AnimeNation

AnimeNation is a well-known retailer of anime, manga, and other products of Japanese culture, founded in 1995 and located in Tampa, Florida. The company accepts orders through its website and its offices in Tampa Bay, Florida. AnimeNation also prints paper catalogs. In the United States, AnimeNation rents and sells anime DVDs by mail as "RentAnime.com," [http://www.rentanime.com] similar to the more widely known mainstream DVD rental service Netflix. The company's motto: "Life. Death. Anime in-between".

AnimeNation's selection includes many anime television series, movies, and OVAs, video games and anime soundtracks, J-pop, licensed anime-branded apparel, posters and wall scrolls, and snacks such as Pocky and Ramune. Hentai titles are available, but only through website or phone orders, and not at the AnimeNation store.

AN Entertainment

In 2003, AnimeNation announced its intention to license and distribute anime directly under the name of AN Entertainment. The first title the company licensed was "Risky Safety" (now expired), which was followed in 2004 by "Miami Guns". Their third release was "Haré+Guu", which was released as a joint venture with Bang Zoom! Entertainment in February 2006.

ADV Films was the distributor of "Risky Safety" and "Miami Guns" (though its logo only appeared in trade ads). With "Haré+Guu", distribution was switched to FUNimation Entertainment.

Website services

The AnimeNation website includes information on the products it sells, a forum, some sound clips of music, free email service, and a regular column, "Ask John," where AN employee John Oppliger answers various questions about anime titles, the anime industry, and the cultural significance of aspects of anime. "Ask John" archives on the AnimeNation website extend back to 1999. Previous questions answered include "Why Is There No Subtitled Pokémon?," "How Age Appropriate is Anime?," and "Why is Lolicon popular in America?"

External links

* [http://www.animenation.com AnimeNation Website]
* [http://www.rentanime.com RentAnime.com]
* [http://www.an-entertainment.com AN Entertainment]
* [http://animenation.net/news/askjohn_archive.php Ask John article archive on AnimeNation]
* [http://animenation.net/news/ AnimeNation News (maintained by John Oppliger)]
* [http://ask-john.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/ Japanese Ask John Archive] - Note: articles are in Japanese