NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan
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Template:Nihongo (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan.
The company was founded in March 1981 by Pioneer Corporation as LaserDisc Corporation, a LaserDisc player production company. In 1989, the company was renamed Pioneer LDC, Inc. as it branched into the anime, music, and film industries, and later Geneon Entertainment Inc. (after being acquired by Dentsu in 2003). In 2008, Geneon merged with Universal Pictures Japan to form Geneon Universal Entertainment Japan, LLC; in 2013, the company changed its name to the current NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. Some of the well-known anime series the company has produced are A Certain Magical Index, The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Danganronpa: The Animation, Golden Kamuy, Seraph of the End, The Quintessential Quintuplets and Is the Order a Rabbit? among many others.
Despite the name, NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan does not distribute Universal Pictures films theatrically in Japan; Toho (through Toho-Towa) exclusively distributes them for Japanese theaters.
HistoryEdit
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FoundingEdit
Pioneer Corporation founded the Template:Nihongo in March 1981 to produce LaserDisc players in Japan.<ref name=LaserDisc>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The LaserDisc Corporation changed its name to Template:Nihongo in 1989 as part of an attempt to branch off into the anime, film, and music industries.<ref name=LaserDisc/> As Pioneer LDC, they developed and published several video games for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, such as games based on Magical Girl Pretty Sammy, Tenchi Muyo!, and Serial Experiments Lain.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In December 1985, Pioneer LDC made an effort to expand into the North American business, by establishing a subsidiary in the region named LaserDisc Corporation of America in an effort to consolidate the Pioneer Video and Pioneer Audio units, who maintained the Pioneer Artists label, which was initially based near New Jersey, following the introduction of a combined CD/laserdisc player.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
In late 1991, Pioneer LDC established a European division, Pioneer LDCE (short for LaserDisc Corporation of Europe), hoping to revive interest of Laserdiscs in the European market after Philips' Laserdisc players flopped in Europe.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Around the same time, the company begin licensing titles from Guild Film Distribution to release 140 films to Laserdisc for the United Kingdom market, and additionally licensed titles from VCL Communications/Carolco Pictures to release 20 titles to the German market.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
In 1992, LaserDisc released their first anime title Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki.<ref name=LaserDisc/>
On July 21, 2003, the company was acquired by Japanese advertising and marketing company firm Dentsu and renamed to Template:Nihongo, while its North American division, Pioneer Entertainment, was renamed Geneon USA.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sale to NBC UniversalEdit
On November 12, 2008, Dentsu announced that it was selling 80.1% of its ownership in the company to NBC Universal's Universal Pictures International Entertainment (UPIE), who planned to merge the company with its Universal Pictures Japan division—which had no longer theatrically distributed Universal Pictures films in Japan, having delegated its theatrical distribution tasks to Toho subsidiary Toho-Towa since the dissolution of United International Pictures Japan in 2007—to form a new company.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="merge">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The merger later closed, with the new company known as Template:Nihongo.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On December 9, 2013, the company once again changed its name to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan LLC.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On February 17, 2013, they made a partnership with Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to distribute their anime titles directly in Australia and New Zealand.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Purchase of Paramount JapanEdit
On January 1, 2016, Paramount Japan was purchased by NBCUniversal and dissolved shortly afterwards.<ref name="paramount purchase">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This was due to Paramount Pictures establishing a joint-venture with Toho-Towa named Towa Pictures Company Limited, which would distribute Paramount's films in Japan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On July 12, 2017, they announced a partnership with Crunchyroll to co-produce anime with "international appeal".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>