This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)

#76 | Back to Top07-08-2010 05:54:00 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

So I'd emailed the director of PR and Marketing, Alison, and got a reply. I gave my name and mentioned I had a site, but she knew which one it was. :ego puffs up:

She sounded super excited to have a direct line to the fanbase, especially when we're not only assured sales but like, assured fanatical preorders. She didn't want to promise anything but they're working on some extras and asked to keep in touch since they're planning things leading up to the release and want fan feedback about how the DVDs are done and what's on them. I'm going to invite her to join the forum or at the very least link her to this thread/communicate any common themes for desires for the DVDs to her.

This is it, guys. Some of you have been around long enough to know just how horrible a history SKU has had in the US. First we got absolutely eye-exploding pink and blue VHS releases...of just the first arc. For years, you had to fansub the rest. The DVD ports of the first arc came later with much fanfare and were absolutely atrocious; anyone that watched the gallery creation thread saw just how bad the quality was. It was ages, AGES before we got official releases of the rest of the show, and while not terrible, the quality just wasn't up to snuff, and IMO the DVDs weren't that great. It felt disjointed and awkward to have the sets not match the first arc. Now an unusual twist was the local release of a few of the soundtracks, an awesome step...but it's all in the past. The companies went belly up and SKU again drifted in nothing.

Now we're not only going to have a definitive, complete port of the series, but we're getting it from a company that knows its market. SKU isn't a huge fanbase, it's a small, furiously devoted one, and it's about time we got a release that does our show justice.


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#77 | Back to Top07-08-2010 06:19:18 PM

satyreyes
no, definitely no cons
From: New Orleans, Louisiana
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 10328
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Gio, there is a very real chance that your name will be in the credits.  etc-love

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#78 | Back to Top07-08-2010 06:19:53 PM

winksniper
Qualified Duellist
From: Under the Cherry Moon
Registered: 09-11-2009
Posts: 764

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Giovanna wrote:

Now we're not only going to have a definitive, complete port of the series, but we're getting it from a company that knows its market. SKU isn't a huge fanbase, it's a small, furiously devoted one, and it's about time we got a release that does our show justice.

*applauds*

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#79 | Back to Top07-08-2010 06:33:56 PM

Lightice
Azure Paleontologist
From: Finland
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 1255

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Awesome Gio! emot-dance
Keep us updated, if you hear more. Sounds like they are taking the remaster seriously.

Now I can't wait to see how it turns out...


Hei! Aa-Shanta 'Nygh!

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#80 | Back to Top07-08-2010 06:49:37 PM

Mylene
Fighting Evil By Moonlight
From: Next to Paradox
Registered: 10-19-2006
Posts: 3704

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

IBB and I told you they were good. emot-keke etc-love It doesn't surprise me in the least that they already know all about this site.  Nozomi/Right Stuf is extremely dedicated to their fans.  Which is why they usually end up getting at least $100 of my money every single month. emot-redface

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#81 | Back to Top07-08-2010 07:04:20 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

satyreyes wrote:

Gio, there is a very real chance that your name will be in the credits.  etc-love

'Assistant to Ohtori Akio'

emot-dance


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#82 | Back to Top07-08-2010 07:09:23 PM

Mylene
Fighting Evil By Moonlight
From: Next to Paradox
Registered: 10-19-2006
Posts: 3704

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Shawne Kleckner tends to put little hints about the licensing process at the end of his posts at ANN (and Mania? I assume he posts there too.)  When a new license is announced, the little quip for that particular title drops off the list.  The quip for SKU?

"Frustratingly slow, but moving forward. Like a turtle with a brick on it's back. "

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#83 | Back to Top07-08-2010 07:09:47 PM

Imaginary Bad Bug
Revolutionary
From: Connecticut, USA
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 2171
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Bravo, Gio!

This may be one of the first R1 releases made with such extensive input from the fanbase of the show! emot-dance

And yep Mylene, Kleckner is very active on the Mania forums as well. Allison posts there, too. And Mania also has a huge rabid Utena fanbase.


