Ask John: Will Future Boy Conan Ever See American Release?

Question:
Since Hayao Miyazaki is becoming more recognized in North America, and the market for anime is growing, is there any possibility we’ll see his classic TV series, “Future Boy Conan?” The show is timeless, and recognized as a classic, but I realize the visual appeal probably isn’t going to sway many. Are there any opinions on seeing this anime released domestically, or any classic series’ being made available?

Answer:
I don’t know for certain, but I suspect that in some respects, the recent massive popularity of anime in North America has done some small dis-service to American fans. Because anime is now so popular outside of Japan, Japanese licensors expect high licensing fees for any anime because they know that some foreign company will probably pay it. But sadly, vintage titles like Future Boy Conan and Jarinko Chie and Heidi of the Alps just don’t have a lot of American market potential. A few hundred or maybe even a couple thousand hardcore fans will buy these shows in America, but two or three thousand sales isn’t enough to recover domestic licensing, production and distribution costs.

I think it’s great that brand new titles like Mezzo and Maburaho are being licensed and distributed in America, but unfortunately we’re probably getting many mediocre new titles at the expense of not getting outstanding vintage shows. When the cost of licensing any anime title is so high and demand is focused on current and trendy titles, regardless of their quality, naturally the domestic distribution industry will move to meet demand, and deserving titles like Future Boy Conan end up overlooked or left in Japan because they’re not financially viable in the contemporary American market.

It’s easy to recommend that fans who are eager to see vintage classics write letters to anime distribution companies asking for these titles, but the more effective means of ensuring that exceptional anime gets brought to America is encouraging fans to buy exceptional anime. I won’t name names, but most knowledgable anime fans know that there are a great deal of relatively awful anime series available in America and licensed for upcoming American release that do sell well only because they’re trendy or released by a popular distributor. In very simple terms, if American fans want more quality anime imported to America, fans need to support quality anime released in America. As long as mediocre but “cool” new series outsell vintage classics by a five to one margin, we’ll continue seeing repetitive, unoriginal, poorly animated series licensed and released in America instead of brilliant and moving, and sometimes older anime series.