Anime Expo 2007

The Right Stuf International

Panelists: Shawne Kleckner, President/CEO

The Right Stuf International (TRSI) panel opened with a clip from The Third: The Girl with the Blue Eye, which drew an enthusiastic response from the crowd in the room. Following the clip, TRSI President Shawne Kleckner introduced himself and thanked the fans for supporting TRSI for the 20 years the company has been in business.

Kleckner followed his introduction with the announcement of a new division in the company, Nozomi Entertainment. The name, which will be used as a brand name for titles licensed by TRSI, was created to distinguish titles licensed by the company from their popular online store, which retails anime, manga, and other products released by other companies. The name, which means "wish" in Japanese, was selected to reflect the company philosophy of providing fans with the titles they want. Nozomi's first official title will be The Third, and the division has already set up its own webpage here.

After discussing the company changes, clips of two new titles acquired by TRSI for the Nozomi label were announced. The first title was Lost Universe, the space sci-fi comedy based on novels by Hajime Kanzaka, who also wrote the Slayers series. Lost Universe was previously licensed in North America by ADV Films on VHS with a few volumes on DVD; the Nozomi release will contain all 26 episodes of the series in a thinpak DVD box set. The decision to re-license the series was motivated by fan demand for the series. The Nozomi release marks the first ever collection of the show in a DVD box set.

The second title announced was Victorian Romance Emma, the anime based on the popular manga by Kaoru Mori. The manga is already available in North America from CMX Manga. The series is a historical drama set in 19th century London. Due to issues related to character accents and creating a natural sounding dub, Kleckner mentioned that the DVDs for the show would not feature a dub track. The series will be sold in two "season" box sets. The first set is scheduled for release in the first quarter of the next fiscal year, but no specific release date has been announced yet. The first box set will include the 12-episode first season and the second box set will feature the next 12 episodes and the "Episode 0" preview episode that aired before the beginning of Season Two in Japan. Fans can preorder both sets here, and the first 1,000 people to preorder each set will get their name printed in the "Special Thanks" section of the DVD credits for that set.

When the floor was opened to questions, some fans asked about the possibility of a box set for Ninja Nonsense and To Heart. Kleckner answered that some copies of the final DVD for To Heart will be sold with a special edition box. No box set for Ninja Nonsense is in the works yet.

This report has been verified by a studio representative.