The Colbert Effect/Discotek Media

American licensing company Discotek Media is known for dealing this trope to many once-obscure anime series (and films). This is so notorious, the company even has "The Discotek Effect". If they license an anime, especially if it was previously released in the US, get ready to see dedicated fans handing Discotek their money for the resulting boxsets.

* Their fastest license-rescue might as well be *Sonic X*, occurring just *months* after Vortexx (the last kids' block to air it) shut down. Many *Sonic the Hedgehog* fans predictably bought Discotek's boxsets while selling their 4Kids DVDs (that Funimation released thanks to a partnership with them).
* Speaking of 4Kids, When Discotek rescue-licensed *Fighting Foodons*, they weren't able to get the Japanese version since that particular anime never saw a physical release prior. In other words, *Fighting Foodons* is so obscure in its native Japan, the American physical release may remain the *only* official physical release. The release may be dub-only, but still.
* Discotek is the only company capable of pulling *Lupin III* out of obscurity and at least giving it a cult following, as evidenced by their releasing every bit of *Lupin* material Funimation didn't already have at that point (and eventually they got to some of Funi's *Lupin* releases as well).
* Discotek even managed to partially pull *Urusei Yatsura* out of obscurity via their releasing all its movies (starting with 2 and eventually getting the other five).
* Even though movies 1-5 remain the only physical release of the *Dr. Slump* anime in the US and Canada (the only other official release in the region was a dub pilot that didn't get picked up), Akira Toriyama fans bought the release.
* The already infamously bad *Chargeman Ken!* got even more infamous after Discotek licensed it. And had the boxset acknowledge its infamy. Naturally, fans picked it up just to see how hilariously bad it was.
* Discotek Media holds the title for releasing the first North American 4K UltraHD anime release- *Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie* (released in October 2019). This made Discotek *more* popular than they already were among anime fans and 4K collectors.
* Their entire virtual panel from Anime Lockdown Con (which happened in the first place because COVID-19 forced the cancellations of many other big anime conventions), which included the fact they were able to find a dubbed master for *A Thousand and One Nights*, as well as the fact they rescued *Love Hina Again*, and *s-CRY-ed*. They also licensed *Case Closed: Episode One*, a special that is a retelling of the first two episodes of the main anime.
* A month later in June 2020, Discotek rescued *Mon Colle Knights*. This became a frenzy among some people when Discotek announced they were looking for the dub masters. No dice, but the first ever physical release in the US (even if it's sub-only) is set for April 2021, at any rate.
* From their September 2020 industry panel:
	+ When they announced they found acceptable masters for the dub of *Medabots Spirits*, *Medabots* fans *cheered*. (At least, those who wanted the season on physical media in the first place did.)
	+ Similarly, their rescuing *Hajime no Ippo* after over a decade in Geneon limbo.
	+ Speaking of Geneon, Discotek also got a hold of *Battle Athletes*- yes, *both* the OVA and TV anime *Battle Athletes Victory*. *Battle Athletes* fans began asking Discotek to take their money.
	+ *The Rose of Versailles* was previously thought to be unlicenseable in the US. Then Nozomi got a hold of it, but their release fell out-of-print. Then Discotek rescued it. Fans *screamed*.
* They managed to top even their September 2020 industry panel a few months later with the announcements that they licensed *Acrobunch* and- a few weeks later- rescued *Kodocha* and *Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics*, and not to mention licensing *Lupin the Third Part III*- yes, they got a hold of *Pink Jacket*. Cue a *lot* of happy Discotek fans.
	+ And it gets even *sweeter*- The first opening for *Kodocha*, "7 O'Clock News", was previously not cleared for Funimation to use due to a certain company, but as of 2020 its rights are cleared and Discotek is able to use it.
* Not even a few weeks later, it was revealed that Discotek were streaming *Tales of Phantasia: The Animation* on Amazon Prime Video. Not even two months later, it was added to Crunchyroll with Discotek listed as the publisher. Of course fans speculated that it means the anime might be put back into print- it was a former Geneon license.
* A lot of happy *Cyber City Oedo 808* fans thanked Discotek when they revealed that it was part of their March 2021 slate.
* Discotek fans who couldn't buy the Blu-ray releases *screamed* when Discotek added more of their catalog to Crunchyroll in the Winter 2021 anime season than in any other anime season prior.
* Discotek managed to top even the previous two industry panels by announcing they got *Sgt. Frog* in March 2021 (the whole thing).