Central Park Media - History

History

Central Park Media was founded in 1990 by John O'Donnell as an anime supplier, with Project A-Ko and Dominion Tank Police as its first two anime titles, which were sub-licensed to CPM by Manga UK who also provided the dubs. Together with AnimEigo, U.S. Renditions, Streamline Pictures and A.D. Vision, CPM pioneered the distribution of anime for mature viewers in North America.

During its heyday, CPM incorporated MD Geist as part of its U.S. Manga Corps logo. Curiosity by anime fans seeing the "corporate spokes mecha" in CPM's titles resulted in MD Geist becoming one of the company's bestselling titles. In 1996, CPM commissioned MD Geist creator Koichi Ohata to write and direct a sequel; at the same time, Ohata made a director's cut of the first title, adding new scenes and expanding the storyline.

In 1992, CPM - through its Anime 18 division - released Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend, which became the first animated film to be given the NC-17 rating. Since its release, Urotsukidoji has become a cult classic among fans of anime, science fiction and horror genres, while at the same time, being one of the first anime titles to introduce the western public to the hentai genre. It was released in theaters across the United States in both subtitled and dubbed formats.

In the mid-1990s, CPM expanded to distributing manga and manhwa (Korean manga) through CPM Manga and CPM Manhwa, respectively. CPM Manga also featured adaptations of MD Geist, Armored Trooper Votoms and Project A-Ko by American writers and artists.

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