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Anime Central - Day Two - Bandai and ADV
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Another series and another banner for Jerry Chu of Bandai's North American
video and model kit arm. This time it's one of the company's newest titles,
the Jubei-Chan series about a school girl who becomes the embodiment of
an ancient hero when she dons a special eyepatch - even though she's not
interested in the job. That series moves to U.S. home video in August,
Chu said. However, he didn't have much to say about the magazine story
that claimed the Blue Submarine No. 6 series would be cablecast on the
Cartoon Network later in 2000. |
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| Chu said if more Bandai series get to cable or broadcast TV, don't
expect them to be treated as "anime." "They don't say this is a Japanese
program and promote it as a Japanese program. It's just another cartoon,"
he noted. Bandai is thrilled with the success of Gundam Wing on the Cartoon
Network, Chu said, in its ratings and in its impact on the sales of the
company's mecha model kits. He said the company sold all of its first shipment
of kits and modeling fans are going to wait until July for a fresh shipment. |
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A little later in the same room, ADV Films sat behind the table in
the person of Dave Williams (left) and Matt Greenfield. The Texas pair
told fans that it's tough to get their titles onto store shelves, and they
have to cater to corporate buyers as much as anime fans. "Retailers don't
think like normal people. If (a video) has really great art, they'll put
it in," Greenfield said. |
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| The release patterns of anime series are adjusted to please retailers
as well, with ADV starting slowly with the opening episodes. The buyers
don't like series with more than six episodes because they feel sales drop
off after six episodes, said Greenfield. Also, the practice of releasing
a series' videos not by the episode number, but with a new title is a move
to keep retailers happy - since the stores think they're getting a new
series instead of a new installment in a series. Greenfield said that's
the reason the later episodes of Sorceror Hunters got the "Spellwars" tag. |
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