Chat with Charles McCarter of Bandai

By: Chris Beveridge
Date: Friday, November 10, 2000

All right, lets get this little shindig on the way.

Good evening everyone. :)

This being our first official studio chat, we're finding our way in how we're doing things, so please bear with us tonight.

Charles McCarter of Bandai has been gracious enough to join us to answer fan questions tonight, and I hope everyone will of course treat him properly.

Charles: On behalf of everyone else, welcome, and thanks for coming. :)

The chat rules can be found directly in the topic, so take a moment to check those out if you haven't.

Charles, as Dragonbeast said, welcome and thank you for coming tonight.

Thanks for coming Charles :)

Thanks. I'd say it's nice to be here, but "here" is the office so it's not THAT nice. =)

Since I only know you by what Lord Richard has said, it's probably best to let you introduce yourself :)

but actually, I'm looking forward to talking to everyone.

Well, my name is Charles McCarter and my actual title at Bandai Entertainment is Manager of Creative Development.

Charles: We'll take you out somewhere fancy some other time. :)

* tena73_ bows to Bandai.

What does that mean? It means that I'm essentially the producer for the Bandai titles. I am currently overseeing the work on new and ongoing titles, and the release of all titles on DVD.

I started with Bandai in April of 1999 as the Marketing Manager, and I got moved into the production department in December

So basically, anything that happened before then is, as the Dirty Pair would say, "not my fault..." hehe...

Seriously, though, let's get started or I'll bore people to death... =)

Sounds great.

Ok, the way things are going is that we'll be taking people in batches of 5 to ask their question.

Charles: To make things more convient, for pacing purposes, don't hesitate to say when you're done answering a question or whatnot. Something like "next" will not be considered rude in this case. :)

* Chris_Beveridge nods to Dragonbeast

dragon: OK.

And for the sake of making this work for everyone, please everyone be respectful when asking questions :) .

Ok, so what we'll do is when I say, "Now", you need to /msg Questions with just a "me!".

We'll take the first five. Once they're done, we'll do that again.

Basically, effectively raisin your hand.

Please excuse my typos. :)

But only when I actually say "Now". Now just yet.

* Chris_Beveridge pokes those who now'd early.

hehe

Ok, NOW!

Please do not private message the ops or Charles for any other reason during this chat as it will make things confusing and will slow down the whole process.

Charles: In the meantime, how's the weather today in California? :)

All righty.

First up is Jeff Kleist. Jeff?

cold, a little overcast... dark (now anyway)

I'm here, 1 sec

What is going to be the release schedual on the rest of Gundam? Will you finish the whole thing regardless of Cartoon Network ratings? I'm especially interested in Zeta Gundam and its staus

status

"the rest of Gundam" meaning all of the Gundam series?

mostly UC continuity, especially Zeta and Char's Counterattack

honestly? I don't really know. Wing has been a phenomenal success, and Bandai (and more importantly, Sunrise) really want to make the rest of Gundam work.

But, as Gundam is our flagship title, I don't see it going away anytime soon.

I'm just worried we won't be seeing Char until I'm an old man ;)

I'm not meaning to be evasive, but that's all I know.

thanks!

Jeff: well, there are a lot of Gundam series to get through, aren't there? =)

Actually, after Zeta they can go hang for all I care :)

I found the rest lacking greatly

Zeta's my favorite UC one too.

All righty. Next up is Gouki. Gouki?

I know you can't say anything about new titles, but...

...you're going to ask anyway, right Ken? =)

Please bring out Gatekeepers, Sakura Taisen TV, and LOVE HINA. PLease Love Hina above all else!! :)

ok, that's not really a question... =)

What are the chances? :)

since none of them are Bandai shows, I'd probably say not great. But then again, I'm not always included in the early stages of licensing discussions.

OK, thanks. Had to ask that for the fans, and to prevent ADV from buying up every single series in the universe! :)

well, it may change, but for right now, that's where it stands. next up?

Next up is Bremmi. Bremmi?

I don't have a questions as much as a comment. Bandai is one of the few companies who regularly leave the japanese titles most entirely intact (jubei-chan, gundam wing, CowboyBebop) and I just want you to know we really appreciate it and I hope this continues for future releases!

thats it :)

bremmi: "japanese titles" you mean the show names?

yes

title screens

i mean.

ah, ok... Yes, well there hasn't been any reason for us to rename any of our titles.

