Ask John: What Can Fans Expect From Toei?

Question:
Now that Toei is translating anime in America, what titles are by Toei? Are they mostly older titles like Slam Dunk or are there new ones being made in Japan as well? Is this the first company straight from Japan to distribute English versions of anime in America? Is Touch from Toei?

Answer:
Toei Animation is one of Japan’s oldest anime production studios, dating back to the Okami Shonen Ken (Wolf Boy Ken) anime series that premiered in November 1963. There’s no one familiar with anime that isn’t familiar with Toei Animation. From their oldest titles to their current series, names like Cyborg 009, Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro, Maho Tsukai Sally, Tiger Mask, Devilman, Mazinger-Z, Cutey Honey, Captain Harlock, Hokuto no Ken, St. Seiya, Crying Freeman, Dragonball, Sailor Moon, 3X3 Eyes, Marmalade Boy, Yu-Gi-Oh, Ojamajo Doremi, One Piece, Digimon, Konjiki no Gash Bell, and Futari wa Precure have helped define Japanese animation itself. In addition to the aforementioned titles, Toei Studio’s current and upcoming productions also include Ring ni Kakero, Beet the Vandeel Buster, Boboboubo Boubobo, Xenosaga the Animation, the Iriya no Sora UFO no Natsu OAV, and the Air motion picture.

Toei’s announcement of plans to begin localizing their anime productions for American release themselves isn’t the first time a Japanese company has released its own productions in America, but the particularly circumstances surrounding Toei’s introduction to American distribution are a bit unique. Bandai Entertainment, Geneon, Super Techno Arts, Synch Point, Urban Vision, and Viz are all American sub-divisions of Japanese distributors, but in each of these cases their American DVDs are produced by local American translating houses. Toei’s introduction into the American market is likely the first time that a major Japanese studio will be producing its DVDs itself, presumably in Japan, rather than having an American based office handle localizations. This has created some nervous anticipation in the American fan community over fears that a Japanese company in Japan may not know exactly what American fans prefer to see in domestic DVD releases. It’s a well known fact that Japanese licensors sometimes impose changes and edits on American localizations because they don’t believe that certain elements won’t reflect positively on the original production or studio, or believe that particular release strategies will be more successful among American consumers when, in fact, often times American consumers actually want the exact opposite. On the other hand, it’s also possible that localizations produced in Japan will be more faithful to the original Japanese integrity of anime than typical American translations. Unlike American produced releases that often have overlayed English language credits and logos and sometimes loose translations, it’s possible that a Japanese producer will simply add a literal translation to completely unaltered Japanese video footage, which is what occasionally happens with many of the rare Japanese anime DVDs that include an English translation.

The first three announced American release titles from Toei Animation will be Air Master, Interlude, and Slam Dunk. Air Master is a 27 episode long TV series from 2003, directed by Dragonball director Daisuke Nishio, about a high school girl and former gymnastics champion who begins street fighting to recapture the tension and challenge of competition. The show deeply divides viewers between those who become instantly addicted to its silly humor, strange characters, and phenomenal martial arts animation. Interlude is a 3 episode OAV series from earlier this year about a young man that stumbles into an alternate dimension Tokyo filled with monsters and virtually no people. Slam Dunk is a massively successful 1993 high school basketball anime drama that supported 101 TV episodes, 3 TV specials, and 4 theatrical movies. These three titles represent a very smart range that includes one of Toei’s older (but not too old) classics, one of their biggest (but not too long) successes, and a recent OAV series that shows off some of Toei’s most contemporary, skilled animation. (Just to clarify, Air Master is enjoyed by only a small cult following among American fans, but it was one of the most watched of all concurrent late night anime during its Japanese television broadcast.) Toei’s initial titles should offer something to appeal to virtually all American anime fans, but it remains to be seen how Toei’s DVD presentation and localization will compare to American consumer standards.

Finally, the Touch anime was not produced by Toei. The Touch anime was produced by Group TAC and Toho, coincidentally the same production pairing that animated Miami Guns.