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Well, that didn’t take long.

2012 has claimed its first publishing casualty as Bandai Entertainment has announced they will be canceling their manga and home entertainment publishing to focus on licensing their brands as they undergo a restructuring.

Their Facebook and Twitter accounts will also be shut down.

It had been a long time Bandai had made any manga publishing news but still…

UPDATE: Here’s background from Bandai’s Ken Iyadomi:

In a decision made last October, but only now becoming public knowledge, Bandai Entertainment’s corporate parent at Namco Bandai Holdings made the decision to exit the American home video business. Iyadomi says he wasn’t privy to the fine details. “The decision was made in Japan by the contents SBU (Strategic Business Unit).” That business unit originally included the video games division, but recently was merged with all of the company’s audio visual businesses, including Sunrise, Bandai Visual and Bandai Channel.
But the broader reasons are quite clear from the outside. The physical anime business in North America has shrunk substantially over the last five years, and shows no sign of returning to its former glory. “A couple of times we were hit with huge returns, and the financial result was pretty bad,” Iyadomi admits. Still, he believes the division might have been able to keep going for a few more years, had the SBU allowed it.


’00s nostalgia.

Official PR:

Bandai Entertainment announced today that it will stop releasing new titles on DVD, Blu-ray and Manga formats starting in February of 2012. The company will continue to sell catalog titles and shift its operation to licensing which will include digital distribution, broadcast and merchandising.

As a result of this change in strategy for the North American Market, Bandai Entertainment’s organization will be restructured at the end of January 2012.

The following previously announced anime titles have been cancelled: TURN-A GUNDAM, NICHIJOU and GOSICK.

Similarly, the following manga titles have been cancelled: KANNAGI 4-6, CODE GEASS: RENYA, GURREN LAGANN VOL. 7, GUNDAM 00I, LUCKY STAR BOO BOO KAGABOO, NICHIJOU MANGA, CODE GEASS R2 NOVELS, and TALES OF THE ABYSS: JADE 1 and 2.

Additionally, Bandai Entertainment’s facebook and twitter will be shut down.

About Bandai Entertainment Inc.
Bandai Entertainment Inc. is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA) Inc. and a premier
distributor of Japanese animation in North America. Titles include K-ON!, Gundam 00, Code Geass:
Lelouch of Rebellion, Lucky Star, Gurren Lagann,The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Cowboy Bebop,
Outlaw Star, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, My Otome.

1 COMMENT

  1. What a shame. I never sampled any of their manga, but I was always impressed with their anime releases, and was looking forward to picking up K-On!! when it was released in box set form.

    Y’know, as tiny as the manga publishing sphere is becoming, the anime publishing sphere is even smaller. Funimation has to have something like 75% market share with this latest change. It’s pretty scary to have an entire industry’s eggs in one basket like that.

  2. I agree with Jason. It is a shame, but they are restructuring not disbanding. Perhaps a leaner and healthier Bandai will come out of this.

    I was watching GOSICK online streams but then stopped because I was expecting to get the DVDs or the boxset (just as I did with other anime).

    Funny, I just saw Bandai’s float in the Tournament of Roses Parade two days ago.

  3. Nine titles scheduled for January-April 2012.

    1500 titles in Books In Print!
    Their first title (according to EAN) was:
    Gundam Movie I Sub (VHS) 1999
    9781583540008

    The first book:
    Eureka Seven, Volume 1 2006
    978-1-59409-664-8

  4. Today’s word is: Quality Control.Seriously, Bandai only had Gundam which has been waning in popularity and most of the second-rate titles they have were licensing leftovers.

  5. Oh it’s a restructuring all right but not one that will benefit the consumer at all. Say hello to more Honneamise releases like the $60 Gundam Unicorn episodes.

  6. Serhend: I don’t know that I’d call .hack, Gurren Lagann, Haruhi, K-On!!, or Cowboy Freakin’ Bebop “second-rate titles.” They also had quite a few shows that made it on Adult Swim, like Code Geass, Outlaw Star, Scryed, etc. They had a pretty well-rounded stable of titles…much more so than, say, Geneon did when they collapsed under a pile of moe.