And I don't think there will be in the future...

good :)

thanks for the kind words.

next.

Next up is Slade. Slade?

Hi Charles.

Hi.

My question is this: Your budget DVD boxes (Haunted Junction, eat Man 98) were a great deal. Were they successful, in terms of sales? More importantly, will there be more releases like this? (I'm thinking of Brain Powerd and Silent Moebius in particular.)

They were relatively successful, yes. Some people really enjoy getting the whole series for $39.98. (I'm one of them.)

mostly, this was done with titles that we hadn't subbed or dubbed all the way through. The next one due out is Don't Leave Me Alone Daisy this Dec.

After that, we've put them on hold for a bit because we have so many "A-list" titles coming out.

Sounds great! :-D

As for Brain Powered and Silent Mobius, I'm sure you're aware that we only dubbed the first 6 episodes for VHS.

We're currently going back and working on dubbing the rest of them to give them a complete bilingual DVD release.

however, this will take some time as we've had to shoehorn them into an already-crowded production schedule. (I have had to review 5 silent mobius scripts this week, for example)

So Mobius and Brain will both be fully bilingual when they are released on DVD.

And the format on them is still up in the air, depending on how well things like Outlaw Star and SMJ do.

Excellent news. Next up is Tesiae. Tesiae?

me?

Wow.. thanks Chris.. here's you $10

Thank Charles for coming tonight

hey... where's mine? =)

* Dragonbeast chuckles

What are the chances of us getting a Blue Sub collection with an actual English 5.1 track?

sorry... computer went haywire for a sec.

Charles: Not a problem, take your time.

Blue Sub 5.1 English... Well, since we just put out the fourth volume, I'd say there will be a wait before we repackage and rerelease it. DVD mastering is more expensive than VHS, so we aren't very eager to keep repackaging stuff.

Hm, I think we may have lost Tesiae.

I'm here

So, I don't see it on the horizon anytime soon. However, if there is a lot of demand for it now that it's been on Cartoon Network (you all watched that, right?) that may change. =)

Allright.. but is there aby possibility of putting more than one ep on a DVD?

any

The way our contract reads right now, we're obligated to put it out 1 episode per volume. If we repackage it, we might be able to do more, but we will have to renegotiate.

Sounds good.. thanks ;-)

no problem. next?

Okay, that was 5 questions.

We'll have another 5 for you in just a few moments.

okay...

All righty.

That was our first batch of questions.

While I catch up since my other account fizzled, tena, would you mind asking a question?

Charles, thanks for bringing the bouncy Lime to DVD! Will those SMJ releases have any fun extras?

Yes! We're including an exclusive music video on Vol. 1, as well as the SMJ "Databank" which is character bios and an image gallery.

ooo fun :)

we're also trying to get the interview that were done with the voice actresses and Akahori Satoru, but there is a rights issue that we are currently trying to clear.

needless to say, though, that won't make Vol. 1.

You have the other two to put it on. :)

And, given the way people reacted so violently to the Escaflowne music videos... It probably won't be till vol. 3. =)

I really liked those myself

Just a little follow up, is it confirmed that it will be released just like Outlaw Star, 3 packages of 2 discs?

Ok, we're ready for round two. When I saw "NOW", /msg me to get in the queue. We'll take the first five people. and then do it all again.

tena; well, some people kept saying "there's spoilers..."

dragon: well, it was... until Chris announced his Studio Challenge. Now, we're going to do everything in the 1ep Blue Sub format so Chris can fill his shelves.

Just kidding! yes, it will be 3 volumes, although since SMJ is only 25 eps, that's 9/8/8

Charles: Haha, Thanks! ;)

tena: thanks for the question...

Ready...

Set...

Now!

Stop.

All right. First up this time around is Cron. Cron?

Thanks very much charles for the great dvd's you have been releasing and taking the time to be here, I loved Blue Submarine #6 very much where it was such a short series have you looked at releasing other non 24+ episode series such as Di Gi Charat, just wondering how much complaints you got about BS6 (and if your getting the rights to Di Gi)

I'm still wading thru this...

