Wikipedia

Cloverway Inc.

Cloverway Inc.(abbreviated asCWi,also branded asCloverway)[3]was a media licensing agency based inLong Beach, Californiawhich specialized in Japanese animation andmangalicensing, and they were best known for being therepresentative officeofToei Animationfor theAmericas,mostly distributing Toei properties forsyndicationand home video. They were also acting as an intermediary agent between Japanese companies (Shueisha,Shogakukan,Nippon Animation,etc.) and local companies both in the U.S. market (Viz Communications,[4]Tokyopop,[5]Pioneer Entertainment,[6]ADV Films,andBandai Entertainment) and theLatin Americanmarket (Televisa,TV Azteca,Cisneros,Cartoon Network,Fox Kids,PlayTV), for film distribution or manga publishing of their contents in the continent, to variousTV channelsin each country, regionally and pan-regionally as well as arranging publishing deals with several manga publishers in English,PortugueseandSpanish.

Cloverway Inc.[1]
IndustryMultimediaentertainment;
Animelicensinganddistribution
Founded1991
DefunctAugust 2007
FateClosed[1][2]
HeadquartersLong Beach,California,U.S.
Area served
North AmericaandLatin America
Key people
Yasuo Matsuo(President)
Mary Jo Winchester(Vice President)
Daniel Castaneda(General Manager)
Takeshi Okajima(Accountant Manager)
ProductsAnime,Manga,Merchandising
OwnerYasuo Matsuo

History

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The company was founded in 1991. In 1992, the first anime series distributed by Cloverway forLatin Americawas theKnights of the ZodiacTV series, first broadcast in Mexico and Brazil. It was followed bySailor MoonandDragon Ballsome time later.[7]

In 1995,Dragon Ballwas re-dubbed by Cloverway, after Bandai[8]failed distributing their first episodes and a movie, dubbed under the title of "Zero y el Dragón Mágico" ( "Zero and the Magic Dragon", based on theHarmony Goldversion[9][10]).

Generally, Cloverway commissioneddubbingfor the Spanish versions to the companyIntertrack[es](until its closure in 2005, later on to Optimedia Productions in 2006) in Mexico, and the Brazilian versions toÁlamo[pt](with exceptions likeSailor Moon,Yu Yu HakushoandMirmo) inSão PauloBrazil, while some other works were dubbed into Spanish through Cloverway's arrangements with Televisa's ownedAudiomaster 3000[es]in Mexico. Other Cloverway's arrangements were made with International Telefilms Inc. for first-run syndication broadcasting in Chile (ETC TVandCHV) and Spanish dubbing recorded byTechnoworks/HispanoAmérica Doblajes[es]inSantiago.As for the series owned byTMS,Spanish versions were already dubbed by VDI Multimedia inLos Angelesand previously distributed by other companies, but Brazilian versions were never produced and Cloverway couldn't get a deal for them to be dubbed and broadcast in Brazil. Also, Spanish versions ofKimba(Tezuka Productions) and Nippon Animation series distributed by Cloverway, were formerly dubbed and licensed by other companies, so Cloverway just distributed and offered them for reruns or inside TV programming packages.

Parallel in the United States, Cloverway tried to distribute the same series by himself as in Latin America, but due to the regulations that led to theseries censorship,they delegated licenses to local distributors who managed the production of Englishlocalization,dubbingand distribution. However,Sailor Moon SandSailor Moon SuperSwere the only two licenses whose English versions were produced by Cloverway, dubbed in association with Optimum Production Services in Canada. As for the U.S. Hispanic market, Cloverway syndicated the seriesTenchi UniversetoUnivision(Univision[11]andTelefutura[12]networks) andDragon Ball ZtoTelemundo[13][14]networks.

WhenShueishabecame a joint owner ofViz Communicationsin 2002 and with the subsequent merger withShoProin 2005,[15]Cloverway eventually lost the representation of Shueisha (forN.A.andL.A.) andShogakukan[16](forL.A.) for publishing licensing in theAmericas.

The company's representation ofToei Animationin America ceased, due to Toei's decision to start licensing and distributing directly since 2004, thus ending the contracts with their agents Tokyo Business Consultants[17]in Europe and Cloverway in America, and launching their own offices in 2004 (Toei Animation Europe[18][19]based inParisandToei Animation Inc.based inLos Angeles). In 2005, the Toei Animation licenses arranged by Cloverway were transferred to Toei Animation Inc. as a requirement, leaving Cloverway only with the catalog of the other Japanese producers they licensed. As a consequence of this, there has been a chain of irregularities, such as the loss ofmaster tapesof many series formerly distributed by Cloverway, with the Latin American versions being the most affected for this change in distribution.

