FUNimation License Rescues Ergo Proxy
FUNimation has announced its acquisition of the 2006 Ergo Proxy anime TV series, which was previously distributed domestically by Geneon.
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Kind of fun but meandering. But the question remains: why?
That would be my question too…
The Geneon titles are old by this point in time. Unless there’s a huge outcry for re-release of Moldiver, Tenchi Muyo, etc. I don’t see the point in obtaining licenses for those shows.
IF people had wanted them that much, don’t you think the company might still be in business? Granted, we can blame it all on harem shows and moe but Geneon still had tons of copies of its older shows left in warehouse when it went belly-up in the US! A lot of them are still not that hard to find and some of them are still cheap to buy, too.
Here’s what I’d rather see — new licenses obtained for things that are probably less than 3 years old by the time they get to the US at an economical price(!), and the occasional bone thrown to anime fans that would like to get economical releases of late 70’s/80’s/early ’90s anime classics. My favorite genres happen to be sci-fi and romantic comedy. That’s what I like best in anime. I don’t care for the nerd/otaku shows that much and I can do without the millionth spin-off of Final Fantasy or .dot Hack thank you very much!
I know it won’t happen until hell freezes over, but at some point in time could someone actually get the original Macross movie and Macross Frontier wouldn’t be bad, either… I think we’ll see a Sailor Moon anime re-release in the States before Macross ever comes over legally (through Big West).
Now that I mentioned it, why HASN’T Sailor Moon been re-released in the US yet? The manga’s doing gangbusters relatively speaking in bookstores and there’s a whole new audience of teens and pre-teens (as well as older guys who should be watching something else!) that would probably watch the series. The audience is getting pre-built as we speak…!
There’s still some demand for Ergo Proxy, though not much. Regardless, it’s probably cheaper to license-rescue in terms of paying the Japanese property holders, and the localization/dub is already done, so they get a bi-lingual release for the price of Japanese-only release.
There may be lots of copies of previously released titles (except the original Tenchi Muyo, which is demanding nearly $100 these days and NEEDS a re-release), but that doesn’t make Funimation any money. If they can sell to people who would have bought second hand, they make the money. Also, there are still people who don’t know to look second hand. I vend at cons, and there are people who are shocked to find certain titles even though they are easily obtainable online. These are younger folks too. Selling the old fashioned way still works to some extent.
I’d love to see those older titles too, but Geneon/Pioneer titles were from the 90s at the oldest, so if those aren’t coming back, the chances of 70s and 80s titles coming back aren’t so good. I nearly fell out of my chair when Fist of the North Star was annouced back in 2010. The best you can do is contact distribution companies and let ’em know. Disckotek is probably your best bet for vintage titles.
Toei (the proptery holders for Sailor Moon), won’t release un-cut Sailor Moon here (or allow other companies to release it) because they don’t want US parents associating it with something risque that has to be censored (short skirts not withstanding). I dont’ get it either. The mainstream US market for SM dried up almost 20 years ago, leaving with it older fans of the show who want uncut releases. It would sell like hotcakes, but Toei is a stubborn company. I’m shocked they haven’t re-imaged the series yet. With DBZ Kai flopping around, you’d think we’d see more of SM. Also, I’m 29 and watch Pretty Sammy, so I don’t really get your arguement about older guys and Sailor Moon. We should be watching Sailor Moon R, you mean?
Regarding pricing, there’s nothing to complain about, outside of the fact anime is not free. Back when I started, VHS was $20 for 3 episodes (if you were lucky) dubbed only. An entire dub series could cost you $140 – $160 most of the time. John sent me some scans of tapes from the early 90s going for $50 each. It was only 10 years ago DVDs were hovering at $30 for 4 epsiodes. Anime is super cheap now. When I can grab an entire new series for less than $50 at launch, that’s a pretty good deal to me.
“Toei (the proptery holders for Sailor Moon), won’t release un-cut Sailor Moon here (or allow other companies to release it) because they don’t want US parents associating it with something risque that has to be censored (short skirts not withstanding). I dont’ get it either. The mainstream US market for SM dried up almost 20 years ago, leaving with it older fans of the show who want uncut releases. It would sell like hotcakes, but Toei is a stubborn company. I’m shocked they haven’t re-imaged the series yet. With DBZ Kai flopping around, you’d think we’d see more of SM. Also, I’m 29 and watch Pretty Sammy, so I don’t really get your arguement about older guys and Sailor Moon. We should be watching Sailor Moon R, you mean?”
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