Media Blasters

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Media Blasters
Media Blasters logo
Tokyo Shock logo

Type Entertainment
Status Active
Led by John Sirabella
Founder(s) John Sirabella
Founded 1997
Head-
quarters
Belleville, New Jersey, United States
Also known as MB
Subsidiary companies
  • Anime Works
  • Kitty Media
  • Tokyo Shock
  • Shriek Show
  • Fresh Meat
  • Fever Dreams
  • Guilty Pleasures
Website http://media-blasters.com/

Media Blasters, abbreviated MB, is an American independent entertainment company specializing in the localization of manga, anime, Asian cinema, and obscure or exotic films in the North American market. Founded by John Sirabella in 1997 in Belleville, New Jersey, the company consists of several divisions each specializing in the distribution of specific types of media. The company's Tokyo Shock label was founded in 1998, and focuses on home video releases of Asian cinema. It has released notable films from studios such as Toho and Shaw Brothers Ltd. Notably, it officially brought many kaiju films to DVD in North America for the first, and in some cases only, time. After many years releasing Toho's lesser-known Showa kaiju offerings on DVD, the company secured the rights to two Godzilla films, Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Megalon, in 2011. Media Blasters released both films to DVD and Blu-ray, marking the first official non-VHS release of Godzilla vs. Megalon in North America and the first time the Japanese version of either film had become available in the region. However, disputes with Toho over licensing the special features included on these releases resulted in Destroy All Monsters being pulled from circulation and re-released in 2014 without the special features. Godzilla vs. Megalon was accidentally released in limited quantities with the unapproved special features included due to an error by the duplication facility. Media Blasters also released the soundtrack album for Destroy All Monsters to CD in 2011 and 2014, but cancelled a planned CD release of the soundtrack album for Godzilla vs. Megalon. All of the companies' releases of Toho films have since gone out of print, with most of these titles later being acquired by The Criterion Collection, and the company has yet to work with Toho again following the dispute. Despite many financial difficulties during the 2010s resulting in the company discontinuing many of its labels and scaling back its releases, it has since seemingly recovered as of 2020 and continues operating to this day, releasing other non-Toho kaiju films in the North American market.

Selected releases

Gallery

External links

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