Ask John: Is Bringing Back Violence Jack a Good Idea?

Question:
Considering all the blame media – video games in particular – gets for random shootings, is it a good idea for Discotek to bring back Violence Jack? Or will Violence Jack just be another under-the-radar grindhouse release that only anime fans in the know would care about, like Mad Bull? And in today’s world of casual Game of Thrones/South Park/FPS-type fantasy violence, does it even matter?

Answer:
First and foremost, I don’t mean to minimize or mitigate regard for the tragedy of American public mass shooting episodes in any way at all. That said, I do find myself a bit gratified that the commercial news media lately has not heaped blame for recent psychotic shooting incidents onto the influence of video games or pop culture media. I’m also glad and relieved that Japanese animation has never been cited as a primary motivator for public violence in American society. Given the marginal exposure of anime in American today compared to a decade or more ago, if anime wasn’t cited as a cause of public violence in the early 2000s when anime was in the public eye, it’s far less likely to be dredged up for criticism or blame now. Worry that next year’s domestic re-release of Violence Jack may encourage mainstream media and social scrutiny of America’s anime fan community seems an unnecessary anxiety to me. The Violence Jack anime, for one thing, is low-budget animation from 20 years ago. The series’ animation quality and art design were limited in 1990. In 2015, I can’t envision any possible way in which anyone could argue that the Violence Jack anime is “realistic” enough to be influential or taken seriously. Moreover, the setting, characters, and violence in the three Violence Jack OVAs are all so entirely unrealistic & hyperbolic that none of it can possibly be taken seriously. While even current violent media franchises like the Game of Thrones and South Park television series are distantly removed from real life, at least they still occur within identifiable, relatable human society. The Violence Jack OVAs are set in a post-apocalyptic scenario that’s so far removed from anything resembling contemporary human society that they don’t even seem parallel or relatable to real-world settings or situations.

Intensely violent anime including Kite, Kakugo no Susume, Elfen Lied, Jubei Ninpucho, Hokuto no Ken, Gantz, Angel Cop, Genocyber, and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni have seen American home video release without any controversy. Violence Jack is far more outré than most other comparable anime, making it much less viable as a rational target for accusation of maleficent influence. Furthermore, if plenty of other far more popular, more widely watched, and more widely distributed anime than Violence Jack have never caused any controversy or engendered any negative impact, the probability of Violence Jack doing so is infinitesimally small.

I know that Discotek has been working on an extensive video remaster of the Violence Jack OVAs for the past several weeks. Considering that the three OVAs have been out of print on American home video for over 15 years now and the American anime home video audience has aged sufficiently to be interested in collecting vintage anime, a DVD release of the Violence Jack OVA series is a smart acquisition for Discotek. Realistically, a future American DVD release for the show is not ever going to create any mainstream American notice, much less controversy. And strong, positive reaction from the fan community following Discotek’s acquisition announcement certainly validates the acquisition.