Ask John: Could More Digimon Hit American DVD?

Question:
This year is the 10th anniversary of Digimon Adventure, the first [show] of the Digimon anime franchise. So far we have subtitled streams of Digimon Adventure 02, and the televised English dub of Digimon Savers, Digimon: Data Squad, is being released on DVD boxsets. Also, Disney hasn’t aired any of the original 4 shows in years and Toei’s 02 streams seem to indicate that Disney no longer has those shows, Data Squad notwithstanding. Do you think that there’s any chance we’ll see DVD boxsets for the first 4 seasons of Digimon? There is a definite nostalgic feeling people have for the shows, partially due to them having excellent English dubs. And there is also a higher awareness of the original Japanese versions of the shows now. While asking for something like uncut Pokémon seems too impossible due to its continual child-aimed marketing, Digimon has definitely left its kid-focused origins here and seems to be more “anime” than it used to. Anyway, is there any chance we might see dub boxsets for those who want to relive their childhoods as well as sub-only sets for those who want to see what these shows were originally like?

Answer:
The adage “everything old is new again” definitely applies to popular animation, but I don’t have strong confidence that it applies specifically to the Digimon franchise. Transformers, Voltron, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, and G.I. Joe are now enjoying nostalgic DVD re-releases. There’s also now rumor that Bandai and Disney are preparing a relaunch of the initial three seasons of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, which premiered a staggering 16 years ago. However, there’s a difference in awareness and profile between titles like Transformers and Voltron and Digimon. Digimon has always been more respected than Pokemon among American viewers, but Digimon has never achieved the breakout success attained by Pokemon.

The fact that Toei itself is now behind the American digital distribution of the early Digimon series does suggest that former American distribution agreements have expired. That, in fact, may jeopardize the probability of new DVD releases. A distributor sitting on a catalog title may decide to re-release the title because doing so is convenient and relatively inexpensive. However, the absence of current American distribution contracts would require a domestic DVD distributor to actually negotiate with Toei Animation and secure a new licensing agreement just to release old Digimon anime in a domestic DVD market that’s already depressed. And while the fan following for Digimon is very devoted, it’s not very big.

I do know as fact that Toei Animation is willing to negotiate contemporary American DVD release licenses for select older TV anime franchises. I don’t know if that willingness extends to the Digimon franchise, but I’m willing to guess that an American distributor eager to produce new American Digimon DVDs could get a license to do so. That stands in contrast to certain titles like Sailor Moon which Toei seems adamant to keep out of American circulation. The uncertainty is whether there are any American distributors interested in investing in a new domestic release of early Digimon anime. I can’t say that it won’t happen. But with the Digimon franchise having been largely out of public awareness lately and domestic DVD sales steadily declining, distributing new Digimon DVD sets may be as much a risk as an opportunity.