4 new possible UK Anime liceneses appearing on HMV?

Andrew Partridge at Beez went on record to say that the listing at HMV of an Akira release on Blu-Ray was false and that no one was planning to bring the film back into the UK on Blu-Ray.
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Sorry, WHAT!?

No UK Blu-ray release for probably the single biggest selling non-Ghibli anime film of all time? Care to elaborate on that Andrew, if you're around?
 
Effectively it's not that either of us DON'T want to - we do - but big licensing issues alas! Miscommunication there!

Will write mode when back.

-Andrew
 
Dave said:
Not sure if its connected but Toei have recently let Italian licensor AnimeFun have the distribution rights to all five seasons sailor moon. Its not a UK license of course but shows Toei are willing to sell the rights again for sailormoon.

http://www.animenation.net/blog/2009/08 ... ilor-moon/
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Well that's good! It perhaps shows that Toei has gotten over their strop, and are willing to let her out again. But I will hazard a guess that any English release will go to Funimation, and then maybe they will re-dub it and stream her. But we here can only hope for an uncut sub sadly.
 
I wouldn't complete rule out the release of Akira Blu Ray or Sailormoon for the UK just yet. They won't be released by one current crop (Manga, Beez or MVM) of course but it does not mean another company on the quiet is releasing it. Afro Samurai was orignal released by gonzo or the anime titles Fabulous Films are releasing.
 
Dave said:
Not sure if its connected but Toei have recently let Italian licensor AnimeFun have the distribution rights to all five seasons sailor moon. Its not a UK license of course but shows Toei are willing to sell the rights again for sailormoon.

http://www.animenation.net/blog/2009/08 ... ilor-moon/
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I heard about this news a few days ago and was really excited. Especially since Funimation are interested in re-dubbing it, this news probably means that now it's a lot more likely to happen. :D

If it does, I'd buy it for sure, I love my nostalgia kicks. :'D
 
to be called only ponyo, I don't think it's the same movie... I thought the full title was Ponyo by the Cliff by the sea, or Ponyo on the cliff.
 
chaos said:
to be called only ponyo, I don't think it's the same movie... I thought the full title was Ponyo by the Cliff by the sea, or Ponyo on the cliff.
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"Ponyo" is the American name for "Gake no Ue no Ponyo", just as no-one calls "Spirited Away" as "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi".
 
nanika said:
chaos said:
to be called only ponyo, I don't think it's the same movie... I thought the full title was Ponyo by the Cliff by the sea, or Ponyo on the cliff.
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"Ponyo" is the American name for "Gake no Ue no Ponyo", just as no-one calls "Spirited Away" as "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi".
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A better way of putting it would be "no-one calls 'Spirited Away' as 'The Spiriting Away of Sen/Chihiro'".
 
beez_andrew said:
chaos said:
beez_andrew said:
Not if the sales figures for the last Dragon Ball Z feature to be released here by Warner are an accurate measure - which given the price of the license even now quite frankly are worth being taken seriously!
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I'm sorry, but your comment gave me the impression that a show that is 20 years old is expensive. I must be seeing things...

WRT to the DBZ feature, I'm not sure which feature you're talking about, but most DBZ movies, OVA's etc are rubish.

They all had a VHS release back home and I collected them all, but there werevery few that were ok. Most of them were just fanservice adding nothing to the franchise.
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I wish you were, but last time we as a collective UK industry checked it actually was still that way! I'd bet the DBZ movie despite quality has not helped that.

You never know though, it may be possible to drive a bargain on it but given how poorly the features performed handled by a bigger company who managed to get it into supermarkets on a good rate back in the days that was a real challenge and you can see why it's a title people are reluctant to approach...
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Hi

I would just like to say that you cant base potential DBZ sales estimates from the 3 DBZ DVDs Warner Vision International released, for one main reason. The dub on the 3 movies was poor, and compared to the Ocean dub aired on Toonami, the movies dub was unnacceptably poor.

You see, many, many people were exicted that DBZ was being released in the UK, i remember the buzz back in 2003 before the movies were released, but were announced, people were excited at the prospect of home UK releases and expected the dub to be the same as the DBZ episodes.

