Pioneer
Entertainment is going to be involved in one of the most interesting
switches of ownership of a major property. While AnimEigo introduced the
North American market to the Oh My Goddess series, Pioneer is going to
continue the release by releasing the Oh My Goddess movie and the Adventures
of the Mini Goddess short films, with the movie due for a late 2001 home
video release and the Mini Goddess series following in 2002. Also, it appears
that Pioneer is going to recast the series with new actors and not use
the voices that dubbed the first five Goddess episodes for AnimEigo.
When
Studio Pierrot's president appeared at Anime Expo, he got to hear the reaction
of the fans to the company's demo reel of title sequences. Fancy Lala and
GTO got some enthusiastic reactions, but the biggest cheer was for Tamahome
in Fushigi Yuugi. Pierrot titles are sold by several North American companies,
but it looks as if they're seeing a new relationship with Funimation -
and the big title is Yu Yu Hakusho. A Funimation representative sang the
praises of that series, saying that Hakusho had been one of the most popular
anime series of the 1990's.
Viz
Video also has hopes for a title to be a breakout show, but it'll be a
different sort of breakout. It's no surprise that Viz got the home video
rights to Inu-Yasha, a series by Viz stalwart Rumiko Takahashi which is
handled by Viz' parent company in Japan. The surprise is that Viz is hoping
to turn Inu-Yasha into a mainstream show by shopping the series to North
American television and cable TV. It looks as if the success of other anime
series on U.S. TV has encouraged Viz to look for a broadcast or cablecast
home for Inu-Yasha.
The
Revolutionary Girl Utena movie is scheduled for a release by Central Park
Media later in the year, following that company's handling of the opening
episodes of the TV series. The format release is interesting, though. CPM
is going to follow the DVD trend by selling disks, they are going to be
selling VHS tapes only with the dubbed version of the movie. That follows
the trend of letting DVD's carry the subtitle market and cutting back their
subtitles on tape.
Kevin
Bennett was part of Studio Ironcat's first foray to Anime Expo. The small
Virginia company plans more Senno Knife horror manga and a Dahlia manga
by the creator of Vampire Princess Miyu. Ironcat will sell American editions
of the Neon Genesis Evangelion art books from Gainax, and they'll expand
their line of manga from anime companies with a Cool Devices manga.
Pioneer
Entertainment is going to be involved in one of the most interesting
switches of ownership of a major property. While AnimEigo introduced the
North American market to the Oh My Goddess series, Pioneer is going to
continue the release by releasing the Oh My Goddess movie and the Adventures
of the Mini Goddess short films, with the movie due for a late 2001 home
video release and the Mini Goddess series following in 2002. Also, it appears
that Pioneer is going to recast the series with new actors and not use
the voices that dubbed the first five Goddess episodes for AnimEigo.
When
Studio Pierrot's president appeared at Anime Expo, he got to hear the reaction
of the fans to the company's demo reel of title sequences. Fancy Lala and
GTO got some enthusiastic reactions, but the biggest cheer was for Tamahome
in Fushigi Yuugi. Pierrot titles are sold by several North American companies,
but it looks as if they're seeing a new relationship with Funimation -
and the big title is Yu Yu Hakusho. A Funimation representative sang the
praises of that series, saying that Hakusho had been one of the most popular
anime series of the 1990's.
Viz
Video also has hopes for a title to be a breakout show, but it'll be a
different sort of breakout. It's no surprise that Viz got the home video
rights to Inu-Yasha, a series by Viz stalwart Rumiko Takahashi which is
handled by Viz' parent company in Japan. The surprise is that Viz is hoping
to turn Inu-Yasha into a mainstream show by shopping the series to North
American television and cable TV. It looks as if the success of other anime
series on U.S. TV has encouraged Viz to look for a broadcast or cablecast
home for Inu-Yasha.
The
Revolutionary Girl Utena movie is scheduled for a release by Central Park
Media later in the year, following that company's handling of the opening
episodes of the TV series. The format release is interesting, though. CPM
is going to follow the DVD trend by selling disks, they are going to be
selling VHS tapes only with the dubbed version of the movie. That follows
the trend of letting DVD's carry the subtitle market and cutting back their
subtitles on tape.
Kevin
Bennett was part of Studio Ironcat's first foray to Anime Expo. The small
Virginia company plans more Senno Knife horror manga and a Dahlia manga
by the creator of Vampire Princess Miyu. Ironcat will sell American editions
of the Neon Genesis Evangelion art books from Gainax, and they'll expand
their line of manga from anime companies with a Cool Devices manga.
