Gotaku

Gotaku is an American entertainment company headquartered in the area that licenses and distributes anime, Asian films and animation, Japanese cinema, and Korean dramas. It also licenses and distributes western animated series, comedy series, Russian/Soviet animation, adult anime, monster movies, telenovelas, and Turkish television dramas. It's name is a portmanteau of "Go" and "Otaku".

Gotaku was one of the original companies in the U.S. dedicated to licensing anime after and. Gotaku and AnimEigo are the last remaining "original" anime licensing companies still in business.

In 2018, Gotaku was acquired by. Mayuka will continue being CEO while Andy will continue working as the Head of Acquisition & Licensing.

Physical distribution for Gotaku titles is currently handled by Public Media Distribution with digital distribution handled in-house.

Currently, most of Gotaku's English dubs are carried out by Boston City Sound Studios,, and Garry & Barscox Ltd. with some dubs carried out by Cinelume.

Formation
Gotaku was founded in March 1988 by Japanese-American Mayuka George, Boston television news anchor Andy Clibburn, and Dairy Queen franchisee Morgan Abrahamsen in. The first anime series the company licensed was .

Morgan Abrahamsen controversy
In 1990, Morgan was arrested for murdering the police chief after Morgan was caught in a sting operation for price gouging at two of his Dairy Queen franchises. Morgan was declared guilty and sentenced to life in prison, serving his sentence at. As a result, Morgan was fired from the company. Morgan was pardoned and released in 2003 and currently works as a real estate agent in.

1990-1995
In 1990, shortly after the controversy with Morgan finished, Mayuka and Andy founded Boston City Sound Studios to dub their licenses into English.

The company licensed  in 1991, which was their first "popular" license.

2018-present
On January 19, 2018, Gotaku and Cox Media Group announced that Cox had acquired Gotaku for $2 million.

On March 3, 2019, Gotaku announced that it had taken over the  license from. It also announced that it had sub-licensed  from for the production of a English dub.

Gotaku
The Gotaku name is also the main label for the bulk of the company's anime titles.
 *  (May 20, 2017) - Previously licensed by
 *  (March 1988)
 *  (April 16, 1991) - License initially expired in 2000 due to the franchise's legal issues but was re-licensed in June of 2014
 *  (August 2, 1993)
 *  (September 2, 1991)
 *  (May 3, 1996) - Some episodes sub-licensed from the
 *  (March 3, 2019) - Previously licensed by / and
 *  (April 16, 1991)
 *  (September 23, 2017) - Previously licensed by
 *  (August 1, 2017) - Previously licensed by
 *  (May 11, 2016) - Previously licensed by
 *  (January 11, 2011)
 *  (November 16, 2018)
 *  (January 9, 2015)

Kidtaku
The Kidtaku name is the label used for some of the company's more-child-oriented titles.
 *  (December 2, 2017) - Sub-licensed from Nippol
 *  (January 2, 2019) - Sub-licensed from Nippol
 *  (January 17, 2018) - Previously licensed by
 *  (January 2, 2015)
 *  (February 15, 2019)
 *  (November 2, 2018)
 * '/' (August 2, 2018) - Glitter Force adaptation sub-licensed from
 *  (February 20, 2017)
 *  (June 3, 2015)
 *  (April 5, 2016)
 *  (August 22, 1995)
 * Hakken Taiken Daisuki! Shimajirō (March 11, 2009)
 * Shimajirō Hesoka (January 20, 2011)
 * Shimajirō: A World of Wow! (August 15, 2013)

Western Gaze
Western Gaze is the company's label for animated series from North America and Europe.
 *  (October 9, 2017)
 *  (November 20, 2017)
 *  (June 17, 2018)
 *  (January 22, 2018)
 *  (March 15, 2016)
 *  (June 11, 2017) - Previously licensed by
 *  (March 3, 2015)
 *  (January 2, 2019)