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YagamiBlackstone255



Joined: 10 May 2023
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2025 6:17 pm Reply with quote
I really hope the Italy Toei HQ will be much more successful than the Paris one.
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 29, 2025 1:55 am Reply with quote
I don't think I had heard about that weirdness involving Fox before. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons why there's not as many Bluray releases for the movies, as compared to their DVD versions. Or was Fox's sign off only needed for new movies made after Evolution? I could just as easily see it retroactively applied to all DB movies in general with an agreement that one-sided and sweeping in place.

Does that mean Disney has their hat thrown in the ring now, too? How about Bandai/Namco/Bamco? I feel like we need to try and get some more cooks into this kitchen.
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NJ_



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PostPosted: Tue Apr 29, 2025 3:11 am Reply with quote
Triltaison wrote:
I don't think I had heard about that weirdness involving Fox before. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons why there's not as many Bluray releases for the movies, as compared to their DVD versions. Or was Fox's sign off only needed for new movies made after Evolution? I could just as easily see it retroactively applied to all DB movies in general with an agreement that one-sided and sweeping in place.


https://www.kanzenshuu.com/2012/09/19/2013-dragon-ball-z-movie-receiving-government-funding/

This was the first hint of Fox's involvement with Battle of Gods and they had been involved as a co-producer up until Super Broly.

company#17811

Also Funimation said similar things about Battle of Gods and Fox back then.

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=637069#p637069

Quote:
Does that mean Disney has their hat thrown in the ring now, too? How about Bandai/Namco/Bamco? I feel like we need to try and get some more cooks into this kitchen.


For Super Hero, Fox was replaced in it's committee by Bandai Spirits (the division with the blue Bandai logo) while everyone else is the same and Disney wasn't involved.
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 29, 2025 9:39 am Reply with quote
Thanks, NJ. I appreciate the sleuthing. Although I own the manga and anime, the backroom dealings of DB are totally outside of my wheelhouse. Most of my Toei knowledge comes from the Puss in Boots classic era and then the Sailor Moon licensing hydra.
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Vee-Tee



Joined: 12 Aug 2015
Posts: 186
Location: イギリス
PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2025 4:17 pm Reply with quote
Yes! I love hearing about the UK side of the anime business. Obviously the North American side is way more discussed online, but I still find my home country’s approach to the anime business fascinating.

Maybe one day MVM will be able to write an expose on what happened with Sailor Moon during the DIC era, and precisely why it’s taken over twenty years (and the financial weight of Crunchyroll) for the series to be available on DVD/BR. The uncut Viz dub has been out for years at this point, and SM merch seems to sell well at HMV and Waterstones, so I did always wonder why there was no release on home media.
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YagamiBlackstone255



Joined: 10 May 2023
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2025 8:44 pm Reply with quote
I really wish Pretty Cure's YTV dub was released in the UK. Kids loved it, it was one of the few anime unique to the UK. I wish Manga released it.
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Vee-Tee



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PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2025 2:16 am Reply with quote
YagamiBlackstone255 wrote:
I really wish Pretty Cure's YTV dub was released in the UK. Kids loved it, it was one of the few anime unique to the UK. I wish Manga released it.


It was very briefly on Pop (the kids TV channel buried deep on Sky/Virgin/etc), and I’m not sure if the YTV one was on Netflix or CR. But yeah, would’ve been cool to have a physical media release. Thanks to Sailor Moon doing poorly back in the early 2000s, magical girl shows are assumed to be a very hard sell here.
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YagamiBlackstone255



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PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2025 1:54 pm Reply with quote
It was on Pop Girl, I know not only because I followed news of the broadcast, but also because Pop Girl was less popular than Pop. Believe me, if Pop had aired it, I think they would have been a huge mainstream hit and probably dubbed Max Heart onward.
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Nipasu



Joined: 11 Aug 2023
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PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2025 3:25 pm Reply with quote
Vee-Tee wrote:
YagamiBlackstone255 wrote:
I really wish Pretty Cure's YTV dub was released in the UK. Kids loved it, it was one of the few anime unique to the UK. I wish Manga released it.


It was very briefly on Pop (the kids TV channel buried deep on Sky/Virgin/etc), and I’m not sure if the YTV one was on Netflix or CR. But yeah, would’ve been cool to have a physical media release. Thanks to Sailor Moon doing poorly back in the early 2000s, magical girl shows are assumed to be a very hard sell here.

The dub isn't available anywhere, and I don't think it was ever up for streaming.

Did Sailor Moon do poorly in the 2000s? I remember there were new dolls released and YTV kept the show airing till 2003/2004.
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YagamiBlackstone255



Joined: 10 May 2023
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PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2025 6:04 pm Reply with quote
Nipasu wrote:
Vee-Tee wrote:
YagamiBlackstone255 wrote:
I really wish Pretty Cure's YTV dub was released in the UK. Kids loved it, it was one of the few anime unique to the UK. I wish Manga released it.


