Bootlegged merchandise can usually be found at almost any convention. Someone thinks that they can bypass a companies trademark in order to make a few bucks off a popular item. What they don't relize is the companies are watching for this. Typically, once discovered and reported, a copyright holder will ask that those selling the merchandise be kicked out of the venue they are selling at. But what happens when that venue ignores this request? What happens when a blind eye is turned to these underhanded dealings? Funimation has shown what happens, you go to court.

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To wrap up my NDK Sweet 16 experience, I'll be discussing a bit about some of the other panels I got to see this past year. There were a lot of panels to choose from this year, but of course with limited time frames, other panels occurring at the same time, interviews, eating, etc, there's no way I could get to all I wanted. That's okay though as I felt that the panels I did attend were interesting and had a good time at them.

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Funimation brought its presence back to NDK this year to let us know what they are doing in the world of anime. The panel was led by their convention manager Sully who had lots of news to share.

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Welcome to our NDK special podcast. We have visited Nan Desu Kan, saw the panels and spoke with some of the guests. Now we will pass on what we saw to you, our listeners.

The rather limited notes are at the podcast page.

Some people are saying that anime in the states is dying; that fan subs are making it unprofitable. Try telling that to Gen Fukunaga and a group of investors that have recently purchased FUNimation Entertainment from Navarre Coporation recently for $24 million cash. And you cannot even say that Fukunaga-sama has no clue what he is getting into. The man is the founder, president and CEO of the blasted company.

So what exactly does this mean to me, the consumer? It means the company is going no where and you can expect distribution to happen just as it has in the past. Even though Navarre has sold the company they are still going to act as the sole distributer state side. They are also going to act as FUNimations logistics and fulfillment services provider.  Want more information on the sale?  Continue reading after the jump for the press release.

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Check out my thoughts on the new show Birdy the Mighty: Decode.

Funimation, who is now the source for a large deal of anime in the United States, had a panel at NDK this year.  If you are interested to know what they have in store for us or are interested in their business practices, go on over to our podcast of their NDK Panel.