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Kazé was a French publishing company that specializes in anime and manga. Its head office was 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.
 | |
| Company type | Société par actions simplifiée |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | September 21, 1994 |
| Founder | Cédric Littardi |
| Defunct | October 1, 2022 |
| Fate | Absorbed into Crunchyroll |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Europe |
Key people | Kazuyoshi Takeuchi |
| Products |
|
| Parent | Otter Media (2019–2021) Crunchyroll EMEA (Crunchyroll, LLC) (2021–2022) |
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After 15 years, Kaze became Kazé 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, Kazé 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, Kazé released Shinobi, its first live-action film, to theaters in France, and in July 2009, Kazé launched its own television channel, KZTV (Kazé TV), devoted to anime.
On August 28, 2009, Kazé 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 Kazé imprint, including later volumes of non-yaoi series started under the Asuka imprint. Asuka's current licenses include a broad spectrum of manga: popular shōnen and shōjo 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 published in Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Russia & Poland.
In May 2012, Cédric Littardi, the founder and long-time head of the company, announced his departure.
On June 1, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that Kazé and its labels will be rebranded as Crunchyroll.[3] The rebranding became effective on October 1, 2022.
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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, Kazé 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]
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Anime published in France
Anime published in UK
- Bakuman (Sub-only release)
- Berserk: The Golden Age Arc
- Black Lagoon
- Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail
- Bleach (Seasons 9-16, Movies 3 and 4)
- Code Geass (Both seasons)
- Future Diary
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Season 1 only)
- Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
- Mardock Scramble
- Mawaru Panguindrum
- Nisekoi
- Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan
- One-Punch Man
- Persona 4: The Animation
- Princess Jellyfish
- Tiger & Bunny
- Trigun: Badlands Rumble
- Un-Go
- World Conquest Zvezda Plot
Anime published in Germany
Anime published in Spain
Anime published in Italy
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![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2014) |
Kazé Anime Nights is a cinema event, where Kazé screens anime films and sometimes Asian films across Germany and Austria for one day or multiple days.[6]
Films of Kazé Anime Nights and Asia Nights 2018
| 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 Kazé Anime Nights 2019
| 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 |
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