Neko-Con - Day Two Highlights - Video Companies

Neko-Con - Day Two Highlights - Video Companies
	At an anime convention, people are interested in the dealers' room, the music videos, the art show and the costumes. Away from the convention, people want to know if any new releases were announced. To that end, we present Jeff Thompson of The Right Stuf (left), Toshi Yoshida of Viz (left center), Shin Kurokawa of AnimEigo (right center) and Jerry Chu of Anime Village (right) during their Saturday afternoon panel. The group said they had heard all of the buzz about an anime-only cable Tv channel and hinted that companies were working on the plan, but no one knew if and when that would happen.
	Thompson, who had hinted of an announcement on Friday, said on Saturday that Right Stuf had the rights to the Gainax series Kare Kanno and would release it in 2000. Thompson joked that he was the only person in the company who liked the series and pleaded with fans to "please go out and buy it." He expected that Kare Kanno, because of its sparse language, was going to be a tough show to translate - but it would be worth all the effort. Earlier, of course, Right Stuf announced that they would release the 1960's Kimba the White Lion series in the English-language translation that was shown on U.S. television. Kimba and Irresponsible Captain Tyler are destined for DVD release, he added.
	Already, Yoshida of Viz had announced at Anime Expo that the California company would have another series, the live-action Love and Pop. Yoshida followed that up at Neko-Con by saying that Viz was moving toward picking up Japanese live-action art house films such as Welcome Back Mr. McDonald, looking at theatrical and video releases of those films. The major change for Viz in 1999 was the move to Pioneer as the distributor of Viz titles. As a result, Yoshida said, there will be a pause in the release of new Ranma 1/2 videos until February of 2000. DVD's of the Ranma and Key the Metal Idol series are planned, but not for Video Girl Ai. Yoshida said Viz doesn't have DVD rights for Ai (those rights can be separate from the rights to sell video cassettes).
	Kurokawa said that AnimEigo is working on a large number of DVD releases, including the Urusei Yatsura series. DVD work has been tougher than expected, he said, because the technical details of the new discs takes time to master.
	Chu said there are several titles in the works for Anime Village, but nothing's ready to be announced. One thing to expect in 200 is the Saber Marionette J to X series, a continuation of the company's other Saber Marionette releases. North American DVD releases of Anime Village titles will have to wait until Japanese DVD's are out, he said. Already, the Gundam Wing series has been announced as a new show for the Cartoon Network, accompanies by a release of toys and model kits from the show. Chu isn't certain if the cable net's standards and practices office is going to ask for any changes in Gundam Wing.