Forum - View topicAnime that seemingly got released and/or popular EVERYWHERE except North America?
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RedSwirl
 Posts: 344 |
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There seem to have been quite a few anime and manga that got a lot of fans in many countries all over the world but never got a wide release in the United States, probably mainly because anime on TV "broke out" in the US later than in many other countries. They seem to mainly be properties from the 70's and 80's, but the main three that come to my mind are Captain Tsubasa (it was just revealed that the new game almost didn't come out in NA at all), Rose of Versailles, and Kaiketsu Zorro.
And I'm talking EVERYWHERE. Back in the day shows like these seem to have been translated and dubbed for many countries throughout southeast Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East... but skipped the US entirely outside maybe some niche limited release, usually in much more recent years. Does anybody have any other examples, maybe ones they remember from their childhoods? |
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BBally
Posts: 84 Location: UK |
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UFO Robo Grendizer was not only popular in Central Europe, Arab part of the Middle East and French Quebec but it basically popularized Anime in those parts of the world.
Captain Tsubasa is extremely popular in Europe, Arabic countries and Latin America. |
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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Apologies for the slow response.
The issue you raise is particularly relevant when it comes to anime with female protagonists. In my grand survey (so far I've covered from the dawn of anime to early 1988) I've repeatedly found that anime would be released throughout Europe, Central and South America, and even the Middle East, but not in the Anglophone parts of the world. It's as if American, Australian, British and Canadian TV programmers didn't have faith in the willingness of audiences to watch such shows. Or, perhaps the programmers simply wouldn't treat the idea of female protagonists seriously. Even fansubbers have largely disregarded anime with female protagonists pre-dating the 1990s. Among the neglected anime are the long string of Toei magical girl series from Sally the Witch (1966) to Lalabel (1980). The only one to ever get an English language release was Cutie Honey (1973), perhaps because it was squarely aimed at a male audience. Some other egregious examples include Wandering Sun aka Nozomi in the Sun (1971 - the first ever idol singer anime), the groundbreaking Star of the Seine (1975), Chie the Brat (1981), Queen Millennia (1981), Dream Hunter REM (1985), Bosco Adventure (1986), ESPer Mami (1987) and the later Pierrot magical girl shows Magical Fairy Persia (1984), Magical Star Magical Emi (1985) and Magical Idol Pastel Yumi (1986, and which almost got a full release thanks to Anime Sols). One classically neglected series is Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow (1982), set in Australia and dubbed into multiple languages, including Arabic, French, German, Italian, Persian and Spanish, but, of course, not English. The series was particularly well-received in Iran, where it was known as The Immigrants, and was a staple for children growing up. It seems that post-revolutionary Iran was more open than we were to female protagonists. Only the first three episodes have been fan-subbed, so I was forced to watch a French dub of the series, via Youtube. Consider this: I, an Australian, was reduced to watching a Japanese adaptation, dubbed into French, of an Australian "masterpiece" set in Australia, written by a fellow Melburnian. (I use the word "masterpiece" loosely - the source material isn't well known in Australia). Another oddity is Fairy Princess Minky Momo (1982), which Harmony Gold licenced, dubbed and marketed as the 52-episode The Magical World of Gigi. Even with an English dub the series failed to interest TV programmers in the US or UK, although it was broadcast, under the Gigi moniker, in Malaysia, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Israel, Brazil, China, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines. Just one English-speaking city eventually aired it - my native Melbourne on Channel 10 from 1986 to 1988, although I was oblivious to its existence at the time. (Back then the struggling network was desperate for cheap content to fill broadcast time.) One result of this neglect is the false perception among English-speaking fans that anime has a robustly masculine history. An illustration of this is an anime-loving workmate of mine who thought that Sailor Moon was the first ever magical girl anime - understandable until you dig into anime's diverse history. Part of the reason for my survey is to counter this misapprehension. |
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Rekishika
Posts: 23 |
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Re "Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow": This was, of course, part of a series of anime shows, the "World Masterpiece Theater" by Nippon Animation, which seems to be rather unknown in the English-speaking world. Yet, beginning with "Heidi" in 1974 (technically not part of the Nippon Animation WMT series) and extending to the mid-80s, these shows were quite popular in the German-speaking countries (and beyond), together with other shows by Nippon Animation or its predecessor Zuiyô, such as "Vicky the Viking" and "Maya the Honey Bee" (both from the mid-70s) or "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1983). In fact, recent (European) 3D-CG animation remakes of "Heidi", "Maya" and "Vicky", and even German live-action remakes of "Vicky", use those anime versions as visual template. |
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RedSwirl
Posts: 344 |
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The biggest reason I see for this tossed around is because English-speaking countries were already filling their TV schedules with Hollywood-produced material, and were thus less willing to dub foreign shows. And when it comes to cartoons, the business model, in the US at least, became heavily centered around selling toys, and there was (and is) a perception that only boys buy the toys.
