Monday Notes (August 7)...
7:42PM - I'm thinking it's about time to change the site theme again since it's been this way since April. Probably going to stick with Futago Hime, but with a change of colors more appropriate for the upcoming season. If there are any artists out there that can draw cute stuff that would be interested in doing a banner send an e-mail my way.
...and now I should probably get to work here writing things. Sorry about that (^^;;)
And it's the last week of summer before classes at UGA get started up again next Wednesday. Where did all the time go? (^^;)
A bit of news from today and over the weekend for now.
Otakon Licenses (via ANN)
ADV did good picking up Utawarerumono, outside of changing the title to "Shadow Warrior Chronicles".... really, just leave the title as Utawarerumono, please (^^;;) Funimation picked up both seasons of School Rumble... not much of note other than those two. Kadokawa Shoten had a panel where a representative mentioned that they are in talks with various companies about licensing Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, and that it should be released next year. If I had to choose, I'd hope Geneon would pick it up since they're usually quick about things. Keep all the extras, and please, please encode it at a high bitrate and put it on a dual layer DVD9. Hopefully someone will pick up the novels as well since the Haruhi anime is heavily slanted towards those who've already read the novels.
Negima!? Dated (via MOON PHASE)
Starts October 4th at 17:30, and a serialization of it by Takuya Fujima is slated to start in Comic Bonbon.... 17:30, not late night? The first season could've run at that time since there was next to no service or pantsu so it's not surprising, I suppose, but still... the serialization in Bonbon would seem to indicate it will be targeted towards a younger audience as well. Just have to wait and see how it turns out...
Idolmaster Anime - Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA (via MOON PHASE)
The game where you, as producer, make a girl into the most popular idol there is.... will be made into an anime by the Mai-HiME people at Sunrise? Yeah, there'll be robots. Dunno about live events ;) Director is Tatsuyuki Nagai (Honey & Clover II), series composition by Jukki Hanada (Rozen Maiden series).
If you don't find anybody else who's interested, I'll be happy to draw your banner for you again. ^_~
As much as people don't like the idea of shows getting renamed, it makes zero business sense to leave a show's title in an undecipherable form. The best way to handle this situation would be to contact ADV with perhaps an alternate suggestion for a title that would be more fitting.
So you're saying that it made zero business sense for Funimation to release Kodomo no Omocha as Kodocha and not Child's Toy (the literal translation of Kodomo no Omocha)?
The market's proven it can handle titles left with their original names. Even if it hadn't there's a business sense to it, something Utawaremono is going to be a rather unique title on the shelf. It's not an English word, not anywhere near one, and it'll attract attention. That attention may lead to increased sales.
The best way to handle this would be to stop assuming the market consists only of xenophobic idiots who won't buy/read/watch series that aren't named in English. Some companies have figured this out already, others haven't.
I can only assume Kodocha is so named because the name has precedence thanks to TOKYOPOP's manga release. (And even that is not the original title of the show!) And, well, I don't exactly see Kodocha flying off the shelves either.
I'm not sure how you can go about proving either way if the market can "handle" untranslated titles - sales numbers of anime tend to be a well-kept secret. I can only speak from experience from years of work at the retail level, and my experience tells me the reality of the situation is the opposite of what you're painting. Especially since retailers are a lot more picky about what titles they stock these days - I wouldn't be surprised if they took one look at the title, passed it off as some Urotsukidoji clone or something, and didn't order it.
Renaming makes perfect business sense - it makes their titles more accessable to the general public while not really affecting those who already know of the show - they're likely to recognize the title regardless of what's written on the cover. A good title should convey what the show is about, especially in a retail situation where all a potential customer might see of a show is the spine.
Which companies don't rename their titles? A quick look at the titles so far this year shows that most anime titles released under their romanized name (and even then, are typically translated in some fashion) are from Geneon, who I'm all but convinced that they must be subsidized to the point that they don't mind huge losses in sales numbers as long as they do what the mother company wants. Many other major American players will often try to make their title choices more accessable to the general consumer, because those are the sales that tend to really matter. Right Stuf did it with Ninin ga Shinobuden, FUNimation did it with Sunabouzu. And that's just looking at releases so far this year - there are plenty more examples if one would look further back.
And in any case, if you really don't like their choice of title, the most constructive way to handle it would be to conact ADV themselves and convince them to do something else. Consumer feedback is a part of marketing too.
The thing is, how often do people go to the anime section of your store and just browse through looking for something that interests them? I have no problem with translated titles. What bothers me is alternate titles, which can actually make it more difficult for people looking to pick up the title to find. If a title is realistically untranslatable.. leave it, please.
If Haruhi comes out on DVD, I'd pick it up, but I'd be looking for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya... not ... I dunno... Hyper Atomic Bitchslap Girl X.
I'd be willing to make a fall-ish banner for you. I'd probably want some more detail as to what you're looking for, though. ^^
Get back to me if you're interested. ^^