Ask John: What Happened to the King of Thorn Movie?

Question:
What happened to the movie “King of Thorn” getting a U.S. release on DVD? I’ve read that it was shown in select theaters throughout the U.S. in 2010 and that plans were made to release it on DVD long ago. I haven’t seen anything on the official site about a release in the U.S. on DVD lately. Wikipedia mentioned that it received a worldwide release back in November 2010. What would the hold up be, as it’s a very good anime movie that most U.S. fans would probably enjoy?

Answer:
Regrettably, I don’t know exactly what’s caused the 2010 King of Thorn movie to not get the major international theatrical release it was promised. The film did get a Japanese theatrical release and did get limited international screenings, largely through film festivals, but the movie did not get the American release apart from a screening at the 2010 Japan Cuts film festival in New York City. The film, however, isn’t the only film of its kind to not fulfill its early promise of American release. Director Rintaro’s 2009 CG anime film Yona Yona Penguin was specifically developed for international distribution, yet it’s never been officially released in America. Production I.G and Fuji TV’s excellent 2009 CG anime film Hottarake no Shima ~ Haruka to Maho no Kagami was announced in 2008 as a production designed to directly compete with Hollywood produced CG animation. The film has never been officially released in America, although it was never specifically announced for tentative American release. The Russian/Japanese co-produced 2009 anime film First Squad: Moment of Truth also seemed clearly designed for global distribution – including America. While Manga Entertainment has advertised a planned American release, no release date has been scheduled yet.

The timing of all of these 2009-2010 films not getting a prompt American release may possibly be accounted for by the concurrent global recession and the record weakness of the American anime distribution market. When the profitability of anime in America was at a startling low, film distributors may have been hesitant to try launching a challenging distribution into that weak market. First Squad is, at least, licensed and planned for a future domestic release. The absence of Yona Yona Penguin and Oblivion Island may be rationalized as a case of film distributors being cautious about trying to distribute Japanese produced CG animated films in direct competion with popular American CG animated films. So the lack of a domestic distribution license for King of Thorn seems most unexpected and baffling.

Yuji Iwahara’s manga that the movie is based on has been fully released in English, and was selected by the Young Adult Library Services Association as one of the 10 best graphic novels for teens in 2008. The movie is a grim, violent, and perhaps most importantly, self-contained sci-fi survival horror set in the UK and featuring a multi-ethnic cast. In effect, the film is theoretically accessible to American viewers, and it revolves around concepts, themes, and genres that appeal to American anime viewers. The movie does an admirable job of condensing Iwahara’s six volume manga story into a tight, focused story by excising the character Zeus entirely and eliminating the manga’s competing concurrent climaxes and several of the manga’s sub-plots and storylines. While not perfect, the movie is quite good. So the fact that the movie seems so characteristically ideal for American release, and was actually promised an America release, makes its absence from America very confusing. Examination of context suggests that it’s not specifically something about the King of Thorn movie alone that delayed or prevented an American release. The movie is one of several 2009-2010 anime films that were either overtly promised an American release, or seemed destined for American release that, as of yet, have not gotten American release.