But when the movies were released, people were shocked at the dub, and word got round very quickly because we as fans were interacting in forums as well as in our own communities. Basically people ended up not buying the dvds because they didnt like the dub. So they didnt buy it. Many potential sales were lost. You dont have to be a fan of DBZ to see the dub was poor. The voice acting wasnt good and translations were poor at some places, but were accurate in others.

If the movies released were dubbed by The Ocean Group in Canada, then without a shadow of doubt the movie sales would've been much, much higher, because people in UK and Europe know and love the Ocean dub that was shown on UK TV.

I think its great that a representative from an Anime distribution company is here.

I can understand that companies, if looking at the sales of the dbz movies, may be hesitant to release DBZ, but I would like you to see it from the point of view of the fans, a series you love is released in completely different voices you are used to, where the voices dont fit, and the acting is nowhere near the level of the original Ocean group. It would be a disappointment and I know many people deliberately didnt buy the dvds because of the dub. I bought the DVDs though because I wanted to collect them and I dont mind the dub myself.

Do you think Beez would consider releasing DBZ to DVD it it showed potential of selling well? In order to sell well, the dub has to be the same as the one shown on TV (Ocean dub). DBZ was the top rated show on Cartoon Network and Toonami, not only did DBZ beat any other anime Toonami aired in terms of ratings, it also beat the vast majority of cartoons, it would sell well if the dub was right. (However since the Ocean Group dub was brought back by high demand from the Android saga, the releases would have to start by the Android saga initially, to be a success)
 
NightSaiyan said:
If the movies released were dubbed by The Ocean Group in Canada, then without a shadow of doubt the movie sales would've been much, much higher, because people in UK and Europe know and love the Ocean dub that was shown on UK TV.
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Ocean didn't dub it some company in Europe did.

NightSaiyan said:
I can understand that companies, if looking at the sales of the dbz movies, may be hesitant to release DBZ, but I would like you to see it from the point of view of the fans, a series you love is released in completely different voices you are used to, where the voices dont fit, and the acting is nowhere near the level of the original Ocean group. It would be a disappointment and I know many people deliberately didnt buy the dvds because of the dub. I bought the DVDs though because I wanted to collect them and I dont mind the dub myself.
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The Orange Brick sets in America were one of the highest sold anime releases..

NightSaiyan said:
Do you think Beez would consider releasing DBZ to DVD it it showed potential of selling well? In order to sell well, the dub has to be the same as the one shown on TV (Ocean dub). DBZ was the top rated show on Cartoon Network and Toonami, not only did DBZ beat any other anime Toonami aired in terms of ratings, it also beat the vast majority of cartoons, it would sell well if the dub was right. (However since the Ocean Group dub was brought back by high demand from the Android saga, the releases would have to start by the Android saga initially, to be a success)
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I don't think they are allowed to distribute the Ocean Dub anymore. But it doesn't matter because the FUNimation Dub is much better and doesn't use recycled Megaman Sound Effects. Also, the Ocean Cast wasn't brought back by demand, it was just cheaper :lol:
 
Paradox295 said:
Ocean didn't dub it some company in Europe did.
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Ocean did dub the DBZ episodes from 108 to 276. It was a European company who hired them to dub it.

Paradox295 said:
The Orange Brick sets in America were one of the highest sold anime releases..
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That doesnt have anything to do with the Ocean Group. However, look at the criticism the orange season sets receive now.

Paradox295 said:
I don't think they are allowed to distribute the Ocean Dub anymore.
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Well there was a theory going back a while that someone Funimation bribed Toei to block the Ocean dub releases because they feared a lot of people would import them as many were still angry at the Funi dub from when they took over in the Ginyu saga. But I doubt its true.

But it doesn't matter because the FUNimation Dub is much better
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Thats your opinion. I view the funimation dub as being rubbish.

and doesn't use recycled Megaman Sound Effects. Also, the Ocean Cast wasn't brought back by demand, it was just cheaper :lol:
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Cheaper? You probably dont realise it, but the main reason that Funimation stopped using Ocean after the Namek saga was because they couldnt afford the Ocean Group after Saban decided to leave them. They got their own in house actors they picked, anyone who could imitate Ocean the closest. Most of Funi's VAs had no previous experience, whereas Ocean were experienced professionals before Funimation even existed.

