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55-686: AnimeTrax is a joint venture between ADV Films and The Right Stuf International to distribute anime soundtracks (often called OSTs) in the United States. In 2003 ADV Films formed their own music division to serve the same purpose in the form of ADV Music . AnimeTrax's catalog includes soundtracks from Slayers , Martian Successor Nadesico , Lost Universe , Samurai X ( Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen ), Boogiepop Phantom , Macross II , Macross Plus , Akira and The Irresponsible Captain Tylor . This anime-related organisation article

110-451: A Roku app. However the online service was decommissioned in 2017 following the launch of HIDIVE . ADV Manga was ADV's division for the licensing and distribution of English translations of Japanese manga . The division was launched in 2003, with a strong list of titles and an ambitious plan for growth within the United States manga market. However, ADV Manga canceled many of their titles in late 2004 and 2005. In 2006, ADV Manga released

165-401: A contract. They wanted to get their transfer of assets done three years earlier declared void. The suit was settled out of court. The exact terms were not disclosed. Sojitz Sojitz was formed in 2004 by the merger of Nissho Iwai Corporation ( 日商岩井株式会社 , Nisshō Iwai Kabushiki-gaisha ) and Nichimen Corporation ( ニチメン株式会社 , Nichimen Kabushiki-gaisha ) . The name "Sojitz"

220-590: A mutual agreement." In June 2006, 20% of ADV Films was acquired by the Japanese Sojitz Corporation . This was done as a means of acquiring more titles in the Japanese market. From this point on, virtually all titles that ADV acquired were under Sojitz 's ownership. However, in January 2008, ADV mysteriously removed a large number of titles from their website. All the titles removed were titles acquired since

275-570: A notice was sent to retailers stating that ADV Films would be taking over the distribution, marketing, and sales of Geneon properties in the US as of October 1. In preparation, Geneon United States laid off most of its sales division; however, in September the distribution deal was canceled. Dentsu confirmed that the distribution deal was canceled through a press release on September 21, 2007 with no reasons given except that Geneon and ADV were "unable to reach

330-477: A number of prominent group enterprises including Daicel , Nisshin Steel, Tokuyama Soda, Kansai Paint and Fuji Photo Film . It changed its name to Iwai Sangyo Company in 1943. Both Nissho and Iwai emerged as metals and machinery trading companies after World War II but were significantly smaller than the four largest sogo shosha competitors ( Mitsubishi Corporation , Mitsui & Co. , Itochu and Marubeni ). Iwai

385-501: A replacement for Newtype USA . It was published by PiQ LLC, a now-defunct subsidiary. The magazine had a broader focus and expanded coverage of topics beyond anime and manga . PiQ retained much of the editorial staff and freelance writers that once worked on its predecessor, as well as its 15,000 subscribers. In June 2008, after only four issues had been published, PiQ was canceled and its offices abruptly closed down. The July 2008 dated issue, which had already been released when

440-724: A section of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor between Delhi and Mumbai in India. The Sojitz Aerospace Company also acts as Sojitz's primary arm for defense related business. Sojitz has also invested in Hyundai Nishat, the Pakistani arm of Hyundai Motors in partnership with Nishat Group . Sojitz owns oil and natural gas concessions in the North Sea , Gulf of Mexico , Qatar , Gabon , Egypt and Brazil . It owns

495-486: A television channel devoted to airing the company's titles. Some of their titles were Neon Genesis Evangelion , Super Dimension Fortress Macross , RahXephon , Full Metal Panic , Azumanga Daioh , Elfen Lied , Gantz , Red Garden , and Le Chevalier D'Eon . The company maintained offices in North America, Europe and Asia. In addition to North America, ADV Films distributed their home media releases in

550-618: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films ) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston , Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Greenfield and David Williams . The company specialized in home video production and distribution, theatrical film distribution, merchandising, original productions, magazine and comic book publishing. They also ran Anime Network ,

605-490: Is derived from the names of Nissho Iwai and Nichimen, both of which include the character " 日 " (sun). "Sojitz", literally meaning "twin suns", implies a merger of equals between the two companies. The corporate logo is a stylized version of the first character in its Japanese name. Beginning around 1878, the Japanese government promoted the development of cotton spinning as an initial means of developing modern industry in Japan in

