Gotaku

Gotaku (ごおヌク) is an American entertainment company headquartered in the area with a European licensing and distribution office in,  and a Latin American licensing and distribution office in ,  that licenses and distributes anime, tokusatsu, Asian films and animation, Japanese cinema, and Asian television 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.

Gotaku was acquired by on May 2, 2001 and began expansion into Europe and Latin America. During this time, the company also began licensing other forms of foreign media than just anime and tokusatsu, first with Venezuelan and Mexican telenovelas and then with Asian TV dramas.

In 2009, Cisneros sold Gotaku for US$42 million to a group consisting of various investors including founders Mayuka George and Morgan Abrahamsen, who went on to form the company's parent Pine Tree Media LLC. On January 19, 2018, Gotaku was acquired by -based. 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 with digital distribution handled in-house. Gotaku also streams their titles through, , One Play, , Polygon, and their YouTube and VidSpace channels.

Musical production for Gotaku's English dubs is handled by, Fernanda Herrada, and M. Ashlee Snyder.

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 involved in a highly publicized fraud scandal in Boston. As a result, Morgan was fired from the company. Morgan as a result founded New England Anime Inc.

1990-1995
In January 1990, Mayuka and Andy founded the company's very own production and recording facility, Boston City Sound Studios, to dub their licenses into English. Much of the original talent were either local Bostonian actors or college students.

The company licensed  in 1991, which was their first "popular" license. In 1992, Gotaku began outsourcing dubs to Power Network in El Kadsre in order to allow Boston City Sound Studios to focus on dubbing Gotaku's "high-priority licenses", though Power Network also got to dub some of those "high-priority licenses" as well.

1996-1999
For several years, Gotaku had been outsourcing dubs to Boston City Sound Studios, 's Cinelume, and El Kadsre's Power Network. With several of the voice actors from BCSS telling management that they felt "tired" and Cinelume and Power Network becoming "way too dirt cheap to use", Gotaku founder Mayuka George was given the inspiration to create the, -based Hoop City Sound Studios (later shortened to Hoop City in 2008) in August of 1996.

In 1998, Gotaku began using The Film &amp; Video Factory (now Sunflower Post) in.

2014-2017
In 2016, Gotaku created Candy Volcano Studios in, to not only "pick up the slack" from Boston City Sound Studios, Hoop City, and Sunflower Post but also to train fledgling voice actors.

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 and had acquired the non-streaming rights for ' (Netflix has streaming rights).

In June 2019, Gotaku announced that had licensed  ahead of it's release.

