5/7/09

CPM files for bankruptcy/ADV rescues 4 titles

GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES: One of Studio Ghibli's masterpieces & one of the best anime films ever made & deals specificaly with Japan & WWII: If you have never seen this, you should.
Japanese trailer:


After a long hibernation & even longer battle with the fall of Anime in the US. Central Park Media (US Manga Corps/Anime 18/Software Sculptors) filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 27th, 2009 and is facing liquidation. The company owed $1.2 million to its creditors. Officially, they did have plans to re-release some older titles in the future. It was stated that the company could never recover from Musicland (Suncoast/Sam Goody's) bankruptcy & had been on the decline with layoffs ever since.

***On a personal note, CPM was the anime juggernaut of the 90's with more subtitled anime out on VHS than anyone. They were the masters of releasing Anime OVA's in the US, & were some of the 1st to release comics & soundtracks for anime stateside. Although they have been dying a slow death, I will miss their presence greatly, as many of my 1st anime titles (The Supergal, Mermaid Forest, Demon City Shinjuku, Lodoss Wars, Gall Force, Iczer-3, Project A-ko, Venus Wars) & my personal fan favorites like (DNA2, Zeguy, Hen, Alien 9, Knights of Lumune 40 Fresh, Detonator Orgun, Hades Project Zeorymer, Aika) were all thanks to them...

The NYC based company set the standard for subtitled anime in the US.., bringing many new & fansubbed favorites to domestic release... some notable titles are:



UPDATE:
According to the recent Right Stuf updates, ADV Films has license rescued / or will distribute several of Central Park Media titles for reissue in July 2009: Now and Then Here and There (which recently aired on SciFi channel), World of Narue, Grave of the Fireflies, and MD Geist.

Last week, Anime News Network reported Central Park Media's file for bankruptcy, after a long period of hibernation since a series of layoffs in 2005/2006 when CPM was "significantly impacted" by the retail chain, Musicland's bankruptcy in that time period.

Rightstuf ADV rerelease order links:
Grave Of The Fireflies
MD Giest
Now and Then Here and There
World Of Narue

Other fun Manga Corps releases from the past openings:

DNA2:


Machine Robo:


Dancougar:


Lodoss Wars (English Op):


Zenki:


VS Knight Ramune 40 Fresh OVA:



Gowkaizer:


Aika: