Crunchyroll Store Australia

Last updated

Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd.
Crunchyroll Store Australia
FormerlyMadman Anime Group Pty. Ltd. (2016–2022)
Company type Division
Industry Entertainment
Founded
  • 1996;28 years ago (1996) (as Madman Entertainment)
  • 12 October 2016;8 years ago (2016-10-12) (incorporated as a separate company)
FounderTim Anderson
Paul Wiegard
Headquarters,
Australia
Area served
Australia, New Zealand
Key people
Brady McCollum (Crunchyroll SVP, International)
Parent
Website store.crunchyroll.com.au

Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd., [1] trading as Crunchyroll Store Australia, and previously known as Madman Anime, is an Australian video publisher and distribution company focused on Asian entertainment. The company handles licensing and distribution of anime in Australia and New Zealand. Originally part of independent film distributor Madman Entertainment, the company is now operated as a division of Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.

Contents

History

As part of Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment was founded in 1996 by Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard as a mail order business specialising in imported anime titles, after following the success of Manga Entertainment in the United States and the United Kingdom. [2] Originally selling titles on VHS, the company became the second Australian distributor to author DVDs in-house, with the 1995 film Ghost in the Shell being their first DVD release. In 1998, Madman began airing anime on television, with Neon Genesis Evangelion airing on SBS TV.

On 23 February 2008, Madman Entertainment announced that it had reached a distribution deal with Viz Media to distribute its manga titles in Australia and New Zealand. [3] The distribution deal ended in April 2016, with Simon & Schuster taking over distribution of Viz's catalogue, and Madman Entertainment ceasing distribution of all manga titles. [4]

At the 2008 Supanova Pop Culture Expo, Madman Entertainment announced plans to explore new distribution methods. Madman Entertainment launched the Madman Screening Room, a video on demand streaming service, with School Rumble being the first title on the platform. [5] Madman Entertainment also began releasing Blu-ray Disc titles, starting with The Transformers: The Movie in June 2009. [6] On 1 June 2009, Madman Entertainment produced an English adaption of Tamagotchi: The Movie , a 2007 film based on the Tamagotchi digital pets from Bandai and WiZ. Madman also intended to dub the film's sequel, Tamagotchi: Happiest Story in the Universe! , but the dub was cancelled for unknown reasons.

In early 2016, Madman Entertainment announced Madman Anime Festival, an annual anime convention to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The convention was held in Melbourne on 3–4 September of that year. [7] Following the inaugural convention, Madman announced that it would expand to Perth and Brisbane in 2017, and Sydney in 2019. The convention also became the host for the preliminary rounds of the Madman National Cosplay Championship in Perth and Brisbane.

As Madman Anime Group Pty. Ltd.

On 12 October 2016, Madman Anime Group Pty. Ltd. was incorporated as a separate company, being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madman Entertainment. [8]

On 17 February 2018, Madman co-founder & CEO Tim Anderson confirmed that on 15 November 2017, Sony Music Entertainment Japan subsidiary Aniplex had acquired a minority interest in Madman Anime Group, and was issued an undisclosed number of shares. [9]

In late 2018, Madman Anime confirmed that they had reached a distribution deal with Funimation, with Madman Anime becoming the local distributors for select Funimation titles in Australia and New Zealand, and Funimation handling licensing and localisation for titles. [10] [11]

On 6 February 2019, Madman Entertainment's owners Five V Capital sold Madman Anime Group to Aniplex for A$35 million. [12] [13]

On 24 September 2019, Aniplex and Sony Pictures Television announced that they were consolidating their international anime streaming services under a new joint venture comprising Funimation, Madman Anime Group and Wakanim. [14] The consolidation reorganised AnimeLab as a direct subsidiary of Funimation. [15]

The company changed its name to Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd. on 23 March 2022, following the rebranding of its parent company Funimation to Crunchyroll, LLC. [1]

On 29 March 2022, Madman Anime announced that Madman Anime Festival would be replaced with Crunchyroll Expo Australia, with the first event scheduled for Melbourne on 17–18 September 2022. [16]

Notable titles

Crunchyroll Store Australia hosts notable titles that are also licensed by Crunchyroll, LLC itself in the United States as well as Sentai Filmworks such as Dragon Ball , One Piece , Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions , My Hero Academia , Clannad , Fairy Tail , Persona 5: The Animation and Spy × Family .

