Pour one out, old-school fans. It’s time to say goodbye to another part of our history.
Recently, the official ADV Films website finally went down for good. The site has been picked up and squatted upon by Perfect Privacy LLC, who are using the domain to serve ads.
For many, ADV Films has been pretty much a non-factor in the industry, having closed their doors in 2009 for most intents and purposes. A combination of over-expansions and troubles with Japanese licensing partner Sojitz Corporation forced the publisher to dissolve. ADV’s dissolution saw numerous smaller entities make their entry to the market, including:
- SXION 23, LLC (Section23 Films)
- Sentai Filmworks
- Maiden Japan
- Kraken Licensing
- Unio Mystica Holdings (Switchblade Pictures)
- Valkyrie Media Partners
- Seraphim Studios
- AEsir Holdings
ADV’s name has popped up in scattered stories since then, mostly related to lawsuits. Overall, though, AD Vision primarily stayed in the shadows.
A couple of years ago, it did seem as if ADV was ready to return from the dead. In early 2015, the official ADV Films website relaunched with a new logo and a spiffy (if baffling) random number cycling counter.
AD Vision does still hold the extended rights to numerous titles today, though, and several titles have been released through Aesir Holdings. Still, there are numerous titles held by AD Vision haven’t been re-released under Aesir’s banner yet.
For now, though this is an odd footnote in history, it’s definitely a bittersweet one. ADV was a company that had been there for many fans’ earliest days, and they were a driving force in the early expansion of the market in North America. So, for now, let’s take a moment to think back on the good times, and to always do it now.
Source: Fandom Post (Thanks to L.B. Bryant for the tip!)
