Here are some excerpts from my full Anime Expo 2000 con report, which can be
found in the No Editing zone on
animeprime.com.
The Good
Editing News:
The Vision of Escaflowne dub was done by Bandai and not Saban. There will
be an edited for TV dub available on VHS as well as unedited dub VHS and the
unedited dub/sub DVD (the unedited VHS sub is already available, of course).
Although Saban and Fox will be editing the show for TV broadcast, we can be
thankful that we will get unedited versions on VHS and DVD.
When Nadia is eventually released on DVD, ADV currently plans for it to be
unedited, with Japanese audio, English subs, and an accurate and unedited
English dub. Any changes made for TV broadcast would not be made to the DVD
release.
DVD News:
Lots of DVD announcements. It's been almost two years since I've switched
to DVD and over a year since I stopped buying VHS altogether (I was week at
AX99, please forgive me). It's good to see that the companies have realized
that they HAVE to do DVD releases to survive in the future marketplace, now
some of them just have to get over the initial learning phase that companies
like Pioneer and CPM have gotten over already since they saw the potential of
DVD in the early days.
Some of the notable DVD announcements: The Ranma OVA DVDs are being
remastered to correct the left-right reversed audio problem. They are deciding
how to do an exchange program.
UY TV Box sex 1 is due to ship within the next week. Work is proceeding on
future sets.
UY TV volumes 26+ will be DVD only since the 'sub VHS market has gone to
hell' according to Robert Woodhead of Animeigo.
Unedited Macross TV will likely appear on sub only DVD from Animeigo by the
end of the year. They have completed some initial remastering work on the 39
episodes, but will be going back and repairing even more video problems.
Macross has likely NEVER looked as good as it will on this boxset.
ADV has acquired the rights to the edited Robotech and will be releasing it
on DVD. Carl Macek will be brought in to clean up the set and add extras. It
will be the edited dub only Robotech version, not the uncut original versions
of the three series. There was some talk of ADV possibly doing unedited sub
versions of Southern Cross and Mospeada, but they do not currently have the
rights to do so. Animeigo also expressed a interest in doing those tow series
as well (personally, I would prefer Animeigo to do it).
ADV is reevaluating what to do with the sign translations and video quality
issues for Neon Genesis Evangelion on DVD, so volumes 2 an up will be delayed
to address these issues. They are also reevaluating the sign overlay issue on
Nadeisco, so they may not be the same overlays used in the VHS version.
Outlaw Star will be released on three (3) two-disc sets at $44.95 apiece. I
didn't catch if they'll be DVD5 or DVD9, but considering how they did Eatman
98 and Haunted Junction, I'd wager at least some of the discs would be DVD9s.
CPM's problems licensing certain titles (Birdy the Mighty, for instance)
for DVD has been resolved, so we will likely see more older CPM titles making
the transition to DVDs.
The Bad
Editing News:
John O'Donnell (President of CPM) confirmed that La Blue Girl was in fact
edited after they initially released the first batch of VHS tapes. Several
scenes involving the diminutive Ninja, Nin-nin, were removed to avoid legal
entanglements. I have written up an editing report on this title. Some good
news about this: Since the law that originally prompted the cuts has now been
declared unconstitutional, Mr. O'Donnell indicated that he might be able to
release the deleted scenes on a future La Blue Girl DVD (there is apparently
an new La Blue Girl OVA series being made in Japan).
Kite: There was no announcement of a less cut version of Kite being
released by Media Blasters, but I did have a chance to talk to John Sirabella
(President of Media Blasters). He repeated his statement of A-kon that they
are considering releasing a less cut version, but have not made a decision
yet. Early 2001 was the timeframe he mentioned for a decision and possible
release.
Although he said sub VHS, I expressed my (and the market's) preference for
DVDs. Although a VHS version it would be better than the cut version and I
would appreciate it, not releasing it on DVD in as uncut form as possible
would do this great title an injustice.
We discussed the need to cut or mask the young Sawa scenes, but with the
laws concerning this issue changing that might not even be necessary.
Unfortunately, the stores and distributors might still be unwilling to carry a
totally uncut version of Kite and insist on some censoring. As long as they
only cut or mask the young Sawa scenes, I'd support a less cut version as
described in the Uncut Kite petition..
He encouraged the petition to continue and I will be continuing my efforts
to make this title a reality in a less cut form. I must admit that I have my
doubts and that this 'possible' less cut version might be a delaying tactic
that Media Blasters hopes will let them wait till the issue fades in our
memories. But as long as animeprime.com is here, the editing reports and the
petition will continue. I will not let Kite or other edited titles be
forgotten in the mists of time.
In regards to the region 2 'International Version' of Kite that is due to
be released in Japan soon: Mr. Sirabella indicated he was not aware of its
contents, but that the English dub master was sent to Japan. That will likely
be the version on the DVD. He was unaware of exactly what might be cut or
added to that version, but did say that originally they had talked with Green
Rabbit about doing new animation to fill the gaps where the removed scenes
were. It is possible those scenes have been made and will be part of the new
region 2 DVD, but he had no direct information. Time will tell.
DVD News:
There will be no remaster to fix the problems on Project A-ko (and other
titles that CPM has sublicensed) until those licenses expire and CPM can do
the DVDs themselves. It seems to have been the case of CPM giving up too much
control over the final product in order to get them made when DVDs were still
new and evolving.
The Ranma TV season one DVDs are delayed, but not cancelled. No word on
when they might get new release dates.
No plans for Maison Ikkuku on DVD and they will only be continuing the sub
VHS version for volumes 19+. Still only two episodes for $24.95. This is
probably the last nail in Maison Ikkuku's coffin unless VIZ sees the necessity
of releasing it on DVD. Sub VHS sales at this price per episode for a 96
episode series is just not going to generate enough sales (Animeigo sees that
the sub VHS market can't carry a title, why can't VIZ?).
Manga repeated previous information that they decide to do anamorphic
titles based on the materials available and the perceived market for a
anamorphic version of a particular title. I'd prefer a more committed stance
to anamorphic (as ADV appears to have), since I do not plan on replacing DVD
titles in the future, so I want the best possible DVD now.
New Generation Pictures indicated that the video quality problems with
Nazca were due to the masters they had to work with, since this late night TV
series was apparently very low budget.
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