Bandai to Halt Anime Localization? Ouch
According to reports, Bandai Entertainment announced that they’re through localizing new anime and manga. While they will continue to sell their current products, Bandai plans to shift its focus to license distribution. Subsequently, all the upcoming anime and manga series they’ve announced have been officially cancelled. If you were looking forward to Turn A Gundam, you’ll just have to hope someone will be able to re-license it once Bandai’s current license expires. This also applies to several upcoming manga titles like Gurren Lagann volume 7, Code Geass, Kannagi 4, 5, 6 and others.
A shame, really, but I can’t say we didn’t see it coming. Bandai, despite being one of the largest distributors, has had its fair share of issues these past few years. They’ve undergone some recent restructuring and while I had hoped things would improve, this latest move seems to suggest they have not. It makes me wonder if Funimation may be headed the same direction — time will tell.