Ask John: Will Berserk Ever Hit American Blu-ray?

Question:
What are the odds of a 2012 Blu-ray release for Kenpu Denki Berserk? I see Vap released the Japanese BD box set (very nice) in January and the theatrical deal is coming very soon but seeing as how Media Blasters is in dire-straits are we totally s-word out of luck in the US? What are your thoughts?

Answer:
A particular conflict I envision here is that I suspect that Americans will eventually see Berserk on domestic Blu-ray, just not the 1997 television series. The complete Kenpu Denki Berserk television anime was released in Japan in a $300 five-disc Blu-ray boxed set on January 18, 2012. While the discs are compatible with American BD players, the discs do not include any English translations.

Considering the massive publicity push that has surrounded the Japanese production and theatrical premiere of the Berserk movie trilogy, and the fact that the movies are consciously being produced with accessibility to Western viewers in mind, the movies are very likely to eventually reach American home video. Of course, nothing’s guaranteed. The 2010 King of Thorn movie was initially promoted as designed for a wide international release, yet it never received any significant American distribution. While the same may occur with the Berserk movies, the film trilogy seems too high profile, too highly advertised, and too costly to produce not to eventually get a major American release. However, the high profile and release of the new movie trilogy will likely overshadow and supersede the earlier TV series. In fact, the exact same situation has occured with Hellsing and Evangelion. The production of the Hellsing OVA series and Rebuild of Evangelion movies has significantly diminished American demand for the original anime adaptations.

While Media Blasters still possesses the domestic DVD distribution rights for the 1997 Berserk anime, there’s no telling how much longer Media Blasters will be able to sustain its distribution, and there’s little reason why any other domestic licensor couldn’t acquire the Blu-ray rights to the series. After all, titles including Sola and Ice have been simultaneously licensed for domestic release by different distributors. However, all attention is presently focused on the new Berserk movies, and domestic distributors may be far more interested in acquiring those new properties than licensing a fifteen year-old show that’s already been released on domestic DVD several times. A Japanese Blu-ray release in anticipation of the brand new movie trilogy makes commercial sense. A domestic release, however, is far less timely and far less likely to meet eager consumer interest.