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660-621: The Anime Network , and going out of business. These assets would be transferred to four companies: Seraphim Studios , AEsir Holdings LLC, Valkyrie Media Partners LLC and SXION 23 LLC . The impact of this sale on the company's plans to license and release new titles, is still not fully known, but the ADV brand name and logo have been retired. Anime News Network has reported that Seraphim Studios, Valkyrie Media Partners and SXION 23 are all corporations registered (initially filed) by Griffin D. Vance IV, who

715-771: The Crunchyroll brand) announced the acquisition of thirty of these titles. On October 20, 2008, it was announced that ADV had entered into a licensing arrangement with new licensor Sentai Filmworks. The highlight of the new partnership was that ADV would be distributing the anime television adaptation of the popular visual novel Clannad , also they acquired the distribution rights to Koharu Biyori , Mahoromatic , Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful (both were previously licensed by Geneon ), Tsukihime (previously licensed by Geneon ), Pet Shop of Horrors (previously licensed by Urban Vision ), and Jewel BEM Hunter Lime (previously licensed by Media Blasters ). Following

770-976: The Gregory coal mine and most of the Minerva Coal Mine in Australia and distributes nuclear fuel in Japan for Orano . Its operations in the chemicals sector include methanol production in Indonesia , barite mining in Mexico and industrial salt trading in various markets worldwide. In November 2010, it signed an agreement with the Australian rare earths mining company Lynas to import $ 350 million worth of rare earth minerals from Lynas' mine in Mount Weld , Australia. Its consumer business operations include trading in grains, feed, sugar, coffee, fish, wood and paper. It owns

825-504: The Sojitz name at that time. The merged holding company, Sojitz Holdings , combined with the merged operating company, Sojitz Corporation , in 2005. Today, the Sojitz Group consists of approximately 440 subsidiaries and affiliates located in Japan and throughout the world, and it is developing its wide-ranging general trading company operations in roughly 50 countries and regions across

880-844: The film and television adaptions of the Key visual novel Air , Best Student Council , Blade of the Phantom Master , Comic Party Revolution , Coyote Ragtime Show , Devil May Cry , the 2006 live-action horror film Ghost Train , Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor , Innocent Venus , Jing King of Bandits: 7th Heaven , Jinki: Extend , the 2006 anime remake of yet another Key visual novel, Kanon , Kurau: Phantom Memory , Le Chevalier D'Eon , Magikano , Moeyo Ken , Moonlight Mile , Nerima Daikon Brothers , Pani Poni Dash! , Project Blue Earth SOS , Pumpkin Scissors , Red Garden , Tokyo Majin , UFO Princess Valkyrie ,

935-455: The 6-volume Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days series and in 2007 the company resumed releasing several popular titles that had been on hiatus, including Yotsuba&! and Gunslinger Girl . At Anime Expo 2006, manga publisher Tokyopop announced that it had obtained the licenses for three titles formerly licensed by ADV that had been cancelled: Aria , Tactics , and Peacemaker Kurogane . Meanwhile, Yen Press has acquired

990-475: The ADV Films brand name is owned by Sentai Filmworks, who has released several titles under its name, such as Mezzo DSA on DVD , Kino's Journey on DVD, and standard-definition Blu-ray , Elfen Lied on DVD and Blu-ray, and Lady Death: The Motion Picture on Blu-ray. Anime Network was a cable channel in North America dedicated to anime. The network launched in North America in late 2002 and

1045-469: The ADV brand name and still uses it on some of their releases. Most of ADV's former titles have been re-released by other companies. Sentai was subsequently acquired by AMC Networks in 2022. As of 2024, ADV exists as a domiciled shell corporation . John Ledford, a native of Houston, Texas, started a Japanese video game and video console import business in 1990. He was introduced to anime when he watched My Neighbor Totoro at his friend's suggestion. At

1100-484: The ADV logo is no longer around, but the lions and all the properties are still around. Ken Hoinsky, Managing Founder of MX Media LLC, a translation and localization company contracting with most major anime distribution companies (Funimation, Viz Media, Bandai), appeared on the October 29, 2009, Anime News Network podcast: in it he said that his company also contracts with Section 23, but that he also collectively refers to

1155-762: The Anime Network into the other three companies to take advantage of several legal loopholes. The podcast report concluded with the assertion that Section 23, and the umbrella of associated companies ADV split into, could effectively be thought of as Neo-ADV (referencing how in Mobile Suit Gundam , when the Principality of Zeon was defeated, its remnants reorganized into Neo Zeon ). On October 15, 2009, rival distribution company Funimation posted an online Q&A video panel hosted by events manager Adam Sheehan. When asked about ADV going out of business, Sheehan's response

