Jun 27 2009
Sayanora, BCI Eclipse and CPM
A few months ago, two DVD distributors have shut down. These distributors were BCI Eclipse (He-Man, She-Ra, Bravestar, Isis, Jason of Star Command) and Central Park Media (Slayers, Utena, Grave of the Fireflies). I really admired both these companies for many reasons.
BCI Eclipse held the rights to a lot of Filmation properties including He-Man. They’d distribute many titles in relatively large sets that came with some incredible extras that would include audio commentary, retrospective interviews, specials, and behind the scenes extras. Navarre Corp, the parent company of BCI, shut them down late last year due to lack of profit for the last two years. I actually live not too far from the original BCI factory and I’ve been noticing a lot of their titles popping up at Half-Price Books in mint condition for super cheap. I picked up Jason of Star Command, Space Academy and Ark 2 for only $10 which had an SRP of $40. At this moment, He-Man (2002 remake) has been picked up by Mill Creek, the cheapest budget DVD distributor out there, who will release the series in more affordable sets.
Interestingly enough, CPM had similar problems except CPM hasn’t released a DVD in two years. Despite their lack producing a new product, the company has been around for over a decade and distributed many anime titles that have actually sold well over the years. They’ve also expanded over the years under such names Software Sculptors and US Manga Corp. The company filed for bankruptcy and shut down in late March. The rights to many of their titles have been bought up by other American anime distributors (ADV Films and FUNimation), however, they’re not making them cheaper nor making smart choices in titles. ADV Films has been very quick to grab these titles and make press releases ASAP. Worst of all, it seems that some of these titles are even MORE expensive than the previous company with no extras if any. Usually when you re-release a title, you change the packaging, add more extras, remaster it, make it cheaper, or ANYTHING. Considering the state of the anime market right now, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out for the other companies.
