| Viz Video, the home video production arm of Viz Communications, has seen the relative disappointment of Maison Ikkoku and the surprise success of Pokemon. Yet, the company's bread and butter continues to be Ranma 1/2, which continues to roll along much like the Cedar River flows through downtown Cedar Rapids, where producer Toshi Yoshida talked about the company's plans. There's a lot more Ranma on the way, which will be released in 2001 - after Yoshida gets to Vancouver and produces the shows. |  |
| Ranma 1/2 has been around for so long - and the ranks of voice talent in British Columbia have been so changeable - that many of the cast from the original Ranma production has changed. Yoshida told the fascinating tale of how the original Nabiki actor left to pursue a career as a pilot. Viz held a casing call for the new Nabiki, and the most convincing job was done by the sister of original actor, who was nearly an exact match. Yoshida joked that he considered not changing the credit line just to see if anyone would notice. The idea of the Ranma titles that are parodies of movie titles came from Satoto Fuji of Viz, by the way. |  |
| So why does Ranma 1/2 remain so popular among anime buyers? "You tell me why. I'd like to know so we can find another show like it," Yoshida joked. Then he observed that Ranma is a comedy, a comic book and it's also a video game, a combination that appeals to young video buyers. Pokemon has much the same combination, and while Pokemon isn't the super-hot show in 2000 that it was in 1999, it's still Viz' best-selling product line. Pokemon is also a current TV show and a Viz comic, along with Dragon Ball Z. Tenchi-Muyo also has become a TV show; will that help sales of Viz' Tenchi comic? It's too early to tell, Yoshida said. |  |
| Inu-Yasha fans are going to have to wait a while longer to find if Viz will get the North American rights to the Inu-Yasha series that hits the air in Japan in October. Yoshida still expects Viz's connections to Rumiko Takahashi and her Japanese publisher will pay off, but it's too early to tell. In the meantime, you can expect the Viz release of Ayashi no Ceres to start in the spring or summer of 2001, he said. |  |
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