French publishing company
Kaze
was a French publishing company that specializes in
anime
and
manga
. Its head office is in the
9th arrondissement of Paris
.
[1]
Founded in 1994, the company debuted by publishing
Record of Lodoss War
on VHS. It was owned by
Sony
through the
EMEA division
of
Crunchyroll, LLC
, a joint venture anime business between
Sony Pictures
and
Sony Music Entertainment Japan
's
Aniplex
.
After 15 years, Kaze became Kaze in 2010, in hopes that the addition of an accent allowed for a better pronunciation of its name. It published numerous series of Japanese animations in French and became one of the largest independent publishers of video and manga in Europe.
In 2005, Kaze launched its music label, Wasabi Records, specializing in
J-Pop
. In the last few years, the company has diversified its activities by publishing Japanese animated feature films, such as
Appleseed
,
Origin: Spirits of the Past
and
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
. In 2007, Kaze released
Shinobi
, its first live-action film, to theaters in France, and in July 2009, Kaze launched its own television channel, KZTV (Kaze TV), devoted to anime.
On August 28, 2009, Kaze announced its acquisition by
Viz Media Europe
, a subsidiary of
Shogakukan
and
Shueisha
.
[2]
Prior to the purchase, the company's manga was published under the Asuka imprint. Since January 2010, only
yaoi
titles have been released under the Asuka imprint; the majority of titles were moved to the company's new Kaze imprint, including later volumes of non-yaoi series started under the Asuka imprint. Asuka's current licenses include a broad spectrum of manga: popular
sh?nen
and
sh?jo
series such as
After School Nightmare
, more mature
seinen
and
josei
titles such as
Bokurano
, and classic manga such as
Black Jack
and works by
Osamu Tezuka
. They also publish a number of yaoi and
yuri
titles, including a French edition of
Be x Boy
magazine.
The company also publishes in
Germany
,
Italy
,
United Kingdom
,
Spain
,
Austria
,
Russia
&
Poland
.
In May 2012, Cedric Littardi, the founder and long-time head of the company, announced his departure.
On June 1, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that Kaze and its labels will be rebranded as Crunchyroll.
[3]
The rebranding became effective on October 1, 2022.
Italian dubs
[
edit
]
In 2012, the French company has received criticism from
Italy
regarding the publication of
Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail
(series
OVA
),
Mardock Scramble: the First Compression
,
and
Children Who Chase Lost Voices
. Instead of giving the job to an Italian
dubbing
studio, as with previous releases, Kaze opted for a French dubbing studio named Wantake, which used amateur
voice actors
of Italian-French nationality. The resulting performance was regarded as poor. Criticism was also directed towards the menu systems on the DVDs, which featured inaccurate translations. On
Amazon.com
, titles have received numerous negative reviews owing to these perceived failings, and the company was flooded with negative comments via
Twitter
and
Facebook
.
[4]
Anime published
[
edit
]
Anime published in France
[
edit
]
Anime published in UK
[
edit
]
Anime published in Germany
[
edit
]
Anime published in Spain
[
edit
]
Anime published in Italy
[
edit
]
Manga
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
December 2014
)
|
Kaze Anime Nights
[
edit
]
Kaze Anime Nights is a cinema event, where Kaze screens anime films and sometimes Asian films across Germany and Austria for one day or multiple days.
[6]
Films of Kaze Anime Nights and Asia Nights 2018
[
edit
]
Title
[7]
[8]
|
Release date
|
Tokyo Ghoul
|
February 2, 2018
|
Tokyo Ghoul
|
February 27, 2018
|
The Virgin Psychics
|
March 2, 2018
|
Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter
|
March 27, 2018
|
100 Yen Love
|
April 6, 2018
|
Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess
|
April 24, 2018
|
Death Note: Light Up the New World
|
May 4, 2018
|
Detective Conan Episode One
|
May 29, 2018
|
Persona Non Grata
|
June 1, 2018
|
Attack on Titan Movie Part 3
|
June 26, 2018
|
A Day
|
July 6, 2018
|
Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry
|
July 31, 2018
|
Corpse Party
|
August 3, 2018
|
Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic
|
August 28, 2018
|
Lu over the Wall
|
September 25, 2018
|
Night Is Short, Walk On Girl
|
October 30, 2018
|
Films of Kaze Anime Nights 2019
[
edit
]
Title
[6]
|
Release date
[6]
|
Dragon Ball Super: Broly
|
January 29, 2019
|
Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Take on Me
|
February 26, 2019
|
My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
|
March 26, 2019
|
The adventures of young Sinbad
|
April 30, 2019
|
Mirai
|
May 28, 2019
|
Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer
|
June 25, 2019
|
Dragon Ball Super: Broly
|
July 30, 2019
|
Okko's Inn
|
August 27, 2019
|
Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The Movie
|
August 27, 2019
|
One Piece: Stampede
|
September 24, 2019
|
Penguin Highway
|
October 29, 2019
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
Mentions Legales
Archived
June 14, 2017, at the
Wayback Machine
." Kaze. Retrieved on June 6, 2017. "le siege social est situe : 14 Bd Haussmann 75009 Paris France. "
- ^
Rice, Brad.
"Viz does Eurotrip: Parent companies acquire Kaze and Anime Virtual"
. Japanator
. Retrieved
January 25,
2012
.
- ^
"ANNONCE : Kaze devient Crunchyroll"
.
Crunchyroll
(in French)
. Retrieved
June 1,
2022
.
- ^
"Nuovi doppiaggi Kaze: l'ira dei fan"
(in Italian). AnimeClick.it. July 15, 2012.
- ^
"Black Rose Alice"
.
manga-news.com
(in French)
. Retrieved
December 11,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
"KAZE | KAZE Anime Nights"
. September 23, 2019. Archived from
the original
on September 23, 2019
. Retrieved
September 23,
2019
.
- ^
"KAZE Anime Nights 2018"
.
www.kaze-online.de
. Retrieved
September 23,
2019
.
- ^
"KAZE Movie ladt zu asiatischen Kinonachten ein"
.
www.kaze-online.de
. Archived from
the original
on September 23, 2019
. Retrieved
September 23,
2019
.
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Key personnel
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Motion
Picture Group
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Television
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International production
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Sony Channel
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AXN
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Others
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Former
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Defunct
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Currently broadcasting but sold to another company
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Former
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Sold and later closed
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Miscellaneous
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Other
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Defunct/Former
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