I know I'm a day or so late, but I was recovering from that god awful
Funimation Lupin dub' but more on that later! Well, I'm sure what everyone
wants to hear is the industry news ' so here it is, in order of appearance:
Oh, and one thing mentioned everywhere. The anime market is on a big, booming
upswing right now.
Synch-Point was supposed to go on Friday, rescheduled for Saturday, and
couldn't make it. Hope things are going well for them'
Media Blasters:
This panel was run by John. He was very excited because MB had just signed a
deal with Enoki for 10 of their shorter 13 episode series. Included in those
10 are Babel II, Genwa Wars (Harmegadon, I was informed), Gun Frontier, and
Dante's Inferno. He couldn't remember the others. But I'm sure some detective
work on the Enoki page could turn some up. They also have the rights to Space
Pirate Mito.
Kenshin news ' 6 more discs. (From what number, I don't know') The last year
or so they've been a real Kenshin factory. Even if things have slid, the top
priority has been to get Kenshin out on time. They did NOT want to have a
Ranma-like release schedule' Despite fan prophecy, the third season of Kenshin
is continuing to sell really well.
Berserk news ' The dub is being done by NYAV, the same group that did the dub
for Magic User's Club. When asked what the decision process was for which dub
studio they choose for each show, the response was a lot of factors go into it
' cost, availability... but also if the studio has done similar shows and how
much they want the show. In the case of Berserk, the dub director is a huge
fan and was asking to be the one to dub it as soon as he heard Media Blasters
had it. One of the reasons Berserk took so long to get was they were waiting
on Urban Vision, and also NTV, the Japanese company. NTV is very old, has a
long history, and therefore moves at a glacial pace. MB does have the brand
new anamorphic progressive digitally restored masters. They are working with
the producer to get as many extras as possible. Berserk is by far the most
expensive series they have purchased, even more than Kenshin. It has been
sublicensed to Australia, so R4 fans should be seeing a release down under.
The Berserk box will be similar, but not exactly the same as the second
Rayearth box. It will open up into three sections, will have picture on both
the inside and the outside of the box, and be very sturdy. He didn't have one
to show us, but said it was gorgeous. I believe he said the dub was completed.
The second season is being worked on in Japan right now. They are in the
process of drawing up the storyboards. However, the next section of the story
is so violent, they aren't sure it will even be able to air in Japan'
The Sci-Fi channel did want to show Berserk, but who knows with how many
edits' American TV is difficult to work with, and Media Blasters doesn't buy
and release shows with TV in mind.
Weiss and other shounen-ai ' The Japanese INSISTED on the title Knight
Hunters, since they were worried that 'Weiss Kreuz' would have some negative
Nazi connotations ' no, we don't get it either. It has been selling extremely
well, and they are going to release the OAVs as well. They did go and get the
seiyuu interviews, although after seeing them, he wonders why there's such a
clamoring for them' There is some new Fake anime being made in Japan, and they
want it. Due to the success of Weiss and Fake, they are looking at similar
shows. Gravitation was mentioned as something they were looking at. Level C,
on sub-only VHS, is doing okay.
As for the Tokyo Shock line, it's doing pretty well. They have a few titles in
art theaters, such as Freeze Me and Visitor Q. I think they have two new
titles, Samurai Fiction and Pyrokenesis. Their Shriek show line is also doing
pretty well, although lots of those titles don't have R2s to work from, and
when they do, they also have a tendency to be edited. The Eurohorror fans
complain more than the anime ones'
General stuff ' this looks to be a pretty big year for them, with Berserk,
Kenshin, Gundress, Weiss, and De:Vadasey. They are releasing about 15 DVDs a
month, all three divisions put together. They will release the rest of Zenki.
The man who wrote Kite and Mezzo Forte is working on a movie script right now.
Titles that are doing very well, besides the already mentioned Kenshin and
Weiss, are Magic Users' Club, Gokudo, Bible Black, Kite, Mezzo Forte, and 9
o'clock Woman. Kurogane Communication is doing pretty well. They hoped it
would fill the shoujoy gap left by Magic Users Club coming to a close. (Konoha
note: they were selling MUC 7 at the convention, and by Sunday, there was one
subtitled VHS left that hadn't been bought. I was pleased. ^^) Fortune Quest
isn't doing that well, and it was an experimental title for them. He mentioned
that they had no real master for MKR, and they had to piece one together from
two different ones. Also, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network were two of the
places MKR almost aired. They should be releasing 1-2 adult titles a month.
TOKYOPOP:
Ken Lee ran this panel. There was no talk about the Chapter 11 of the manga
distributor. Anyhow..
