Ever since ADV lost all their Sojitz titles, my respect for them have gone up ten folds. They’ve managed to get back on their feet after hitting rock bottom, which a lot of other anime companies who faced similar problems simply closed down for good. They’ve also been correcting their past mistakes like how they used to strip the extras off their thinpack releases and so on. But as you know, ADV eventually closed down and became Sentai Filmworks.
What I really like about Sentai Filmworks is how they’ve been managing to license many titles lately and getting street dates for said titles months after their acquisition announcements. The latest example being To Love Ru which was announced today and already has part 1 scheduled for a December release. I also love the fact that they’ve been focusing on picking up a lot of niche titles. Stuff like Blue Drop, Indian Summer, etc. were shows I’d never expect to see get released in North America and yet Sentai Filmworks has managed to do just that. And the fact that their dvds are some of the lowest priced anime in the market is the icing on the cake.
Although it isn’t to say that Sentai Filmworks doesn’t suffer from it’s share of problems. Probably the most notable example is the constant lack of spell checking on their translations. Every release I’ve bought from them has had spelling errors in their translations, probably more common than with other region 1 anime companies. Some fans also don’t like the fact that Sentai Filmworks is releasing their titles subbed only. And a lot (not all) of their titles are just getting bare bones treatment (lack of extras) but to be fair a lot of companies have been going this route so I can’t fault Sentai Filmworks too much for it.
Overall I welcome Sentai Filmworks current strategy. If what they’re doing means getting more anime into the market and at really cheap prices then I’m all for it.
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