Hard to believe 2008 has passed so quickly and that in a few days we'll be welcoming 2009 in a thick, murky fog of fireworks smoke.

This means it's time to turn to that old, familiar standby in the columnist toolbox: the end-of-the year retrospective, where the good (which I've labeled “;the toppers”;) and the not-so-good (”;the toppled”;) are recounted in handy list form.

This week I'll take a look at the anime industry; manga's turn will come next week.

The toppers

Funimation. Two days at Anime Expo in July pretty much solidified Funimation as the go-to anime publisher for the year, when the publisher announced it had scooped up 51 anime series—19 former Geneon properties and 32 formerly held by ADV. The publisher's own licensing efforts brought a number of high-profile titles, as well.

And the news keeps on rolling—as of Thursday the publisher has announced through its 10-day “;New Show A Go-Go”; event that it will be re-releasing former Geneon properties “;Vandread”; and “;Gad Guard”; and has licensed “;Nabari no Ou.”;

Crunchyroll. At the beginning of the year, Crunchyroll was just another in a long list of streaming Internet video sites that operated on the fringes of legality, where fans posted their own subtitled versions of as-yet-unlicensed series.

At the end of it, the company was preparing to ban user uploads—the new policy takes effect Jan. 8—and is now the official Internet home for close to 50 series from old (”;Speed Racer,”; Toei's “;Fist of the North Star”;) to new (anime studio Gonzo regularly posts its new series there) ... and “;Naruto,”; too (which is a juggernaut worthy of its own label).

The toppled

ADV. As recently as a few years ago, ADV and Funimation offered a one-two anime punch deep in the heart of Texas. Now, while Funimation has new licenses to announce seemingly every few months, ADV's output has slowed to a trickle, with box sets of previously released material being the company's bread and butter for much of the year. There were also the closures of the Newtype USA and PiQ magazines to deal with ... and the less said about the manga division, the better.

There's hope for next year, though, as its new imprint, Sentai Filmworks, gets set to launch with former Geneon property “;Mahoromatic”; and new license “;Clannad”; leading the way. Gambatte (good luck), ADV!

”;Dragon Ball: Evolution.”; It seems like every new promotional image released of this live-action adaptation of the popular anime is immediately greeted with several hundred Internet forum users commenting “;OMG TEH SUXXORZ”; (translation: “;This appears to be nothing short of an unmitigated cinematic train wreck, and I shudder to consider the ramifications of such a poor potential product upon future live-action adaptations of anime and manga”;).

As a generic mystical martial arts movie, it might work. As a faithful translation of the anime/manga series, though, I must admit it doesn't look good. In any case, prepare yourselves for impact in March ...