Naruto is licensed by ShoPro/Viz

Paul

Paul

Ghost of Animes
Administrator
Naruto, the immensely popular ninja anime series that has dominated the fansub circuit for the last 2 years, has today been licensed for a North American (and Latin America) release by ShoPro Entertainment.

“We are ecstatic about Naruto! It is a great privilege to be bringing such an outstanding property to the Americas,â€
 
In a way, it's a relief that the "who's going to license Naruto?" saga has come to an end, but to be honest, I don't think this is especially good news for UK Naruto fans. The press release makes it pretty clear that they are only interested in the North American/Latin American markets and since we've yet to even see the likes of Inuyasha over here yet- I'm not holding my breath.
 
Oh well it had to happen sooner or later and i though it would have happened alot sooner then this. I just hope they do a good job with the dubbing of the show and dont mess it up or naruto fans may be out for there heads ....joke.... well mostly a joke. This news is not the end of the world like most people are treating it and fansubing frist came about to help series to be Licensed outside of Japan and it looks like it has work for naruto. Theres no way the fansubing for this serie will stop and there will still be a ep fansubed each week thats one thing im sure of.
 
Ramen89 said:
:evil: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil:
I actually feel sick...
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Well, look at it this way, at least it wasn't 4Kids!

The license was going to come for it sooner or later, now it's out of the way, I just hope this show is the massive success it deserves to be.
 
If you check out anime-suki, there's a mention about this and the fact that at the moment it's only a "middle-man" that has the license and so for the time being it will still be fansubbed!

I might contemplate getting this on R1 but not if they do an Inuyasha and put 3 episodes on each disc, which I have a horrible feeling they will, as it's popular enough to sell no matter how many episodes they put on :(
 
Miaka-chan said:
If you check out anime-suki, there's a mention about this and the fact that at the moment it's only a "middle-man" that has the license and so for the time being it will still be fansubbed!
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Yeah, I think those guys are deluding themselves though. It's about 99% certain that this newly merged VIZ/ShoPro company will handle everything for the series, just like Viz have done with Inuyasha.

To be honest though, fansubs are going to continue regardless. I'm interested to see how the industry tackles Naruto fansubs from now on. Since over 100,000 people download these episodes every week, this is not just a cult thing. Naruto is supported by several massive fansites and I can see this all starting to get very complicated.

I found this quote very interesting:

ICv2 said:
According to Animenation's "Ask John" columnist, one of the most perceptive observers of the manga and anime scene in the U.S., "the 2002 Naruto anime series is arguably already more popular in America than Cowboy Bebop or Trigun...it's impossible to go to an American anime convention or online bulletin board without seeing or hearing about Naruto."
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He is right, too. Wasn't there a ton of Naruto cosplayers at AmeCon '04? And this is the UK!
 
If you check out anime-suki, there's a mention about this and the fact that at the moment it's only a "middle-man" that has the license and so for the time being it will still be fansubbed!
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Well, ANBU have dropped it, but it would seem AonE are continuing on with it (which is good news!). As for DB, well, all they've said is "No comment" for the IRC topic title ¬_¬

As Paul said, it certainly is a lot better than having someone like 4Kids license it. The only thing that bothers me is that in their press release (http://www.narutofan.com/index.php/cont ... 20licensed),
they state that Naruto is "targeting tweens and teens" - which would make me think that they might be brutal with the cutting/editing...
 
Paul said:
He is right, too. Wasn't there a ton of Naruto cosplayers at AmeCon '04? And this is the UK!
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I've been seeing Naruto cosplayers since 2003 (Aya Returns!!).

Richy said:
they state that Naruto is "targeting tweens and teens" - which would make me think that they might be brutal with the cutting/editing...
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I should think the DVD release would be uncut!?
All anime for USA TV seems to be cut somehow, no matter how innocent :? (and I'm not indicating Naruto is innocent, haven't seen it yet, so can't comment!).
 
TWEENS???? :x Oh my god they are going to flat-out destory this near perfect show, yea the fansubs maybe still going but it doesnt change the fact that one day I will hear some 5 year-old kid talking about how he loves it and naming all the jutsu's with the stupid americans names.
 
I believe that the "Tweens and teens" part is what the target audience in Japan was, at least thats how I read it. It mentioned it before stating the first time it aired. Beyond perhaps a little bit of digital editing ala Fullmetal Alchemist, I would doubt they would cut things and 'kiddify' it. ShoPro should know what they have bought (which I would guess has been incredibly expensive to acquire) has a huge fan following, which means they should know the attitude to cutting and editing things as well.
 
I wouldn't read too much into the tweens comment. Naruto is a fantastic show that appeals across the board to all age groups, but it is also show primarily aimed at young teens/tweens (and the same could be said of Spirited Away). Just as Harry Potter is a collection of supposed childrens novels that is arguably read by more adults than kids.

I'm not worried about edits etc, Naruto isn't a show as easy to change as say One Piece. That's why 4Kids didn't cough up for it. It's basic premise is a lot more questionable- i.e. training kids to kill each other, you can't just edit that away.
 
I can see Naruto getting butchered pretty easily, actually.

No matter how large a percentage of "hardcore" anime fans are disgusted by the prospect, I can guarantee that they'd be able to more than recoup any losses from that demographic by marketing it at the mainstream.

I wouldn't have much hope for this one getting through unscathed.


Paul said:
It's basic premise is a lot more questionable- i.e. training kids to kill each other, you can't just edit that away.
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It's not that difficult. You just have to rewrite all the dialogue, and chop the episodes up a bit.

Having said that, since ShoPro are closer to the Japanese producers, I can see reasons why they'd treat Naruto with a modicum of respect; I just wouldn't be certain it'll make it through the censors without some significant modifications.
 
aniki said:
No matter how large a percentage of "hardcore" anime fans are disgusted by the prospect, I can guarantee that they'd be able to more than recoup any losses from that demographic by marketing it at the mainstream.
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I think it's slightly different for Naruto though. Say 100,000 of the people who download an episode every week buy the first R1 DVD at $30 a pop - that's $3,000,000- in anyone's mind, that is a lot of money. If you piss off this fanbase, it's going to be a lot more costly than just a few disgruntled otaku.

Also, the 4Kids version of One Piece (a show with similiar qualities) has alienated it's hardcore fanbase and since under performed on US TV (a little early to call it a flop). 4Kids have apparently destroyed the soul of the show with their obscene amount of edits, in the process tranforming a Japanese TV phenominon (One Piece is bigger than Naruto in Japan) into a TV space filler.

Viz aren't known for extensively changing their shows, but none the less, I hope they've learnt a lesson from the 4Kids One Piece farce and don't mess with a winning formula.

aniki said:
It's not that difficult. You just have to rewrite all the dialogue, and chop the episodes up a bit.
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It's hard for me to explain why this just wouldn't work. Naruto is an anime series about violence, violence is so ingrained in the essence of the story that without it, the show would be useless. Basically, it's like 4Kids picking up a Manchester United football match and removing all the parts where a football is kicked. Just wouldn't work.
 
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