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Sakura
Con - Saturday - Industry Talk
 Dark Horse
comics is located in Oregon, a short trip from Washington, and manga editor
Mike Hansen made his annual trip to Sakura Con to fill in the fans on the
company's latest plans. Dark Horse co-produces most of their manga titles
through Studio Proteus of California. DH handles many mainstream comics
titles, but Hansen said the company makes more money from manga than from
comics. With that in mind, company president Mike Richardson has traveled
to Japan to meet with manga publishers and negotiate new titles to be released
in English in North America. Oh My Goddess, Lone Wolf and Cub, and the
revised Akira are among the best-selling manga titles handled by Dark Horse.
You're Under Arrest and Shadow Lady were dropped because they weren't successful.
And Hansen said Dark Horse is still waiting for Masamune Shirow to finish
the second series of Ghost in the Shell stories. |
 AD Vision
and ADV Films continues to move toward DVD production. theatrical releases
and TV broadcasts of their properties. Matt Greenfield of the Texas company
said that VHS is "going the way of the dinosaur" because retailers feel
tapes are no longer selling well, and he expects a $70 DVD player to hit
store shelves by Christmas. ADV continues to negotiate to get nadia of
the Mysterious Seas and Martian Successor Nadesico on television. The Gamera
2 and Spriggan movies are expected to get limited theatrical release this
year, with Spriggan scheduled for screening in September. Greenfield noted
that Spriggan got what he felt was a well-deserved "R" from the MPAA for
its violence, which he emphasized made a show that was not for children.
And on the horizon for ADV is a spinoff series from the Sorcerer Hunters
world to be called Sorcerer on the Rocks, where all of the characters are
named after drinks. |
 Jerry Chu of
Bandai Entertainment listened to Greenfield after he had his own presentation
on Bandai's success with The Big O's presentation on the Cartoon Network.
that cablecasting of the series has led to a big demand for Big O from
fans who want their own copies of the series, and Chu noted that Big O
is scheduled for a June home video release. Other series expected to get
DVD releases from Bandai are Silent Moebius, Fancy Lala, Brain Powered
and Betterman. And Chu noted that Bandai is surveying fans on
their web site to find what series the fans want released next on home
video. |
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