If anything, its the funimation dub thats cheaper.

However, the fact of the matter is, there was a huge uproar against Funimation after they replaced the Ocean actors with their own, much cheaper cast. Fans were outraged. AB Groupe saw this, they also saw how hugely popular DBZ had become in Europe, they AB Groupe contracted the Ocean Group to come back and dub the whole series. It was a phenominal success. That has been proven by the fact that Toonami showed reruns of mostly the Ocean dub. In the polls on Toonami's website asking viewers on which DBZ sagas they would like to see, the Ocean dubbed sagas (Cell and Buu) trounced the Funi dubbed sagas (Frieza and Garlic Jr/part Trunks) thats why most of the reruns were of the Cell and Buu sagas on Toonami UK.

Also to add to the mix, when the Fusion saga first aired on CNX, it was the funi dub, UK fans were outraged and ratings for DBZ plummeted because people stopped watching DBZ, so much so that CNX paid for the same episodes twice to purchase the Ocean dubbed Fusion saga and broadcast the Ocean Fusion thereafter, and completely withdrew the Funimation dub from air and NEVER touched it again. That is extremely rare and just shows how popular the Ocean dub is. I think the poor reception of the Funi dub is a factor on why the UK didnt get the Funi dub for the movies, Toonami would rather get an unheard of dub than the Funi dub.

The Ocean dub was also broadcast in Holland, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Bhutan and various other countries so it has a massive fanbase, if people found out that the Ocean dub was released (And I mean episodes 108-276 which have never been released on DVD) people from these countries would import the Ocean dub, I still talk with people in Canada and NL and since the Ocean dub has been uploaded to youtube since 2006, many people from the US have expressed interest in buying the Ocean dub (those who remember and always preferred Ocean from the Saiyan and Namek sagas)

AB Groupe had Ocean dub the whole series very profitably from just TV airings, because the Ocean dub was more in demand from fans than any other dub.

Anime is expensive to dub and air, do you think AB Groupe would've continued using the expensive Ocean Group if they wernt making any money?

If AB Groupe wanted, they could've used a cheaper dubbing company, it would've saved them costs, but the effect would've been the same as what Funimation showed. Fans would be outraged, ratings would go down, and Toonami may not even have shown the whole series (Toonami only showed the DBZ movies around 2 times, because people didnt like the dub so much). AB Groupe knew this and decided to spend more to gain more, rather than spend less and rub the risk of cancellation.

The facts show that most people in UK prefer the Ocean dub, if you prefer Funi, you're in the minority.

That is why its essential to get the dub right in the UK DVD release. If Beez want to release DBZ, they would make a mistake by trying to release the Funi dub which is already available and unpopular in UK, if they released the Ocean dub, they'd get the UK fans buying the episodes, as well as fans from Netherlands, Canada, Finland etc where the Ocean dub aired, word on an Ocean dub release would spread very quickly thanks to the internet.

That is why I made the initial point that DBZ sales cant be predicted using the "Bridge" movies dub, because that dub is not popular and not that UK fans are used to. As DBZ history has shown, get the dub right and you can profit nicely from just TV airings as the Ocean dub did, get the dub wrong and you dont sell as much (Bridge) or you anger the fans and lose ratings (Funimation).
 
NightSaiyan said:
Paradox295 said:
Ocean didn't dub it some company in Europe did.
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Ocean did dub the DBZ episodes from 108 to 276. It was a European company who hired them to dub it.
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I was talking about the movies
NightSaiyan said:
Paradox295 said:
The Orange Brick sets in America were one of the highest sold anime releases..
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That doesnt have anything to do with the Ocean Group. However, look at the criticism the orange season sets receive now.
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But even with the criticism, they still sold quite well.
NightSaiyan said:
Paradox295 said:
I don't think they are allowed to distribute the Ocean Dub anymore.
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Well there was a theory going back a while that someone Funimation bribed Toei to block the Ocean dub releases because they feared a lot of people would import them as many were still angry at the Funi dub from when they took over in the Ginyu saga. But I doubt its true.
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....what?

