GONZO: Studio discussion, speculation, and whatnot.

[C.A.]

I worry more about Kiddy Grade 2. They better not forget about this one when new management takes over.

[bayoab]

Originally Posted by Mystic Wind

wtf o.o I thought crunchyroll was just some site some guy made and it became popular, didn't know it was worth like 2M USD though D:! I didn't even know it was legal cause it has full episodes? XD

I doubt it is that they are worth 2 million. It is more likely Gonzo has a financial stake in keeping them alive since most of the legal content on there was made by Gonzo. I can't see any other reason for them to give away 2 million when they needed an 18 million boost themselves. Also, CR previously got 4 million in venture capital and only some things on the site are legal. The majority of the content still isn't.

[Slice of Life]

So who are these Iwakaze Capital guys and is there any insight or educated guesses where Gonzo is heading in terms of distribution methods and genre orientation?

If it's not destroyed and sold in parts, that is. But since their debts > their assets that doesn't sound likely to me.

[Kimura sensei]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

So who are these Iwakaze Capital guys and is there any insight or educated guesses where Gonzo is heading in terms of distribution methods and genre orientation?

If it's not destroyed and sold in parts, that is. But since their debts > their assets that doesn't sound likely to me.

Well, if they are a investment firm, they probably saw something in Gonzo that may give large profits in the near future.
And Gonzo has just found a new franchise that only in preorders from the first two episodes on DVD has sold more than entire Gonzo series.

They will probably use this new franchise a lot.

[Kimura sensei]

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/bestselle..._zg_hrsr_d_1_2



Gonzo will be fine

[einhorn303]

Yeah, I love Gonzo. For being so friendly to the foreign (American) market, and for making Strike Witches.

I'd love to see them move into that niche, because it's the sort of show I like...fanservice (both moe and sexual), combined with good action and a not excessively serious, but still good plot. Well, the only Gonzo shows I've ever watched have been Strike Witches and Blue Sub 6...

[X207]

i wouldn't mind if they were forced to drop R+V se2 and let another studio pick it up. that or either they inprove RV se2 drastically.

[Quarkboy]

More bad news for Gonzo... I guess it's not just thenumber of series that'll be halved next year...

http://www.animenews.biz/gdh-and-gon...g-buyouts-359/

[snarky remark]I bet the half that get fired are the half that wear pants![/snarky remark]

[Kyomi]

Sad news indeed. All I can do is hope this doesn't cause a chain reaction. Obviously now is not the best time for the market and we can only but pray it won't crumble any more than now.

[cyth]

Gonzo is like a clumsy guy at a party stepping on everyone's toes. Eventually, everyone gets tired of him, so someone punches him in the stomach, he farts, another person punches him in the face, his teeth get knocked out, and because he smells he gets escorted out of the place by bouncers.

[Shadow Kira01]

Must be the economy, its not good.. However, it is still surprising that GONZO is doing it.

[karasuma]

Originally Posted by C.A.

I worry more about Kiddy Grade 2. They better not forget about this one when new management takes over.

2nd that!

[Slice of Life]

Wasn't that to be expected? You don't cut your production down to 50 percent and then pay your staff for idling.

Originally Posted by Toua

Gonzo is like a clumsy guy at a party stepping on everyone's toes. Eventually, everyone gets tired of him, so someone punches him in the stomach, he farts, another person punches him in the face, his teeth get knocked out, and because he smells he gets escorted out of the place by bouncers.

I wonder what the fart is supposed to represent in your allegory. Dragonaut, Blassreiter, Strike Pants? Linebarrel?

[WanderingKnight]

I'm betting Dragonaut. Literally the biggest piece of crap I've seen from a major studio in recent years.

[kk2extreme]

they need something like last exile to get them back on track

[Nemuru]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Wasn't that to be expected? You don't cut your production down to 50 percent and then pay your staff for idling.



I wonder what the fart is supposed to represent in your allegory. Dragonaut, Blassreiter, Strike Pants? Linebarrel?

To some degree you have mistaken sales for personal taste. You should at least know Strike witches is popular and a sellable item. Blassreiter is notable for those who has seen the series... underrated I say.

lol, the stigma of dragonaut. It would probably take 2 to 3 years before people forget. Although those wishing ill will always use it as an excuse for not following their production.