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RedSwirl
Posts: 344 |
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Sorry to bump this after so long but I found another notable example: Anne of the Green Gables.
It is based on probably Canada's most well-known novel and directed by Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Kaguya) in 1979... and translated into several languages but not English, despite being based on a Canadian book. ...BUT, a few years ago some blogger randomly found an English dub on YouTube and through some sleuthing found out an English dub actually had been produced in South Africa in the 80's based on the German version footage. you can watch it on YouTube now. https://imissbionix.wordpress.com/2017/04/09/wait-isao-takahatas-anne-of-green-gables-anime-series-was-dubbed-into-english/ |
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Errinundra
Moderator
Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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Madman has licensed the movie compilation of the first six episodes (which are the best of the series), although there is a minor subtitle glitch. It comes with both subtitles in 4:3 and dubbed in widescreen (meaning the top and bottom is cropped). I don't like the dubbed version as Anne has an inappropriate plummy voice.
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9835 Location: Virginia |
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@Errinundra
What is a "plummy voice" ? I've seen the phrase before in English books but have never understood what it meant. |
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Errinundra
Moderator
Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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@ Alan45
Maybe another one of those commonwealth terms. It comes from "plum", meaning something that's desirable. In that form you would most often hear it used in "plum job", ie it's well paid, or rewarding, or easy. When modified as "plummy" it takes on the added suggestion of affectation. So a plummy voice suggests someone putting on airs and graces, or trying to sound upper class, ie speaking with what they think is a desirable voice. Anne definitely is not affected. She's as genuine as they come. The Japanese seiyuu does a fantastic job getting the balance right between cute and irritating. The South African voice actor speaks with very precise and mellifluous received pronunciation. I cannot imagine Anne, with a history as an impoverished orphan, talking like that. |
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petran79
 Posts: 122 |
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Another example is Kojika Monogatari (The Yearling)
It has an English dub by a non-American studio but it was never shown in the States,probably due to licensing issues. It also changes some things, eg the thing with Fodderwing happens in the end for more drama but also to have a close friend for Jody, to balance things out and add some padding. Same for Rascal the Raccoon,due to Disney holding the distributoon rights because of a movie they produced earlier. Tv series adds so many things not included in the book. Both though feature meticulous research of those places that would even put Disney and other American studios,even live action ones, to shame. |
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Spawn29
Posts: 551 |
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Saint Seiya never made it big in the US due to the fact that it came out way too late. The show looked dated and people never got into it. If Saint Seiya came out in the 90s from someone like Viz Media or Streamline Pictures, it would be a bigger hit.
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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I don't know if the example I will cite fits your criteria; but I will give it the "old college try" because I am utterly confounded by a lack of any English license. I am writing about the film Her Blue Sky. Let us ignore the fact that it was reviewed by Kim Morrissy in 2019, October. The review, by itself, signifies nothing in terms of licensing. But if you scroll down the Encyclopedia entry you will find that it has been licensed for the following languages:
Admittedly, this does not preclude the possibility that this intellectual property has ─ in fact ─ already been licensed to an English-language licensee and both licensor/licensee have agreed to avoid announcing it. For whatever it might be worth, here's the production committee:
Me, I was so enthralled by the film that I became impatient and posted my thoughts here. (Beware: There are some spoilers.) |
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Primus
 Posts: 2759 Location: Toronto |
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I'm not sure the companies you listed would've made it any more popular. Seiya became big in parts of Europe and South America because it aired on mainstream TV. Streamline would've gotten it onto more obscure channels, at best. Viz wasn't really getting shows onto TV until the '00s. With that in mind, Seiya would've been left to survive on 3-4 episode VHS releases, which wasn't a format suitable for longrunners. The show was just a bad fit for how anime was released here at the time. Too bloody and violent for kids TV. Too many episodes for direct-to-video. Too old by the time those problems could be overcome. Its best bet at a big audience was likely the brief window in the late '90s when things like DBZ, Sailor Moon and Ronin Warriors came over. DIC was just a few years late. |
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Spawn29
Posts: 551 |
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They released Ranma 1/2 during the VHS era and that was big hit with anime & manga fans at the time. Saint Seiya could have work from Viz during the mid-late 90s. |
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Primus
Posts: 2759 Location: Toronto |
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Maybe, but Ranma is really the sole long-runner to go direct-to-video in that era and survive. Most publishers didn't bother with shows that long (unless it was on a major TV channel) because they were a huge commitment. There were a few other attempts, like with Fist of the North Star and Urusei Yatsura, but neither found much of an audience. They only got full, sub-only DVD releases years after.
It also needs to be said that even if a direct-to-VHS Saint Seiya release was as successful as Ranma's, the show still wouldn't be as popular here as it was elsewhere. Ranma was only really ever known among anime fans. It's not something that got wide attention like Seiya did in a lot of markets. |
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