ANN are reporting Sony Pictures Television International have revealed their license for Production I.G's latest anime Blood+. The license covers North America, Australia, New Zealand and the rest of Asia outside of Japan but not the UK (or indeed, any of Europe). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment shall release the DVD's, though a time frame of release has not yet been given.
Sony license Blood+
- Thread starter Mangaminx
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I think Sony's current backcatalouge of anime license include Steamboy aswell as the ones mentioned on ANN (Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Astro Boy 2003).
As for Blood+ I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the show, it certainly had its moments but by around episode 8 or so I was pretty fed up of the cast being a rather dull and uninspired bunch, except when it came to killing things. Certainly didn't consider it anywhere as near as good as it could have been.
As for Blood+ I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the show, it certainly had its moments but by around episode 8 or so I was pretty fed up of the cast being a rather dull and uninspired bunch, except when it came to killing things. Certainly didn't consider it anywhere as near as good as it could have been.
Blood+ seemed promising at first, but by the time episode 7 rolled around I was so bored I had to wonder why I'd even started watching in the first place (unsurprisingly, I didn't continue after that). It's not surprising it got licensed, but certainly a series I can live without.
Sony venture into TV series' :O, maybe this is a good thing because of their very high quality releases so far (as mentioned above), but as far as i'm concerned, with their crappy efforts in the UK and Europe, (still not a mention of Steamboy :/), i'm not all that happy about them liscencing it. However at least they will get different voice actors for the dub, maybe. Then again can't really hold any high hopes for a release over here in the next few years :O
I hoped that some other company, maybe Geneon or someone would liscence it, so we may of had a chance :O.
I'm still on ep 5 i think, love it so far though. :shock:
I hoped that some other company, maybe Geneon or someone would liscence it, so we may of had a chance :O.
I'm still on ep 5 i think, love it so far though. :shock:
I don't think blood's that bad, perhaps I had lower expectations as I don't have such a high regard for the OVA. The series is a competent little horror story which just seems to move a little too slowly along.
There are far better shows, but it's also not rubbish, 13 episodes so far and I think what it does with it's hinted at back-story will make or break it.
As for Sony, I think they at one time held the rights to the Bebop series or at least planned to as they went as far as publishing pamphlets for forthcoming Sony releases including Bebop. That was a good year or two before Beez released it, so there's every chance that someone else will release Blood+ in Europe.
There are far better shows, but it's also not rubbish, 13 episodes so far and I think what it does with it's hinted at back-story will make or break it.
As for Sony, I think they at one time held the rights to the Bebop series or at least planned to as they went as far as publishing pamphlets for forthcoming Sony releases including Bebop. That was a good year or two before Beez released it, so there's every chance that someone else will release Blood+ in Europe.
Believe me, the second season really kicks arse. :roll:
Seriously now and going by what Sony have done with "Advent Children" I have my reservations as to when this will ever come here. They are going to show it at a convention that is for local TV station syndication buyers. Can you just imagine Blood + on a Saturday morning TV scheduel? Me neither. :wink:
Seriously now and going by what Sony have done with "Advent Children" I have my reservations as to when this will ever come here. They are going to show it at a convention that is for local TV station syndication buyers. Can you just imagine Blood + on a Saturday morning TV scheduel? Me neither. :wink:
I'm sorry to say that I wasn't overly impressed with Blood+ - I can't even recall how many eps I watched before losing interest (I think it was around five). I did have high hopes for it what with the amount of potential it inherited from the OVA, and the opening sequence was superb. Sadly it was a little flat and uninspiring. I am pretty disappointed with it - after all, a show with a sword-weilding female vampire who kills monsters ought to be more exciting.
As for the release, we might end up with a similar situation as Berserk in which European fans will have to import, even long after the R1 release.
As for the release, we might end up with a similar situation as Berserk in which European fans will have to import, even long after the R1 release.
I don't know much about the TV series but if it is in any way like the OVA then it is liable to have a more mature rating than many other anime, which are largely aimed at boys and girls. Maybe they are looking for something they can market to a more adult audience in light of the relative slump (or levelling out) of the overall Hollywood movie scene. The fact that Production IG was involved is also a lure, which will make marketing of the final product that much easier for them. There are a number of reasons they could have chosen this as a candidate and without asking whoever is responsible for these acquisitions we will probably never know.
(I was relatively unimpressed with the Blood OVA and so was uninterested in watching the TV series.)
Naruto was a special case, which largely got licenced due to the official merger between Viz, ShoPro and Shueisha, each of which had a hand in the overall project. Short of that the actual cost of licencing the show would likely have been astronomical. Blood+ on the other hand at only 52 episodes (rather than 3 times that) and not nearly as popular, is liable to be far cheaper. If they licenced something of the size and popularity of Naruto they would be potentially heading up a lot of costs with very little return if they should fail. Something like Blood+ is a much safer choice because you have market familiarity (with Production IG and the original OVA) and a known and fixed length.
(I was relatively unimpressed with the Blood OVA and so was uninterested in watching the TV series.)
Naruto was a special case, which largely got licenced due to the official merger between Viz, ShoPro and Shueisha, each of which had a hand in the overall project. Short of that the actual cost of licencing the show would likely have been astronomical. Blood+ on the other hand at only 52 episodes (rather than 3 times that) and not nearly as popular, is liable to be far cheaper. If they licenced something of the size and popularity of Naruto they would be potentially heading up a lot of costs with very little return if they should fail. Something like Blood+ is a much safer choice because you have market familiarity (with Production IG and the original OVA) and a known and fixed length.
Sony also have an advantage in that they are a large multinational.
They can heavily promote it, with a ready audience (as has been pointed out, it will appeal to fans of the OVA and Production IG) and if we're lucky they could treat it like 'normal' TV series, releasing the seasons in one go in a relatively cheap set as is the norm for US drama and comedy series.
Though it's not great I do feel that Blood+ has the disadvantage of people coming in with high expectations.
Baby chiropterans!
They can heavily promote it, with a ready audience (as has been pointed out, it will appeal to fans of the OVA and Production IG) and if we're lucky they could treat it like 'normal' TV series, releasing the seasons in one go in a relatively cheap set as is the norm for US drama and comedy series.
Though it's not great I do feel that Blood+ has the disadvantage of people coming in with high expectations.
Baby chiropterans!