Ask John: What Impact Will Bandai Visual Have on Anime in America?

Question:
“BANDAI VISUAL USA INC. was established in 2005 as a wholly owned subsidiary of BANDAI VISUAL CO., LTD. with a mission to facilitate stronger, more active involvement in positioning, marketing and distribution of BANDAI VISUAL programs in North America.” What? And Why? They are putting out new versions of the first 2 Patlabor movies, which is great (but why with Image Entertainment?) – but what of Manga, and Bandai Entertainment of America for that matter? And I thought the former and later where working together – GITS:SAC 1st and 2nd gigs for example. Has Manga lost the rights to anything else besides Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise and the Patlabor movies?

Answer:
I don’t have an “inside track” with Bandai (or Manga Entertainment, for that matter), so I can only speculate to the degree that other anime fans can. The known facts are that Bandai Visual USA and Bandai Entertainment USA are both subsidiaries of Bandai Japan, but are completely independent companies in America. Furthermore, in the absence of any contradictory evidence, the relationship between Manga Entertainment and Bandai Entertainment has not changed at all. In essence, there’s simply another domestic anime distribution company, which won’t significantly change any of the other already established American anime distributors. It seems unusual for two Bandai subsidiaries to compete against each other for domestic sales, but it’s actually not that unusual. For example, the Sam Goody and Suncoast retail chains both carry pre-packaged movies and compete with each other for sales, although both companies are owned by the Musicland Group.

While I can’t put my finger on the exact reason why, the promotional trailer for Bandai Visual’s American re-release of the Patlabor movies (available on the Bandai Visual USA website) gives me the impression that the films will be localized under Japanese supervision instead of being produced in accordance with conventional American anime industry standards. Poor Japanese produced localization that didn’t meet the minimum standards expected of America’s anime industry is what doomed Toei’s recent effort to distribute its own anime DVDs in America. Hopefully my instinctual impression is mistaken, or Bandai Visual will tweak its Patlabor release enough to satisfy the concerns and demands of American consumers and anime fans when it’s released.

Based on the released information, Bandai Visual’s releases will be distributed by Image Entertainment, which is a wise move for Bandai Visual. Image Entertainment has a lot of experience in wholesaling commercial DVDs and funneling commercial DVDs in retail outlets. That’s exactly what Bandai Visual doubtlessly wants. All that a straightforward distribution deal with Image Entertainment means for fans is that Bandai Visual’s Patlabor movie DVDs will be easy to obtain from a variety of retailers. A distribution deal with Image Entertainment has no impact or influence on the quality or content of the DVDs. Theoretically Bandai Visual’s partnership with Image will affect only the availability and retail price of the DVDs.

Considering that there’s been no news to the contrary, I expect that Manga and Bandai Entertainment’s partnership to distribute the Ghost in the Shell television series will be entirely unaffected by Bandai Visual. Manga Entertainment has formerly distributed anime titles including Gunbuster, Mad Bull 34, Royal Space Force, and episodes of the Fist of the North Star television series, but the fact that these licenses have expired doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll be re-released in America by Bandai Visual. For example, Manga Entertainment released Giant Robo the Animation on American VHS, but the series has been re-released on DVD by Media Blasters.

There’s really no way to predict exactly how Bandai Visual’s entry in the American anime industry will affect the American anime community, but I don’t foresee Bandai Visual having a detrimental impact on the American anime industry as we know it right now. Without making wildly exaggerated estimates, I’d say that in the best possible outcome Bandai Visual will find a comfortable home shoulder to shoulder with other American distributors like Bandai Entertainment, Media Blasters, AD Vision, and FUNimation. In that case, North American distributors will find themselves faced with another competitor in a market that doesn’t seem to be significantly expanding, and American consumers will have access to more anime from yet another distributor. In practical terms, the worst possible outcome could be that Bandai Visual will repeat Toei’s mistakes, which would have a greater impact on anime fans and consumers than on the anime industry. When Toei withdrew from American anime distribution, it took Air Master and Slam Dunk with it, leaving American consumers with incomplete DVD releases of these shows. Furthermore, AD Vision representatives have claimed that they’ve been unable to license and release more of the St. Seiya television series because Toei refused to license distribution rights in anticipation of releasing the show in America themselves. Now that Toei has canceled its American release plans, Americans are left with no access to Toei’s licensed shows. Likewise, if Bandai Visual holds desirable licenses but doesn’t succeed in America, American fans may be deprived of access to the titles licensed by Bandai Visual.