I'll keep everyone posted on any developments I see on the Mania boards, and I'm sure Mylene is keeping her eyes peeled at ANN! cool

Last edited by Imaginary Bad Bug (07-08-2010 07:15:06 PM)


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#84 | Back to Top07-08-2010 07:56:28 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Awesome, between the three forums its sounds like they've got their customers well covered. emot-biggrin

She did imply that they'd had a hard time getting SKU--as I understand it, the checkered past with SKU in the states is in no small part because it's just been a pain in the ass to get licensed. I recall back in the day Ikuhara was kinda trying to get the movie a theatrical release beyond the super minor kind at the time, and there was some talk of him wanting to have it aired on TV, which was a total pipedream. Anyone that knows the treatment Escaflowne got on network TV knows how far SKU would have gotten on American television back then. Even now I wouldn't think SKU could ever work on TV in the US. We're more permissive of mature themes these days, but SKU just doesn't seem marketable standing alongside the stuff that gets put on TV, where the focus is way more on action anime and less on mindbending analysis.


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#85 | Back to Top07-08-2010 08:05:57 PM

allegoriest
Delicious Duellist
From: Cloudcuckooland
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 2507
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

And it doesn't go on for fucking ever. Which seems to be the popular thing now.


...Now if only more manga oneshots would get licensed... Then I'd like, actually read manga here.



I want translated CD booklets. That's all. Mine are apparently in another country now, and I didn't buy the re releases, and every scan of them sucks, plus, I'm too damned lazy to read them myself. Ikuhara and other people have all KINDS of interviews and notes in artbooks and CD books and crap, they could like, put those in whatever little booklet that comes with it. (Especially Seazer. Do not deny me of his WTF did he just say.)

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#86 | Back to Top07-08-2010 08:22:02 PM

Gainel
Rose Bride
Registered: 07-08-2010
Posts: 116

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Huzzah! I love SKU. etc-love
But does anyone else get annoyed when shows give all the characters American names or mispronounce their real ones? That ticks me off. emot-mad

But I'm happy! Yay!


Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, but wisdom is knowing not to put it on a fruit salad.

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#87 | Back to Top07-08-2010 09:50:13 PM

Alithea
Dark Whisperer
From: Westminster, CO
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 1152
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

I know it's a pipedream at this point but I'd like to add to the voices wishing for a redub. Lisa Ortiz is just about the only VA that seemed to undestand the character she was voicing. Akio didn't sound right. Ruka was...oh that part of the dub made me cry. But oh well, I guess I can just be happy that the dvds are being reissued at all. And I am. Yeah rerelease!


"The only reason to write is to write for love. Write for passion. If you have the privilege of being able to write, then don't do it for any other reason." - Stephen Sondheim

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#88 | Back to Top07-09-2010 01:01:47 PM

Ragnarok
Caption Captor
From: Canada
Registered: 10-20-2006
Posts: 4472
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

........


Ok. How do we as a forum and fandom go about getting burning poptarts included in this release? poptart


http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r9/RagnarokIII/spyschool.jpg

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#89 | Back to Top07-09-2010 03:55:05 PM

Mylene
Fighting Evil By Moonlight
From: Next to Paradox
Registered: 10-19-2006
Posts: 3704

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Ragnarok wrote:

........


Ok. How do we as a forum and fandom go about getting burning poptarts included in this release? poptart

A strawberry frosted Poptart procott?  Oh, wait....that's to get Sailor Moon back on t.v. My bad. school-devil

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#90 | Back to Top07-09-2010 05:45:26 PM

bella
Atlantean Singer
Registered: 11-04-2006
Posts: 581

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

So...I've been away from IRG for a bit (again) and just saw this thread now. It's a delayed reaction, but holy shit am I excited. And happy. And amazed. And I need to save monies for this.
etc-love etc-love etc-love


Happy Holidays Everyone! :3

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#91 | Back to Top07-09-2010 08:02:47 PM

LectitoErgoSum
Juri Jeerer
From: On a train of thought.
Registered: 01-15-2010
Posts: 42

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

!!!!

I am swooning with excitement. etc-love Must have. Best way to come back to the forums ever.

I'm a relatively new fan, as far as it goes, so I missed out on the bad old days that Gio was talking about. I figured I missed out altogether on official releases and the like. This is making me really happy. emot-dance

And it's the remastered!