(sorry tried to fit too much ;) )

Blue Sub: yes, some people complained that it was too expensive...

but those who really liked the show didn't seem to mind. I used to tell people that if they wanted it, they should preorder it online since then it would be about what? $11.99 or something...

yeah it was 11.99 after the intial price reduction

but I do understand their feelings, especially when other DVDs have more episodes for a similar price. Again, though, that was a contract thing we were bound to.

As for DiGi Chara, I'm not sure if we're looking into that or not. I'll have a look at it and run it by upper management to see what they think.

(I haven't seen it myself)

Cool thanks... sorry again for the convluted question

no problem...

next?

Next up is Jasconious. Jasconious?

Hi Charles, I was just wondering if Bandai was thinking of acquiring any other shoujo anime series after the release of Fancy Lala next year. I'm a huge shoujo fan and I'm always hoping US anime companies will be willing to pick up other great shows like Fancy Lala.

well, we really don't buy things by "category". What I mean is we don't think "we need a shoujo show" "we need a shonen show" "we need a monkey show"

a lot of it depends on what's available and what we think will complement our schedule. I think more shoujo is possible since there's just so much of it out there.

hehe, I can understand that, I just feel there are a lot of great shoujo shows out there that are overlooked in the US anime market and I was hopeful that Bandai might take a good look at them depending on Fancy Lala's success. :)

of course.... anything that's a hit will automatically garner attention.

next?

Next up is Fireye. Fireye?

First of all, thanks for being here tonight

you're welcome and happy birthday.

Well, quick all-in-one question concerning the Escaflowne Movie. Is there an approximate release date (like Q3 2001)??? Also, have you actually started production yet on the US release of the Esca movie??? If so, would the same english voice cast be lined up as from the series???

Hehe, thanks :)

The answer to the first two questions is no. We haven't even got all the materials yet. So we haven't started planning for it.

As for the voices, it all depends a lot on what Sunrise wants. But they were very happy with the English cast voices.

Cool, thanks for your time

I'm sorry I don't have more to say...

Next up is StriQ-9. StriQ-9?

On average about how long does it take from when you go after a license then get the voice acting then the subtitling then authoring done does it take to get a DVD to the market?

A long time.

Seriously, though. There are a lot of different steps to producing an english adaptation.

It depends on how much of a priority the title is too. Sometimes things get bumped to do other things.

Script writing, voice casting, recording, mixing, mastering, and authoring. All these things take time.

And one step can't be started until the previous one is completed in most cases. And, of course, it depends on the series length.

Gundam Wing took a lot longer to do than for example, Saber J Again.

but on average, for a 13 episode series, once you get the materials, it's probably reasonable to say that you can have a product ready in a year.

less if you push it...

Thanks for your time,I love Jubei-Chan by the way

but we have so many titles that it's hard to juggle everything sometimes.

thanks.

next?

Next up is Cavis. Cavis?

On the Outlaw Star volume 1 set, the first disc was a DVD-5. Now... it's a bit weird to put more then 4 eps on a DVD-5. I was wondering why the decision was made to try to put that much material on a single disc and if it'll be changed to a 9 in the future in similar situations?

I was waiting for this one...

* Questions coughs.

:)

the DVD authoring house asked me if they could use a DVD5; I said does it fit, they said yes. When I QCd it (3 times), I didn't notice anything amiss with it. A couple people have mentioned it, and I've asked them for specific places where it looks bad.

I haven't heard back from them yet (and I'm not pointing fingers at them or anything)

But for Vol 2, Disc 1, which also has 5 eps will be a DVD9. And so will disc 1 of SMJ.

(of course, then we'll start getting the mail from people who say that our DVD9s don't play in their players and...)

Ok that's definitly good to hear :) because I noticed a few points where the video seemed to suffer a bit from over-compression on disc 1.

lol can't win em all :)

cavis: seriously, if you can point them out to me please do so. I'll be happy to look at it. I woudln't have approved the disc if I saw anything.

anything that looked like bad compression...

ok...

Ok if I can find time to look through it again I'll try to drop you a mail on it though I probably don't have the best equipment ^^;;;

aat college that is

All right, and into the third round of queing we go. When I say "NOW", /msg me and the first five get into line.

Ready..

Set..

Now!

Just for the record, I have faith in Bandai's DVD9s. (such as Cowboy Bebop :)

All right, first up is ljorg. ljorg?

I may have my wires all crossed, but I seem to remember you picking up Jin-Roh; without a doubt my greatest anime experience yet. Can you please tell us anything about that release - when is it due? Will it be anamorphic? what extras will be included?

