Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Sad News




The Crain's New York Business news source reports that the anime and manga distributor Central Park Media (CPM) filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and has closed its doors as of Monday. According to Crain's, the company owes US$1.2 million to creditors. The company has not been active in releasing new titles in the past 12 months.

CPM and its Software Sculptors, U.S. Manga Corps, and Anime 18 labels were once the North American homes of such prominent works as Grave of the Fireflies, Utena, Mobile Police Patlabor, Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, Night on the Galactic Railroad, Project A-Ko, Dominion Tank Police, Descendants of Darkness, Demon City Shinjuku, Urotsukidoji, and La Blue Girl. It later branched out into the book publishing field by releasing Comic Party, Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, Embracing Love, Kizuna, and other titles under the CPM Manga and Be Beautiful Manga imprints. It sponsored the Big Apple Anime Fest earlier this decade.

Companies that file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States will face liquidation — unlike Chapter 11 and 13 bankruptcies which still allow companies to restructure and continue to operate.

CPM's former management did not respond to ANN's request for comment.


Hope JOD, MOD, Stephanie & the rest of the old crew are all OK. Let's keep each other informed if we hear anything or if any of our alumni need any help!