Who the gods would destroy, they first:
(a) make great (b) give television (c) hand the celestial equivalent of a stick with a fizzing fuse and Acme Dynamite Company written on the side

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#92 | Back to Top07-10-2010 05:13:25 AM

Clarice
Well hello, Clarice...
From: New Zealand
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 3102
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

You know, I've never seen the dub? Because of where I live and the fact I was a broke student when the legit releases were available, I only saw fansubs. I...might have been the lucky one, from the sound of it. emot-rofl


It takes forty-seven New Zealanders eight months to make just one batch of 42 Below Vodka. ...luckily, that leaves one of us free to be Prime Minister.

Beyond The Silver Leaves

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#93 | Back to Top07-10-2010 01:36:34 PM

OnlyInThisLight
KING OF ALL DUCKS
Registered: 01-15-2008
Posts: 4412

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Hey, has there been any mention of possible prices yet? etc-love

Light's Wishlist for the release, in order from most to least likely as far as she knows which isn't all that far:

Textless opening and ending credits
Episode guides/summaries and character bios that are actually that.  The CPM ones were horribly inaccurate.  In booklet form would be love.
Gorgeous packaging (thin packs plz) with remastered art
More special features like interviews with the cast (especially the always brilliant Crispin Freeman) and Ikuhara
The Movie, The Musical and the Soundtracks
A rose signet ring or a rose patch (I forget what they are called specifically, but they can be sewn onto clothing) of choice or somesuch for pre-order peoples.  Even stickers.  I would go nuts for stickers.
An english version of the game for pc
newdubnewdubnewdubnewdub

Last edited by OnlyInThisLight (07-10-2010 01:40:23 PM)

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#94 | Back to Top07-10-2010 02:27:41 PM

Yasha
Bitch Queen
From: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Registered: 10-15-2006
Posts: 6031
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

No mention of prices that we know of. We have invited Alison to suggest creating an official forum account for Right Stuf/Nozomi-- would make it easier for them to gather feedback and fan suggestions/hopes. We'll see what comes of that. As for the rest, I'm glad you're all excited, and I feel sure that even if they don't have an account here, they'll be looking to see what you all want. OiTL, your list is fantastic-- anyone have any other wants?


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#95 | Back to Top07-10-2010 02:34:49 PM

Shance
Miki Molester
From: Ottawa, Canada
Registered: 10-29-2006
Posts: 32

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Know what would be awesome?  If some of the essays here somehow made it to this release, like as an extra, or as a little booklet that comes with the DVDs.  The hard, seemingly pointless, work of some fans paying off. :p

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#96 | Back to Top07-10-2010 02:39:20 PM

Mylene
Fighting Evil By Moonlight
From: Next to Paradox
Registered: 10-19-2006
Posts: 3704

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Yasha wrote:

As for the rest, I'm glad you're all excited, and I feel sure that even if they don't have an account here, they'll be looking to see what you all want. OiTL, your list is fantastic-- anyone have any other wants?

Unrelated to the release, but rather supplementary merchandise, I'd love to see them do some limited edition lithographs like the did with Aria.  As long as they don't have them be signed by dub VAs. :\ (Which the Aria one wasn't but other lithographs [not necessarily done by Nozomi] have been occasionally. Makes them kind of worthless for this sub-only girl.)

As for pricing, their releases tend to have an MSRP of about $50 per 13ish episodes.  However, that's the MSRP.  They don't even charge that much on their site (which I think would be the best place to purchase from to provide fullest support for the series--but then again I shop there all the time), so you wouldn't expect to actually pay that much.  Also, that price is an average for series who have an excellent chipboard artbox, and neat extras like booklets, etc.  Of course, the SKU pricing might be completely different, but that is definitely the strongest trend in their pricing approach.

Last edited by Mylene (07-10-2010 02:42:41 PM)

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#97 | Back to Top07-10-2010 02:46:18 PM

Yasha
Bitch Queen
From: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Registered: 10-15-2006
Posts: 6031
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Shance wrote:

Know what would be awesome?  If some of the essays here somehow made it to this release, like as an extra, or as a little booklet that comes with the DVDs.  The hard, seemingly pointless, work of some fans paying off. :p

Ha, I'll bet they could get the permissions if they wanted that! But I wouldn't get my hopes up about it. Related note, though, I had a giggle fit when I realized that wikipedia uses some of our essays as references. emot-keke

Mylene, you make a good point about supporting their work on the series-- if Alison emails us back, I'll ask her how best to make sure our money goes to them. I'd assume that would be through their site but if there's a better way (say phone order vs. internet, that sort of thing) I do want to know so that they're getting the most of our hard earned $$$.


