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Use the Pants, Zac, Use the Pants!

Answerman: Use the Pants, Zac, Use the Pants!

Well, summer time is right around the corner, folks, and you know what that means. Free time, and plenty of it, right? Well, not for anime fans - we have 3 whoppin' months of conventions and new releases to look forward to. This should be a busy summer for the Answerman and his henchmen. Keep those questions rolling in. We should be doing a few big features this summer - perhaps an Answerman marathon. Also, summer movie season has started, arguably my favorite time of the year. So, be prepared for one seriously great summer. Onward, to this week's questions:


hello,

i'm a fan of escaflowne and I was watching it on fox kids and for some reason they stopped airing it. I called fox and asked them why they woldn't answer!? what I want to know is ,if they translated the rest of the episodes and if they did, where are they available, so that I can purchase them
please I NEED TO KNOOWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU,

Now now, no need to get your pants in a twist. Fox canned Escaflowne because the ratings stunk. It was a show aimed at Japanese adults and high school students that they tried to run on an American children's programming block. I hope Fox learned their lesson. As for your other question, have you been living under a rock? Escaflowne has been available in subtitled VHS format for like 4 years now. The DVDs are coming along steadily - heck, even the first 4 volumes of the Fox Kids edit were released. Go to any video store and you'll find it, I guarantee.


Why didn't ADV buy the EVA movies and directors cuts?
-Steve

ADV didn't buy the EVA movies because despite how many titles ADV licenses and releases, they're still a small company and couldn't afford the millions of dollars Gainax wanted for the movie rights. I believe an ADV spokesman said that they'd purchased the rights to 13 series or something like that for the price they would've paid for the EVA movies. I'm not sure what you mean by “directors cuts”, so I'll just stop here.


Hey Answer man! I was wondering about the new Star Ocean anime...Star Ocean EX...has it been released on VHS or DVD in japan yet? If so where would be a good place to buy it and if I do get the DVD, how can I tell if I can play the region 2 DVD on my player? Also, is there any chance of it coming to America any time soon? It looks so neat and I'd really like to see it...if you know of anyone fansubbing the series, please let me know. Thanks a lot for your time!

-Alex Keefe

Boy, everyone's heard about this anime already. It just started airing in Japan a few weeks back. I don't think the DVDs will be out for a little while, so just keep your pants on for now (That's two pants references in one column - I'm on a roll!). When it does come out, try CD Japan. They have reasonable rates and ship stuff out very quickly. If it's a region 2 DVD, it'll work in your Region 2 DVD player. No American companies have licensed the show yet but I imagine it'll see release here eventually - seems like an ADV title to me. I've seen one episode and it's basically just the game in anime form - same plotline, characters, heck, it's even got the same music. As for fansubs, I haven't seen any subbed copies of it floating around but plenty of raw versions are out there. I imagine there are at least 2 different subbing groups planning on releasing it soon.


Hey Answerman,

It seems that it's time to stop buying video, and turn to DVD. The first dvd I bought off ebay was Candy Candy and it seemed the English subs were so terrrible that it must have been made by someone who wasn't very good at English.

Now I'm bidding on some more and all the seller will tell me is that they were produced by Animation International Inc. Is that a legitaimate company?

How can I know which dvds are legit, and have reasonable English subtitles?

thanks, david

Here's a tip. Don't buy anime DVDs off of Ebay. Go to a Suncoast or www.rightstuf.com or www.animenation.com and buy them there. Nine times out of ten, you're buying a bootleg on Ebay. Hong Kong and Taiwanese copies are totally out of control on Ebay - I get so many questions from people asking if the DVD they just bought with every episode of Trigun subtitled in Cantonese is legitimate or not. Of course it isn't! If you live in the US, go to a video store or a legitimate online retailer and buy licensed Region 1 DVDs. Don't waste your time with Ebay. I'd be willing to bet that over half of the DVDs sold on Ebay are bootlegs. Company names like “Animation International Inc.” are dead giveaways - that just SOUNDS like a bootleg company to me. Plus, I've seen that name on several Hong Kong pirate DVDs and VCDs. Stay away. Buy legit product from legit retailers. Don't waste your time with inferior quality bootlegs.


I've heard rumors of a follow up series to gundam wing, and endless waltz, is this true?

No.


Hello,

Why hasent Macross 7 been brought to america in any fashion what so
ever. Is there anyway you can buy it anywhere cause i cant find out where or
how. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely
Joshua Fenton

Macross 7 actually has been imported to some extent. There's a roleplaying game out there that has a Macross 7 expansion book. Other than that, Macross 7 hasn't been imported because stuffy, humorless Macross fans hate it. It isn't like any other Macross series in that it's a comedy and effectively pokes fun at both Macross fans and Macross itself - there's a huge contingency of people out there that just don't get it. In addition, almost every anime company has said that the Macross 7 music rights are very expensive.. I wouldn't expect to see it come over here any time soon, unless people finally watch more than the first episode and realize that you aren't supposed to take the show seriously. For now, fansubs of the show are available at most online fansub distributors.


