With our currently running poll asking for your favorite anime licensor, it has become apparent that Bandai comes through as the marginal winner, with FUNimation on a close second spot. Granted, they both pale into insignificance when faced with the angry mob of anime fans who rightfully agree that "English dubs suck yankee balls" (which is not to say they don't have a favorite licensor, despite certain dubbed releases).

It's interesting to point out that this vote of confidence for Bandai Entertainment comes after a yearlong of changes and problems for the company - including their unfortunate release of Code Geass, which was plagued by large numbers of defective DVDs. On the other hand, they also had some good things going for themselves, and we can only hope to see more of these, with fewer hiccups.

But let's not get too intimate with Bandai's happenings this year, because the studious folks from AnimeNews.biz already covered the topic in an editorial this week, titled "The Possible Consolidation of Bandai Entertainment". The article concludes with some speculation about the company's immediate future, and its rumored plans to officially launch the Bandai Channel service in the US.

Coincidentally, the day after said editorial (yesterday), the same website ran anoter story about Bandai's divisions from Japan - Bandai Visual and Bandai Networks - "consolidating" into the same building. Nothing major, though, from the sound of it.