Discotek Media

Discotek Media
Company typePrivate
IndustryEntertainment
Genre
Founded2005; 19 years ago (2005)
Headquarters
Altamonte Springs, Florida
,
U.S.
Area served
  • United States
  • Canada
Services
Websitediscotekmedia.com

Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series.[1]

History

Formed in 2005,[1] Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retro titles from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, a lot of them "license rescued" from other companies such as Funimation, Viz Media, ADV Films, Bandai Entertainment, Geneon, Manga Entertainment, etc. Their licenses include most of the Lupin the Third franchise, the first two seasons and three films of Digimon, Fist of the North Star, Sonic X, Hajime no Ippo, Urusei Yatsura, Galaxy Express 999, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, and the 1997 Berserk series, as well as OVAs such as Giant Robo and Gunbuster and films such as Memories and Project A-ko. The company has also acquired several more recent titles and has collaborated with streaming service Crunchyroll on several releases, including KonoSuba, Kemono Friends, and 5 Centimeters per Second.

Discotek is notable for being a major adopter of the SD Blu-ray format, using it to release anime that do not have HD masters available.[2] The company has utilized unusual methods to find English dubs for which the masters have been lost. Such as using a Betamax copy of Nutcracker Fantasy in order to remaster the international cut of the film,[3] and reaching out to the fan community to locate the English dub of the third season of Medabots.[4]

Discotek commissioned their first original English-language dub for the April 2016 release of Lupin III: Jigen's Gravestone.[5] In 2022, the company announced a new sub-label for live-action films, Nihon Nights, and another for tokusatsu television series and films, Toku Time.[6][7] The former began with the Blu-ray release of Uzumaki,[6] and the latter began with the release of Space Sheriff Gavan. In 2024, Discotek began licensing hentai anime starting with Kite.

References

  1. ^ a b "New Anime Distributor". Anime News Network. August 30, 2005. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  2. ^ "What Determines Whether An Older Show Should Be Released as SD-BD?". Anime News Network. September 19, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  3. ^ "The golden age of DVDs isn't over yet for anime fans". The Verge. February 29, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  4. ^ "Discotek Turns to Community for Help Locating Mon Kolle Knights, Medabots English Dub Masters". Anime News Network. June 11, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  5. ^ "Discotek Adds Lupin III: Jigen's Gravestone, Yowapeda, Go Nagai World, Toei's Little Mermaid, Iria". Anime News Network. December 21, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Discotek Reveals Restoration Releases of Darkstalkers, Devilman, More Titles". Anime News Network. March 14, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  7. ^ "Discotek Launches New Toku Time Label for Tokusatsu Shows". Anime News Network. July 30, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2024.