Type | Animation film studio |
---|---|
Industry | Media and Entertainment |
Founded | July 1996 |
Founder | Mataichiro Yamamoto |
Defunct | November 11, 2016 |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
Key people | Mataichiro Yamamoto (CEO) |
Products | Anime, Live-action |
Divisions | AsiaVision |
Urban Vision Entertainment Inc. was an American-based production/distribution company created in Los Angeles, California formed in July 1996 by Mataichiro Yamamoto to help introduce the animation medium known as anime to the American mainstream.
Urban Vision Entertainment was formed in July 1996 by Mataichiro Yamamoto to help introduce the alternative animation genre known as anime to mainstream media. The company primarily produced and acquired Japanese animation for direct-to-home video release. Urban Vision founder Mataichiro Yamamoto helped pioneer the anime genre in the US with the computer-generated theatrical release, Golgo 13: The Professional in 1983.
Urban Vision worked closely with the world-renowned Studio Madhouse animation studio in Tokyo, Japan (Wicked City, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D). The company's initial release, another Madhouse project, was Bio Hunter, released on home video in July 1997. Additional Urban Vision releases included Gatchaman, Twilight of the Dark Master, Dragon Slayer, Psycho Diver: Soul Siren and Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals.
In the mid-2000s Urban Vision shifted its focus from anime to live-action movies with the launch of two sub-labels, Ciudad for Spanish-language films and AsiaVision for Japanese-language films.
Urban Vision became inactive since the late 00's, not acquiring any more titles. On September 7, 2010, the online retailer Right Stuf removed all of their Urban Vision catalog due to the distributor not shipping out orders to them. [1] The following day, Urban Vision released a statement saying that the company had been restructuring itself and were halting their home video production unit and focusing on digital distribution. [2] In November 2016, the company was shut down. Currently, a majority of their titles have since been re-licensed and re-released by Discotek Media and Sentai Filmworks.
Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc., previously and still famously known as Sunrise Inc., is a Japanese animation studio founded in September 1972 and is based in Ogikubo, Tokyo. Its former names were also Soeisha, Nippon Sunrise and Sunrise Studio.
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, Robotech, RahXephon, Full Metal Panic, Azumanga Daioh, Elfen Lied, Gantz, Red Garden, and Le Chevalier D'Eon.
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Right Stuf Inc. is an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specializes in Asian entertainment. The company since 2022 is owned by Crunchyroll, a joint venture run by Sony through its Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan divisions, with the latter company running it via Aniplex. It has several divisions including: Nozomi Entertainment (production), RightStufAnime.com and 5 Points Pictures. In March 2012, Right Stuf launched 5 Points Pictures, its live action label. Right Stuf also offers production services and distribution for Japanese labels Sunrise Inc., Eleven Arts, Pony Canyon, and its corporate sibling, Aniplex of America.
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Gatchaman (ガッチャマン) is a three-part original video animation (OVA) based on the popular 1970s anime Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. It was released in Japan and the United States during the mid-1990s. This version of Gatchaman is set in the year 2066 where the evil leader of the nation of Hontwall is threatening to take over the planet. Scientists from the International Science Organization are disappearing and only five teenage heroes, the Science Ninja team, can stop the disaster. The OVAs were licensed by Urban Vision through Harmony Gold USA and were released on VHS and DVD. At Anime Boston 2013, Sentai Filmworks had announced that they have rescued the OVA series along with the original 1970s series for a DVD re-release in October. The series was made available for streaming through Crunchyroll.
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