San Diego Comic Con Reports

Anime news from the San Diego Comic Con has been posted to rec.arts.anime.misc. Some of the news in the report seems a little odd, or is contradicted by previous statements, but it seems worth reporting. It seems like it might be a good idea to take this report with a grain of salt until more details are confirmed. We’ve tried to sort it all out as best as possible.

CPM: The remainder of Revolutionary Girl Utena will be released next year. Some of the licensing details still need to be worked out. Currently there is no firm plan on a subtitled VHS version, but there will be a DVD release, as Utena is one of CPM’s best selling DVDs. The release date schedule on the CPM website will be updated at least every five weeks. There are no plans for a continuing release of the Slayers manga.

ADV: Apparently Carl Macek’s involvement goes beyond work on Robotech. He has written the script for the animated Lady Death project, and will be involved with the dub of Nadia. Robotech will be released in several cycles in 2001, with at least 4 episodes per tape. Spriggan will be released soon, as it is currently in post production. Farscape will be released this winter.

Bandai: Gundam 0080 and 0083 be released on DVD next year. The Saber Marionette DVD release [presumably Saber J to X] will have a Spanish language track. The Escaflowne DVD release will not have the bonus footage from the Japanese LD release. According to unconfirmed reports that have been contradicted elsewhere, the Cartoon Network premier of Blue Submarine No. 6 has been postponed indefinitely.

Contrary to rumors from the convention, Media Blasters will be releasing all of the Rurouni Kenshin TV series, not merely select episodes.

Urban Vision: Financial negotiations on Berserk are in progress and near closure on Alexander. Both titles will have bilingual DVD versions, but no subtitled VHS release. The new Vampire Hunter D movie is almost complete. A theatrical release is due in Japan this fall or in early 2001.

Manga re-confirmed that they have the rights to Ghost Sweeper Mikami and Virus Buster Surge. [Manga has owned the US rights to these titles for nearly two years now.] The Evangelion movies have been delayed until next year due to contractual problems and the fact that Gainax has not delivered any of the production material yet. Royal Space Force will have more extras than Perfect Blue. Fist of the North Star is on hiatus.

Viz stated that they want to get Ranma 1/2 on TV. Ranma 1/2 TV DVDs will be released next year. Ayashi no Ceres will be released in spring 2001. [Varying reports seem to imply that this is the TV animation. Varying reports also attribute this license to Viz and to Bandai.]

Pioneer: Any chance of Sailor Moon TV getting a subtitled release is small. Both Fushigi Yuugi OVA will be on 3 tapes. [We are assuming that this means that the first OAV series will be released one episode per tape, and the second, 6 episode series will be released two episodes per tape.] There are currently no plans to put Bastard on DVD. The Pretty Sammy OVA series sold so poorly that the retailers will not accept any new tapes with that name on it. [Presumably, then, a DVD release will get a name change.] The 3×3 Eyes DVD will be out around the end of year or early in 2001. Akira will be released a year from now and will have many extras, including 5.1 sound, full remastering, a new dub with possibly famous voice actors, an anamorphic transfer and a possible theatrical release. There are no plans for a Lain sequel, but an Armitage the 3rd sequel is in the works.

Cartoon Network: According to About.com Tenchi Muyo will not get a midnight run because the show is simply too “adult” to air on TV unedited. Blue Submarine 6 will air October 16-19 and will contain “light” digital censoring, including Hayami’s cigarette being changed into a toothpick or removed entirely, as a “cartoon” can’t show a character smoking. Oddly enough, the cigarette smoke was not edited out of the animation, though. “They will by showing anime movies every friday afternoon starting Friday, Oct. 20th. Reportedly, the first movie will be Gundam: Endless Waltz.” “Toonami will be trying to acquire or has just acquired the following shows: More Gundam, Outlaw Star, The Big O, the two Reboot movies, and they are in discussion for two Sailor Moon movies.”