Some good news in the anime industry today.  FUNimation and its parent company Navarre have announced a deal with Geneon to distribute anime titles in North America.

From the press release:

FUNimation Entertainment, has entered into an exclusive agreement to distribute select DVD titles in North America on behalf of Geneon Entertainment, a leading producer of Japanese animation.

Under the terms of the agreement, FUNimation Entertainment obtains the exclusive rights in North America to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of established Geneon titles, including Ergo Proxy, Hellsing Ultimate and Black Lagoon.

This is bigger news than it seems at first glance because many American anime fans thought that Geneon had abandoned us forever.

Back in Semptember of 2007, Geneon Entertainment announced that it was ending its DVD sales and distribution business in the US and closing down Geneon USA. David Smith at IGN wrote a detailed piece on the shakeup called The Fall of Geneon. Geneon had already started distributing series like Hellsing Ultimate and Black Lagoon, but then back out and left the fate of tons of shows in limbo. We were all hoping another licensor would move in and make things work, and it seems like Navarre/FUNimation have done just that.

It makes sense. FUNimation is the largest seller of anime home video in the USA, and some of Geneon’s titles like Hellsing Ultimate and Black Lagoon were extremely popular among fans. It’s a match made in heaven, and anime fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Technorati Tags: Anime, Geneon, Navarre, FUNimation

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