AnimeLab

AnimeLab Pty. Ltd.
AnimeLab 2019.png
Logo used from 2019 to 2021
Type of business Subsidiary
Type of site
Video on demand
Available inEnglish
Dissolved 9 December 2021;2 years ago (2021-12-09)
Predecessor(s)Madman Screening Room
Area servedAustralia and New Zealand
Parent Funimation Global Group
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
Users 1 million (2018) [17]
Launched28 May 2014;10 years ago (2014-05-28)
Current statusClosed; content merged to Funimation

AnimeLab Pty. Ltd. was a video on demand service that specialised in the online streaming and simulcasting of Japanese anime series, serving the Australian and New Zealand market. [18]

AnimeLab originally launched in beta on 28 May 2014 as a Madman Entertainment skunkworks project with 50 series and 700 episodes, and replaced the Madman Screening Room. During its beta, AnimeLab streamed its series for free without advertisements. [18] Originally streaming titles exclusively from Madman's catalogue, on 4 September 2014, distributor Siren Visual announced that they would release titles on AnimeLab, starting with The Devil Is a Part-Timer! . [19] AnimeLab also simulcasted Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works , despite Hanabee acquiring the distribution license for the series. [20]

On 26 May 2015, AnimeLab announced that the website had exited beta, and introduced a paid subscription, alongside an ad-based free service. [21]

In August 2016, AnimeLab launched AnimeLab On-Air, an anime programming block airing on Friday nights on C31 Melbourne and C44 Adelaide. [22] The block later moved to a Monday night schedule. [23]

On 25 August 2017, AnimeLab announced that they would begin streaming select titles from Adult Swim's back catalogue. [24] The Adult Swim titles were later removed in 2020.

At Madman Anime Festival Melbourne 2018, AnimeLab announced that they had reached one million users. [17] AnimeLab also announced a collaboration with the Australian Red Cross to promote blood donations in Australia with the simulcast of Cells at Work! . [25]

On 24 January 2020, Funimation announced that it would be shutting down access to FunimationNow in Australia and New Zealand on 30 March, merging all of Funimation's titles onto AnimeLab. [26]

On 10 June 2021, AnimeLab announced that it would begin the process of rebranding as Funimation on 17 June, with current AnimeLab subscriber credentials being transitioned onto Funimation's website on that date, and staff transitioning to Funimation ANZ. [27] [28] On 2 November 2021, AnimeLab announced that it would retire the service on 9 December 2021. [29]

See also

Notes

  1. Through a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex, itself a division of Sony Music Entertainment Japan.

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madman Entertainment</span> Australian film and television company

Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatrical and home entertainment formats in Australia and New Zealand.

<i>Mushishi</i> Japanese manga series

Mushishi (蟲師) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Urushibara. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Afternoon Season Zōkan from 1999 to 2002, and in Monthly Afternoon from December 2002 to August 2008. The individual chapters were collected and released into ten tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. Those volumes were localized to North America by Del Rey between January 2007 and August 2010. The series follows Ginko, a man who dedicates himself to solving problems caused by supernatural creatures called Mushi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Right Stuf</span> Asian media distributor

Right Stuf Inc. was an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specialized in Asian entertainment. It had several divisions including: Nozomi Entertainment (production) and RightStufAnime.com. In March 2012, Right Stuf launched 5 Points Pictures, its live action label. Right Stuf also offered production services and distribution for Japanese labels Sunrise Inc., Eleven Arts, Pony Canyon, and its corporate sibling, Aniplex of America.

Navarre Corporation was an American public distribution and publishing company founded in 1983 by Eric H. Paulson. The company was headquartered in New Hope, Minnesota. Navarre owned three subsidiary companies: a software publisher, Encore, Inc.; a distributor, Navarre Entertainment Media; and a Japanese anime distributor, Funimation, which was acquired in 2005 and divested in 2011 to founder Gen Fukunaga.

Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by East Asian media, including Japanese anime, and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a Japanese branch located in Shibuya, Tokyo.