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1210-484: The Japanese rights to several consumer brands such as Eastpak and McGregor. In June 2006, Sojitz acquired a 20% stake in American anime distributor ADV Films . This was done as a means of acquiring more titles in the Japanese market. From this point on, virtually all titles that ADV acquired were under Sojitz's ownership. However, in January 2008, ADV mysteriously removed a large number of titles from their website. All

1265-566: The May 2009 bankruptcy and liquidation of Central Park Media , ADV Films acquired the North American rights of Grave of the Fireflies and re-released it on DVD on July 7, 2009. ADV Films also acquired the licenses of multiple other Central Park Media titles as well. On September 1, 2009, ADV announced that it was liquidating its assets, including intellectual properties, its distribution arm and

1320-530: The Sojitz acquisition including Gurren Lagann , which had test disks sent out with dubbed episodes. As of May 2008, Gurren Lagann was licensed by Bandai Entertainment . ADV Films made booth appearances at the Anime Central 2008 convention, but they canceled their planned panel. In July 2008, Funimation Entertainment (then owned by its parent Navarre Corporation , now owned by Sony Pictures Television under

1375-490: The United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany. The company was also involved in various lawsuits with other companies, though none of them made it to court. With declining fortunes in the mid-2000s due to low sales, ADV ceased all of its operations and eventually liquidated their assets in 2009. Sentai Holdings, owner of Section23 Films , Sentai Filmworks , AEsir Holdings, Valkyrie Media Partners, and Seraphim Digital , took over

1430-423: The allied companies that ADV split into as Neo-ADV. ADV Films was the home video publication arm of A.D. Vision based in Houston , Texas, specializing in publishing anime and tokusatsu videos, as well as other live-action material. In 1996, ADV Films opened its UK division, and diversified into the realm of live-action television series and Japanese films. The first title to be licensed and released to video

1485-448: The anime review site iSugoi.com posted a full podcast devoted to the shutdown of ADV, analyzing that ADV had not shut down and the new companies such as Section 23 were ADV selling itself to itself: that it was not a shutdown but a drastic rebranding and restructuring. The report went on to say that Section 23 was, for all intents and purposes, the direct successor-organization to the old ADV company name, and that ADV split its assets such as

1540-415: The announcement was made, was the magazine's last issue. In 2008, A.D. Vision sued ARM Corporation and its parent Sojitz for a breach in a contract made previously. In the suit, the exact amount A.D. Vision paid to license twenty-nine titles was disclosed. The lawsuit was withdrawn and no ruling was made. In August 2011, A.D. Vision sued Gainax over their refusal to accept an option payment for

1595-470: The company's headquarters building. The scandal was uncovered only three years after a similar scandal involving Lockheed and Marubeni conspiring to bribe Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka . In subsequent years, the company had a strong focus on liquefied natural gas and steel trading, as well as industrial project development. Nichimen and Nissho Iwai consolidated on a holding company level in 2003 and consolidated their operating units in 2004, adopting

1650-531: The company. Ledford was to remain the majority shareholder and CEO. JCI subsidiary ARM also planned to contribute money for ADV to use in acquiring new distribution licenses. The investment was to ADV Films to raise its output of new anime titles, which had dropped in 2006, back to previous levels or above. In return, ADV planned to assist Sojitz with the acquisition of North American and European content for importation into Japan. According to ADV, they also reportedly had "big plans" for its manga line. In August 2007,

1705-452: The content they received. However, in November 2007, ADV Films put the program on hiatus, then on January 18, 2008, ADV Films announced that the program was being suspended indefinitely due to amount of resources the program needed. The company continued to offer anime clubs screening permission for its titles prior to its reorganization. In July 2008, ADV Films and ARM Corporation transferred

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1760-570: The general manager of Toho's Los Angeles office, expressed concern that A.D. Vision would not be able to handle the distribution of the film. Unable to find another distributor, Toho convinced A.D. Vision to license the series. That December, Devil Hunter Yohko became the first title to be released by A.D. Vision. In 2007, Japan's Sojitz announced that Japan Content Investments (JCI), an investment group run by Sojitz, Development Bank of Japan , and film distribution company KlockWorx, planned to contribute money to A.D. Vision, in return for equity in

1815-415: The globe. Sojitz (through its subsidiary Sojitz Aerospace Company ) is the largest seller of commercial aircraft in Japan, as it acts as a sales agent for both Boeing and Bombardier Aerospace . It distributes Mitsubishi Motors and Hyundai Motors automobiles in various countries, and also develops and operates power plants, industrial plants in various countries. In 2013 it received an order to develop

