Ask John: What are America’s Most Highly Anticipated Releases of 2004?

Question:
Other than Azumanga Daioh and Marmalade Boy, what other anime series can fans look forward to in 2004?

Answer:
Based on the two titles you’ve mentioned, I’m presuming that you’re inquiring only about exceptional or unusually highly anticipated anime series scheduled to see American release this year. Azumanga Daioh was a captivating and infectiously charming little show that won over fans with its innocence and humor. It’s heavily Japanese, but at the same time highly accessible to Westerners. It never seemed sensationalistic or artificial, something of a rarity in anime. There’s no question that Azumanga Daioh will be one of 2004’s most worthwhile releases. I’ve personally never been a fan of Marmalade Boy, the show has kept a strong American fan following for years. Perhaps only Kodomo no Omocha has a greater demand for an English language release among American fans of vintage series than Marmalade Boy does.

Viewed through a very narrow window, there don’t seem to me to be a tremendous number of exceptional titles scheduled for 2004. There will certainly be a wide range of anime titles released, and even terribly bad anime do have some fans and supporters. But I think that though the vast majority of presently scheduled 2004 North American anime releases will be successful but technically average quality shows. My short list of very subjective picks for unusually outstanding confirmed or likely 2004 domestic releases includes, in no particular order:

Miami Guns is an unfortunately little known series that doesn’t have quite the stylish visual panache of anime like Wolf’s Rain or Last Exile, but it is one of the very best, most outrageously funny anime comedies ever created. There are plenty of anime comedies, and many anime that include parodies and spoofs of other anime and well-known movies. But few shows are as spontaneously hilarious as Miami Guns, or include even remotely the amount of pop-culture in-jokes that Miami Guns does. Regardless of my own involvement in bringing the show to America, I wholeheartedly believe that Miami Guns has the potential to be a break out, surprise cult hit among American fans.

Although not confirmed, it’s almost certain that the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Along Complex and Innocence movie will see North American release sometime this year. While the continuing story in the Ghost in the Shell TV series is rather obtuse, and not consistently explicated enough to establish a firm sense of linear continuity, its production quality and maturity should be easily enough to establish the series’ credibility among fans. And with the expectations for the Ghost in the Shell movie franchise and everything publicly revealed about the film so far, all evidence points to the film living up to its anticipation.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s Steamboy may also be released in America this year. Although his output has varied in quality, it’s undeniable that Otomo is a perfectionist concerned with creating anime that excels in every area that it can. As Otomo’s first full length directorial feature since Akira, and a film with a well documented massive production budget, international anticipation and expectation for this film is staggering. Based on the teaser footage that’s been released, the film looks like it will easily live up to its billing.

Samurai Champloo, coming from Cowboy Bebop director Shinichiro Watanabe, by all rights should be an amazing series. Already its character designs are attractive, and the details released about it story should allow for character individuality and expression, exciting action, and a bit of drama.

At long last (although it’s not a particularly old title), Saishuheiki Kanojo will see an official American release this spring. This somber romance won’t appeal to viewers in search of the typical bright colors, wide eyes, and kinetic action of anime. But fans of outstanding film will be awestruck by its raw emotional power and brutally uncompromising integrity to its own agenda. The series is alternately inspiring and tragically depressing, often both at the same time. Remaining within and at the same time expanding genre tradition, SaiKano is apocalyptic both physically and emotionally. The show is an exhausting, grueling endurance trial of tragedy, sacrifice and pain infused with such wholehearted hopefulness that it’s difficult to watch, and even more difficult not to watch.

Finally, I’ll cheat a little bit by mentioning one more title which may be more tremendously successful this year than I believe its quality deserves. Wolf’s Rain has most of the components of an outstanding series: intriguing character designs, an original concept, excellent music. But sadly, Wolf’s Rain suffers from a plodding story and an incomplete, under consructed narrative that makes the show attractive looking but slow moving and pointless. But a possible broadcast on the Cartoon Network, and positive word of mouth based on superficial perceptions may carry Wolf’s Rain much farther in America than its own legs naturally would on their own.