After losing Toei's successful catalog, Cloverway continued representing and distributing anime from other Japanese companies, adding new properties and selling most of their new catalog to Cartoon Network L.A. and other local TV stations inBrazilandHispanic America.At the middle of 2006, Cloverway licensed an AnimeFree-TVprogramming blocktitled "Otacraze"[20]to Brazilian broadcasterPlayTV[21]who begun airing the block in March 2007, including the seriesRanma ½,Samurai Champloo,Trigun,andLove Hina.

Due to economic problems, Cloverway closed its operations in August 2007.[22]

Licensed titles

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The following list features the anime and live action series licensed by the company:[23]

Anime

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Japanese tokusatsu

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ab"Articles of Incorporation of Cloverway Inc".www.manta.com.Archived fromthe originalon March 8, 2013.RetrievedJanuary 12,2022.
  2. ^"Explosivo éxito en la región para franquicia de Adness Entertainment".todotvnews.Archived fromthe originalon August 6, 2018.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  3. ^"CWI. Representing the best in Japanese Animation".Cloverway.com.Archived fromthe originalon November 3, 2007.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  4. ^"A Viz Communications Manga".Viz Communications, Inc. Archived fromthe originalon August 5, 2018.RetrievedApril 10,2022.[English translation rights in the United States of America and Canada arranged by Shueisha, Inc. through Cloverway Inc.]
  5. ^"A TOKYOPOP Manga".TOKYOPOP. Archived fromthe originalon August 5, 2018.RetrievedApril 10,2022.[English translation rights in the United States of America and Canada arranged by Shueisha, Inc. through Cloverway Inc.]
  6. ^"Pioneer To Release SMS & SuperS TV Series Before Syndication".Archived fromthe originalon March 15, 2008.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  7. ^"Answerman - Who Was Cloverway, And What Were They Doing With Anime?".Anime News Network.RetrievedAugust 12,2020.
  8. ^"El Éxito de Dragon Ball en México (Parte 1)".Bandai(in Spanish). August 24, 2016.RetrievedApril 15,2022.
  9. ^"Dragon Ball Intro Latin America (English)".www.youtube.com.Archived fromthe originalon August 5, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 12,2022.
  10. ^"Zero y el Dragón Mágico | Especial de Dragon Ball".August 15, 2015.
  11. ^"TENCHI MUYO!".Archived fromthe originalon November 2, 2001.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  12. ^Toonturama,a three-hour lineup that mainly consisted of dubbed versions of American and European animated series natively produced in English as well as anime series (Lost Universe, Tenchi Universe and Red Baron);
  13. ^"Spanish DBZ returns!".www.toonzone.net.Archived fromthe originalon August 6, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 12,2022.
  14. ^Telemundo Kidsis on weekend morning blocks made their debut on October 6, 2001, including the animated series as well as anime series (Dragon Ball Z);
  15. ^"MERGER BETWEEN TWO JAPANESE ENTERTAINMENT GIANTS COMPLETE".Viz Media.Archived fromthe originalon October 28, 2005.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  16. ^"PREGUNTAS Y RESPUESTAS SOBRE IVREA!".Ivrea(in Spanish). Archived fromthe originalon November 11, 2017.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  17. ^"French court orders Toei to pay up".Variety.Archived fromthe originalon August 5, 2018.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  18. ^"Activité".Toei Animation Europe.Archived fromthe originalon November 28, 2010.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  19. ^"Historique".Toei Animation Europe.Archived fromthe originalon November 19, 2008.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  20. ^Monte, Sandra (September 25, 2006)."Interview with Daniel Castañeda from Cloverway".Papo de Budega.Archived fromthe originalon December 26, 2010.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  21. ^Monte, Sandra (January 29, 2007)."OTACRAZE will premier on Brazilian Play TV".Papo de Budega.Archived fromthe originalon April 16, 2009.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  22. ^Bianchin, Victor (October 28, 2020)."O que houve com a dublagem de 'Guerreiras Mágicas de Rayearth'? Fãs reagem..."UOL(in Brazilian Portuguese).RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  23. ^"Cloverway".Anime News Network.RetrievedApril 10,2022.
  24. ^abcdeNews, Aza (August 3, 2005)."Cloverway trae nuevas series y Cartoon Network forma su bloque Adult Swim".Animezonearg.info(in Spanish). Archived fromthe originalon June 25, 2006.RetrievedApril 10,2022.{{cite web}}:|last1=has generic name (help)
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