1870-544: The leadership of Naokichi Kaneko( ja:金子直吉 ) when died this company's predecessor shop's founder, Iwajiro Suzuki( ja:鈴木岩治郎 )(1837–1894). Suzuki was originally a sugar trading firm but later diversified into flour, steel, tobacco, beer, insurance, shipping and shipbuilding; it became the second Japanese member of the Baltic Exchange in London. Iwai & Company ( ja:岩井商店 ) was founded as a steel trading firm in 1901 and established

1925-636: The leadership of Tsuneki Sano, a 38-year-old former government official. After the Russo-Japanese War , Nichimen expanded its business from importing. The company began cotton spinning operations in the Kwantung Leased Territory and established offices in China, Korea, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom to supply local markets. In 1910, Nichimen opened a subsidiary in Fort Worth, Texas to enter

1980-413: The licenses to over 30 different shows into the hands of fellow anime distributor Funimation . Those rights included the home video, broadcast, digital, and merchandising rights in North America and other regions. Since then, former ADV titles have since been re-licensed by other companies such as Funimation, Sentai Filmworks , Discotek Media , Universal , Paramount and Nozomi Entertainment . Today,

2035-412: The perpetual live-action rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion , including the planned live-action film; ADV charges that by refusing to accept payment, Gainax broke the contract and is asking for the rights and legal fees . In 2012, Funimation sued A.D. Vision, Sentai Filmworks , John Ledford , and several other associated organizations and individuals for US$ 8 million , accusing them of breaching

2090-516: The raw cotton trade in the United States. World War I strained cotton supply in Europe, boosting Nichimen's international business further. In the late 1910s the company expanded into South America and Africa, trading in cotton as well as wool, food products, and machinery. The Great Depression harmed Nichimen's cotton business, spurring the company's diversification beyond cotton to trade in silk, rayon and other materials. During World War II , Nichimen

2145-623: The rights to Yotsuba&! and Azumanga Daioh . ADV Music was the music publishing division that focused on distributing anime and movie soundtracks. It was launched in 2003 after ending their partnership in AnimeTrax with The Right Stuf International . One initial release was the soundtrack for Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny . ADV Pro was the company's anime production studio. They worked on such in house productions as Lady Death: The Motion Picture and Mutineers' Moon . John Ledford stated in 2007 that ADV Pro had been "reactivated" and

2200-454: The time, Matt Greenfield , born in Sacramento, California , ran a local anime club called Anime NASA, which also included classmate David Williams . After consulting with Ledford, Greenfield joined him and Williams to found A.D. Vision, which officially opened for business on August 17, 1992. Ledford contacted Toho about optioning the rights to license Devil Hunter Yohko . Shozo Watanabe,

2255-557: The titles removed were titles acquired since the Sojitz acquisition including Gurren Lagann , which had test disks sent out with dubbed episodes. As of May 2008, Gurren Lagann was licensed by Bandai Entertainment . ADV Films made booth appearances at the Anime Central 2008 convention, but they canceled their planned panel. In July 2008, Funimation announced the acquisition of thirty of these titles. The titles removed from ADV's website are as follows: 009-1 , 5 Centimeters per Second , Ah! My Goddess: Flights of Fancy , both

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2310-608: The trading arm of the Sanwa Group keiretsu . Nissho Iwai was involved in a corruption scandal in 1979 after it passed on a 500 million yen bribe from McDonnell Douglas to the director general of the Japan Defense Agency in an attempt to influence the sale of F-4 Phantom aircraft to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force . In the wake of the scandal, one Nissho Iwai executive committed suicide by jumping from

2365-512: The wake of the Meiji Restoration . Japan's native raw cotton supply proved inadequate to meet demand, and there was only one Japanese importer of raw cotton at the time, making the industry highly reliant on foreign merchants. To improve this situation, a group of spinning companies established Japan Cotton Trading Co., Ltd. ( 日本綿花株式会社 , Nippon Menka Kabushiki Kaisha ) in Osaka in 1892 under

2420-466: Was Devil Hunter Yohko . After that, they began acquiring an extensive library of titles. Initially, titles were released to video with the original Japanese language track and English subtitles added. A few years later, they began dubbing releases to English using a production and recording facility in Houston. They eventually started offering their recording services to other companies, so this studio

