Ask John: Will Canaan & Kara no Kyoukai Reach America?

Question:
How likely is it that CANAAN and Kara no Kyoukai will be licensed for R1 DVD release?

Answer:
I don’t have any “insider” knowledge of the future distribution of these two franchises, so all I can do is speculate based on theory and precedent. My guess is that both of these franchises are destined for eventual licensed American release. Both titles are major franchises, and both titles have distinct, strong American audience potential. The Canaan television series is an outstanding girls with guns show about a contract killer with preternaturally heightened senses opposing a ruthless terrorist bent on upsetting the balance of world order. And both young women have a tragic, shared history. Grim, action-oriented gunplay anime has fared well in America. Shows including Noir, Madlax, Aika, Cowboy Bebop, Gungrave, and Black Lagoon have been popular and successful domestically. And it doesn’t hurt that Canaan has been moderately successful in Japan, and the show has exceptional art design and animation quality.

Likewise, the Kara no Kyoukai movie series is characterized by lush art design and fluid animation. It’s also very grim, gothic, stylish, and it’s exactly the type of anime that rosounds well with Americans because it literally seems more intellectual and artistic than it really is. Del Rey has published an excerpt of author Kinoko Nasu’s original Kara no Kyoukai novel in English. The previous anime based on works associated with the Type-Moon studio, Tsukihime and Fate/stay night, have reached American home video. (It can also be noted here that Canaan has a Type-Moon connection as well; Type-Moon contributed to the video game that the Canaan anime is spun-off from.) FUNimation is preparing its domestic release of the Mnemosyne OVA series, which has a strong stylistic similarity to Kara no Kyoukai, demonstrating that this type of anime is viable for American release.

If the American anime licensing industry was as active now as it was five years ago, I think both Canaan and Kara no Kyoukai would have been already confirmed for American release by now. These days it seems to be taking the few remaining domestic licensors longer to acquire and announce new acquisitions. The first Kara no Kyokai movie is now just over two years old and the concluding seventh film just recently hit Japanese home video. The Canaan television series aired on Japanese television earlier this year. By present licensing standards, both franchises are still new and fresh, so American distribution contracts for both may be pending. Both of these titles are exceptional anime with strong American audience potential. I can’t think other than that both franchises are near the top of the candidates for consideration of every American anime licensor.