Manga ' In addition to the new original reading direction of the manga, they
are also using the same kind of paper as the Japanese manga does. There was a
long Great Paper Hunt to accomplish this. This new manga line has been selling
really well. Love Hina debuted at the convention in graphic novel format. They
will be releasing more Korean manga. Someone complained about an error in the
Marmalade Boy translation, and he promised he would look into it. He also said
he would look into having some sort of translator's notes online. Someone
asked, since they finished Sailormoon, if they would consider Sailor V. He
looked thoughtful, and again, said he would look into it. (But in a more,
'hey! That's a good idea!' way than other times during the panel). Generally,
the graphic novels will come out bimonthly, although they are experimenting
with Love Hina, and releasing that monthly.
Anime ' GTO is selling really well (w00t!) and Miyu is doing pretty well.
Alexander, retitled 'Reign', looks like it might actually be on the way soon.
They are working on Marmalade Boy (which they do have ALL of) and said a date
has been set. (I think I saw something in Diamond when I got back). Real
Bought Highschool they are very excited about. They showed us the packaging,
with has a dual-sided color cover. And Nightjar did the menus, which they are
really proud of. It was demoed for us' and it's the best R1 menu I've seen
yet. It's laid out just like a fighting game, complete with 'round 1 ' fight!'
attack bars, timer, split screen enemies' it's just great. The whole room
loved it. There are also translator notes on the disc.
Initial D ' they have the DD 5.1 track!! (and there really WAS much
rejoicing). There will be Initial D soundtracks. They are really chatting with
TV networks on this one. They have all the current Initial D anime. As for the
new anime being made in Japan, he wasn't allowed to say anything, but hinted
that they have a really good relationship with the licensor. Sounds like a
Rumored candidate to me..
Someone asked about the other GTO properties, like the live-action TV series.
TOKYOPOP is looking into them. There is some big stuff coming in their
soundtrack line, but they couldn't talk about it. There are no plans to start
up the magazine again.
Manga:
Apparently, even though Manga is BASED IN CHIGACO, they only had one rep
there, who was manning their booth. So they didn't bother to show up. Jerks.
So, those of us who had had pitchforks at the ready sat around and chatted
about Manga ' their dedication to fans, their subbing job on the Macross Plus
movie, their high quality DVDs such as Wings of H, their timely release of
Eva, how they are getting out the quality titles in their backlog like Giant
Robo' you know, that stuff.
AnimEigo:
Scott and Natsumi Ueki ran this panel.
And, after sitting for an hour waiting for Manga, the AnimEigo people came in,
and gave everyone these really nice color-printed catalogs, brought in the box
for KOR, and put KOR in the DVD player. Night and day'
KOR ' Yes, there's Macrovision. It was that or no DVD. For the first time,
since the DVD player for use went through a VCR, I saw what Macrovision does.
Ick. However, when it wasn't being annoying, the picture quality on KOR looked
fantastic. So did the box. I really tempted to buy the show again'Originally,
KOR hadn't been planned for a while, but due to fan request, it moved up the
stack of things to do. It is in replication, and should have entered pressing
on Monday. Yes, the movie and OAVs will have Macrovision as well. As for when
those might be out, the end of '02 would be the absolute earliest.
You're Under Arrest ' lots of news here! (waiwaiwaiwai~~~!!!)Shin was not at
the panel because he is busy working on it. It will be released in 4 miniboxes.
The first 3 boxes will have four discs ' 3 for the show, and one for just
bonus material. The last box will have show and extras on each of the 4 discs.
The fanart gallery will be on box 3. There is no price set yet, but they
assured us it would be affordable. They have brand new masters for YUA.
Urusei Yatsura ' The masters they are using aren't any better or worse than
the ones recently used to make the R2s, so they are sticking with what they
have. UY Box 4 should be coming soon, as should box 5. The preorder for the
next set should go up in May. Right now, they are working on dubbing the first
movie, Only You. They are doing this to gain a better foothold with retailers,
and hopefully reach a larger audience. If sales are good, they will go ahead
and dub the other movies. In '03, we should finally be seeing ' new UY!
Macross ' for those of you who shied away because of the price, good news!
Macross will be released to retailers in 3 mini-boxes, which will have a price
of under $100 retail each. After that the single discs will hit stores.
Artwork and extras are the same, but without the special foil for those who
did the $260 jump.
Lone Wolf & Cub ' 1, 2, and Zatoichi are coming to DVD by the end of the year!
They have new 35mm wetgate low mil-something (sorry, not familiar with these
terms) transfers! They are toying with the idea of full widescreen HD as well.
