ADV at AnimeNext (AKA A Bad Day for Shojo)

[Dr Crocodile]

"Studio Representative David L. Williams

The first thing that was covered in this panel was upcoming releases. Among those, notable titles include:

June: Noir ThinPak, Gilgamesh;
July: The Place Promised in Our Early Days, My Beautiful Girl Mari, Area 88 TV, Yugo the Negotiator;
August: Najica ThinPak, Pretear ThinPak, Final Fantasy: Unlimited ThinPak, Samurai Gun, Gantz Season 2, Orphen 2 Collection;
September: Abenobashi Magical Shopping District Thinpak, Azumanga Daioh ThinPak.

The second season of Gantz will be released on 4 discs with a 4/3/3/3 episode count. The episode count for season one (13 episode over 6 discs) was an experiment. ADV had been hearing from many people, particularly high school and college students, that $30 DVDs are too expensive. They wanted to try an experiment in lower pricing, and chose a popular series so that it could not be said that the experiment failed because the test subject show was unpopular. While Gantz sold very well, they believe it would have sold just as well regardless of the release format. Furthermore, the release format increased production costs for ADV. It is unlikely that ADV will release any more series in this manner.

Yugo the Negotiator, a relatively unknown series, will be made available at a very attractive $14.98 price point for the DVD, and $19.98 for the volume 1 + box release. ADV Films is “Very Proud” of Yugo, as are the Japanese producers who put an extensive amount of research into making the series a realistic portrayal of the exotic locations, such as Pakistan, that are its setting.

Regarding the second seasons of Kaleidostar and Supergals (episodes 27-52 each), ADV has the license for the second season of Kaleidostar and has done some production work on it, however they do not have the license for the second season of Supergals. Neither series sold as well as expected, however ADV is possibly going to release ThinPak collection of each series. If the ThinPak sales are decent enough there is a good chance they will release the second seasons. Otherwise it is unlikely that those episodes will be released by ADV.

Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok is currently in production and the first volume will probably be released sometime this fall.

As for “lost licenses” ADV’s license for the Master of Mosquiton OAV series has expired and has since been picked up by Media Blasters. ADV would like to release the original Sol Bianca on DVD, however first they need to clear up the required rights for a DVD release. The original rights holders to the title went bankrupt and it is currently unknown who actually owns the rights for the property.

Finally, ADV has passed on the Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pich license. Mermaid Melody was a “Big Franchise” that would have required TV backing to be financially viable. While ADV was in talks with networks, these networks re-evaluated the market and it would not have been financially reasonable for ADV to license the title without at TV deal.

The Ani-Mini’s will not be a regular format; however ADV will occasionally release them for promotional purposes. An Ani-Mini of Cromartie High was included in the first volume of the manga.

When mentioning extras in collected versions and initial releases, Williams confirmed what was told to ANN this past week - that ADV Films will continue to focus on extras in the initial releases of series, and that collected releases will generally not feature any extras. This is to make sure that the initial releases continue to carry the added value that goes with their higher price. Furthermore, it was stated that roughly only 31% of anime fans buy the initial releases as soon as they come out. Companies rely on those initial sales to finance the series, therefore they are looking into as many ways as possible to entice fans to buy the initial releases.

Answering a question about delays in releasing various manga titles, such as Gunslinger Girl, Williams admits that ADV was very ambitious in its entry into the manga market. Unfortunately it came at a time when several other companies also entered the market and the result was market saturation, with too much product for stores to handle. ADV is therefore slowing down its manga releases.

As far as UMD releases for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) are concerned, it is currently very expensive to author UMD discs and sales are not that great. Therefore ADV is taking a “wait and see” attitude to UMDs, but Williams is not very confident in the likelihood of the company releasing UMDs.

Finally, Williams stated that having a show air on Cartoon Network is one of the best things that can happen to a property and he hints that more of their shows will possibly be on Cartoon Network in the future."

Source = ANN

[Karl Olson]

Oh dear, what has ADV sold CN now. My bet: something we'll hear about at ComicCon or the 2006 upfront.

Meanwhile, it sucks that Melody was shot down. Shoujo just can't seem to gain a foothold outside of Fruits Basket in the DVD market. It's the main force in manga, but the DVDs just don't seem to move. It's a shame. I'll probably get that SuperGals ThinPak though. IIRC, Akitaro Daichi directed it, so it's got that going for it. In fact, ADV should probably put "from the Director of Fruits Basket on it." It should give it some boost. Kleidostar's failure is particularly stinging though as it was an ADV co-pro. It's got too suck to have the loss be so, well personal.

And I can't wait to see Place Promised on a good DVD. I want to see that color design, those backgrounds and that animation in crisp DVD video.

[Duke]

I might pick up that Abenobashi thin-pak. What are the extras for the original release?

