Random question, I know.
Recently, the designer of Satelight's Symphogear franchise mentioned on Twitter that due to the third series being the highest-selling summer anime*, the franchise will be returning.
So that got me thinking about the series' international potential or rather, the lack thereof. While FUNimation simulcast the first season during the Winter 2012 season, the series was never released on home video and the 2012 follow-up Symphogear G wasn't even made legally available until Crunchyroll added it to their back-catalogue in September 2015 alongside the first season, after having been simulcasting the then-airing Symphogear GX since June.
After some digging, I've been unable to find a home video release of the franchise in any non-Japanese territory, so I am naturally curious about why this is the case - especially given that the series was popular enough to warrant two sequels with a fourth presumably on the way. At first I thought that perhaps FUNimation weren't impressed with the streaming figures in the U.S. and opted not to pursue home video rights, but could that really have impacted say, the French and German markets? Perhaps there's a contractual or cost issue relating to the music licensing that be placing the franchise out of the price-range of potential licensors?
What do y'all think?
* = According to Thomas Romain. Haven't personally verified.
Recently, the designer of Satelight's Symphogear franchise mentioned on Twitter that due to the third series being the highest-selling summer anime*, the franchise will be returning.
So that got me thinking about the series' international potential or rather, the lack thereof. While FUNimation simulcast the first season during the Winter 2012 season, the series was never released on home video and the 2012 follow-up Symphogear G wasn't even made legally available until Crunchyroll added it to their back-catalogue in September 2015 alongside the first season, after having been simulcasting the then-airing Symphogear GX since June.
After some digging, I've been unable to find a home video release of the franchise in any non-Japanese territory, so I am naturally curious about why this is the case - especially given that the series was popular enough to warrant two sequels with a fourth presumably on the way. At first I thought that perhaps FUNimation weren't impressed with the streaming figures in the U.S. and opted not to pursue home video rights, but could that really have impacted say, the French and German markets? Perhaps there's a contractual or cost issue relating to the music licensing that be placing the franchise out of the price-range of potential licensors?
What do y'all think?
* = According to Thomas Romain. Haven't personally verified.