2475-531: Was Legend of Lyon Flare . This division was shut down in 2005 after spinning off from ADV, and most of its titles were acquired by Critical Mass , the hentai division of The Right Stuf International . In 2017, the SoftCel label was relaunched by Section23 Films , one of ADV's successor companies. ADV started the Happy Carrot branch in 2008 to release hentai anime titles on DVD, replacing SoftCel. Newtype USA

2530-463: Was ADV's senior vice president of business and legal affairs. The following companies all acquired assets from A.D. Vision: That day, major retail website Robert's Corner Anime Blog contacted Mike Bailiff, formerly of ADV Films and now heading up Sales and Marketing at Section 23 Films. Bailiff revealed that "Section 23 has acquired all of ADV's former licenses and most of the staff" including "everyone at ADV that mattered." On September 18, 2009,

2585-535: Was hit hard by the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble in the early 1990s, and subsequently made a strategic shift from the "soft" businesses of lumber, food, and chemicals trading to the "hard" businesses of machinery, steel, and construction. Nissho Iwai was formed in 1968 by the merger of Nissho Company and Iwai Sangyo Company. Nissho Company was founded in Kobe in 1902 as Suzuki & Company ( ja:鈴木商店 ) under

2640-526: Was marketed to multi-system operators (MSOs) as both a stand-alone 24-hour linear network and as a video on demand (VOD) programming service. The Anime Network was the United States' first all-anime cable TV network. On January 4, 2008, Anime Network officially announced that the traditional 24/7 service would cease operations. Anime Network now exists as a VOD channel operating on many cable and satellite operators such as DirecTV , Dish Network , Cox , Time Warner , Cablevision , and Charter . It also has

2695-483: Was named Amusement Park Media. This studio was sold to Seraphim Digital after their bankruptcy. ADV Films offered a program called Anime ADVocates, which provided free screening material and other promotional content to nearly 3,000 anime clubs in North America. To qualify for the program, the club had to be sponsored by a local high school, college, university, or public library and have at least 10 members. Member clubs were also asked to participate in surveys about

2750-499: Was not the main trading company for the Sanwa keiretsu as that position was already held by Iwai & Co. Nichimen Jitsugyo. By 1970, Nichimen was trading in steel, electronics, motor vehicles and fibers in addition to textiles. Nichimen served as the joint venture partner for Nabisco when it began operations in Japan in the 1970s. Nichimen Co., Ltd. changed its name to Nichimen Corporation in 1982. Nichimen, like other sogo shosha ,

2805-414: Was poorly managed after the war and was on the brink of failure in the early 1960s, while Nissho was profitable and successfully expanding overseas. The Japanese government directed the merger of the two companies in 1968, forming the fifth largest trading company in Japan (falling back to sixth place in 1972 behind Sumitomo Corporation ). Sanwa Bank played a role in the merger and the combined firm became

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2860-544: Was tapped by the Japanese military to manage production of flour, matches and starch. The company changed its name to Nichimen Enterprise (Nichimen Jitsugyo) in 1943 to reflect its more diverse business. The largest zaibatsu trading companies were dismantled after the war, giving Nichimen an early lead among the sogo shosha in the 1950s and a six percent share of Japanese foreign trade by 1958. Nichimen became closely affiliated with Osaka-based Sanwa Bank in 1955, which financed all of Nichimen's domestic business. Nichimen

2915-524: Was the US edition of Japan's Newtype magazine. The first issue was published in November 2002. A.D. Vision (ADV) contacted its advertising partners to let them know that the February 2008 issue of Newtype USA was the last issue of the magazine. The magazine contained material it translated from the Japanese release as well as articles from American writers. It was expected to have 50,000 copies in for its initial circulation. PiQ premiered in May 2008 as

2970-400: Was the following: ADV isn't out of business. ADV did remaster itself, as you might call it, and change itself into multiple different companies ( Section 23 , etc.), holding different parts of its brands, of its marketing, so [it's] still around...the best way I would describe it is to think of it as Voltron : if it turned back into the five lions, so it's not the one Voltron robot anymore, so

3025-532: Was working on Mutineers' Moon . ADV Kids was their label for works intended at younger audiences, with releases such as Sonic the Hedgehog OVA and Mega Man: Upon a Star , as well as the 1994 Mega Man animated series , one of few Western animation releases from the company. However, the label failed to take off. SoftCel Pictures was the branch of the company that specialized in the release of hentai anime titles on VHS and DVD. The first product released

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