The titles have always sold well.
Crusher Joe DVD ' no date, but it will be a DVD-10, with the OAVs on one side,
and the movie on the other.
Spirit of Wonder ' when the rights ran out, they went to another company.
Things don't look good. But they really WANT it back.
Other ' Lupin is one of the next things up for release. Someone mentioned
Funimation's release here, and Scott agreed that if sales were going well
there, they would ride the wave and get them out faster.
(Konoha note ' okay, since there was no Funimation panel, I'm going to stick
this here. At Acen was I believe the first showing of Funimation's Twilight
Gemini dub. It was AWFUL. I mean, I don't like dubs normally, but I was
watching it with people who like dubs and even they agreed. The acting was
bad, the script was worse' it was a rape of the original. If you ever wondered
what happened to Droopy's voice actor, he shows up here. Argh. As a Lupin fan,
this was painful to watch. It never got better. I sure hope that people look
at the sub, or Lupin's rep is headed for the toilet in the states. Worst dub I
have ever heard, ranking up there with DIC Sailormoon. The pain, the pain')
The days of 4-5 year preorders are ending. (^^) Their production department
has moved from 2 to 7 people. Someone asked what was selling well. BGC has
always sold well, but DVD exclusively, Oh My Goddess has been their big
seller, with 20k units of DVD 1 sold, and 15k of DVD 2.
Rounding up, someone asked about them licensing new titles. They aren't
against it, but there is so much clamor for their back catalog, and anything
new they get, they'll have to dub, which eats up lots of time. They know there
is a huge boom going right now, but their policy is to release the quality
classics that people love, so 5, 10, years down the road, when the boom has
worn off, people will still be buying the shows that AnimEigo dedicates
themselves to releasing.
This was the first industry panel people clapped at the end for. It was
well-deserved.
Anime on DVD:
While this wasn't exactly industry, news came about as well as other
interesting stuff, so I'm throwing it here. ADV's Matt and dlw, CPM's.. um, I
didn't know the name and I apologize ' a guy who's been there for two years
and does a lot of DVD work, and TRSI's Jeff ran the panel.
While this panel was going on, the Brad Swaille panel was next door. So, every
5 minutes or so, there were fangirl screams.. it was fun to redirect all the
cosplayers to the next room ' I think I was one of 3 or less girls that was
there'
DVDs ' discs all across the board are improving. Alt. Angles didn't work on a
lot of early discs. DVDs are cheaper to make due to quick replication and less
storage space at warehouses. It's very economical. Wal-Mart, even, has stopped
carrying VHS for the most part. Everyone is fighting for shelf space, since
most stores will not enlarge the space they have set aside for anime. VHS is
dead, dead, dead. Progressive is often not possible, as are other souped up
footage qualities, especially on older shows.
Players ' dlw had some choice comments on the PS2. Jeff was the only one with
an Xbox, but the general consensus is that it works about as well and about as
bad as the PS2. Pioneer makes good DVD players. Sony not so, but recent
players they've made are much, much better. The hardware is becoming more
mature, so more things are possible.
ADV stuff ' someone asked about the first two seasons of Sailormoon. The sub
would be on a separate disc, so people who want the TV version don't pick up
the unedited. They are almost there, in terms of the having the uncut first
two seasons. Jeff broke in here with stories of angry parents who bought the
Tenchi DVDs for their kids, then saw what hadn't made it past the censors '
TRSI reps had parents calling them up and screaming for 20 minutes' so Pioneer
hurried up their edited release. (heh.) There was going to be an Italian
language track on Eva, but even though the Italians had started dubbing Eva
before ADV had, they hadn't finished' dlw showed us some of the Excel Saga
disc. It looks great. The popup vid-notes were good too. They didn't interfere
with the show and were quite helpful. Several of us commented that we wouldn't
have noticed the schoolgirl legs sticking out of the bushes'
CPM brought a tape of some of their DVD specs and features. (Matt: 'Okay, I
want everyone to notice that CPM brought a VHS to the Anime on DVD panel'')
Jeff wanted to have the Karekano check disc to show us, but FedEx had failed
to deliver. Sigh'
TRSI:
Jeff and Neil Nadelman ran this panel.
And how did the panel start''' With Neil bursting into the room, holding aloft
a FedEx package!!! There were cheers everywhere.
They have acquired a new show ' Comic Party! And all the omake.
