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Anime Expo is the one time of the year that the anime companies
in the industry save up their big title announcements for. They
try to then give some flair to their companies in the hope that
the hype they produce at the convention will translate into big
sales.
Traditionally, there's always a few extremely major announcements
that will get made at Anime Expo every year. The announcements will
usually be the title that no one expects anyone to acquire, or the
uber-popular title that has been sitting patiently, waiting to get
acquired (titles so obvious, that it's a wonder why they didn't
get acquired sooner), or, as has been the case more recently, popular
titles (amongst fans) that have been acquired even though their
runs may have not finished in Japan yet! This year, however, was
a bit unusual in that we got a bit of all 3 this time around.
Of course, this list is not all-inclusive. Readers should consult
much more informed sources, such as Anime
on DVD, to get the full list of acquisitions made at Anime Expo,
or search references like Google
or the Anime Web Turnpike to
find out more about the actual series mentioned. I'll just mention
some of the more interesting acquisition announcements that were
made.
[ The Pioneer
Acquistions - Winner of the "Best Acquisitions at AX2002"
award. ]
Most of the exciting acquisitions, anime-wise, came from one panel.
To most people, this is an amazing shock. To others, this is simply
routine. The catch is that, while in most years, most of the exciting
announcements have tended to come from either ADV or Bandai, this
year, the major announcements came from Pioneer.
The following titles were the ones announced at Pioneer:
- Chobits - This would fall under the 3rd classification
of shocker acquisitions. A shock in acquisition only in the speed
at which it was acquired, Chobits is based off the CLAMP manga,
dealing with a world where personal robots called persocons are
owned by, well, a lot of people. Hideki, a poor student who doesn't
own a persocon, finds a particularly cute one lying one day in,
of all places, the trash. Once Hideki finds out how to activate
his new prize, Chii, the fun begins. Of course, since the series
is based off of a CLAMP manga, it's a given that the character
designs are going to be cute. Of course, the show's ecchi factor
is a bit higher than most of the CLAMP series out there (I'm sure
it really doesn't help that Hideki is a bit of a perv). However,
the manga is really popular in Japan, and the whole series is
popular amongst anime and manga fans in America. The fans were
incredibly happy to hear this title getting snatched up by such
a good company.
- Mahoromatic - This title falls under the 2nd classification
of a shocker title - uber major announcement, that took its sweet
time getting around. Mahoromatic is a cute series with some serious
undertones, though the show is mostly a comedy. It focuses around
an android named Mahoro, a combat android who is living out the
last days of her existence as a maid to the son of her former
commander who died tragically but heroically by her hands. One
would wonder how a series with such a sad premise to start could
be a comedy. Well, the fact that the series was produced by Gainax
should be a very big hint. ^_^ Since pretty much every Gainax
series made has been acquired (the only exceptions to the rule,
within my knowledge, are series that are very new/not produced
[including Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai, the new upcoming Gunbuster,
and the new upcoming Wings of Honneaise] and the Anime Ai no Awa
Awa Hour, which includes Ebichu the housekeeping hamster, a show
that if it were to be acquired, would fall dead into the first
category ^_^), it was no surprise that this series would be acquired.
However, Pioneer took their sweet time announcing it. No word
yet on whether Pioneer has at least an option on the new Mahoromatic
series coming up.
- Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar - Pioneer must be getting
into the shoujo stuff as well. I won't go into details of the
plot or characters, since those are details not within my knowledge
(hey, I can only watch so much anime). However, I will note out
that the character designs for Sugar are done by none other than
Koge-Donbo, who is of course best known for doing the character
designs for Digi Charat and the newer Pita-Ten. All I will say
is that Sugar is cute, and does fall a bit into the 1st category
of unpredictability, though not nearly as much as one would think.
- Sakura Taisen - The Motion Picture - Pioneer
stole this one out from under ADV's feet. I had a good feeling
that this title was probably going to be acquired around Anime
Expo. The big hint, of course, was that they were showing prints
of it in the film room. This automatically raises suspicion in
the eyes of attendees. While this is no guarantee of acquisition
(for example, the last 2 years, they showed the Akihabara Dennougumi
movie, which has not been acquired to date), it does add to suspicions.