We just announced Jin-Roh. We don't have any materials for it yet, so we haven't started production or planned for it yet. It wil be a theatrical release before the video one, though.

Thanks. Any chance of FLCL?

and since this is a theatrical release, I'll do what I can to get the best materials available (as far as widescreen, etc.)

Which, on a related note, brings me to Endless Waltz....

It better be anamorphic or i need to charter a flight to California :)

I actually asked Sunrise if there was a widescreen version of Endless Waltz, and they said there wasn't. after all, it was done as an OVA first.

so Endless won't be widescreen since there isn't a widescreen version.

FLCL? Dunno.. we haven't really talked about it. GAINAX stuff is expensive, though...

okay...

Next up is DerekJ. DerekJ?

(finally figured this contraption out...)

What about the Sera Myu (Sailor Moon Live!) stage-musical videos?

Must be a half-dozen fan petitions out there, and they STILL haven't figured out Bandai's got the rights--

(And Pioneer certainly wouldn't object...) ; )

I can honestly say that I know nothing about the Sailor Moon musical.

I've seen the imports at AnimeNation--

next? =)

Next up is JimLazar. Jim?

I'll be nice :-)

First, thanks for the excellent Escaflowne DVD and for doing an uncut dub BEFORE goting the TV route.

=)

Now, my question: Concidering what happened to Escaflowne on Fox, for future TV deals are you planning on being more careful on what (if anything) they can change and putting it in writing (in the contract and all)? I like how CN has handled your title BTW, not perfect, but respectful.

that's completely out of my hands...

I just make the product, I'm not involved in any of the negotiations with tv stations and stuff.

I see. Well, nudge them a bit then ;-)

Thanks for being good jim :)

Heh.

Oh, I was expecting something a bit more harsh. =)

Next up is Nuriko-no-Miko. Nuriko-no-Miko?

* Cavis gives Jim an uncut copy of Kite. "Good boy."

Hay!!

Hallo.

ok, Charles, what's your favorite show that Bandai has released?

Easy question. Hands down, cowboy bebop.

I like the art, the story, the music, the direction... and espeically Ein.

=)

ok, why did you send CN the OVA version of endless waltz?

instead of the movie version

the director and the character designer both tease me about my "ein obsession"

Cartoon network chose the version they wanted to show. We provided them with both versions.

Next up is TAS314. TAS314?

Any chance future Bandai DVDs could use a simpler layout? Faster menues, no fuction lockout, one title for all episodes (with sutable chapter stops)? The actual contents of your DVDs have been great, keep up the good work in that department!

I'm so tempted to take the easy way out here...

But, I leave a lot of technical stuff up to the authoring house, as they are the experts in the area. As for "faster menus," I don't see where they are really slow...

if you mean the transitions and stuff... well it's a 2-edged sword.

we are caught between people who want whiz-bang menus and those who just don't want anything at all...

so I try to find a happy medium.

I also like the menus to be something more than "still picture with hair that flaps back and forth and we call it animated"

I love Bebop but I whish it didn't take so long to get to the show. The Bebop menues take forever to set up subs/language and get to the show. Please less whiz bang ;-)

then I'll say this: just push "play" and switch the subs and languages with the remote. Just because it's available from teh menu doesn't mean you have to do it that way. =)

But you also have to remember that Bebop was our first crack at menus, and things have been improving since then.

(at leats I think so)

Tenamonya Voyagers shows that to be sure. :)

as for the "function lockouts" I assume this means skipping logos?

Yes, the fbi thing and such.

I'll look into it, but when we started doing DVDs that was a mandate that came down from above...

it's funny, I recently bought a DVD the other day that was the exact way NOT to do DVDs... I bought the X-Men: Phoenix Saga DVD.

The menus were still (and ugly, dark pictures...)

The episodes were all one chapter each (including op and ed)

and you couldn't change languages or turn on subtitles during the show... you had to go back to the menu to do it.

Not that this is a great title to benchmark against, but my point is it could be worse...

next?

All right, provided we haven't tuckered Charles out too much, we'll make our way into the fourth and likely final round of questions, though he may opt to hang around afterwards.

So once I do the "Now!", we'll take the next five folks.

Ready..

It can always be worse! but it can be better too.

Set...

Now...!