Paradox295 said:
and doesn't use recycled Megaman Sound Effects. Also, the Ocean Cast wasn't brought back by demand, it was just cheaper :lol:
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Cheaper? You probably dont realise it, but the main reason that Funimation stopped using Ocean after the Namek saga was because they couldnt afford the Ocean Group after Saban decided to leave them. They got their own in house actors they picked, anyone who could imitate Ocean the closest. Most of Funi's VAs had no previous experience, whereas Ocean were experienced professionals before Funimation even existed.

If anything, its the funimation dub thats cheaper.
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...so, the FUNimation dub could afford a whole new background track for the entire series, but it's still cheaper than a dub with recycled Megaman sound effects :?

However, the fact of the matter is, there was a huge uproar against Funimation after they replaced the Ocean actors with their own, much cheaper cast. Fans were outraged. AB Groupe saw this, they also saw how hugely popular DBZ had become in Europe, they AB Groupe contracted the Ocean Group to come back and dub the whole series. It was a phenominal success. That has been proven by the fact that Toonami showed reruns of mostly the Ocean dub. In the polls on Toonami's website asking viewers on which DBZ sagas they would like to see, the Ocean dubbed sagas (Cell and Buu) trounced the Funi dubbed sagas (Frieza and Garlic Jr/part Trunks) thats why most of the reruns were of the Cell and Buu sagas on Toonami UK.
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No.. it was because they decided to use their own resources because they had a deal with Cartoon Network US, so they had to use their own cast.

Also to add to the mix, when the Fusion saga first aired on CNX, it was the funi dub, UK fans were outraged and ratings for DBZ plummeted because people stopped watching DBZ, so much so that CNX paid for the same episodes twice to purchase the Ocean dubbed Fusion saga and broadcast the Ocean Fusion thereafter, and completely withdrew the Funimation dub from air and NEVER touched it again. That is extremely rare and just shows how popular the Ocean dub is. I think the poor reception of the Funi dub is a factor on why the UK didnt get the Funi dub for the movies, Toonami would rather get an unheard of dub than the Funi dub.
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Probably because the fans were used to the old voices and didn't like the sudden change. And... are you seriously telling me that the "Big Green" dub of the movies were BETTER than FUNimations?

The facts show that most people in UK prefer the Ocean dub, if you prefer Funi, you're in the minority.
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Where did you get those statistics :?

That is why its essential to get the dub right in the UK DVD release. If Beez want to release DBZ, they would make a mistake by trying to release the Funi dub which is already available and unpopular in UK, if they released the Ocean dub, they'd get the UK fans buying the episodes, as well as fans from Netherlands, Canada, Finland etc where the Ocean dub aired, word on an Ocean dub release would spread very quickly thanks to the internet.
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It's not available in the UK. If Manga/MVM/Beez were to release DBZ, then they should definitely go for the recent Dragon Box releases, the original Japanese and FUNimation + Japanese soundtrack

That is why I made the initial point that DBZ sales cant be predicted using the "Bridge" movies dub, because that dub is not popular and not that UK fans are used to. As DBZ history has shown, get the dub right and you can profit nicely from just TV airings as the Ocean dub did, get the dub wrong and you dont sell as much (Bridge) or you anger the fans and lose ratings (Funimation).
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I don't see why you hate FUNimation so much. They dub most anime released, and DBZ is what got them started.[/quote]
 
Just to throw this out there, but Funimation were paid $1.75 million from Bandai Namco for a 5 year contract to be able to release the Dragon Ball Z games in the US (according to Navvare's financial earnings). That's just purely what they paid for the US rights, they presumably needed to still pay aqquisition rights in Japan aswell. Which I think provides some light on the discussion earlier in the topic about the high cost for the license to such an old series. I'd love to see Dragon Ball Z released in the UK, but I won't hold my breath :cry:
 
Bridge Pictures! I still remember watching a rip of their Movie 9 a year or two before FUNimation released theirs! The encoder confessed during the opening sequence that the dub was so bad that he was "too ashamed to put [his] name to the video"!

Ah, those days... .
 
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