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Guess I won't be getting two of my most anticipated anime releases this year (Lucky Star OVA and .hack//GU). No dub, no buy. Sorry Bandai.
Bandai Entertainment has sent out their latest mailer which covers their releases for August 2009 and like previous mailers, it's a real mixed bag for fans and enthusiasm. First, two titles are seeing delays from July to August with Code Geass R2 Part 1 moving from 07/07/2009 to 08/04/2009. The other title making the move is Ghost Slayers Ayashi Part 3 which is doing the same dates. Ghost Slayers Ayashi has been delayed for just about every volume now I believe.
On the positive news front, the Lucky Star OVA, Sola and .hack//G.U. Trilogy are all seeing release in August (well, until they're potentially delayed). The bad news? None of them will have dubs. This was very much expected with Sola so there's no surprise there. But the Lucky Star OVA not getting its 43 minute runtime dubbed? Sales on the TV series must have been quite bad to not merit a dub to finish out this part of it, which builds upon the Limited Edition for Vol. #6 getting canceled a couple of months back. The same can be said for the .hack//G.U. Trilogy as that's a fairly mainstream anime title with crossover appeal to the gaming market which isn't getting a dub.
Code Geass R2, Gundam 00 and Ghost Slayers Ayashi are all receiving the dub treatment.
| Cover Art | Title | Release Date | Runtime | Price | Studio | Format |
 | .hack//G.U. Trilogy | 08-18-2009 | 131 mins | $19.98 | Bandai Entertainment |  |
 | Code Geass: LElouch of the Rebellion R2 Part 1 (also w/LE) | 08-04-2009 | 225 mins | $39.98/44.9 | Bandai Entertainment | |
 | Ghost Slayers Ayashi Part 3 | 08-04-2009 | 250 mins | $39.98 | Bandai Entertainment | |
 | Lucky Star OVA | 08-04-2009 | 43 mins | $14.98 | Bandai Entertainment | |
 | Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 1 Part 2 (also w/Special Edition) | 08-04-2009 | 200 mins | $39.98/49.9 | Bandai Entertainment | |
 | Sola (Anime Legends Edition) | 08-18-2009 | 375 mins | $44.98 | Bandai Entertainment | |
Guess I won't be getting two of my most anticipated anime releases this year (Lucky Star OVA and .hack//GU). No dub, no buy. Sorry Bandai.
insaneben just completely described my feelings on the matter, and in a much better way than I could have done too.
Good job! /Konata
Okay, I've known for quite some time that sola wasn't going to get a dub (not after that whole "Bandai Visual" debacle back in late '07/early '08), but it certainly would've been nice.
And speaking of nice, leaving the dub out of the Lucky Star OVA is anything but that. I mean, seriously, can't Bandai finish what they started? This has happened more than once before (remember the "Galaxy Angel" incident?). I don't care how poorly Lucky Star sold overall- leaving a dub out of the last part of an anime series is just poor salesmanship (that, and I'm still sore about Bandai shortchanging fans who were angling to buy the Lucky Star v.6 LE set). Not to mention, the last time I checked, the .hack franchise was one of Bandai's biggest sellers... back in 2003 (HI-YO!). All kidding aside, either this shows how far the .hack franchise has fallen in the eyes of anime fandom, or it's just another instance of Bandai being cheap.
Seriously. Leaving dubs out of an anime is like taking chocolate chips out of a cookie. Sure, you're still going to attract hard-core cookie lovers, but it's the sweet chocolate chips that drew others in in the first place. Leaving out dubs means you're leaving out a good chunk of potential sales (say what you will, but the majority of mainstream anime fans prefer dubs- I know subbies can't swallow such a bitter pill, but that's the way it is). While not every anime series in existence should be dubbed, no subbed-only anime DVD (TV series, OVA mini-series or movie) has ever been a massive Top 10 seller (words Bandai Visual should've heeded, and which Nozomi, ADV/Sentai and Bandai continue to ignore). Former Anime Insider editor Rob Bricken once said that the current U.S. anime industry isn't serving anyone, and that's a big problem (not his exact words, but you get the idea). I hope Bandai and (what's left of) ADV take these words to heart. Otherwise, ADV could be D.O.A. (Bandai's too big to fail, but I could be wrong.)