Bandai Anime YouTube Channel is the U.S. Bandai Channel

After months of hushed speculation and rumor stretching as far back as the beginning of last year, the official launch of the Bandai Entertainment YouTube channel this weekend not only signals the distributor’s attempt to offer VOD programming, but it quietly acknowledges the speculation that Bandai Entertainment was in fact planning to launch a full-fledged variant of the Bandai Channel VOD service in the US before recent events forced the reevaluation of such plans.

The speculation came to a head last year as representative Robert Napton made mention of an online project during the Anime Today podcast last December when asked about future plans involving the company, with Napton dancing around the issue audibly as if to cast doubt on future DVD projects.

With more and more of the fandom moving to venues like Joost, Funimation, Hulu, CrunchyRoll and YouTube, in lieu of DVD availability the need for yet another portal was being questioned.  Now that Bandai has decided to open their video channel for the US on YouTube with the intent to offer complete series, it remains to be seen whether this will be an addition to their current production strategy, or a signal to a wider shift away from DVD sales.