino, who is a young girl that obtains the power to become the titular character. Other Sailor Guardians join her in the search for Princess Serenity and the Silver Crystal.

<i>Dragon Ball Super</i> Japanese manga series by Akira Toriyama and Toyotarou

Dragon Ball Super is a Japanese manga series written by Akira Toriyama and illustrated by Toyotarou. A sequel to Toriyama's original Dragon Ball manga, it follows the adventures of Goku and friends during the ten-year timeskip after the defeat of Majin Buu. It began serialization in Shueisha's monthly shōnen manga magazine V Jump in June 2015. The manga is simulpublished in English by Viz Media and by Shueisha on their Manga Plus platform.

Toei Animation Inc. is an American licensing and distributor based in Los Angeles. It is Toei Animation's American sister company. It holds partnerships with TV channels, DVD distributors, and streaming websites.

References

  1. 1 2 "Articles of Incorporation of Cloverway Inc". www.manta.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Explosivo éxito en la región para franquicia de Adness Entertainment". todotvnews. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  3. ↑ "CWI. Representing the best in Japanese Animation". Cloverway.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  4. ↑ "A Viz Communications Manga". Viz Communications, Inc. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2022. [English translation rights in the United States of America and Canada arranged by Shueisha, Inc. through Cloverway Inc.]
  5. ↑ "A TOKYOPOP Manga". TOKYOPOP. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2022. [English translation rights in the United States of America and Canada arranged by Shueisha, Inc. through Cloverway Inc.]
  6. ↑ "Pioneer To Release SMS & SuperS TV Series Before Syndication". Archived from the original on March 15, 2008. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Answerman - Who Was Cloverway, And What Were They Doing With Anime?". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  8. ↑ "El Éxito de Dragon Ball en México (Parte 1)". Bandai (in Spanish). August 24, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Dragon Ball Intro Latin America (English)". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Zero y el Dragón Mágico | Especial de Dragon Ball". August 15, 2015.
  11. ↑ "TENCHI MUYO!". Archived from the original on November 2, 2001. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  12. ↑ Toonturama, a three-hour lineup that mainly consisted of dubbed versions of American and European animated series natively produced in English as well as anime series (Lost Universe, Tenchi Universe and Red Baron);
  13. ↑ "Spanish DBZ returns!". www.toonzone.net. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  14. ↑ Telemundo Kids is on weekend morning blocks made their debut on October 6, 2001, including the animated series as well as anime series (Dragon Ball Z);
  15. ↑ "MERGER BETWEEN TWO JAPANESE ENTERTAINMENT GIANTS COMPLETE". Viz Media. Archived from the original on October 28, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  16. ↑ "PREGUNTAS Y RESPUESTAS SOBRE IVREA!". Ivrea (in Spanish). Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  17. ↑ "French court orders Toei to pay up". Variety . Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Activité". Toei Animation Europe. Archived from the original on November 28, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Historique". Toei Animation Europe. Archived from the original on November 19, 2008. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  20. ↑ Monte, Sandra (September 25, 2006). "Interview with Daniel Castañeda from Cloverway". Papo de Budega. Archived from the original on December 26, 2010. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  21. ↑ Monte, Sandra (January 29, 2007). "OTACRAZE will premier on Brazilian Play TV". Papo de Budega. Archived from the original on April 16, 2009. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  22. ↑ Bianchin, Victor (October 28, 2020). "O que houve com a dublagem de 'Guerreiras Mágicas de Rayearth'? Fãs reagem..." UOL (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved April 10, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ↑ "Cloverway". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 10, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 News, Aza (August 3, 2005). "Cloverway trae nuevas series y Cartoon Network forma su bloque Adult Swim". Animezonearg.info (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 25, 2006. Retrieved April 10, 2022.{{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.