Media Blasters website
It’s a sad sign of the times: Anime News Network posted the exclusive report that Media Blasters has laid off 60% of their full-time staff. This means they’re down from fifteen to 5 or 6 full-time employees. Some of the fired staff will be asked to work for the company on a freelance basis, if they are so inclined. CEO John Sirabella says: “All of the small publishers are going through this sort of thing right now. Not just anime. Everyone’s transitioning from full-time staff to freelancers.”
Media Blasters is a New York-based distributor, perhaps best known for their regular anime releases. However, they also have other divisions to handle live-action content, including Tokyo Shock (live-action Asian movies and television) and Shriek Show (horror and exploitation movies). Some of their recent releases include Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky on DVD (blu-ray TBD). Media Blasters says that the staff lay-offs will not affect their upcoming slate of releases, so you can still look forward to Five Element Ninjas on blu-ray in March. Our thoughts are with the terminated Media Blasters staff and their families.
Update: Ningen’s recommendations include Ichi the Killer, Eko Eko Azarak, Zebraman, Golden Boy, and Zeiram. Oh, and Destroy All Monsters. Plus, they got the last Zatoichi movie with Shintaro Katsu, and episodes of the TV show. Forgot to add they got a boatload of Ryuhei Kitamura stuff, including Versus, Aragami, Sky High, Alive, and Death Trance.
Update 2: Forgot to add that they got the original Rurouni Kenshin and Berserk shows, as well as the Miike Yakuza movie based off the video games.
Damn this sucks, Tokyo shock is awsome. Get some cash out today and support Media Blasters!