ADV is Dead? Long Live the Fragments!

Back again so soon due to news! ADV has officially announced their demise, more or less, with the company's holdings being spread out over several new companies. (Yeah, this is like the Sentai deal only taken up to 11.)

The company as we knew it is dead. I for one am not surprised.



Seriously, this is a tactic in my opinion to boost the chances of selling off the fragments. Many fans believed that the Sentai Films deal, which is more or less ADV's top dog's new company, would save them. This has obviously proven false.

I believe this is an attempt by John Ledford to make assests easier to sell off. (Not that ADV/Sentai was doing anything much with the Amusement Park Media dub production part of the company anyway.) It may also be an attempt to cut down on taxes. Since any move costs loads it will likely add to costs overall so don't expect big savings for them. (They're all living in Sentai's backyard!)

Essentially, while I hate to be the bearer of bad news, ADV as we knew and loved it died before that first Clannad sub-only set came out. While this move won't affect all of the company's anime licenses, expect a few series to be conviently in the hands of another company when Sentai gets around to doing something.

Long live the fragments! Various licenses, production capability and holdings will be spread among AEsir Holdings, which has "selected" programming from ADV's library and some other worthwhile stuff, the SXION 23 home video distribution company will do the books (or cook them) for AEsir while Valkyrie Media Partners has acquired 100% of ADV's Anime Network television unit, about the only profitable part of the old company nowadays, while Seraphim Studios takes on the gathering dust Amusement Park Media. (If you believe in angels, clap your hands, maybe we'll getting a freaking dub out of them!)

The companies are Houston based (guess Ledford doesn't want to move too far away) but, hey, once you're pre-packaged for bite-size sell-off. . . does it matter?

Some, probably most, of the old employees are now with the new SXION 23 but word is not everyone will be carried over. This is an effort by Ledford to make the parts of the company as sleek and neat as possible so any dead weight or just non-essential personnel are toast. (Heck, essential personnel are screwed too in the long run.)

Ninja Edited In: Interesting news: According to this blog post by Robert of the Anime Corner Store, Ledford is the one not showing up again!

I also think it's worth mentioning that John Ledford is not part of the new company.

Wow, he's already getting out?

Again, in my personal opinion, this is an attempt to make the company more attractive to buyers. Even if I'm wrong, the management isn't changing so the same old bad ideas will keep being floated.

This is why I said dropping dubs was a bad things folks! It's a sign of weakness!

Bye-ni!

Personal Update: My Parent's Wedding Anniversary Is Today!

Hey out there in the land of anime fandom! This is your Navigator Richard J., heretic against the Church of the Holy Fansub!

Due to my health being a little wonky the last week, I fell behind on my promised reviews. (You may pity me or pelt me with rocks, your choice!)

However, on my end there is a happy event. My parents are having their wedding anniversary today! (Sorry but no details because that might get me in trouble.)



I've got a pretty old-fashioned view of marriage. I believe it is a partnership between two people, to face life's troubles together. I believe that marriage is a sacred pledge between two people to struggle together rather than apart.

Despite the rather hostile PC views of marriage, when it works it works GREAT. My parents are my main roll models and have been for quite some time. The reason is that while so many other couples have broken up over minor squabbles like being able to see the wife's face or the ever popular and completely uninformative "irreconcilable differences," my parents have been together through things most people can't even imagine dealing with. My parents have stayed together through things some people kill themselves rather than deal with. Financial problems and relatives from hell doesn't even come close to covering it.

Yet, throughout more hits than a anyone should be expected to take like losing family members to a brutal criminal act, being cheated out of an inheritance and facing an IRS that can't keep it's own books and thinks they are owed considerably more than they are, they've always stayed together. They've never allowed the sometimes painful twists of life to break them apart.

Instead, they've taken a lot of strength from being together.

So, today I'm taking a moment on this blog to A) apologize for not getting to all the reviews and such, B) let you know I have awesome parents who have been through so much and are still together and C) to wish everyone out there an awesome September! This is the month my parents were married and many years later that I was born, so it's a special month to me.

Today has some interesting history behind it too. Poor Poland.

However, the biggest thing I wanted to do is say that I love my parents and I wish them a big, super Happy Anniversary today! With lots of relaxation because God knows they need it.



My parents have been married for very long time (again, I'm not saying how long but my older sister is in her 30s and they don't believe in having kids out of wedlock.) What has made their lives better, what has given them the ability to overcome great adversity, has been a relationship that has withstood the strains of time and personality to deliver them to a present where they are still together and still in love. I've always believed that people need emotional balance in a relationship to make it work and largely I think this because of my parents.

If I were to describe my folks in anime character terms, I think I'd have to say they're kind of like Gundam Seed's Athrun and Cagalli. My dad is a thinker and my mom is a fireball. (For the sake of comparison, just think of the character's inate personalities. My dad has never flown a Gundam and my mom is not from a noble family of the Orb Union.)



Oddly enough, my personality trends toward Kira's, though with a bit less of the messiah archetype aspects and a bit more of the "forced to deal with the darker side of the world at a young age" stuff. (Not to mention I favor girls like Flay and Lacus. Yes I know that is contradictory.)

So my parents are like happily married and peaceful versions of Athrun and Cagalli, I'm a more emo Kira wondering if he'll ever meet his Lacus or even his Flay and my sister is. . . yeah no comparisons are coming up. She's kinda hard to express in character terms.

Maybe Stella without the psychosis?

Oh well. Look for more heretical fun next time on Blog of the Heretical Dub Lover! Tune in same Bat Channel, same Bat Whenever the Heck I Post Time!

Before the end of the week, I promise two anime reviews! And maybe some crazy rambling dementia.

Bye-ni!