Karekano ' well, since they had the check disc, we had to watch it, right'
It's great. It has seamless branching, so when you watch it in Japanese, you
see the Japanese logo and credits, and when you watch it in English like we
did, you get the English ones. All Japanese text on the screen has been left
alone, and is subtitled. Wai! The dub was great. Yes, I dislike dubs, but this
was fun. The lady doing Yukino absolutely nailed her. Arima was a little too
robotic for a lot of people's tastes, but I thought it kind of worked. The
Miyazawa family also did a great job. And, in the English track, you have
Jessica Calvello and the VA for the other sister doing the previews, in the
same style as their Japanese counterparts! It was great fun. Although, there
were two or three subtitled and other errors on the check disc, so maybe
there's a delay in the works'
Other ' Someone asked about the Yamamoto Yohko TV series. Jeff said they are
waiting another 6 months or so to see how the OAV sells. So far, it's doing
pretty well. Boogiepop Phantom did really, really well. He really wants it on
TV. The 5.1 mix was handcrafted by some guy in Hollywood that does a lot of
Tom Hanks's stuff. Consensus at the panel was that it was well worth the
effort. Jeff would love to get more shows like it, but there really aren't
any. The rough dub mix on Dangaizer is done, and KO Beast is going into
production. They are working on getting more TV series.
Someone asked Jeff what he thought of the contest in his honor held on AoD.
After saying how he hated having his picture taken, he sort of shook his head
and laughed'
Bandai:
A note ' everyone who went to the convention got a plastic G Gundam bag.
Promotion is everywhere'
This panel was run by' Jerry' I didn't quite catch the name, but it wasn't
Charles and it certainly wasn't Tama. Anyhow.
Escaflowne ' For the movie, did we notice an improvement in the dub' The
actors were specially coached, especially drilled on how to pronounce names
correctly. The TV box streets on 7/23. With a little figure made out of
translucent black plastic. And yes, you will be able to buy the box
separately! Also on that date, the two versions of the movie DVD will come
out. I think it's been mentioned before, but here is info:
I think the ratio and junk (DTS widescreen letterbox) has been mentioned
before, so this is the special edition. The box (for this or the TV didn't
catch which) will be like the Bebop box. The special edition includes 3 discs:
1 is the movie, 1 is the ost, and 1 is loaded with extras, such as: trailers,
isolated audio, overlapping storyboards, Japanese (and English') staff and
cast interviews, footage from the Japanese preview viewing, and a big
exclusive video Sakamoto Maaya interview (I commented to jmarken I could just
hear wolve drooling..) The movie should be showing in Phoenix, Las Vegas,
Cambridge, Portland, and Boston. For more info, www.escamovie.com. The special
edition is about $55, it cost a lot to make, please buy it.
Someone asked if Escaflowne would be on TV again. The reply was 'NO'.
Jin-Roh ' is doing really well. It and Love Hina are Bandai's current biggest
sellers. Interestingly enough, the special and standard editions are selling
about the same amount.
Char's Counterattack, which I asked about, will come later this year, but he
couldn't say when under threat of death.
Miller's Report, even though it is partially a rehash, sold really well. Pilot
Candidate is selling pretty well. Kikaider has been pushed back for some
reason he didn't know, but the DVDs will have reversible holographic covers.
Betterman will have foil cards. Bandai is partnering with Viz on Silent
Moebius, and each DVD release will come with a mini-poster and a mini-comic.
Brain Powerd opening ' 'Are you using the original'
Ban: 'Yes.'
'Is that the subtitled or dub VHS''
Ban: 'Yes.'
Heh. Regardless, the other opening will be on as an extra. Yes, they are
actually working on Kazemakaze Tsukikage Ran.
G Gundam ' it will be released this year. Production is going well. Was not
allowed to name dub studio. Name changes were required for some things, like
God Gundam and Hell Gundam. Someone asked about Tequila Gundam. Someone else
shouted back Springwater Gundam' The changes that were made are to the
dub-only. Will it be unedited' It will be as original as possible.
Licensing fees often influence pricing. Once they sell something to Cartoon
Network, they don't have a whole lot of say in it, but sales always go up.
They have no clue when something is going to air.
Do you look at petitions'
Bandai : 'sometimes, what show it is, but otherwise, no. They're pretty
useless''
Lots of DVDs coming out this year.
The gathering was fun. Everyone came to lejun's hotel room, including lots of
lurkers. Avatar showed us the Kurumi check disc. It looked great. Avatar told
us about what he does, and how things work in subtitling. Several people asked
questions when they found out he was from ADV. There were munchies and drinks
provided. And at one point, I counted, and I was the only girl in the room
with 25 guys'
Best quote: (Avatar has been telling us how he can recite the Kurumi script,
how much he's been working on it, etc.)
Lejun: Hey man, did you notice' There was a spelling mistake there.
