Nozomi Acquires Rose of Versailles
Right Stuf International has announced its acquisition of domestic distribution rights to the 1979 anime television series The Rose of Versailles. The 40-episode series will begin streaming on Viki in December before being released on two limited edition DVD sets next year. The acclaimed and influential adaptation of Riyoko Ikeda’s 1972-1973 manga revolves around Oscar, a female raised as a boy who serves as a palace guard to Queen Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution.
Nozomi Entertainment’s official Rose of Versailles website is now accepting questions from the public for original creator Riyoko Ikeda. Questions will be accepted until November 1.
This acquisition is certain to generate a lot of buzz, but sadly I have to wonder if any more than a few thousand American consumers will actually put up the cash to buy this show on DVD.
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It could sell, but there’s a risk that streaming it at the same time might cut into its sales. It really depends on how well Dear Brother’s been received thus far, I think.
My first reaction when I read this was “Holy Crap!”. This is one of those anime titles I never expected to see in the U.S., ever. Not that it’s bad mind you. In fact it’s an excellent series and a anime classic in Japan. Theirs a few reasons why I never expected to see it here and it’s for those same reasons I believe it won’t sell very well in the U.S. For one it’s an older series dating back to 1979/80. Older series rarely seem to do well in the U.S. Second is that it’s a shoujo series. Not exactly a genre that fly’s off store shelves in the U.S. Lastly the series takes place during the time of Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution. The only reason I can think of that Nozomi would release this series is that it’s trying to capitalize on the success of the Revolutionary Girl Utena series it’s also selling, since Utena owes much of its style and inspiration to RoV. I know I’ll be supporting Nozomi and buying the series. I speculate a few years from now this series will be going for a pretty penny on auction sites.
I think Versailles had a better chance of coming to R1 than, say, Hataraki Man. As for its age, Discotek and Right Stuf have proven there’s a domestic market for older titles. And the only reason they didn’t sell in the past was you could not get them the exposure of, say, DBZ. But streaming has finally leveled that playing field. As for its shoujo nature, it’s not fluffy and insipid like the stuff offered in the past, so it should do better. After all, there’s a market for Kimi Ni Todoke.
“The only reason I can think of that Nozomi would release this series is that it’s trying to capitalize on the success of the Revolutionary Girl Utena series it’s also selling, since Utena owes much of its style and inspiration to RoV.”
As with Lupin, TMS probably wants it to sell, too.