AnimEigo
Encyclopedia
AnimEigo is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

, samurai films and Japanese cinema. The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...

 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams, III. It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife. Their first release, Metal Skin Panic Madox 01, was also the first anime to be commercially released exclusively to home video in the US which was not bound by the content restrictions of American broadcast TV or film. The company has released such titles as Urusei Yatsura
Urusei Yatsura
is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...

, Oh My Goddess!, Vampire Princess Miyu
Vampire Princess Miyu
is a Japanese horror manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano, as well as an anime adaptation by the same creators. The anime was originally presented in a 4-episode OVA licenced by AnimEigo in 1988, and was later adapted into a 26-episode television series licensed by Tokyopop and...

, Gainax
Gainax
is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Gunbuster, The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which have gone on to critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as for their association with...

's industry/fandom sendup Otaku no Video
Otaku no Video
is a 1991 comedy anime spoofing the life and culture of otaku, individuals with obsessive interests in media, particularly anime and manga, as well as the history of Gainax, its creators. It is noted for its mix of conventional documentary film styles , with a more traditional anime storytelling...

, the original Bubblegum Crisis
Bubblegum Crisis
is a Japanese cyberpunk direct-to-video animated series. It displays strong influences from Blade Runner, also making occasional references to it.- Setting :...

OVA series, and Kimagure Orange Road
Kimagure Orange Road
, usually abbreviated as KOR, is a popular shōnen romantic comedy manga and anime series from the 1980s.Written by Izumi Matsumoto and serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump, it was later adapted into an anime series broadcast on Nippon Television, animated by Studio Pierrot and directed by...

. They have also expanded into Japanese films that are live-action rather than animated; these are mostly classic "Jidaigeki
Jidaigeki
is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...

" (samurai films) such as Zatoichi
Zatoichi
is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist . This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios and actor...

, Lone Wolf and Cub
Lone Wolf and Cub
is a manga created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke, and is widely recognized as an important and influential work.Lone Wolf and Cub...

and the influential edited/dubbed version of Lone Wolf and Cub, Shogun Assassin
Shogun Assassin
Shogun Assassin, known in Japan as , is a jidaigeki film made for the British and American markets and released in 1980. In 2006 it was restored and re-released on DVD in North America by AnimEigo....

(which AnimEigo completely reconstructed), but they also include other films such A New Love in Tokyo, a film about Japanese call girl
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...

s. Their completed release of Urusei Yatsura is one of the longest releases of an anime series in the US market ever, with over 50 volumes in all. Most of their English dubs were recorded at Coastal Studios
Coastal Studios
Coastal Studios, formerly known as Coastal Carolina Sound Studios, is a recording studio located in Wilmington, North Carolina. The company has worked on many anime, live-action films, and television shows. The company is best known for its work on anime projects such as Blue Submarine No. 6...

 in Wilmington, NC.

The company is well known for the quality of its translation and subtitles, and pioneered such techniques as multi-color subtitles, overlapping dialogue, and supertitles that explain important cultural, linguistic and historical tidbits. Alert viewers will often find subtle references to pop culture and current events hidden in the subtitles when they match what the characters are actually saying. Sometimes the references are blatant; in episode 18 of Super Dimension Fortress Macross
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
is an anime television series. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war....

, the dying Roy Fokker not only repeats the famous words of Mr. Spock from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the second feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The plot features James T...

-- "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few..." but adds Captain Kirk
James T. Kirk
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Kirk was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series. Shatner voiced Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and appeared in the first seven Star Trek movies...

's reply -- "or the one". AnimEigo also includes comprehensive cultural and linguistic "liner notes" with their releases.