However, the fact that it was Pioneer that ended up with the license
was a surprise, since I didn't realize that they were actually
after the rights to it. If you know nothing of Sakura Taisen,
visit the Sakura Archives or one of several other sites out on
the web. The whole series is too complex for me to describe within
the context of this article (there have been full panels &
sites dedicated to describing this series).
- Gatekeepers 21, Ai Yori Aoshi (Bluer than
Indigo) & Patlabor WXIII (Patlabor 3rd movie)
- I won't say much about these titles, since they are
mostly out of my purview of knowledge. However, since I do know
that Ai Yori Aoshi is probably a shoujo series, and since I definitely
know that Ai Yori Aoshi only started in April and that Gatekeepers
21 is ludicrously new, these are definitely fast announcements
on Pioneer's behalf.
- Hibane Renmei - Um, since this is a new ABe series
that's still in production, I won't say much about this now, except
that it looks GOOD. ^_^;; There's no guarantee that Pioneer actually
has this (it's being produced by Pioneer in Japan - that doesn't
mean anything for the United States). However, it's a safe bet
that they will be after it, if they don't have the rights. ^_^
[ The Right Stuf - One
strange announcement, and a lot on Karekano... ]
TRSI had one major announcement for the con (of course, they had
already announced Comic Party back a few months ago, so I think
they tapped out their karma there ^_^). However, the announcement
was unusual, since the acquisition was:
- Gravitation (TV only) - Anyone who knows the series
knows EXACTLY why it was hard to believe that the series would
have been picked up. For those of you, however, who don't know,
it's because the series is very much Yaoi-rific. Yes, if you can't
handle a bit of shounen ai, then you need to stay away from this
series. However, I'm sure the fangirls are all appreciative that
TRSI has this one. I won't go into detail about the series, as
I know very little about it myself, except for the aforementioned
fact. However, this was a bit of a shocker.
However, we all know TRSI is still very much focused on Karekano,
as well as looking forward to Comic Party (and they'd better do
a good job on both of them ^_^). Slowly, TRSI is becoming a fan
favorite amongst companies for picking up titles that the fans want
(they may supplant Animeigo for this role very soon).
[ ADV - The other company
with powerful enough announcements to shake us all ]
ADV, as is their trend, had a long list of titles they had acquired,
as well as a list of upcoming titles. Of interest in the upcoming
titles were the following:
- Steam Detectives - While this series was anything
but a slam dunk for acquisition, there seemed to be enough Kia
Asamiya fans around that one would think that this series would
have gotten acquired sooner. Again, within my limited knowledge,
I know very little about the series. However, the manga has been
serialized in Animerica Extra, so fans of the series should be
happy to hear about the anime series coming their way.
- Super GALS! Kotobuki Ran - Now this series was
completely out of left field. "Super GALS" is a somewhat
lighthearted series with some serious dramatic moments. However,
the unusualness of the series comes not from the plots, which
are fairly standard, but from the characters. Anyone who knows
something about teenage fashion in Japan may be familiar with
the Kogaru (KO-gal, using the japanese ko, which means child)
and Ganguro (black bodied or faced, I believe, is the closest
translation) fashion trends. Basically, the key to the former
is dressing up in school outfits, and trying for that naughty
yet nice innocent young appearance. This is the appearance of
the main protagionists. The latter fashion trend revolves around
getting dark tans, dying hair silvery-blonde (which you must imagine
is difficult, since Japanese hair is pretty much black), and wearing
outfits trying to emulate American black women (the classic example
associated with ganguro tends to be Lauryn Hill). The series is
itself comedic, and has several points which are universal. However,
the series uses cultural references which, to even a large number
of anime fans, are unusual and unknown. In considering series
which were likely targets for acquisition, this didn't even hit
5% likely. Yet, here we are, talking about it being acquired.
I'll give ADV credit, though. They are known for picking up series
that they like, regardless of consideration of how well it might
do here. I don't blame them for liking Super GALS. I just hope
they do a good job with it.
- Pretear & Rahxephon - Both of
these series are relatively new series, so it was unusual to see
them on the acquisition list. Pretear is also an unusual title
for a company like ADV to acquire, considering the usual stuff
that ADV is known for putting out. However, considering that this
is the same company that put out Princess Nine, I'll consider
all the stereotypes to be out. ^_^;; I'll leave learning/knowing
about these series as an exercise to the reader.
