Anime Weekend Atlanta 5 - Anime Industry
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 Often competitors,
Matt Greenfield of ADV Films (left) and John Sirabella of Media Blasters
(right) will be partners in the home video release of Rurouni Kenshin,
with Media Blasters taking the TV series and ADV Films handling the OVA's
and movies. The companies will share in production of the shows and use
the same English-language voice cast. The question of subtitled anime with
the original Japanese voices, versus dubbed anime with English dialogue,
always comes up at an anime convention, and AWA was no different... |
 ...where Sirabella
said "There's always going to be a division of people who don't like dubs.
If you don't live dubs, then buy the sub." However, as anime goes mainstream,
more dubs are being sold than subs - and it's a big margin. Sirabella said
that Media Blasters sells five times as many dubs as subs, mostly because
retailers prefer carrying the dubbed videos. All of this could change with
the rise of DVD's, which can carry both the subbed and dubbed version of
a film. |
 Sirabella compares
the rise of anime to the rise of Star Trek in the 1960's, which wasn't
really popular until years after the series had its first run on NBC and
went into syndication. The gradual growth of anime fandom over the last
15 years could become explosive with the rise of Pokemon, and not only
because millions of children love the show and its games and cards. Many
of those young fans - and people who don't pay attention to kids' shows
- are learning that Pokemon is a Japanese show, and that there's a lot
more to that anime stuff they've heard about. Still, there won't be much
of a crossover audience in one sense: "I don't expect a Pokemon fan to
buy Ogenki Clinic," Sirabella said. |
 In September,
the buzz in Usenet newsgroups was about Kite, a Media Blasters title. Fans
had learned that the shows were censored because of a teenaged female lead
and her abusive experiences, and they petitioned Media Blasters to reduce
or lift the censorship. Sirabella said U.S. law would keep a less-censored
version from being released, unless someone wanted some major federal problems.
"In America, child pornography is really banned. They can put you in cuffs
and take you away. In that case, we have to play it very safe," he said. |
