Ask John: Where’s the Rest of Sohryuden?

Question:
What ever happened to Sohryuden – Legend of the Dragon Kings? CPM released the first DVD ages ago, and now there is no word of the series. Are they ever going to release all 12 episodes on DVD?

Answer:
Unfortunately, we may have seen all of the Sohryuden on DVD in America that we’re ever going to see. The anime industry is heavily based on pendulum of supply and demand, and there simply isn’t enough demand for more Sohryuden on DVD to influence supply. With the tremendous demand for anime on DVD, and domestic anime companies having only limited time and resources, the DVDs that sell well get priority, and those that don’t sell well are dropped by the wayside.

Central Park Media is the only American anime distribution company to have officially announced a policy of DVD by demand on a case by case basis, but they are not the only American company to utilize this strategy. CPM has stated that subsequent volumes of the Patlabor TV series on DVD would be released only if prior volumes sell well. The same seems to apply to Sohryuden. The first DVD volume is not a popular item, so CPM has not announced any plans to publish subsequent discs. Likewise, Media Blasters’ release of the 26 episode Fortune Quest L TV series seems to have been halted after only the first DVD volume release failed to sell well.