Ask John: How Many Japanese Anime DVDs Have English Subtitles?

Question:
How many R2J [Japanese DVD Region 2] releases have an English sub? I believe most Studio Ghibli works have one. Can you recommend any other subbed titles that are unlicensed for R1?

Answer:
Anime on DVD catalogs 30 anime titles (excluding those with close caption style “dubtitles”) available on Japanese DVD that include literal optional English subtitles. The list increases to 32 when updated to include Pale Cocoon and the Fullmetal Alchemist movie. Out of those 32 titles, only six are not yet licensed for official DVD release in America:

Boy Who Saw The Wind
Goshu the Cellist
Kochira Kameari Kouenmae Hashutsujo movie 1
Legend of Lyon Flare
Pale Cocoon
Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space

The 2000 motion picture The Boy Who Saw the Wind (“Kaze o Mita Shonen”) is a pleasant but not particularly memorable or outstanding fantasy drama. Goshu the Cellist is a short 1982 movie from Studio Ghibli director Isao Takahata, which makes it near essential viewing for serious anime fans. The first “KochiKame” movie is an amusing family friendly adventure about an irresponsible and chauvinistic police officer who’s really a good guy at heart. The KochiKame anime franchise is one of Japan’s most popular, but it remains almost entirely unknown in America. Flare is a vintage erotic fantasy anime noteworthy because of Iczer-One creator Toshihiro Hirano’s involvement in the first series. The original Japanese Flare DVD includes both episodes of the first Legend of Lyon series with English subtitles culled from the American VHS release from AD Vision, and the Balthus OAV with English subtitles drawn from the American VHS release from Media Blasters. Pale Cocoon is an impressive independent short sci-fi film in the vein of the better known “Voices of a Distant Star.” Tamala 2010 is a black & white “independent” feature film. I haven’t personally gotten around to watching Tamala 2010 myself, but it consistently earns strong positive reviews.

The four Japanese “Grasshoppa” DVD collections of animation and live action short films contain English subtitles and the excellent anime shorts “Professor Dan Petri’s Blues,” “Trava Fist Planet,” “End of the World,” “Oh! Super Milk-chan,” “Comedy,” and “Higen.” The Grasshoppa DVDs are highly recommended to fans capable of playing imported Japanese Region 2 DVDs, especially because the discs now retail at a very affordable 1,980 yen each.

An interesting and mysterious side note is that Saishuheiki Kanojo (“Saikano”) is the only anime television series released on Japanese DVD that includes original English subtitles. The Bubblegum Crisis 2040 Japanese DVDs are just a repackaging of the earlier American DVDs, leaving Saikano the first and only anime TV series with original English subtitles available on Japanese DVD. Every other anime title available on Japanese DVD with optional English subtitles is either an OVA or movie.