After ADVFilms releases all the last three volumes of Blue Seed on DVD,
will they license the rights for Blue Seed 2 OVA (3 Episodes) in the
near future? All I know is there's a reigon 2 DVD for the OVA but no
region 1 DVD yet.

Barney

Depending on how Blue Seed sells on DVD, I imagine they will. I'm not exactly Miss Cleo, so I can't predict the future for you - but I'd say it's a safe bet if you have money riding on this.


Will Akira Toriyama's Dr. Slump ever have a chance of being picked up for US release? Have you ever read the manga or watched the anime? I heard Toriyama stating it was more Westernized than Dragon Ball. Do you think it would be marketable to today's American audience or is it too dated? I really want to see it, but it's impossible to find the original series.
Thanks.

Nobody's licensed Dr. Slump yet and I think you have a point about the show's age. It's a little too old and it's aimed squarely at Japanese children - one of the main characters is a talking pink pile of poo, for god's sake. I've seen a few episodes and I thought it was a waste of time. I could be wrong, of course. It might have an audience here, but I'm not sure it'd find a good home on US TV.


Hello, I have a pressing set of questions.

1. What does it take to start an anime subbing company?
2. How do you get rights to a series?
3. Here is list of series I'm thinking about getting to distribute. Could you help me narrow it down?
[Editor's Note: Trimmed for length.. but boy he's got some zeal!]
-Ima, Sokoni Iru Boku (Now and then, here and there)
-Di Gi Charat
-Goldfish Warning!
-Samuari Pizza Cats (sub) I hope a dual-dvd with the 80's dub
-Voltron(sub) I hope a dual-dvd with the 80's dub
-Omoide Poro Poro (Only Yesterday)
-Coo: It Came From The Sea
-Whisper of the Heart (Mimi o sumeseba)
-Future Boy Conan
-Bakuen Campus Guardress (aka Combustible Campus Guardress)
-Mahou Tsukai Tai! TV
-Akazukin Cha Cha (Red Riding Hood Cha Cha)
-Dengeki Oshiyoki Musume Gotaman (Butt Attack Punisher Girl Gotaman)
-Nurse Angel Ririka
-All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku TV
-Macross 7
-Hime-Chan no Ribbon
-Miracle Girls
-The Enemy's the Pirates! (Teki wa Kaizoku!)
-Detective Conan
-Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko
-Kareshi Kanojyo no Jijyo (Kare Kano, His and Her Circumstances)
-Prefectural Earth Defense Force(Neighbourhood Earth Defense Force)
-Speed Racer (1997)
-Star Ocean EX
-You're Under Arrest TV (1996)&(2001)
Any other suggestions?

Please help thanks,
Thomas Sargent
age 20

Whoa there, partner! That's a lot of ambition! I suppose the first step to starting an anime company in the US is to go to college, major in business and entrepreneurship, and learn how to run a company. You get rights to series by developing contacts in Japan and hiring people who know enough about Japanese culture and custom to negotiate contract details. I suppose another good thing to do would be to pay attention to the marketplace, something you clearly aren't doing now - about half the series you listed there have already been licensed. Go online, do the research, go to school. Good luck - it's going to take years of hard work and dedication to pull it off. But hey, if you release Macross 7 here, I'll buy it from you.


Hey Answerman,

I was wondering if you've heard any information at all on whether or not
Marmalade Boy would get dubbed. And do you know if any companies are showing
an interest in dubbing it?

Thanks,
Thi

Good question, I think. No American companies have expressed interest in Marmalade Boy yet. I'm not sure why you're so intent on seeing it dubbed, though.


Dear Answerman,

Thank you for your help once again in finding out all one needs to know about an anime series.

My question is; what do you know about he anime series/movie (I'm not really sure what it is) called White Shaman and Assassian.

What company produced it and who produced/directed the feature? What year was it released in Japan, and is it at all released in North America?

Arigato, Answerman - san,
Your help is always appreciated.

Sincerly

MR MAKAMO

An Assassin and White Shaman is a separate manga story that's part of the manga series WeiB Kreuz. It tells the story of the character Aya joining the WeiB group. There was never an anime specifically for that manga but there is a WeiB Kreuz anime series that ran from April to September back in 1998 in Japan. It hasn't been released in American yet. There are also a few OVA series.


And that's it for this week. Trivia is going on a short hiatus while we prepare for something a little bit bigger in a week or two, so watch this spot!

Seeya next time!


Got a burning question that you can't seem to answer? Maybe the Answerman can help you! Contact the Answerman at [email protected] (answerman at animenewsnetwork.com) with your questions!

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