AnimEigo also licensed two Lupin III
Lupin III
, also known as Lupin the 3rd, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of...

films: Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy
The Plot of the Fuma Clan
, released in North America as Rupan III: The Fuma Conspiracy, is Arsène Lupin III's first direct-to-video adventure, and the first Lupin adventure since the pilot to not feature Yasuo Yamada as Lupin. Instead, Lupin's voice is provided by Toshio Furukawa...

and Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon. Because of legal issues surrounding the Lupin name (which was used by author Monkey Punch
Monkey Punch
Monkey Punch is the pen name of Japanese manga artist Kazuhiko Katō , creator of the successful Japanese manga series Lupin III...

 without permission from the estate of Maurice Leblanc
Maurice Leblanc
Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French counterpart to Arthur Conan Doyle's creation Sherlock Holmes.- Biography :Leblanc was born in...

), the titles were released as Rupan III (which is the romaji pronunciation of Lupin). Even after the Lupin name passed into public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...

 in the 1990s, AnimEigo continued to distribute the films as Rupan III. The North American distribution rights to both films were taken over by Discotek Media in 2006.

AnimEigo was one of the original companies in the U.S. dedicated to licensing anime, after Streamline
Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures was an American media company that was best known for its distribution of English dubbed Japanese animation. -Founding:Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1988, Streamline Pictures was one of the first North American companies that was created primarily for the intention of...

, and are considered pioneers in the industry, and helped give anime a noticeable following in the US along with Streamline, Central Park Media
Central Park Media
Central Park Media was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York, that was active in the distribution of East Asian cinema, television series, anime, manga and manhwa titles in North America prior to its bankruptcy in 2009...

, U.S. Renditions
U.S. Renditions
U.S. Renditions was a Special Projects Division of Books Nippan and one of the pioneers of anime home video distribution in North America. The division was originally founded in February 1987 by Kevin Seymour, David Keith Riddick, Sho Nagata and Satoshi Komatsu...

, Pioneer Entertainment, and ADV Films. They are the last remaining "original" anime licensing company still in buisiness, however, they have been letting more and more of their anime licenses expire without licensing any new titles in years, leaving some to speculate that AnimEigo is dropping out of the US anime industry.

Their name is a portmanteau of "anime" and "eigo" (英語), the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese word for the English language. The UK affiliate was called Anime Projects, releasing many of AnimEigo's titles on the other side of the Atlantic.

Anime titles

  • A.D. Police Files
  • Arcadia of My Youth
    Arcadia of My Youth
    is an anime film depicting the origin of Leiji Matsumoto's seminal character Captain Harlock. At one time, it was considered to be the central hub of the so called Leijiverse with other works such as Galaxy Express 999 and 1978's Space Pirate Captain Harlock television series occurring sometime...

  • Baoh
    Baoh
    is a manga series and anime OVA created by Hirohiko Araki, most famous for his epic JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It is licensed in English by Viz Media. The manga lasted only two collected volumes and was adapted into a single-episode original video animation...

  • Battle Royal High School
    Battle Royal High School
    is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Shin'ichi Kuruma. It was serialized in the Tokuma Shoten magazine Monthly Shōnen Captain infrequently between the May 1986 and August 1989 issues...

  • Bubblegum Crisis
    Bubblegum Crisis
    is a Japanese cyberpunk direct-to-video animated series. It displays strong influences from Blade Runner, also making occasional references to it.- Setting :...

    • Bubblegum Crash
      Bubblegum Crash
      is a three-part original video animation sequel to Bubblegum Crisis.After the split between Artmic and Youmex, Artmic proceeded to make a sequel on their own, Bubblegum Crash, which ran three OVA episodes and is conjectured that it was a shortened version of how Crisis was to end...

  • Crusher Joe
    Crusher Joe
    is a series of science fiction light novels by Haruka Takachiho and released by Asahi Sonorama from 1979 to 1983. During the late 1970s one of the founding fathers of Studio Nue, Takachiho decided that besides being a designer he would try his hand at penning novels...

    — OAVs and movie (license recently expired)
  • Dagger of Kamui
  • Genesis Survivor Gaiarth
    Genesis Survivor Gaiarth
    was an anime OVA series produced by AIC and ARTMIC Studios in 1992. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian future, chronicling the story of a young man named Ital Del Labard and his partner, the war-roid Zaxon. It was licensed and distributed in North America in 1993 by a small...