Charles: Thanks for taking the time to answer that question properly. :)

Indeed.

TAS: Yes, that's true, but sometimes all I see are the complaints and it does get disheartening. We spend a lot of time on this stuff.

dragon: no problem.

With the X-Men disc, it's worth noting Universal does this on many discs, locking out language changes, especially with DTS discs.

All right, the next one up is Mighty_Gerg. Mighty_Gerg?

Chris: yes, but I just find it strange because they actually have to make apoint of doing that. =)

Well, I was wondering about earlier Sunrise series like Brave King GaoGaiGar. Will Bandai start releasing series like this in North America?

GaoGaigar is an "early" sunrise series?

well... not recent

We haven't licensed GaoGaiGar... At the moment I think we might be full up on Giant Robot shows...

hmm... "Early" sunrise to me means like Layzner or Gorg...

but right now, we haven't added any more robot shows to the lineup yet...

true... I guess to me early.. is not in the last 5 years

hehe... I think my age is showing. =)

next?

Next on the list is jcollis. jcollis?

I noticed on Cowboy Bebop that while Bandai Japan owned the animation rights, Victor/JVC owns the music rights.

Since Bandai USA was able to successfully negotiate this for Bebop, is there a chance that they can do it again for Macross7 (where this has been stated as a problem area for licensors?)

Also, is it possible to get around (or negotiate with) the Harmony Gold problem?

(this is partially your opinion, partially what's reality)

we didn't really "get around" it. We're allowed to use the music in conjunction with the show. But we're not selling soundtrack CDs or anything...

and as for Macross 7... I don't know what the problem is with that, so I can't speculate.

The Harmony Gold Macross issue is a legal one, and I don't know enough to be able to comment

Next is Pr1mus. Pr1mus?

Thank you for being here, Charles. I'm proxying Big_Fire here as he's been trying to ask a question all night. :)

Will Bandai release Cowboy Bebop Movie in U.S.A like the way ADVFilms are planning for Spriggan ( a Nation wide release )? Since the TV series was so pouplar. Also Does the release of "Ah My Goddess Movie"

during this year has anything to do with Cowboy Bebop Movie is not coming out this year but next year? ( Another word you don't want compete? )

And I got ask for all the Hentai fans here. Is there a Hentai Division for Bandai Entertainment coming soon?

Jeez, there's enough questions in there for a final exam!

LOL

* Pr1mus laughs.

1. I don't know about the U.S. release of the movie. Honest. I wish I did... I only know a little about the Japanese release.

2. No, the reason that Cowboy was delayed was because when it was announced, it was announced for Summer 2000, which was insane.

Because *EVERYONE* who worked on Cowboy Bebop was busy working on the ESCAFLOWNE movie which they were scramlbing to get done.

When I went to Japan in April on vacation, Kawamoto-san (the bebop character designer) was telling me how behind they were on Esca.

I actually saw him doing Key animation while I was there...

so that's the scoop on the Cowboy bebop movie. They pushed it back because they didn't have a staff or a story or anything at the time.

It's set for a Japanese release next summer (hopefully).

So its purely pushed back for production reasons.

3. Nope.

Doh.

Shucks. ;)

next in the list is Lisendral. Lisendral?

primus: think about it... BANDAI... they make toys! =)

Why are the majority of R1 Anime DVDs set up so the default language/subtitle selection is english/none? Is there a purpose for this, if so, what? (The reason I ask is because the majority of foreign films on DVD are defaulted to native language/english.)

because many of the people buying them want to hear the English track. It's an English-speaking market.

that's pretty much why...

Is that based on the more popular titles or the sales as a whole?

sales in general. Sales of dubbed VHS destroyed sub VHS sales, for example.

Thank you for your time :)

=)

And the last one in the queue is omo[v]. omo[v]?

Hello. First I want to thank you Charles and Chris et. al. for this opportunity.

I love companies that listen to fan feedback.

thanks for coming. =)

My Question: After What is the best and most effective way for a fan to get the companies interested in a certain anime series for North American release? Petition? Start a mob? Something in between? When is Seikai no Monshu coming out? Will you license LoGH if it does well? Lastly, what's your favorite color?

(Questions? hehe)

Well, actually, the companies do listen, more often than not. However, sometimes there are realities that prevent a certain title from being licenesed. (The licensor wants too much money, for example).