Hysterically I find laughable when the US unemployment rate is rising, probably happening in Japan as well. So is it terribly hard to link the world economic crisis as a simple yet understandable reason which partial explains the job cuts. If not, then the declining anime market in the R1. There are many factors involve but if you're going blame them for bad anime you should at least not based it on such biasness through personal viewing.

[cyth]

Originally Posted by Nemuru

Hysterically I find laughable when the US unemployment rate is rising, probably happening in Japan as well. So is it terribly hard to link the world economic crisis as a simple yet understandable reason which partial explains the job cuts. If not, then the declining anime market in the R1. There are many factors involve but if you're going blame them for bad anime you should at least not based it on such biasness through personal viewing.

Actually, Japan is viewed as a trend-setter in this financial crisis, despite the growing value of the Yen (which is bad for local business), although for any other country to follow Japan's example right now may already be too late. If we can draw any lines between the economy and GONZO's poor performance, then it would have to be what I already mentioned in my allegory above - that GONZO tried changing the anime business too fast, which is something Japan isn't very good at, so it stepped on too many toes and got thrown out of the party.

[lubczyk]

It's so sad that shows like Tower of Druaga are selling like crap while shows like Strike Witches is selling so well.

I sometimes wonder if selling to Otaku is like selling to porn addicts - people with no sophistication and the desire to satisfy their basest desires.

[SeedFreedom]

Having to say as someone who dropped both series, i didn't think either of them were particularly good. Strike witches had a relatively boring plot using fan service to cover its flaws. ToD was an uninteresting show that i only watched as long as i did because the first episode was so incredibly funny, i watched to see if there were any other episodes like it.

[Nemuru]

Originally Posted by lubczyk

It's so sad that shows like Tower of Druaga are selling like crap while shows like Strike Witches is selling so well.

I sometimes wonder if selling to Otaku is like selling to porn addicts - people with no sophistication and the desire to satisfy their basest desires.

I think this is where we can draw the line? (lol, stealing peoples quote). Anime isn't a single entity nor is it there to satisfy a single person’s need. Talking about subjective "To love-Ru" proves to be something else a different kind to terrible but yet sold decently, so at the end of the day it's whatever float your boats.

Originally Posted by SeedFreedom

Having to say as someone who dropped both series, i didn't think either of them were particularly good. Strike witches had a relatively boring plot using fan service to cover its flaws. ToD was an uninteresting show that i only watched as long as i did because the first episode was so incredibly funny, i watched to see if there were any other episodes like it.

This is where my personal interest would conflict with the above as someone who's seen both. In honesty I believed you're missing the point or the anime isn't providing you with what you want rather you're trying to make something of the series which it isn't aiming for. Again individual preference might contribute to your personal taste but looking at a series as whole and what the majority feels would be a better indication. The only trouble would be going through various forums and reading different review, reading one persons review is not a fair indication of any series. (Something that bothers me outright when people make such claim)

Originally Posted by Toua

Actually, Japan is viewed as a trend-setter in this financial crisis, despite the growing value of the Yen (which is bad for local business), although for any other country to follow Japan's example right now may already be too late. If we can draw any lines between the economy and GONZO's poor performance, then it would have to be what I already mentioned in my allegory above - that GONZO tried changing the anime business too fast, which is something Japan isn't very good at, so it stepped on too many toes and got thrown out of the party.

I haven't been following much of the world news since Obama won the election but what has Japan done which serve as a model in these desperate times?
As for the real question I don't believe Gonzo direction in producing more Otaku related anime after 2005 is a failing decision, if anything it is correct decision although hiring the wrong director couple with using low budget isn't going to produce good anime. A lot of people are wishing for another Last Exile or Gankutsuou but for that to work gonzo needs a larger budget for those project and significantly sales are dependent on which side is larger the abundance of otaku or the Japanese household which bought said DVD.
I should point to Afro samurai, being Gonzo biggest budgeted anime it still shows what the studio is capable of but the lack of Japanese audio could be seen as a deterrence to the general subtitle watcher.