Gonzo's 2009 Anime Line-up Cut In Half

With Gonzo's parent company GDH going through all sorts of restructurings lately, after being taken over by an irrelevant Japanese investment company (irrelevant for us, anyway), the dreaded "cost-effective measures" are looming just around the corner. Along with various managerial hacks and slashes, the company will also drastically reduce its anime production starting next year. So instead of 8 expected titles, Gonzo will only release 4 animes in 2009.

Some of the likely candidates for Gonzo's halved line-up are The Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk (Update: trailer added), Slap Up Party: Arad Senki, Shangri-La and Alive: The Final Evolution (or Alive: Saishuu Shinkateki Shounen). Which may or may not become the studio's final 2009 anime line-up...

In the meantime, Gonzo Rosso - another division of GDH - is engaging in some shady deals of its own, by forming a business alliance with China-based Moli Publish Limited. If you're into MMORPGs of questionable quality, feel free to read about this on ANN. Below is just a snippet.

"Through this alliance, GONZO Rosso will license to Moli, the worldwide publishing rights (excluding Japan) for The Tower of DRUAGA -the Recovery of BABYLIM-, and the publishing rights of PANDORA SAGA in North America. Moli will license to GONZO Rosso the publishing rights in Japan for King of Pirate Online, a Moli game which currently has over 7 million users."

Squid pro quo.