ICv2 names top anime company and property

Retailer website ICv2.com has named its Top Anime Company of the Year (Bandai Entertainment) and Anime Property of the Year (Inuyasha), based on their impact on retailers:

Amazingly enough Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, which was our Anime of the Year in 2003, very nearly won again. It occupied the second spot on the VideoScan YTD list (and Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke from 1999 was #5). At least part of the lackluster anime sales in 2004 can be blamed on the fact that key anime movies released in Japan in 2004 including Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle, Otomo's Steam Boy and the Shirow-based Appleseed won't be released in the U.S. until 2005 -- and three older Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki features, which were never released in the U.S. and were scheduled for 2004, were also delayed until 2005.