Section23 Announces New Releases
Sentai Filmworks will release complete series DVD collections of the Skull Man and Maria Holic television anime series on February 2 and 23, respectively. The 2007 Skull Man anime series is a 13 episode action/horror loosely based on the late Shotaro Ishinomori’s predecessor to Kamen Rider. Maria Holic is a sitcom revolving around a lesbian girl with a algery to men whose room mate at an all-girls school is a cross-dressing boy. The 12 episode adaptation of Minari Endo’s manga aired in Japan earlier this year.
Switchblade Pictures will release the live action Kirenji Women’s College DVD collection on February 9 and the live action Ryuji the Yakuza collection on February 23.
Sentai Filmworks & Switchblade Pictures releases are distributed by Section23.
I’m surprised that it took so long for Skull Man to get licensed. Not surprised to see Maria Holic picked up so quickly.
Source: Anime News Network
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I’m sure if Skull Man were more in demand, TP would still be publishing the manga. Ishinomori’s not exactly a big seller here, after all. But it’s nice to get his more mature adaptations, because I’m not really a big C009 fan-at least based on what I’ve seen of it. I’m just wondering why Nintendo hasn’t cashed in by re-releasing that Zelda manga they published in NPower. [Not to mention the Metroid and Star Fox stuff. Those were friggin’ awesome.]
Section 23 is looking pretty eager to get back into the mix. Any word on how well (or not so well), their titles have sold thus far?
I’m sure if Skull Man were more in demand, TP would still be publishing the manga.
I was thinking the same thing… but it wouldn’t surprise if there are/were other contributing reasons to their cancellation of the title.
I’m not sure that there’s a viable correlation between Tokyopop’s Skull Man manga and the Bones’ Skull Man anime. Having read the first volume of Tokyopop manga and watched the first handful of Skull Man episodes I can say that they’re quite different. The story, tone, and approach between the manga and anime aren’t entirely different, but they’re distinct enough for me to say that someone that likes one won’t necessarily like the other.
John: Well, you do have a point, since the TP manga is basically a new version which is inspired by the original version from Ishinomori, and may not have the same edge as the source material. Nonetheless, they’ve tried releasing just about everything from which isn’t owned by Saban or 4Kids, and I’m not sure if there’s a market for it like there is for Tezuka. But like Go Nagai and Cutey Honey, there does seem to be an exception for 009-1, which is why I’m surprised no one’s licensed the manga for the latter title yet. Hell, I’m guessing the only reason Sentai picked up Skull Man was because 009-1 was one of the company’s better sellers in its previous incarnation as ADV.
Though Skull Man does sound like a show which would do well with American fans, anyway, considering it looks more Western than the usual stuff. [In fact, methinks the director and/or writer is a fan of Spawn.] And the Ishinomori stuff which failed and/or disappointed until now is too kiddy-looking for the fanbase here. Tezuka had a similar problem until Kirihito. [Yes, the Astro Boy manga made money, but you can’t even sell Princess Knight in a market which favors shojo.]