<i>Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood</i> 2009 anime series directed by Yasuhiro Irie

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is a Japanese anime television series adapted from the original Fullmetal Alchemist manga series by Hiromu Arakawa. Produced by Bones, the series is directed by Yasuhiro Irie, written by Hiroshi Ōnogi and composed by Akira Senju. The series was conceived in order to create a faithful adaptation that directly follows the entire storyline of the original manga, after 2003's Fullmetal Alchemist anime series strayed away from it to tell its own story after running out of published manga material to adapt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crunchyroll EMEA</span> European entertainment company

Crunchyroll EMEA, formerly known as Viz Media Europe, is a European anime distributor. Established as Viz Media Europe, it was Viz Media's European sister company until 2019. It holds partnerships with TV channels, DVD distributors, and manga publishers. The company was once headquartered in Amsterdam, before the company opened its current Paris operations on January 15, 2007. The division is made up of two subsidiaries, Crunchyroll SAS based in Paris, France, and Crunchyroll SA based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Crunchyroll EMEA is run by Sony through Crunchyroll, LLC, a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex, with Shogakukan, Shueisha and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions (ShoPro) retaining full ownership of the former Viz Media Europe's Publishing/Licensing Business for manga publishing in the region.

Aniplex of America, or Aniplex USA, is an anime distributor based in Santa Monica, California that serves as the American distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an entertainment company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, where its goal is to reinforce the parent company's licensing business in the North American market. They operate the English language version of the Aniplex+ store, and from 2013 to 2017 operated a streaming service called Aniplex Channel through their website. The company most of the time only directly releases its titles in the Americas, however, some of its titles have been released in other territories by other distributors, such as Anime Limited, MVM Films, Siren Visual and corporate siblings Crunchyroll UK and Ireland and Crunchyroll Store Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madman Anime Festival</span> Australian anime & Japanese culture convention

Anime Festival was an annual Australian anime and Japanese culture convention held in Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney. The convention was organised by Madman Anime. The convention was inaugurated in 2016 and held in Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre as a two-day event from the 3–4 September 2016 in Melbourne. The convention was later expanded to Perth and Brisbane in 2017 after a successful inaugural event, with each event held a few months apart, and to Sydney in 2019.

<i>Persona 5: The Animation</i> 2018 anime television series

Persona 5: The Animation is an anime television series produced by CloverWorks based on the video game Persona 5 by Atlus. The anime series is directed by Masashi Ishihama and written by Shinichi Inotsume, with Tomomi Ishikawa adapting Shigenori Soejima's original character designs for the animation. Atlus employee Kazuma Kaneko created the original demon designs, while music composer Shoji Meguro reprised his role from the game. The series follows high schooler Ren Amamiya (Joker), the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, whose mission is to reform the hearts of corrupted adults in Shibuya using a mysterious phone application called the Metaverse Navigator.

Wakanim was a French subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service.

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is a 2019 Japanese anime series, based on the manga series of the same title, written and illustrated by Aka Akasaka. The anime television series adaptation was announced by Shueisha on June 1, 2018. The series was directed by Mamoru Hatakeyama and written by Yasuhiro Nakanishi, with animation by A-1 Pictures. Yuuko Yahiro provided the character designs, while Jin Aketagawa served the sound director and Kei Haneoka composed the series' music. The series premiered from January 12 to March 30, 2019, broadcasting on MBS, Tokyo MX, BS11, GTV, GYT, CTV, and TeNY. The series ran for 12 episodes. Masayuki Suzuki, Rikka Ihara, and Yoshiki Mizuno performs the series' opening song "Love Dramatic feat. Rikka Ihara", while Halca performs the series' ending theme song "Sentimental Crisis."

<i>Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba</i> season 1 Season of television series

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese anime television series based on Koyoharu Gotouge's manga series of the same name. An anime series adaptation produced by Ufotable was announced in Weekly Shōnen Jump on June 4, 2018. The first season, also known as Tanjiro Kamado, Unwavering Resolve Arc, adapts the first seven volumes of the manga and aired from April 6 to September 28, 2019, on Tokyo MX, GTV, GYT, BS11, and other networks. Haruo Sotozaki directed the anime with scripts by the Ufotable staff. Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina composed the music, and Akira Matsushima is the character designer. Hikaru Kondo is the producer.

Crunchyroll Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll UK and Ireland, is an anime distributor and licensing company in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded in 1987 as Island World Communications, the company operated as Manga Entertainment Ltd. until 2021. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through Sony Pictures Television and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.

Crunchyroll, LLC, formerly known as Funimation, is an American entertainment company based in Dallas, Texas. It operates an eponymous over-the-top subscription video on-demand service, which showcases acquired content and original programming from other Japanese animation studios and companies or focusing on the distribution and licensing of anime, films and television series.

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