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
 *  (March 1988)
 *  (August 2, 1993)
 *  (June 5, 2013)
 *  (September 2, 1991)
 *  (May 3, 1996) - Some episodes sub-licensed from the
 *  (March 3, 2019) - Previously licensed by / and
 *  (March 3, 2019) - Sub-licensed from
 *  (March 3, 2019) - Licensed by for streaming and previously licensed for DVD by
 *  (June 8, 1994)
 *  (June 3, 2014) - Previously licensed by
 *  (April 16, 1991)
 *  (September 23, 2017) - Previously licensed by
 *  (August 1, 2017) - Previously licensed by
 *  (May 3, 2012)
 *  (August 2, 2016)
 *  (May 11, 2016) - Previously licensed by
 *  (January 11, 2011)
 *  (August 2, 1996)
 *  (June 5, 2016)
 *  (August 1990)
 *  (November 16, 2018)
 *  (January 9, 2015)
 *  (November 15, 2018)
 *  (March 1988) - Originally licensed by Jim Terry Productions and then ; Gotaku's license expired in 1995 due to cost issues but was re-licensed in 2002
 *  (May 20, 1989)
 *  (May 20, 1989)
 *  (June 5, 2001)
 *  (August 20, 2016) - Previously licensed by Hirameki International Group
 *  (December 1, 2012)
 * Senki Zesshō Symphogear G (August 2, 2013)
 * Senki Zesshō Symphogear GX (July 5, 2015)
 * Senki Zesshō Symphogear AXZ (August 9, 2017)
 * Senki Zesshō Symphogear XV (July 8, 2019)
 *  (August 1989)
 *  (August 1989)
 *  (May 15, 1994)
 *  (July 2, 1991)
 *  (August 15, 2017)
 *  (Feburary 21, 1994)
 *  (January 2, 2015) - Previously licensed by Modern Programs International
 *  (August 1995) - Sub-licensed from Nippol
 *  (June 20, 2003)
 *  (June 1989)
 *  (December 12, 1998)
 * Magical Doremi Na-i-sho (November 22, 2018)
 * Akazukin Chacha N (October 2, 2017)
 *  (May 2010) - Previously licensed by and
 *  (June 8, 2017) - Sub-licensed from Nippol
 *  (July 12, 1997)
 *  (May 5, 2016) - Previously licensed by
 *  (January 15, 2017)
 *  (November 17, 2006)
 *  (November 17, 2006)
 *  (May 19, 2010) - Previously licensed by
 *  (January 1, 2019) - Sub-licensed from for a English dub
 *  (January 26, 2002)
 *  (May 17, 1997)
 *  (April 20, 2018) - Previously licensed by
 *  (April 20, 2018) - Previously licensed by
 *  (April 20, 2018) - Previously licensed by
 *  (April 20, 2018)
 *  (January 1990)
 *  (April 20, 2018)
 *  (April 20, 2018)
 *  (June 1989)
 *  (April 20, 2000)
 *  (April 20, 2002)
 *  (August 2, 2008)
 *  (August 7, 2007)
 *  (January 2, 1997)
 * KochiKame The Final: Kankichi Ryotsu's Last Day (September 20, 2016)
 *  (February 3, 1993)
 *  (May 3, 2000)
 *  (June 3, 2018)
 *  (August 1, 2017)
 *  (June 1989)
 *  (October 11, 2017) - Streaming rights held by
 *  (May 15, 2013) - Previously licensed by
 *  (August 1, 2019)
 *  (June 20, 2008) - Previously licensed by ZIV International
 *  (August 1, 1993)
 *  (August 15, 2016) - Previously licensed by
 *  (June 17, 2010) - Previously licensed by
 * /Super Pig/Super Boink (January 17, 2017) - Previously licensed by
 *  (May 1990)
 *  (December 26, 2015)
 *  (July 5, 2005)
 *  (July 17, 2018)
 *  (October 11, 2008)
 *  (May 3, 2006)
 * Major 2nd (January 1, 2019)
 *  (June 18, 2017)
 *  (March 1988)
 *  (September 5, 2019)
 *  (August 1, 2018)
 *  (August 1, 2018)
 *  (January 2, 2019)
 *  (January 2, 2019)
 * Her Majesty's Dog (April 2, 2014)
 *  (August 20, 1990)
 *  (March 1988)
 *  (March 1988)
 *  (June 3, 1998)
 *  (June 3, 1998)

Kidtaku
The Kidtaku name is the label used for some of the company's more-child-oriented titles.
 *  (August 20, 1999)
 *  (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)
 *  (November 3, 2012)
 * '/' (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)
 *  (August 11, 2005)
 *  (October 1989)
 *  (August 5, 2013) - Previously licensed by
 * Tama and Friends: Search For It! The Magic Puni-Puni Stone (June 5, 2014)
 * Tama and Friends: Uchi no Tama Shirimasen ka? (November 2, 2016)

Asiana
The Asiana name is the label used for the company's licensed Asian series and films.
 *  (September 8, 2002)
 *  (November 5, 2003)
 * Top Funny Comedian: The Movie (January 11, 2018)

Gollywood
The Gollywood name is used for licensed Indian titles, especially Bollywood films in the Hindi language.
 *  (January 19, 2000)
 *  (December 18, 2001)
 *  (June 13, 2002)
 *  (August 15, 2008)

Turco
The Turco name is the label used for the company's licensed Turkish television dramas.
 *  (November 2, 2014)
 *  (June 5, 2015)
 *  (August 11, 2016)

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)

Works for Other Companies
Gotaku has offered it's dubbing studios' services to other companies since the late 90's, while the company themselves have worked with other licensors in the past:
 *  (for )