  • Kimagure Orange Road
    Kimagure Orange Road
    , usually abbreviated as KOR, is a popular shōnen romantic comedy manga and anime series from the 1980s.Written by Izumi Matsumoto and serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump, it was later adapted into an anime series broadcast on Nippon Television, animated by Studio Pierrot and directed by...

    — OVAs, TV, and movies (license recently expired)
  • Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy
    The Plot of the Fuma Clan
    , released in North America as Rupan III: The Fuma Conspiracy, is Arsène Lupin III's first direct-to-video adventure, and the first Lupin adventure since the pilot to not feature Yasuo Yamada as Lupin. Instead, Lupin's voice is provided by Toshio Furukawa...

    (license recently expired)
  • Lupin III: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon (license recently expired)
  • Metal Skin Panic Madox 01
  • Oh My Goddess (OVA) (license recently expired)
  • Otaku no Video
    Otaku no Video
    is a 1991 comedy anime spoofing the life and culture of otaku, individuals with obsessive interests in media, particularly anime and manga, as well as the history of Gainax, its creators. It is noted for its mix of conventional documentary film styles , with a more traditional anime storytelling...

  • Riding Bean
    Riding Bean
    is an anime original video animation following the exploits of courier-for-hire Bean Bandit and his partner, gunwoman Rally Vincent.There was also a manga published in the Japanese magazine that was left unfinished after its fourth chapter...

  • Shonan Bakusozoku
  • Spirit of Wonder
    Spirit of Wonder
    is a manga series authored by Kenji Tsuruta, originally serialized from 1986 in Kodansha's Morning seinen manga magazine, and later in Afternoon, until 1996....

  • Super Deformed Double Feature
  • The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
    The Super Dimension Fortress Macross
    is an anime television series. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war....

    (license expired — currently licensed by ADV Films
    A.D. Vision
    A.D. Vision was an American international multimedia entertainment company headquartered in Houston, Texas, prior to its collapse and distress sale to four other Houston-based companies in 2009...

     through Harmony Gold USA
    Harmony Gold USA
    Harmony Gold is a television production and distribution company established in 1983. It is best known as the “creator” and main distributor of the anime series Robotech. It also partially dubbed the Dragon Ball series in the late 1980s....

    )
  • Urusei Yatsura
    Urusei Yatsura
    is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...

    — TV, OVAs, and movies (license recently expired)
    • AnimEigo did not have the license to Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer — which, due to an odd licensing situation, went to Central Park Media
      Central Park Media
      Central Park Media was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York, that was active in the distribution of East Asian cinema, television series, anime, manga and manhwa titles in North America prior to its bankruptcy in 2009...

      , though AnimEigo did the translation, subtitling, and package design work under contract.
  • Vampire Princess Miyu
    Vampire Princess Miyu
    is a Japanese horror manga series by Narumi Kakinouchi and Toshiki Hirano, as well as an anime adaptation by the same creators. The anime was originally presented in a 4-episode OVA licenced by AnimEigo in 1988, and was later adapted into a 26-episode television series licensed by Tokyopop and...

    — OVA
  • Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl
    Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl
    YAWARA!, also known as Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl, is a Japanese manga series by Naoki Urasawa which ran in Big Comic Spirits from 1986 to 1993...

    — TV (through episode 40, AnimEigo has not licensed more of the series)
  • You're Under Arrest — TV and OVA (license recently expired)

Samurai Films

  • 47 Ronin
    47 Ronin (1994 film)
    47 Ronin is a 1994 Japanese film, directed by Kon Ichikawa. The film is a remake of the 1941 version The 47 Ronin.-Cast:*Ken Takakura ... Kuranosuke Ôishi*Kiichi Nakai ... Matashirô Irobe...

  • Shinobi no mono
  • Zatoichi
    Zatoichi
    is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist . This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios and actor...

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