Ask John: Will Daingaioh Ever Get An Uncut American DVD Release?

Question:
Do you think an uncut Dangaioh will ever be released? Ever since I’ve seen artwork and screencaps, I’ve been interested in seeing this three episode OVA. But to my disappointment, the only version released in the U.S. on DVD is the one done by Manga Ent. where they cut the first ep. into just a recap and left it dub only. I know that the defunct company U.S. Renovations released it uncut. n VHS a long time ago. Does Manga Ent. still have the license for it? Do you think that a rerelease of it uncut will be possible even though it was made in 1987? I feel that the artwork still looks attractive even today. Is it possible your company AnimeNation to attemp to rerelease if you could? Could the release of the Kaiyodo Revoltech figure that just came out in Japan spark a tiny bit of intrest for an uncut rerelease?

Answer:
Regrettably, the odds of an uncut American DVD release of Haja Taisei Dangaioh are probably very slim. There are a number of reasons for my assumption. The Dangaioh franchise has never been particularly popular in America. The original OVA series has never been a sizable hit in America, and the American release of the 2001 G-Dangaioh television series from Viz was likewise virtually a flop. Furthermore, the original Dangaioh OVA series is now twenty years old, and despite the fact that its art design may still hold up well, it’s an undeniable fact that American consumers do not support vintage or obscure anime. A small handful of hardcore American fans claim to want obscure and vintage anime brought to America, but in many cases it may be literally just those few hundred consumers that actually purchase vintage anime released on domestic DVD.

At the present time, Manga Entertainment still distributes its edited version of Dangaioh on domestic DVD. If AnimeNation’s sales are any indication, there’s little reason for Manga to re-issue an uncut version because demand for the title is so minimal. Furthermore, judging by the minimal demand AnimeNation has seen for any of the new Japanese Revoltech action figures, I doubt that any new Dangaioh merchandise is likely to interest anyone besides veteran Dangaioh fans. As a fan that grew up with Dangaioh (for example, I bought both of the Japanese Dangaioh B-Club Special artbooks when they were released back in the late 1980s), I’d love to see this series finally get a respectable American release that’s both unedited and properly translated. (No more “Side-kick Sword,” please.) But from the perspective of a professional anime distributor and retailer, there’s just no motivation at all to invest money into this particular franchise. Considering the current and future commercial prospects of the Dangaioh franchise in America, any future re-release is virtually guaranteed to lose money. There’s no evidence that a re-release of Dangaioh would sell enough copies in America to recover its licensing, translation, DVD replication, and distribution costs.