Ask John: Why Will GALS! Season 2 Be Subtitled Only?

Question:
Why is the Super GALS 2 anime only coming in subtitles? I mean, I’ll still buy it, but why is it not dubbed by now?

Answer:
A number of fans have asked me this question, or a slight variation of this question. Right Stuf is planning to release Super GALS! Season 2 subtitled only because that’s the only financially viable way to release the series domestically. Adding an English dialogue track to an anime can double (or more) the cost of releasing an anime in America. Super GALS is a series that has never sold very well in America, and its second half will sell far fewer copies than its first half. It’s virtually guaranteed that if Right Stuf were to spend the additional money necessary to dub Super GALS episodes 27-52, they’d lose money on the release. It doesn’t make any business sense to spend more on localizing an anime than it will earn back from sales.

Right Stuf obviously doesn’t expect Super GALS episodes 27-52 to sell very well because they’re sponsoring an incentive campaign to encourage sales, they’re keeping the retail price low, and they’re limiting the release to online distribution only. AD Vision employed a similar strategy with its subtitled only release of Prefectural Earth Defense Force, explaining the decision as the only way to make the release commercially possible. Right Stuf has a policy of licensing anime it likes and respects, which has resulted in the company distributing numerous quality shows that have suffered poor sales, including Leda: Fantastic Adventure of Yohko, Ai City, KO Beast Soldiers, and Yamamoto Yohko. Doubtlessly Right Stuf acquired distribution rights to the unreleased half of Super GALS! Kotobuki Ran because the company likes the show and wants to make it available to American fans. By selling the entire 26 episode season at a discount price from the outset, I think Right Stuf is clearly just hoping to break even while making this anime available to fans. Rather than consider the absence of a dub a negative point, American fans should be grateful to get these episodes at all. After all, AD Vision stated at Anime Expo that they had no intention of licensing these episodes for American DVD release because the first half of the series did not sell well.