But, just because you don't SEE them reacting doesn't mean that the companies don't listen.

Is there a way for the companies to express such difficulties to the fans?

I try to pay attention to the boards and get involved sometimes, but there is only so much time people can spend doing that.

well, no one's goign to come out and say "we failed at getting this title." It's just not good business sense.

Petitions are a good method. So is (polite) email and the like.

here's an example:

I saw a well-written post in one of the forums about not locking out the logos and stuff, and so I decided to look into it.

What's your customer contact email addy?

on the opposite end of the spectrum, we received a complaint or two about the Gundam W model commercials on the disc...

one of them saying "I'll NEVER watch any trailers at the beginning of the disc..."

it was rude and obnoxious, and I thought to myself, "well, if I lock the trailer so you HAVE to watch it..."

;)

that's an example. How you say things is just as important as what you say.

And of course, you guys DO read all the email, given they're done "politely" enough? :)

and it's a little frightening at times, because you look in on these forums and you see all these people gnashing their teeth and saying "subtitles should be green not white"

* omo[v] nods and agrees

and they're passionate about it... so you don't want to step into the fire holding a can of gasoline... =)

I read all the email that comes to me.

Um, so we should write to you for suggestions?

but I don't get all the fansupport email. I get the DVD stuff forwarded to me.

oh ok. So how would one go about emailing "Pioneer" so that it gets read?

like I said, petitions work, emails do work... but you can't expect companies to respond immediately.

I'm sure he meant Bandai. :)

I don't know about Pioneer... they never answer me either. (just kidding.)

Pioneer never answers anyone :) .

I'm really good friends with everyone in the animation division over there...

since before we all got these anime jobs.

Charles: Yeah, lucky. :)

Charles: think you could yell at them for me to get them to release El Hazard OVA faster then? ;)

heh. be careful what you wish for... =)

Charles: Can you mention the preferred Bandai email address for feedback?

fansupport@animevillage.com

Thanks. :)

All right then.

Let's get into the next round of people in the queue.

We'll do another set of five after I say "Now".

Ready...

man, no one's asked anything about the endless waltz DVD yet... =)

Set...

Now!

Just a quick follow up, while that happens.

Charles: Do you override the set default of the DVD Player languages, or is it just default to english (which I understand :) ?

I believe it just defaults to English. I'll check on that.

Charles: Great, thanks. :)

Also, I just realized I never answered the Sekai no Monsho (Crest of the Stars)... Look for the DVD in first quarter 2001.

Ok, first up in the new queue is tablesalt. tablesalt?

Cool! :)

And for those who think I'm avoiding the favorite color question, my favorite color is Blue... because that's the color of Duo's eyes. (hahahaha)

The title most people looking for on DVD is Clamp School...

define "most people".

If/when it's released, will it include the 'detective lesson' omake?

by most I mean important people ;)

hahah... good answer. =) you made me laugh.

if and when it is, I will do my best to include the omake, yes.

I also love the use of DVD subs to tranlate signs in Jubei

(after all, I am bringing you the Club Escaflowne interviews...) =)

thanks:D

thanks. We liked the idea of using DVD titles and it worked pretty well.

Next up is razi. Razi?

ok, let me say s that I've really enjoyed your DVDs so far, you needed to push for more Ein CB covers though :)

razi: did you get Cowboy DVD 6 yet?

not yet :(

razi: ah... well, there's some Ein there... =)

I'm really wondering about the Gundam Wing action figure promotion, are you guys really out of figures?

was the response that overwhelming?

you would not BELIEVE how many of those cards we got... Our customer support folks are overwhelmed!

All I can say is "get those cards in as early as possible..."

hmm, guess I'll be out of luck this time then

^^;;; knew I should've gotten them in sooner

well, if you are, at least you can still buy them... it's not some exclusive promotional thing. =)

as long as I get the Duo's, I'll be happy

heheh...

thanks! :D

Next in the line is danj. danj?

Do you know if Bandai has any plans to do any anime releases in the UK or European market?

(and if you don't know, do you know who would know?)

That's an easy one. We only have the North American licenses for our products.

dan: are you in europe?

yes, I'm in the UK

dan: I see...

unfortunately, our licenses only extend to North America...

well, there IS a Bandai UK, but it appears to be exclusively toy-related

(at least, judging from its web site)

dan: as far as I know.