Ask John: Will Futago Hime Come to America?

Question:
I’ve heard of FushigiHoshi no FutagoHime (Twin Princesses of the Mysterious Planet). After watching only the first episode, I thought, “Wow, this looks like fun!” So, could there be a good chance that this could get licensed in America?

Answer:
Although I’m an American male in my mid 30s, I’m a devoted Futago Hime fan. I’ve imported the Japanese “Character Detail Book,” and I’ve watched over 40 episodes of the first TV series in untranslated Japanese. I’m a little bit behind on it because the show’s first series had 51 episodes and the second TV series “Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime Gyu” premiered this past April. (For reference, although its Japanese title is written with the characters for “Fushigi Hoshi,” the proper Japanese pronunciation is “Fushigiboshi.”) The show seems to be one of the most popular and successful shoujo anime to premier in Japan in recent years, second only to Pretty Cure. The show is adorably cute, although it tends to feel a bit repetitive after a while. Whether or not the show could possibly come to America is very difficult to predict.

Considering that the series is a cute magical girl fantasy seemingly targeted primarily at 6 to 8 year old Japanese girls, it’s probably not a show that America’s core anime distribution industry would seriously consider. Magical girl series like Wedding Peach and Princess Tutu have qualities that make them appealing to teen and young adult American hardcore anime fans. Futago Hime doesn’t have teenage characters that American viewers can relate to, or dark, gothic, twisted themes that older viewers can appreciate. Futago Hime is a straightforward, adorable anime for little girls, although the series occasionally, briefly deals with threatening situations and the characters don’t always prevail at the end of every episode.

Futago Hime may not be ideal for the primary American anime distribution industry and core audience, but it might still have some American potential. 4Kids Entertainment has made a determined effort to mine the American preadolescent girl audience by licensing Ojamajo Doremi, Tokyo Mew Mew, and Pretty Cure. These three shows, along with Futago Hime, represent the most successful magical girl anime to come out of Japan since Sailor Moon. If 4Kids wishes to monopolize the American distribution of recent highly successful Japanese magical girl anime, they’d only need to acquire Futago Hime and Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san. It’s also possible that Viz could distribute Futago Hime, particularly as part of its Shoujo Beat Home Video line. However, I suspect that Viz Media’s Shoujo Beat line is more likely to consider titles in the style of Akachan to Boku, Aishiteruze Baby, Mama wa Shougaku Yonnensei, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, and Tenshi na Konamaiki than children’s magical girl anime like Futago Hime and Akazukin Chacha.

The general trend is that nearly any mainstream hit TV anime title in Japan will eventually be licensed for American release. Examples that prove this rule include Crayon Shin-chan, Detective Conan, One Piece, Law of Ueki, Fullmetal Alchemist, Pretty Cure, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Naruto, Bleach, Prince of Tennis, Hikaru no Go, and Ojamajo Doremi, among others. That precedent suggests that the odds are strong that Fushigboshi no Futago Hime will eventually see an official American release. In fact, Futago Hime is probably a more accessible, more marketable series in America than the rather Japanese culture-centric Ojamajo Doremi, which has already been released in America. Futago Hime is set in a fantasy world that wouldn’t need alterations and re-writes to eliminate Japanese cultural references. And the show is filled with adorably cute anthropomorphic cats, dogs, and bears that would appeal to young American viewers, and are easily rendered as marketable toys. I will be surprised if one of America’s fan oriented translation houses picks up Futago Hime, but I won’t be surprised at all if the show gets licensed for mainstream American television broadcast by 4Kids or a similar distributor.