Last week, Japanese media company Broccoli's board of directors decided to dissolve its Broccoli International USA subsidiary. The four-person subsidiary's operations will end by December 31st, with all liquidation planned for completion by February 2009. Broccoli expects to take losses on the division's closure, but the losses are expected to be small.

Broccoli established their wholly owned USA subsidiary back in March 2002 with $981,000 in capital to manage their copyrights in North America, as well as produce and distribute character goods, oversee a retail store, and handle electronic commerce. Its closure is the result of increasingly difficult competition faced in these fields, resulting in a drop in revenue and profits. It was projected that changing the subsidiary's prospects would be too difficult, and that closure would be the better option.

Prior to the establishment of Broccoli International USA, Broccoli opened Anime Gamers - a western variation of their Japanese retail store - in Los Angeles in 2001. The store eventually closed in fall of 2007. An online version of the store operated and closed over roughly the same period of time. Anime Gamers' Synch-Point division produced English language adaptations of several anime series as well, including: I'm Gonna Be An Angel! (Tenshi ni Narumon!), FLCL, and Di Gi Charat.

See what happens when you don't eat your vegetables?