Ask John: Will Samurai Pizza Cats Ever Be Released on Video?

Question:
John, do you by any chance know about the anime Kyattou Ninden Teyande, otherwise known as Samurai Pizza Cats? This show was on the air a long time ago. It made its debut in Japan in 1990, and lasted only until 1991. A few years later, Saban aired it on television in America. It didn’t seem to be a very popular anime, but there were, and still are, a lot of devoted fans, such as myself. Has anyone thought of releasing this series on VHS or DVD, since it is no longer shown on TV?

Answer:
Although there does remain a small but very devoted American following for Samurai Pizza Cats, it’s unlikely (but not totally impossible) that this series will ever see a future American home video release for a number of reasons. Because the series is relatively old, with a limited commercial potential, it’s not very likely that any domestic licensing house would want to spend the money on licensing Cat Ninden Teyande that they could instead spend on the latest Pioneer, Gainax or Gonzo Studios production. Furthermore, because this is a children’s show, it becomes difficult to market without television support. Die-hard anime fans that know it’s a good show may buy it, but mainstream retailers will find it problematic to carry because it may be difficult to determine if it should go on the children’s rack or the anime shelf, and mainstream consumers may be likely to overlook it too easily. Further adding to the hurdles this show would have to overcome is the difficultly in obtaining it from Saban Entertainment. Companies like Saban that market to massive national audiences may find it more profitable to retain rights to television series they’re not using simply for collateral value, or may find it more trouble than it’s worth to spend time with licensing meetings and discussions. Saban does not have the best history of favorable distribution of older televised anime programs, as proven by their lack of home video distribution of Sailormoon (when they owned the property), Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest) and Teknoman (Tekkaman Blade).

The successful home video release of Transformers, Voltron, Robotech, Starblazers, and Battle of the Planets suggests that there is some awareness of a market for home video releases of older anime series that once aired on American television. But, franchises like Robotech, Battle of the Planets, Starblazers and Transformers have always had a larger market share and greater name recognition than Samurai Pizza Cats, making them more “sure-fire” successes on home video than the relatively obscure Samurai Pizza Cats, which is also targeted at a younger audience than most of the other aforementioned American anime television series.