Aniplex of America, Inc., or Aniplex USA, is an American
entertainment company founded in March 2005 and located in Santa Monica, California that serves as the American distribution enterprise of
Aniplex, an
anime and music production 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 (formerly
Manga Entertainment) and
Crunchyroll Store Australia (formerly
Madman Anime).
Starting in 2010, Aniplex of America began releasing the Japanese parent company's titles, starting with the Gurren Lagann movies[5] and Durarara!! (which had been previously announced to stream on
Crunchyroll).[6][7]Durarara!! was the first time they partnered with
Bang Zoom for an English
dub (the studio they would almost exclusively work with for dubs from this point on).[8] They also re-released
Read or Die (OVA) and R.O.D the TV on
home video, despite them having previously been licensed through
Manga Entertainment and Geneon.[9] The aforementioned titles was the first time they sold a home video set on
Right Stuf Anime (the website that would eventually be the only retailer in North America to sell their home video sets).[10] Starting with Oreimo in 2010, they started streaming some of their titles on
Anime News Network.[11] In April 2011, they started streaming some of their titles on
Hulu and
Viz Anime (
Neon Alley), with Blue Exorcist being the first.[12] In June 2011, they started airing titles on
Cartoon Network's late night block
Adult Swim, with Durarara!! being the first.[13] In July 2011, they started streaming their titles on
Crackle, with Star Driver being the first.[14] In June 2012, they announced that they would release their first non-anime,
Hatsune Miku's Mikunopolis concert.[15]
2013–present: Streaming expansion and new management
In 2013, Aniplex started streaming some of their titles on their website (called Aniplex Channel).[16] In April 2014, they launched the English version of Aniplex+.[17] Later in April 2014, they started streaming shows on
Netflix, with Blue Exorcist being the first.[18] In 2015, they started streaming some of their titles on
Daisuki[19] and Funimation.[20] In March 2017, they started streaming some of their titles on
Anime Strike, with Eromanga Sensei being the first.[21] In June 2017, they launched their first mobile game, the English version of the Fate/Grand Order mobile game.[22]
In August 2017, it was announced that Shu Nishimoto was appointed as president of the company, with former president Hideki "Henry" Goto becoming head of international business development with the Tokyo branch.[23] Later the same month, Aniplex Channel was shut down.[24] In October 2017, they started streaming some of their titles on
go90, which included exclusive rights to the Anohana and
God Eater dubs.[25] In January 2019, they started streaming some of their titles on
HIDIVE, with The Promised Neverland being the first.[26]
In January 2020, they allowed Funimation to dub Darwin's Game, which was the first time that a new Aniplex of America title that was dubbed was not dubbed by Bang Zoom.[29] In May 2020, Funimation announced they partnered with Aniplex of America to release a standard edition
Blu-ray set for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.[30] Later in May 2020, they started streaming some of their titles on
HBO Max.[31] In December 2020, the company made a partnership with Lucky Helmet Agency to help with merchandising and licensing for the release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train in the United States.[32]
Criticism
In episode five of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War season two, one line in the subtitled script read "What's the deal with the social distancing?", which references the
COVID-19 pandemic. Aniplex of America apologized for this and corrected the line to "Why are you so far away from me?"[33]
Catalog
Note: Any
anime that has been
dubbed in English by anybody, including Aniplex of America themselves, is marked with an asterisk (*) beside the title.
Aniplex of America, Inc., or Aniplex USA, is an American
entertainment company founded in March 2005 and located in Santa Monica, California that serves as the American distribution enterprise of
Aniplex, an
anime and music production 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 (formerly
Manga Entertainment) and
Crunchyroll Store Australia (formerly
Madman Anime).
Starting in 2010, Aniplex of America began releasing the Japanese parent company's titles, starting with the Gurren Lagann movies[5] and Durarara!! (which had been previously announced to stream on
Crunchyroll).[6][7]Durarara!! was the first time they partnered with
Bang Zoom for an English
dub (the studio they would almost exclusively work with for dubs from this point on).[8] They also re-released
Read or Die (OVA) and R.O.D the TV on
home video, despite them having previously been licensed through
Manga Entertainment and Geneon.[9] The aforementioned titles was the first time they sold a home video set on
Right Stuf Anime (the website that would eventually be the only retailer in North America to sell their home video sets).[10] Starting with Oreimo in 2010, they started streaming some of their titles on
Anime News Network.[11] In April 2011, they started streaming some of their titles on
Hulu and
Viz Anime (
Neon Alley), with Blue Exorcist being the first.[12] In June 2011, they started airing titles on
Cartoon Network's late night block
Adult Swim, with Durarara!! being the first.[13] In July 2011, they started streaming their titles on
Crackle, with Star Driver being the first.[14] In June 2012, they announced that they would release their first non-anime,
Hatsune Miku's Mikunopolis concert.[15]
2013–present: Streaming expansion and new management
In 2013, Aniplex started streaming some of their titles on their website (called Aniplex Channel).[16] In April 2014, they launched the English version of Aniplex+.[17] Later in April 2014, they started streaming shows on
Netflix, with Blue Exorcist being the first.[18] In 2015, they started streaming some of their titles on
Daisuki[19] and Funimation.[20] In March 2017, they started streaming some of their titles on
Anime Strike, with Eromanga Sensei being the first.[21] In June 2017, they launched their first mobile game, the English version of the Fate/Grand Order mobile game.[22]
In August 2017, it was announced that Shu Nishimoto was appointed as president of the company, with former president Hideki "Henry" Goto becoming head of international business development with the Tokyo branch.[23] Later the same month, Aniplex Channel was shut down.[24] In October 2017, they started streaming some of their titles on
go90, which included exclusive rights to the Anohana and
God Eater dubs.[25] In January 2019, they started streaming some of their titles on
HIDIVE, with The Promised Neverland being the first.[26]
In January 2020, they allowed Funimation to dub Darwin's Game, which was the first time that a new Aniplex of America title that was dubbed was not dubbed by Bang Zoom.[29] In May 2020, Funimation announced they partnered with Aniplex of America to release a standard edition
Blu-ray set for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.[30] Later in May 2020, they started streaming some of their titles on
HBO Max.[31] In December 2020, the company made a partnership with Lucky Helmet Agency to help with merchandising and licensing for the release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train in the United States.[32]
Criticism
In episode five of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War season two, one line in the subtitled script read "What's the deal with the social distancing?", which references the
COVID-19 pandemic. Aniplex of America apologized for this and corrected the line to "Why are you so far away from me?"[33]
Catalog
Note: Any
anime that has been
dubbed in English by anybody, including Aniplex of America themselves, is marked with an asterisk (*) beside the title.