Of course, ADV also mentioned having rights to more of the series
that they already had. Of particular note are the fact that they
hold the Blue Seed OVAs, the Bakuretsu Hunter OVAs (that took forever
to announce - finally fanboys can watch Chocolate Misu's look the
way every fanboy has always wanted her to look - just a pair of
pants, a hat, and suspenders - screw the shirt ^_^;;), Nuku Nuku
Dash, and the whole of the Steel Angel Kurumi anime series. Wai!
^_^
UPDATE: At Otakon, ADV announced the rights to Hoshi no Koe
(Voices of a Distant Star), the Japanese rights to Sailor Moon 1st
& 2nd seasons, 2nd season of Orphen, and Saint Seiya. Way to
go, ADV!
[ Predictions - The rights to these series delivered to american
distributors within 12 months, or your pizza is free ^_^ ]
Of course, now I can't help but make some guesses as to what will
be acquired by the end of the next Anime Expo. Now, it should be
let known that my record in making such guesses isn't good (I probably
have a success rate of about 35%). However, I think that if all
goes the way I think it might, the following have a decent chance
of being in the hands of distributors sometime through Anime Expo
2003:
- Azumanga Daioh - Popular in Japan, and universal
enough that it could make it here. The humor is also simple, and
reminiscent of reading popular news comics such as Peanuts.
Hoshi no Koe (Voices of a Distant Star) - The
independantly produced anime that sold like mad in Japan. For
a 30 minute movie, it's incredibly powerful and well done. I can't
see why an anime company would pass over this. Go figure.
After the writing of this article, ADV had announced that through
their new partnership with CoMix Wave, that they had acquired
the very beautiful Voices of a Distant Star at Otakon. It goes
to show how powerful a title this is.
- Onegai Teacher - Why this hasn't been acquired
by now, I don't know. The amount of interest at Anime Expo should
be enough to convince anyone that this should be in someone's
hands.
- Tokyo Underground - One of the more popular series
released during the April month, this should probably make it
out here. Expect to see this one on some company's list.
- Sexy Commando Gaiden - Sugoiyo!! Masaru-San -
This has just enough weird factor that it might have a chance.
With TRSI getting Gravitation, ADV getting Super Gals, and with
ADV's heavy promotion on Excel Saga, I can see this one going
to one of those 2 companies.
- Digi Charat - Once Synch Point gets their act
together under Brocolli, this should be a given. If someone other
than Synch Point ends up with this one, I'll laugh until I die.
- Pita-Ten - Let's go out on a slight limb, and
say that if we already have Sugar as announced, and if Digi Charat
is a given, that this really cute series is a good probability.
Pioneer, have enough space for another series to work on? ^_^
- Galaxy Angel - If Synch Point gets their act together,
this has a good probability of coming right after Digi Charat.
Another cute series, and one that enough anime fans have seen
clips from (minimally, if you've attended AX, and you've seen
any of the NEEC dub panels, that's what they've generally been
using to dub) that the appetite has been whetted.
- Abenobashi Mahou Shoutengai (Abenobashi Magical Shopping
Street) - It's Gainax. It should be a given. I'll gamble
and say that it'll be announced by Anime Expo next, if not sometime
before then.
- To Heart - With Comic Party containing so many
in-jokes to To Heart, it wouldn't surprise me at all if TRSI decides
to gamble on this one. ^_^
- Tenshi na Konamaiki (A Cheeky Angel) - I don't
honestly actually expect this one to get acquired. However, it's
funny, and there's at least a 1 in 4 chance that it might get
acquired by AX2003.
- Tokyo Mew Mew - C'mon, it's shoujo and catgirls.
It could happen. 1 in 5 chance, though, but it's at least distantly
possible.
- Hana Yori Dango (Boys Before Flowers) - So many
rumors floating around about it. However, I think there might
be some truth to them. For a shoujo series, it's popular.
- Kodomo no Omocha (Child's Toy) - I think the
fans have waited long enough for this series. If it doesn't get
acquired by AX2003, don't expect it to EVER get acquired (because
if it doesn't do so by then, then there's got to be some major
complication that is not being factored in).
We can all be sure that there'll be more announcements sometime
in the future. Until then, however, take this all as food for thought.
The anime market has become significantly more diverse in the States,
and there seems to be a market now for perhaps just about any series.
Don't be surprised if you see your favorite unacquired series picked
up soon.
—jason
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