Ilumitoon readies its third license- Bt'X

[Beat]

From the creator of Saint Seiya...


BT'X Set for US (2006-09-19 13:58:15)
Illumitoon has confirmed (http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9334.html) its licensing of BT'X and BT'X Neo. The 39-episode series will begin release in 2007.

[Space Cadet]

Never heard of this. What is the show about? Is it Toonami, Adult Swim, or another network?

[Will Sturnick]

Cool news. I guess. I don't know what exactly we can expect from Illumitoon, so we'll have to see. I know they wanted to be rather kid friendly but as for how faithful product they'll put out, only time will tell I suppose.


Never heard of this. What is the show about? Is it Toonami, Adult Swim, or another network?
I saw the opening theme for this not long ago. You can never go wrong with a Fence of Defense song ("~Haruka~ Sailing for my Dream" in this case). It seemed to be rather Saint Seiya-esque (not a surprise). There was also a robotic looking Pegasus, so to me it looked like a bizzare mix of Saint Seiya and Zoids. Can't say how accurate that impression is.

[Anyone00]

Huh, I saw a few eps. of Bt'X this almost 6-8 years ago in fansubs. Seemed like an alright series but they're just now bringing it over.

[Weatherman]

Guess it was a cheap pickup. Who's the Japanese license holder?

[EscaflownePilot]

I believe it's TMS. Well, it was animated by TMS, but I'm not sure if they're specifically the ones selling the US license.

While it's true that we have major reason to doubt how faithful Illumitoons' TV edits will be, we do know that they intend to release everything uncut in Japanese with subtitles, and they haven't said anything either way about uncut English versions, so I think as long as you count on buying the DVDs rather than watching it on whatever network Illumitoons plans on selling this stuff to, we should be alright.

As for the show itself - I thought it looked pretty good when I watched the first episode some many years ago, but I don't remember it well at all. It definitely looked aged, though, so who Illumitoon thinks they're going to sell it to for TV broadcast is beyond me.

[Undrave]

Bt'X does have many elements similar to Saint Seiya, including the look of the hero.

The story is mostly the fight of the main character to save his brother from the evil Mechanical Empire and eventually the world. He is aided in battle by a Bt, named X who is shaped after a Kirin and used to belong to his mentor Karen. A Bt is a sentient mechanical creature that gain 'life' by absorbing some blood of its rider and thus become linked to that person. The 'B' in Bt is supposed to stand for 'Brain', 'Blood' and 'Bravery'.

The main character (I think his name was Teppei) is soon joined by rebel members of the Mechanical Empire.

I read the manga and it's pretty cool... but there's lots of deaths and blood so I wouldn't really consider it 'kid friendly'.

[ChibiGoku]

I believe it's TMS. Well, it was animated by TMS, but I'm not sure if they're specifically the ones selling the US license.

While it's true that we have major reason to doubt how faithful Illumitoons' TV edits will be, we do know that they intend to release everything uncut in Japanese with subtitles, and they haven't said anything either way about uncut English versions, so I think as long as you count on buying the DVDs rather than watching it on whatever network Illumitoons plans on selling this stuff to, we should be alright.


If this is TMS Entertainment, do not go complaining to Illumitoons if there's some sign removals or opening logo changes. Along with the lack of eyecatchers. (Considering this'll be most likely the work of TMS Entertainment. This happened on Detective Conan for FUNimation.)

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Never heard of this. What is the show about? Is it Toonami, Adult Swim, or another network?

I imagine nothing Illumitoon picks up with be Adult Swim material. It seems their purpose in life to be the next 4kids (though with more respect towards anime).

[Beat]

More mainstream audience (which I believe was their exact quote) does not necessarily equal teh kiddies.

[Karl Olson]

Well, it does mean they'll atleast be looking towards CN on the outside. They aren't going to pick up the kind of stuff that lack TV potential entirely or is very limited in it's audience (IFC-type stuff.) So far though, the titles they strike me as being Toonami-material - great for 6-11 boys with a little messaging to get by standards, and then great in retail uncut for the otaku audience.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

It pains me that you didn't at least make that demo 6-14... if not 9-14. But looking at what Toonami currenlty airs I can see why it wouldn't even cross someone's mind.

[Weatherman]

Tokyo Movie Shinsha eh? Well, it'll look gorgeous at least. Sounds like it may be a property worth keeping an eye on as Illumitoon gets their act together.

[Undrave]

This news made me want to go back and read the manga ^^

I had forgotten how HOT Karen was and how thorougly AWESOME the Messiah Fist is... what a cool weapon.

I also realised it's actually spelled B't (pronounced as 'beat') and the 'B' stands for 4 things, not three: Brain, Blood, Brave and Battler. Brave warriors with a brain of their own and are fuel with blood. They are also fiercly loyals to their donor.
Little pics:

http://www.fansubs.net/fsw/general/btx.jpg
Teppei in Battle Gear riding X

http://animeguides.free.fr/series/btx/btx.jpg
Karen's the one in red :p

http://animeguides.free.fr/series/btx/btx2.jpg
Teppei facing Metal Face in ep. 1.

[Weatherman]

Interesting. The main character looks kinda like Tenchi would have looked has he been drawn back in the 80's.

[Chum]

Bt'X is a great anime, i know i'll be picking this up when the dvds get released.

I also hope Illumitoon suceed in geting broadcasted on tv because we need a wider variety of anime exposed to the mainstream especially the older shows.

[Undrave]

I don't know if it'll get broadcast. I don't know about the anime but the mangai s FILLED with death and blood. Not just death of an opponent at the hand of the hero, but also huge massacres! In both the present and in flashbacks. Like in the first volume the empire kills 10 000 innocent people just to get to Kotaro!

There's also nuclear weapons used, death of kids, stabbing and decapitations.

One of the character has christianity has an important defining trait (Though it's more complex than it appears at first) and a lot of the characters had tragic childhood filed with traumatizing events.

I wouldn't call it exactly 'kid's friendly'.