Category: Ask John

Question: Given the high expenses of distributing anime for US release combined with low sales, it would make more sense for an anime title to be delayed, dropped,

Question: Recently a friend said to me, “A lot of anime shows in Japan are more like ‘fads’ to viewers. They appear and just as quickly disappear, without

Question: I see alot of good shows getting snatched up pretty quickly but what about the “for sure aquisitions” like Initial D Stage 4 and Black Jack 21?

Question: How come high school delinquents in anime look like ugly adults?

Question: Do you have confidence in New Line’s ability to faithfully adapt Monster into a live-action film given their evisceration of the original source material in the film

Question: Funimation been going ADV on us for a while now. They’re really taking the industry by storm. Do you think they planned this out carefully or do

Question: What is your take on Funimation and other anime companies’ recent forays into live-action Japanese TV and film? Does it seem to you like the industry as

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

Question: Why don’t more R2J [Japanese DVD Region 2] anime releases include an English sub track for the foreign market? The expense is small compared to a dub,

Question: What are the chances of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its sequel, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s being licensed for US distribution? Considering the fact that the

Question: Today’s question is a follow-up to yesterday’s article, “How Much Does Licensing Anime Cost?” 20,000 copies? My God! So where’s the benefit in licensing anime? Has any

Question: I was just reading the “Is America’s Anime Industry Out of Touch with Fans?” artice and started to wonder how much does an expensive anime cost compared

Question: A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending a panel featuring Shinichi Watanabe at the Detroit Film Theatre. During the Q&A session, several fans referred

Question: Do you think that the American anime distributon companies are out of sync of what anime fans want to see come over Stateside? For example, ADV is

Question: Since Viz is publishing the Naoki Urasawa manga “Monster,” does this bode well for a North American release of the anime series as well? I’ve been keeping