Anime Insider Ceases Publication

On March 26, 2009, Rob Bricken, a former editor for Anime Insider magazine, reported that Wizard Entertainment has ceased publishing the periodical after eight years. He also stated that the editorial staff has been laid off.

Anime Insider began as a quarterly publication called Anime Invasion, and was published in this incarnation from Fall 2001 until Fall 2002. The publication became a bi-monthly magazine in November 2002, and the name was changed to Anime Insider in April 2003 in order to avoid trademark infringement. In July of 2005, Anime Insider became a monthly magazine, and it continued on a monthly publication schedule until March of 2009. During the winter of 2007, the cover price was dropped to $4.99 in the United States and $5.99 in Canada. And after the demise of NewType USA in early 2008, Anime Insider was cited as the English-language anime magazine that had the highest distribution and sales in North America.

Anime Insider’s news section covered the events and trends for both the anime and manga industries. News that was covered included licensing announcements, expected releases, and lists of upcoming conventions. There were also news headlines for anime, manga, video games, and Japanese culture. As part of their anime coverage, Anime Insider would highlight a popular anime property debuting in North America, as well as an anime series currently airing in Japan.

The magazine’s DVD section would include such things as information about domestic DVD sales, interviews with voice actors, new release recommendations, and information on Japanese releases. The Theatrical section focused on the theatrical releases of anime and other films produced in Japan. The Stuff section focused on anime merchandise, anime figurines, and collectable card games.

Manga received some coverage as well. Each month, a preview of a new manga title being released in the United States was included. This would usually be a chapter from an upcoming volume. The Manga section of the magazine included a list of English releases and publishing news. Often, comparisons of a title’s manga and anime versions would be included in this section. New manga recommendations and information about manga not available in English would also be found here.

Animail contained all of the reader contributed material. Letters from readers were answered in this section. Reader comments, web poll results, and fan art were also included.

The 67th issue of Anime Insider is the final issue of the magazine.