Ask John: Will Ideon Ever Be Released in America?

Question:
Since Evangelion is influenced by Space Runaway Ideon. Is it possible the Ideon could be release in the US? With the success of Aura Battle Dunbine, can 80s Sunrise mech shows like Heavy Metal L-Gaim make to the US as well? I heard that GaoGaiGar is licensed on the US. Is this true?

Answer:
At this point it’s possible that virtually any anime series could receive an American DVD release, but some shows are still more likely candidates for American release than others. Even with its connection to Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino and the commonly cited association with Evangelion (although I think that fans give too much credit to Ideon as an inspiration for Evangelion than Ideon really deserves), I don’t envision Space Runaway Ideon as a strong candidate for American release. Typically 80s giant robot anime has not been very successful in America. The Super Beast Machine God Dancougar anime TV series was released on American VHS by Software Sculptors, but it was never successful in America and there appear to be no plans for an American DVD re-release. AD Vision vehemently denies that its release of Aura Battler Dunbine has been anything other than a great success, but there are few actual anime fan consumers that agree with that perception, and although it was called a retail experiment, Dunbine was the only AD Vision released anime series to get a drastic price cut and a buy one get one free offer, which further provides circumstantial evidence that sales of Dunbine in America have been under performing and need drastic price cuts to help keep the series afloat. Finally, Bandai Entertainment owns the domestic distribution licenses to the SPT Layzner and Giant Gorg robot anime series but apparently has no plans to actually release either show.

There are numerous giant robot anime series from the 80s that are not available in America. Just a handful of examples include Dragonar, L-Gaim, Srungle, Xabungle, Dougram, Godmars, GoShogun, Gold Lightan, Dorvack, and Vifam, not to mention the Yuusha series that included DaGarn, Dagwon, Might Gaine, Fighbird, Goldran and even GaoGaiGar. As far as I know, none of these classic robot series are licensed for American release and probably won’t be because not enough American consumers buy these shows to make them viable American commercial releases.