Saturday's the big day for panels at Otakon, and this Saturday
was no exception. Unlike yesterdays multi-hour stint in the dealers line,
today we spent time from 9 AM to 6 PM in one panel room, with a short break in
the one next door from noon to 1:30.
 |  |  |  |
| The registration line starts off small this morning | A long view of the main floor | Security checks out the cosplayers as they approach early in the morning | And the dealers room line begins anew at 8:30 AM |
So let's get on with the news.
Viz
 |  |
| Kit Fox from Viz | On the phone to Toshi in California. |
The Viz panel had some interesting information, though naturally a good
portion of it was on the manga.
Ranma 1/2 TV DVD will be out sometime in 2001, there are some issues that
were not disclosed with the master tapes that are holding things up.
During the San Diego Comic Con, a video interview was done with Rumiko
Takahashi and there's a good chance it will show up on the Ranma TV DVD's.
Ayashi no Ceres will be day and date when it begins next
spring, with 2 episodes per tape and DVD likely, though they may try to
do 3 episodes. Frankly, this is quite unimpressive and to me shows just how
out of touch Viz really is with the rest of the market.
For the manga news, Ayashi no Ceres will be in its own book
while the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga will be in the Animerica Extra. Looks
like another series to collect in graphic novel format to me.
Maison Ikkoku was talked up extensively by the fans as something they want,
but it really seems like a pot/kettle problem. Unless the VHS sales pick up,
there isn't considered enough popularity for the show for it to be put on DVD.
You think it's because of the two episodes per tape for the past 5 years?
Hmmmm...
Bandai
 |
| Jerry Chu from Bandai timeshifts back to repeat the information on the Escaflowne DVD |
A good portion of what Jerry had to pass on was from previous announcements
from Anime Expo and the Comic Con.
The original Gundam TV series looks to have a start date sometime between
March and June next year. From there on, they'll be trying to release all
Gundam series in timeline order. 0080 and 0083 should be out while the
original Gundam TV series is being released though. As a side note, the
0080/0083 VHS box set is now a collectors item as it is discontinued.
Gundam Wing Endless Waltz (OVA & Movie) DVD should be out in February.
Bandai reiterated that sub VHS is done from them.
Saber Marionette J also looks to have a February timeframe. The Spanish
track is included due to the series running on TV on a Florida station.
Cowboy Bebop likely won't be collected in a box set as the sales of the
individual discs are quite strong. The Gundam 0080/0083 could be released as
a box set when it comes to DVD, though nothing is firm at all in that regard.
Industry Panel
 |  |  |
| Jeff Thompson of Right Stuf, Matt Greenfield and David Williams of ADV, John Sirabella of Media Blasters and Robert Woodhead of AnimEigo. | Chad Kime of Pioneer is added to the informal panel, now no longer obstructed by Mr. Woodhead. |
The Industry panel was pretty laid back. A few things were learned, such
as:
The majority of the panel focused discussion on the world of fansubs.
ADV Films
 |
| David Williams and Matt Greenfield |
Always one of the more packed studio panels, this one was no exception.
There was the usual questions, though as also usual, nothing really mean. One
would expect more vitriol from fans, especially considering the way many post
on forums and newsgroups, but this rarely translates over into real life.
Spriggan is looking at a February theatrical release. They do intend to try
and go wide with it.
Kenshin OVA DVD's possibly starting in November. 3 DVD's total, OVA 1-2,
OVA 2-4 and the Movie.
Princess 9 is looking to start around April, to tie in with baseball season
naturally.
The Robotech release will be on DVD only. The sole exception being the
Codename: Robotech episode that served as a way to introduce TV stations to
the series and to sell it. It did air in some areas, but not in the majority
of them. Since this has never seen a release in the US before, it will get a
VHS and DVD release.
Eva discs? As mentioned before, POP/Cinram is working on it. Once the
issues are nailed down (no decision about overlays yet folks), they expect to
pop these out every 30 days and make up for lost time.
Pioneer
 |
| Chad Kime from Pioneer marks the first appearance of Pioneer at Otakon! |
Chad had plenty of information to pass on, as well as a nice surprise.
Card Captor Sakura: They'll be releasing all 70 episodes. It's too early to
even start talking about the movie. The TV DVD release covers will be the
Madhouse art while the inserts will have the version that was used for the
sell-through copies in Japan.
Akira: Both Japanese and English 5.1 will be done. They haven't gotten the
majority of the materials from Japan yet, so once they do, it will still be a
year from then until it's ready for a release.
They're intending to release two editions, a standard movie only and a
special edition. They're also looking to see if they can get the original
Streamline dub on it. No other word of extras yet. They are also still looking
at doing either a TV and/or theatrical release with it.
Hyperdolls and Phantom Quest Corps discs are scheduled for November release
at 14.98.
Pioneer's huge surprise is that they've licensed the Sailor Moon S and SS
TV seasons. They'll be releasing:
Dub cut VHS (what you see on Cartoon Network)
Sub uncut VHS
Dual language DVD - And yes, he confirmed that there is an uncut dub, and
that they had a hand in making sure such a thing existed. The first two
seasons are still tied up with DiC, which is a Disney subsidiary. They
apparently are wanting a lot more than most companies are willing to pay to
get those seasons at this time.
The rumors of the 3rd Tenchi OVA series - Complete vaporware at this point.
Always subject to change, but this has come up in the past before.
Fushigi Yug: The omake sections will be included in the Seiryuu box set
release that is scheduled for just before Thanksgiving.
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