Avatar: What' Where'
Lejun: I'm just kidding'
Avatar: !!! I'm going to kick your '
ADV:
This was by far the most crowded panel.
New shows:
Dlw: 'I'm tired of people asking, so.. (stands, lets the two wallscrolls he's
holding unroll. Noir wallscrolls.) Noir will be the directors cut ' no script
changes, just some cleaned up art and stuff like that.
Full Metal Panic
Najica
Mazinkaiser
Angelic Layer
The new Noir anime being made
Live stuff: the Youkai monsters series, Goemon, and Yugi Try (sp'')
New CDs:
Princess Nine OSTs! (yes, I was the one in the fur suit that screamed at this)
Giant Robo OSTs
Nuku Nuku OSTs
Slayers Try OSTs (as opposed to the already announced Vocal Album)
The other Nadesico OSTs, including the one for the movie
Ninja Resurrection TV OSTs
They will have a comment on Dragon Half in the next few weeks. As for back
catalog oneshots, they are waiting to see how Miyuki-chan does.
Both of the new Kenshin OAVs will be on one disc. It's coming soon.
Some Excel extras: board games, propaganda posters, a Mr. Potatohead
type-thing
There will be more boxes coming. Apparently, Jeff of TRSI draws them all with
a crayon'
They are in the midst of negotiations for Gamera extras. Which is heading to
DVD soon.
Jiggle Counter returns! The next show to get it is Burn Up X-cess. But wait,
there's more! Each girl gets her OWN jiggle counter, and the count will carry
over from previous volumes!
Almost all 26-ep series forthcoming will be the 6 disc, 5-4-4-4-4-5 type. They
are opening a 5th dubbing studio, and trying not to spread themselves too
thin. They wait for the check disc to be okay before announcing a date.
Haven't missed a date in 15 months.
Big sellers: Spriggan, BGC 2040, Eva, and Robotech. They've moved to the point
where they are co-funding shows. A good number of the current anime TV season
running in Japan are already ADV shows.
What does the AD in ADVision stand for' Matt: 'Army of Darkness.'
Viz panel:
I had four hours of sleep and we were trying to check out of our hotel, so I
missed it.
CPM:
The guy from the AoD panel and one of their marketing people ran this panel.
Everyone who came got a free Art of Fighting DVD. I haven't watched mine yet'
They are going to have better box art than previously. The authoring guy made
a crack about the old CPM menus.
Boxes, boxes, boxes:
There will be an Utena box! And since it's Utena, it will be something
special.
Himiko will have a box. The first disc will be out in July, and some of the
extras will be creditless op and ed, and sketches. The other 2 discs will be
out this year.
Lodoss OAVs will be out in July. The box art will be something worthy of the
show, unlike the Image release. New masters, better bitrate, revamped, good.
They can't do a trade-in because it was an Image title.
Slayers ' you can replace your DVDs for the first set. DVDs ONLY, no boxes in
the mail please. It's $8 shipping, but you will get a $20 coupon for a boxset
purchase. The new Slayers DVDs have chapter stops that make sense.
MD Geist Box ' Since it sold so well, they're bringing it out in a 'Mecha
Masters' box. For $75, you get: the anime, 2 OSTs, a disc of extras,
Genpcyber, and Cybernetics Guardian. That's coming in September or October.
Geobreeders box, with the new OAV series.
New La Blue Girl Box. They have all the Nutech shows back. 3 DVDs of LBG, 1st
in August.
Project A-ko box.
Packs:
CPM will be doing a special where you can get two DVDs and 3 posters for $25!
Five are currently planned:
Martial Arts pack: Grappler Baki / Ayane's High Kick
Girl Power pack: Gall Force / Virgin Fleet
Fantasy pack: Garzey's Wing / Legend of Lemnear
Guardian pack : Cybernetics Guardian / I forget ' Genocyber maybe'
I forget the name: Silent Service / Area 88
Ping Pong club will be 5 DVDs total. They want it on MTV or the Comedy
channel. They are working on the show at the moment.
They are trying to move extras from the ROM side to the DVD side, as well as
switching from DVD5 to DVD9.
Patlabor 3 will not be out this year. They are being hampered by the retailer
to wait until sales start to drop off.
First new Utena disc will be right after Xmas. They do not have the final arc
yet.
And the good news: They will be redoing Grave of the Fireflies in a new
Collectors edition. It will be 2 discs, comes out in November, and will retail
for $30.
Whoosh, and that's everything! I hope this report was interesting to read and
had new things in it.
Until the next con I go to, (which will be hopefully be Otakon), Ciao!
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