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Crunchyroll Store Australia

'''Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd.,[1] trading as Crunchyroll Store Australia, and previously known as Madman Anime''', is an Australian video publisher and distribution company focused on Asian entertainment. The company handles licensing and distribution of anime in Australia and New Zealand. Originally part of independent film distributor Madman Entertainment, the company is now operated as a division of Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex.

History

As part of Madman Entertainment

Madman Entertainment was founded in 1996 by Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard as a mail order business specialising in imported anime titles, after following the success of Manga Entertainment in the United States and the United Kingdom.[2] Originally selling titles on VHS, the company became the second Australian distributor to author DVDs in-house, with the 1995 film Ghost in the Shell being their first DVD release. In 1998, Madman began airing anime on television, with Neon Genesis Evangelion airing on SBS TV.

On 23 February 2008, Madman Entertainment announced that it had reached a distribution deal with Viz Media to distribute its manga titles in Australia and New Zealand.[3] The distribution deal ended in April 2016, with Simon & Schuster taking over distribution of Viz's catalogue, and Madman Entertainment ceasing distribution of all manga titles.[4]

At the 2008 Supanova Pop Culture Expo, Madman Entertainment announced plans to explore new distribution methods. Madman Entertainment launched the Madman Screening Room, a video on demand streaming service, with School Rumble being the first title on the platform.[5] Madman Entertainment also began releasing Blu-ray Disc titles, starting with The Transformers: The Movie in June 2009.[6] On 1 June 2009, Madman Entertainment produced an English adaption of Tamagotchi: The Movie, a 2007 film based on the Tamagotchi digital pets from Bandai and WiZ. Madman also intended to dub the film's sequel, Tamagotchi: Happiest Story in the Universe!, but the dub was cancelled for unknown reasons.

In early 2016, Madman Entertainment announced Madman Anime Festival, an annual anime convention to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The convention was held in Melbourne on 3–4 September of that year.[7]

As Madman Anime Group Pty. Ltd.

On 12 October 2016, Madman Anime Group Pty. Ltd. was incorporated as a separate company, being a wholly owned subsidiary of Madman Entertainment.[8]

On 17 February 2018, Madman co-founder & CEO Tim Anderson confirmed that on 15 November 2017, Sony Music Entertainment Japan subsidiary Aniplex had acquired a minority interest in Madman Anime Group, and was issued an undisclosed number of shares.[9]

In late 2018, Madman Anime confirmed that they had reached a distribution deal with Funimation, with Madman Anime becoming the local distributors for select Funimation titles in Australia and New Zealand, and Funimation handling licensing and localisation for titles.[10][11]

On 6 February 2019, Madman Entertainment's owners Five V Capital sold Madman Anime Group to Aniplex for A$35 million.[12][13]

On 24 September 2019, Aniplex and Sony Pictures Television announced that they were consolidating their international anime streaming services under a new joint venture comprising Funimation, Madman Anime Group and Wakanim.[14] The consolidation reorganised AnimeLab as a direct subsidiary of Funimation.[15]

The company changed its name to Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd. on 23 March 2022, following the rebranding of its parent company Funimation to Crunchyroll, LLC.[1]

On 29 March 2022, Madman Anime announced that Madman Anime Festival would be replaced with Crunchyroll Expo Australia, with the first event scheduled for Melbourne on 17–18 September 2022.[16]

Notable titles

Crunchyroll Store Australia hosts notable titles that are also licensed by Crunchyroll, LLC itself and sibling company Aniplex of America in the United States as well as Sentai Filmworks such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, My Hero Academia, Clannad, Fairy Tail, Persona 5: The Animation and Spy × Family.

AnimeLab

'''AnimeLab Pty. Ltd.''' was a video on demand service that specialised in the online streaming and simulcasting of Japanese anime series, serving the Australian and New Zealand market.[17]

AnimeLab originally launched in beta on 28 May 2014 as a Madman Entertainment skunkworks project with 50 series and 700 episodes, and replaced the Madman Screening Room. During its beta, AnimeLab streamed its series for free without advertisements.[17] Originally streaming titles exclusively from Madman's catalogue, on 4 September 2014, distributor Siren Visual announced that they would release titles on AnimeLab, starting with The Devil Is a Part-Timer!.[18] AnimeLab also simulcasted Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, despite Hanabee acquiring the distribution license for the series.[19]

On 26 May 2015, AnimeLab announced that the website had exited beta, and introduced a paid subscription, alongside an ad-based free service.[20]

In August 2016, AnimeLab launched AnimeLab On-Air, an anime programming block airing on Friday nights on C31 Melbourne and C44 Adelaide.[21] The block later moved to a Monday night schedule.[22]

On 25 August 2017, AnimeLab announced that they would begin streaming select titles from Adult Swim's back catalogue.[23] The Adult Swim titles were later removed in 2020.