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#98 | Back to Top07-10-2010 03:26:01 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

I haven't heard one way or another but my understanding of what they've done is obtain the capacity to release the remastered series. I don't know that it works like 'hey guys we want to release the entire box sets!' As far as I know everything in the boxes that has been brought stateside, that's the show, the movie, and several soundtracks, stopped being in print as the license holders went belly up. If that puts them on the free market again than Nozomi may have obtained them, but given the notorious difficulty SOMEONE ahem has given local publishers with SKU, it's almost a bit dreamy to imagine they got the series, movie, soundtracks, and even the musical. Obviously, if they did, and frankly just translated and repackaged the DVDs from Japan for local release, they would be charging far, far more than their usual prices (which are damn  reasonable for anime), and god knows we'd be paying them.

I'd love to see the CDs, the movie, and the musical on the discs, but if all they were able to obtain is the series itself, they're still in a golden position to do right by us with extras, decent packaging, and sub translations of the duels that aren't hard coded onto the screen wtfbbq. emot-mad

It would be a strange thing indeed for a musical to get translated officially for US viewers. Just as it was a lot to hope for for a translation of the novel. SKU fans are rabid and awesome but unfortunately we don't have the sheer numbers it usually takes for successful fan translations, so while I'm rooting for Nozomi on that one if they're going to spend translation chops I'd rather it be on the show...footnote subtitles (as an option) would be AMAZING FUCKING COOL AWESOME. Especially since there are a lot of places in SKU like the SPGs where understanding what they're saying requires a more intimate knowledge of Japanese culture. The initial Utena Encyclopedia scripts had footnotes for these but they disappeared as the translation went on. Something like that would make my girlparts go all atingle.


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#99 | Back to Top07-10-2010 04:22:59 PM

Imaginary Bad Bug
Revolutionary
From: Connecticut, USA
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 2171
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

Ordering directly from the Right Stuf store, no matter the medium - website, phone, or mail - is the best way to make sure that they get the most bang for their buck. Their (only) warehouse is centralized at RightStuf HQ in Iowa, and all orders are fulfilled from the same facility. If you want to thank Nozomi with your wallet, that will be the way to go.

As for liner notes, I can easily see them doing something like what they did with Marimite... copious on-disc liner notes in the Extras section.

For packaging, the series has been confirmed as going to be released in 3 box sets, likely split 13/13/13, so it would be one set for Student Council, one for Black Rose, and one for Akio/Apocalypse. Nozomi practices suggest that each set should be four discs, and they'll be thinpaks in a sturdy chipboard box, every side of which will be emblazoned with awesome art. The promotional copy will probably be on a removable sheet of paper stuck to one side of the box with a gummy dot, which will be easily removed.


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#100 | Back to Top07-10-2010 05:12:42 PM

Marin
ex-was_ohtori_akio
From: Australia
Registered: 11-15-2006
Posts: 31
Website

Re: UTENA Back in North America!!

At this point in time, any extra they include would be a great bonus.

Obviously new interviews with the cast members (Japanese and English) would be great if unlikely.
Any artwork in a booklet as an extra, with interviews from all the artbooks I own translated - so I actually know the makers' thought process as they were creating it would be awesome!
A side by side comparison between Utena and shows that have influenced it (Rose of Versailles, Princess Knight, Cancy Candy, Belladonna, Sailor Moon), and of shows it has influenced (Melody of Oblivion, D'Eon and whatever else) would be grand!
My biggest request though is for all the duel songs and the Nanami centric songs to have a sub track that has the original lyrics and the English translation in a karaoke sorta format, with highlights of the bits of the songs that are sung, since the show is so musical anyway.
Anything else, icing on the cake, ESPECIALLY the musical subtitled, or footage from the video game, such as that awesome video floating around Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT7vCyakaBs

Another extra I would like that popped into my head would be similar to what we got in the French Rose of Versailles release, a booklet with an episode synopsis and a history of the show, how it eventuated, the hell going through licensing it, how well it does in different territories and with a few reasons why that could be, the thought process behind creating the art, story, soundtrack etc... would make for an AWESOME AWESOME extra! emot-biggrin

Last edited by was_ohtori_akio (07-10-2010 05:22:40 PM)


Picutres of LIve Action Akio [or I like to think so ;) LoL]

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