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Broccoli International USA to Shut Down by Year's End (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
The Japanese media company Broccoli has announced that its board of directors has decided on Wednesday to dissolve its Broccoli International USA subsidiary. The four-person subsidiary will end its operations by December 31, and Broccoli aims to complete the liquidation by February. Although Broccoli expects to write off some losses with the closure, it also expects the losses to be small.
Broccoli established this wholly owned subsidiary in March 2002 with US$981,000 in capital to manage its copyrights in North America, produce and distribute character goods, oversee a retail store, and handle electronic commerce. Kaname Tezuka ran Broccoli International USA from its headquarters in Los Angeles. However, Broccoli says that competition in the subsidiary's fields of business increased sharply in recent years, which resulted in a drop in revenue and profits. Since Broccoli projected that changing the subsidiary's prospects would be too difficult, it decided to close the subsidiary.
Broccoli International USA managed several manga, anime, and game properties for its corporate parent, including Di Gi Charat, Galaxy Angel, Aquarian Age, and Neppu Kairiku Bushi Lord. Broccoli directly published manga and artbooks for North America under the Broccoli Books imprint. Broccoli Books' titles included Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion, the Cosmode USA cosplay magazine, Disgaea, Galaxy Angel, Kamui, Koi Cupid, Murder Princess, Nui!, and sola.
Before Broccoli International USA was officially established, Broccoli opened an Anime Gamers! retail store in the Los Angeles area in September 2001, but the store closed in fall of 2007. An online AnimeGamers.com store opened in February 2001, but it stopped taking orders on September 30, 2007. Anime Gamers! had also produced English adaptations of manga and anime such as I'm Gonna Be An Angel, FLCL, and Di Gi Charat under its Synch-Point division.
Source: A geek by any other name
Update: Background information added.
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