At Madman Anime Festival Melbourne 2018, AnimeLab announced that they had reached one million users.[24] AnimeLab also announced a collaboration with the Australian Red Cross to promote blood donations in Australia with the simulcast of Cells at Work!.[25]

On 24 January 2020, Funimation announced that it would be shutting down access to FunimationNow in Australia and New Zealand on 30 March, merging all of Funimation's titles onto AnimeLab.[26]

On 10 June 2021, AnimeLab announced that it would begin the process of rebranding as Funimation on 17 June, with current AnimeLab subscriber credentials being transitioned onto Funimation's website on that date, and staff transitioning to Funimation ANZ.[27][28] On 2 November 2021, AnimeLab announced that it would retire the service on 9 December 2021.[29]

See also

  • Madman Entertainment
  • Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow
  • Crunchyroll UK and Ireland, a UK branch of Crunchyroll formerly known as Manga Entertainment

External links

References

  1. Crunchyroll Pty Ltd ACN 615 305 587 Australian Securities & Investments Commission, retrieved 25 March 2022^
  2. Travis Johnson. 20 Years Of Madman Entertainment FilmInk, 31 October 2016, retrieved 18 April 2022^
  3. Viz Media Teams With Madman Entertainment on Manga Anime News Network, Madman Entertainment, 23 February 2008, retrieved 11 February 2019^
  4. Jon Hayward. Simon & Schuster Australia Takes Over Distribution of Viz Manga in AU/NZ Anime News Network, 21 April 2016, retrieved 11 February 2019^
  5. Jon Hayward. Madman News from Supanova Expo Anime News Network, 31 March 2008, retrieved 26 July 2016^
  6. Transformers - The Animated Movie (Blu-Ray) Madman Entertainment, retrieved 26 July 2016^
  7. Madman Entertainment Announces Madman Anime Festival 2016 Anime News Network, 23 March 2016, retrieved 25 June 2017^
  8. Current details for ABN 50 615 305 587 Australian Business Register, November 2014, retrieved 18 April 2022^
  9. Crystalyn Hodgkins. Aniplex Invests in Australia's Madman Anime Distribution Company Anime News Network, 17 February 2018^
  10. Slykura. Some insights Madboards, 14 December 2018, retrieved 11 February 2019^
  11. Slykura. In short, we have a new distribution agreement with Funimation which means that we are their local distributors NOT licensee, but distributor for their products. Madboards, 7 January 2019, retrieved 11 February 2019^
  12. Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald. Director's cut: MacKenzie's Five V Capital sells Madman anime arm to Sony The Australian Financial Review, 6 February 2019, retrieved 6 February 2019^
  13. Rafael Antonio Pineda. Aniplex Acquires Australian Distributor Madman Media's Anime Division Anime News Network, 6 February 2019, retrieved 6 February 2019^
  14. Todd Spangler. Sony Merges Anime Streaming Businesses Under Funimation-Led Joint Venture (EXCLUSIVE) Variety, 24 September 2019, retrieved 24 September 2019^
  15. Jennifer Sherman. FunimationNow Streaming Content Moves to AnimeLab in Australia, New Zealand Anime News Network, 25 January 2020, retrieved 29 January 2020^
  16. First-Ever Crunchyroll Expo Australia Heads to Melbourne This September Crunchyroll, 29 March 2022, retrieved 18 April 2022^
  17. Jon Hayward. Madman Entertainment Launch Anime Streaming Site AnimeLab Anime News Network, 28 May 2014, retrieved 10 February 2019^
  18. Jon Hayward. Siren Visual to Stream The Devil is a Part-Timer! on AnimeLab Anime News Network, 4 September 2014, retrieved 10 February 2019^
  19. Jon Hayward. Animelab Now Streaming When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works Anime News Network, 14 October 2014, retrieved 10 February 2019^
  20. Jon Hayward. AnimeLab Launches AnimeLab Premium Service Anime News Network, 28 May 2015, retrieved 10 February 2019^
  21. NEW PROGRAM Facebook, 4 August 2016, retrieved 19 August 2019^
  22. AnimeLab. AnimeLab On Air - June 2019 Promo - C31 Melbourne 7 June 2019, retrieved 19 August 2019^
  23. Els Chirlin. AnimeLab ♥'s Adult Swim AnimeLab, 25 August 2017, retrieved 30 May 2019^
  24. MyAnimeList. In celebration of @AnimeLab's recent achievement of 1 million subscribers, a lucky fan won a lifetime subscription to the Australian anime streaming service #MadFest 15 September 2018, retrieved 10 February 2019^
  25. Madman Anime Festival. If you were at the @AnimeLab panel you would have seen the announcement of this amazing collaboration with @RedCrossAU ❤️ Let's see how much blood we can donate between now and Sydney Madfest! ❤️ #MadFest #SavingLives 14 September 2018, retrieved 19 December 2019^
  26. Jennifer Sherman. FunimationNow Streaming Content Moves to AnimeLab in Australia, New Zealand Anime News Network, 25 January 2020, retrieved 25 January 2020^
  27. AnimeLab is Becoming Funimation in Australia and New Zealand AnimeLab, 2021-06-10, retrieved 2021-06-10^
  28. Rafael Antonio Pineda. Australia, New Zealand Anime Streaming Service AnimeLab Rebrands as Funimation Anime News Network, 10 June 2021, retrieved 10 June 2021^
  29. A New Anime Era Begins as AnimeLab Retires on 9 December 2021 Funimation, 2 November 2021, retrieved 18 November 2021^