[livingfruitvirus]

Oh dear, what has ADV sold CN now. My bet: something we'll hear about at ComicCon or the 2006 upfront.

Or Dragon Con, which was where Super Milk Chan was announced. (as well as picking up The Boondocks for 15 episodes and the American Dad encores)

[Rabi~en~Rose]

another predicition fulfilled

I always knew it would come down to getting the show on tv or not at all which is why I wrote my signature as it is CN either didn't take notice or didn't care for the perfect Miguzi anime

[Conan-san]

Well, that sucks for Mermaid, at least they'll release Loki after, what, 2 years after it was anounced?!

[Perfect Cell]

Ive always wanted to see that Abenobashi one too. Need to put it in my list.

[Karl Olson]

Or Dragon Con, which was where Super Milk Chan was announced. (as well as picking up The Boondocks for 15 episodes and the American Dad encores)

Good point. AS has found a third announce point in DragonCon.

Meanwhile, I think shoujo hinges on Fruits Basket. It's the only non-TV, non-Action shoujo title that's actually built momentum from it's initial release. This summer it's manga will be released monthly. If that can push the sales up, and if Funimation's 2nd wave merch Fruits Basket really sells well, it could be the key to getting the interest back in the genre. Otherwise, it'll be a manga only deal for a long time come outside of the occaision over-Americanized hyper-failure.

[Nobuyuki sama]

I'll probably get that SuperGals ThinPak though. IIRC, Akitaro Daichi directed it, so it's got that going for it. In fact, ADV should probably put "from the Director of Fruits Basket on it."

Sorry Karl, but I don't see his name attached to it in any capacity.

[TnAdct1]

I might pick up that Abenobashi thin-pak. What are the extras for the original release?

I know that the original release had the following extras:

-Commentary on the first disc by Luci Christian and Jessica Boone (the actresses who provide the dub voices for Sasshi and Arumi)
-Dub outtakes (with a couple involving parallels to how one of the characters resembles Michael Jackson)
-Vid-Notes a la Excel Saga

[Dark Fact]

So no Sol Bianca on DVD huh? Maybe its rights issues like these are the big reason why ADV hasn't put out anymore of its old VHS catalogue on DVD.

[EscaflownePilot]

Boo on the Kaleido Star and MMPPP deals.

I guess I'll have to make sure I buy the Kaleido Star thinpacks (even though I already have a couple discs) to ensure we get the next season.

[Karl Olson]

Sorry Karl, but I don't see his name attached to it in any capacity.

Kyle Pope lied to me! (No really.)

Still, the manga looked pretty good. Besides, the boxset will probably hit store with a street price about 35 bucks so it's worth it.

[Duke]

I know that the original release had the following extras:

-Commentary on the first disc by Luci Christian and Jessica Boone (the actresses who provide the dub voices for Sasshi and Arumi)
-Dub outtakes (with a couple involving parallels to how one of the characters resembles Michael Jackson)
-Vid-Notes a la Excel Saga

Damn. Looks like I'm getting the original release...

[Vu Man]

They wanted to try an experiment in lower pricing, and chose a popular series so that it could not be said that the experiment failed because the test subject show was unpopular. While Gantz sold very well, they believe it would have sold just as well regardless of the release format. Furthermore, the release format increased production costs for ADV. It is unlikely that ADV will release any more series in this manner.

Saint Seiya: $12-$13 on Deep Discount DVD for five episodes per volume. Worked out pretty well in my opinion since all 12 volumes released so far have five episodes. If $30 is too much to spend on anime, I should seriously hold panels at cons to teach people how to search through eBay without getting cheated or the wonders of DVDpricesearch.com. I've never paid that much for one volume without a box.

It's nice that ADV has the license for the rest of Kaleido Star but what about Saint Seiya? 12 X 5 = 60 episodes and that doesn't conclude the Twelve Temples fights. I wonder if this lack of an announcement has any involvement from DiC and if they don't want to continue releasing their Knights of the Zodiac. It's also a bad day for old school shonen.

[Weatherman]

Hmmm, seems ADV is having a few issues with their licensing binge. I can't say I'm supprised all in all.

[Hades]

1. What is that Mermaid whatever about?

2. How many volumes is Gilgamesh? I read somewhere that it was going to be 6 volumes, but when I saw it at the store the other day, it looked like a box to hold 7.

3. So no Super Gals S2 unless S1 box set sells good huh? Darn. When does the Kaleido Star S2 box set come out?

4. I think UMDs are pointless and ADV is thinking straght. I looked at some at the store the other day, and it was $20 for Saw with stereo sound (obvious reasons) and no extras, where I can get the DVD for $10 with extras and DTS audio. The same goes for Hellboy, Resident Evil, and all those other releases.

[Beat]

UMD's are pointless when MP4 ripping is so easy. ADV has made the right choice.

Gantz adds up to the same price either way, so I'm not sure what to think, except that I'll have more shelf space.