It was very briefly on Pop (the kids TV channel buried deep on Sky/Virgin/etc), and I’m not sure if the YTV one was on Netflix or CR. But yeah, would’ve been cool to have a physical media release. Thanks to Sailor Moon doing poorly back in the early 2000s, magical girl shows are assumed to be a very hard sell here.

The dub isn't available anywhere, and I don't think it was ever up for streaming.

Did Sailor Moon do poorly in the 2000s? I remember there were new dolls released and YTV kept the show airing till 2003/2004.


I never said it was on streaming. Pop, Pop Girl and Kix are kids channels unique to the UK and Ireland.
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Vee-Tee



Joined: 12 Aug 2015
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PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2025 2:26 am Reply with quote
Nipasu wrote:
Vee-Tee wrote:
YagamiBlackstone255 wrote:
I really wish Pretty Cure's YTV dub was released in the UK. Kids loved it, it was one of the few anime unique to the UK. I wish Manga released it.


It was very briefly on Pop (the kids TV channel buried deep on Sky/Virgin/etc), and I’m not sure if the YTV one was on Netflix or CR. But yeah, would’ve been cool to have a physical media release. Thanks to Sailor Moon doing poorly back in the early 2000s, magical girl shows are assumed to be a very hard sell here.

The dub isn't available anywhere, and I don't think it was ever up for streaming.

Did Sailor Moon do poorly in the 2000s? I remember there were new dolls released and YTV kept the show airing till 2003/2004.


Yep, SM did poorly in the UK in the late ‘90s and early 00s. Everyone I knew liked it, but it was buried on (cable/satellite) Fox Kids in awkward time slots (sometimes in the afternoons when kids were at school, and sometimes just in the graveyard slots at 3am). Fox Kids aired seasons 1-2 of the DiC dub and apparently aired a commercial saying season 3 was on its way, but that never happened.
Then it went to terrestrial TV, most famously Good Morning TV which had a 6am slot for various cartoons. They showed 20 episodes of SM on repeat and then buried it for Card Captors or Beyblade, can’t remember which.

According to the head of MVM (the distributor of Sailor Moon on video in the UK), both the DVDs and VHS tapes (the DiC dub—not uncut Japanese) sold so poorly that it nearly bankrupted the company. At one point UK collectors were able to go to our equivalent of the dollar store and get the toys, the dolls, the DVDs, etc., for far cheaper than retail price because all that stock needed liquidating.

Apparently the UK is allergic to shōjo, the Anime Encyclopaedia by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy reports that Ouran High School Host Club’s DVDs were also among the worst selling anime releases over here.

It’s sad, and in a better world I wish it had done better. Millennials like me still have a nostalgic fondness for SM and will hopefully support the upcoming DVD/BR release via Crunchyroll. But it’s been a long time coming. Unfortunately I had to pirate the Viz rereleases and SM Crystal, since the latter was only briefly available for streaming here until both became exclusive to Hulu, which we don’t have in the UK.
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NJ_



Joined: 31 Oct 2009
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PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2025 7:32 am Reply with quote
Vee-Tee wrote:
Unfortunately I had to pirate the Viz rereleases and SM Crystal, since the latter was only briefly available for streaming here until both became exclusive to Hulu, which we don’t have in the UK.


Right, this was back when Niconico was streaming seasons 1 & 2 worldwide for a limited time since with it being an ONA, that was the main streaming site for everybody. Once Season 3 was announced as a TV series after reruns of S2 ended, it was pretty much over for those outside of Toei USA's territories.
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Vee-Tee



Joined: 12 Aug 2015
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PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2025 9:46 am Reply with quote
NJ_ wrote:
Vee-Tee wrote:
Unfortunately I had to pirate the Viz rereleases and SM Crystal, since the latter was only briefly available for streaming here until both became exclusive to Hulu, which we don’t have in the UK.


Right, this was back when Niconico was streaming seasons 1 & 2 worldwide for a limited time since with it being an ONA, that was the main streaming site for everybody. Once Season 3 was announced as a TV series after reruns of S2 ended, it was pretty much over for those outside of Toei USA's territories.


Yeah sadly I missed the boat with Nico Nico and had to watch it later. Going to support the official release of course but there was nothing available here in the UK when it came to SM for years.
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YagamiBlackstone255



Joined: 10 May 2023
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PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2025 11:32 pm Reply with quote
I checked out the ratings for Sailor Moon and they werent half bad, it wasnt as beloved as Digimon (For one month Digimon was the majority of the Top 10) but much better ratings than Mew Mew Power And Pretty Cure.
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Vee-Tee



Joined: 12 Aug 2015
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PostPosted: Sat May 03, 2025 2:37 am Reply with quote
YagamiBlackstone255 wrote:
I checked out the ratings for Sailor Moon and they werent half bad, it wasnt as beloved as Digimon (For one month Digimon was the majority of the Top 10) but much better ratings than Mew Mew Power And Pretty Cure.


I’d be very interested to see the source of those ratings for the UK broadcasts. I’ve been trying to source old TV guides to establish an exact timeline of when SM aired on Fox Kids…
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