Ask John: Which Expired American Licenses Should Be Re-released?

Question:
Since this year has had a number of “license rescues,” are there any anime that you would love to see get rescued? I know for me, I would love to see both Eat-Man anime, Next Senki Ehrgeiz, and Dancougar all get proper DVD releases.

Answer:
Among the many anime titles that have had their American distribution licenses expire, there are a handful which American fans should be grateful that they’re no longer exposed to, titles like AWOL, Lily C.A.T., Roots Search, Tekken, Panzer Dragoon, and Dog Soldier that range from bad to awful. The vast majority of the anime titles that have come and gone in official American release, though, are ones that were respectable licenses during their time and had a fair chance at establishing a permanent residence in America. But in the case of many of these American releases, the fact that they’re now out of print in America is not an especially major loss for the American anime community. There are, however, a few former American licenses whose absence does create a significant absence in America’s anime coverage. Some of these titles are ones which I think should be kept in active American distribution for the sake of posterity. Others are titles which I’d like to see re-released to satisfy my own interests.

Perhaps the biggest absence in current American release is Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark 1988 picture Akira. The film has been released on American VHS, laserdisc, and DVD by multiple distributors, and while it’s not difficult to find, it is technically currently out of print on American home video. While the prominence of Akira has been largely displaced by other, more recent titles like Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop, Akira remains an important, timeless classic that should be available merely on principle.

While I’m not personally a big fan of Sailor Moon, the series was very influential in establishing the present American interest in anime; so its lack of availability seems like a significant loss to American fans interested in the show and its contextual place in anime history. Unfortunately, the Sailor Moon anime seems to be unavailable on American home video right now not because of any oversight, but rather because its Japanese licensor refuses to allow American distribution of the show.

The absence of a current American home video release of Gisaburo Sugii’s 1985 anime film Night on the Galactic Railroad is, I think, an artistic loss for the American anime fan community. I can’t call the Night on the Galactic Railroad movie flawless because I think its slow pace comes dangerously close to being simply dull, and I don’t think that the film does enough to effectively illustrate its themes. But the movie is a respected adaptation of classic literature, and a fine example of the ability of anime to transcend the typical confines of stereotypical commercial art and move into the realm of genuine contemporary fine art.

Robot Carnival succeeds even more than Night on the Galactic Railroad in embodying the best of crowd pleasing commercial art and respectable expressive art. For many years Robot Carnival was a well known favorite of the American fan community, but it’s now been unavailable in America for so long that I believe many of America’s current anime fans aren’t familiar with the film at all. Robot Carnival is a masterwork that not only reflects the unrestrained talents of some of the anime industry’s best talents; it’s a film that effortlessly appeals to both hardcore anime fans and non-fans, making it an ideal introductory film for novice anime viewers.

I have a personal fondness for the 1985 OVA Leda: Fantastic Adventure of Yoko, which was distributed on American VHS by Right Stuf International, but which is now out of print on both American and Japanese home video. The Leda OVA exhibits beautiful character designs by Inomata Mutusumi, the intricate drawing and animation only found in “golden age” 80s anime, and action that’s a lot more involving and exciting than first impressions may suggest. While the Leda OVA has never been especially popular in America, it’s still a respected classic in Japan because Japanese fans know that the Leda OVA is a highly entertaining anime that’s much better than unaware fans realize.

I could cite a variety of other anime titles once available in America that aren’t available now which I’d like to see re-released, including the Galaxy Express 999 and Adieu Galaxy Express 999 movies, Crusher Joe, the original Spirit of Wonder OVA, Fushigi Yuugi, The Supergal, Ultimate Teacher, the original Cat Girl Nuku Nuku OVA series, the Fatal Fury motion picture, the Gunnm (“Battle Angel”) OVA series, Fantasia (released in America as “Girl From Fantasia”), and Love City, but there’s one singular title that I personally hope for above all others.

The 1988 OVA Ten Little Gall Force was released on American VHS as a “double feature” with the 1992 OVA Scramble Wars (which featured characters from Genesis Survivor Gaiarth, another former American release which has never been re-released). To my great disappointment, the Ten Little Gall Force OVA parody of the original Gall Force trilogy has never been released on official DVD in America or Japan. The super deformed parody is wonderfully amusing for Gall Force fans that recognize all of its skewed takes on famous Gall Force scenes, but the OVA also works as an enjoyable comedy for viewers that aren’t familiar with the original Gall Force saga because it extensively parodies the fundamental concept of anime itself. While Ten Little Gall Force isn’t an iconic loss to the American film community like Akira, Robot Carnival, or Night on the Galactic Railroad, or a loss to America’s anime community like Sailor Moon, it is the one American release that I’d like to see re-released more than any other.