Anime Midstream Acquires Raijin-Oh

Without making much effort to actually tell anyone, earlier this month St. Louis, Missouri based Anime Midstream announced its establishment with its first anime series license, the 51 episode Zettai Muteki Raijin-Oh television series from 1991.

An Anime Midstream spokesperson has confirmed plans to release Raijin-Oh on bilingual single DVDs tentatively beginning in summer 2009.

Fan site AnimeNews hosts an interview with Raijin-Oh executive producer Jimmy Taylor in which Taylor states that Anime Midstream has no plans to persue TV broadcast or digital distribution for the series. Taylor also states that Anime Midstream intends to concentrate on the acquisition and distribution of anime from the 1980s and 90s.

The acquisition of a vintage children’s anime title with very minimal American market potential, soliciting donations despite admittedly not needing capital, tentative interest in working with amateur voice actors, limited distribution plans in a method the rest of America’s anime industry is abandoning, and an executive producer uncertain about whether the company is negotiating for product distribution don’t seem like especially confidence building points. But we do hope for the best and wish Anime Midstream success. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Source: Mania.com