A failed licensed "anime?"

Azuki<3
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A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 8, 2024 21:23:33 GMT awesomereesee, extremewreck2000, and 1 more like this

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Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 8, 2024 21:23:33 GMT

I remember this obscure kids "anime" called Zenryoku Rabbits airing abroad in Asia. To my surprise, there was a 2008 English language trailer via TMS. But the actual show itself seems to have never left East Asia. Pretty interesting. I think I mentioned in another thread that in 2024 I would love to find the original English dubbed version of Sgt Frog (which apparently Nickelodeon liked) and Mermaid Melody (which never got formally licensed outside of the manga here in the states).

Anyone here know any similar stories of shows/movies that were clearly meant to get an English localization and dub (or a first English dub) and never did?
Note: I put anime in quotes because I wasn't sure Rabbits would qualify or not.

www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8930

Last Edit: Feb 8, 2024 21:24:12 GMT by Azuki<3

clockedbox
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A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 8, 2024 22:49:44 GMT via mobile awesomereesee, extremewreck2000, and 1 more like this

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Post by clockedbox on Feb 8, 2024 22:49:44 GMT

not quite never got an English release, but Tokyo mew mews english translation (mew mew power) was cancelled halfway through BC they didn't like how it was westernised or how countries preferred to localise the English version instead of the original.
this did also cause most of Mia Ikumis works to have their English translations cancelled.

rowler Lost Media Enthusiast Posts: 769	A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 8, 2024 22:55:26 GMT doraemon2000, awesomereesee, and 1 more like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by rowler on Feb 8, 2024 22:55:26 GMT Some anime may be dubbed into English for Hong Kong. That is why there may be English dubs for some anime despite them never making it to Europe or North America.

Azuki<3
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A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 8, 2024 23:28:28 GMT doraemon2000, awesomereesee, and 2 more like this

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Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 8, 2024 23:28:28 GMT

Feb 8, 2024 22:55:26 GMT rowler said:

Some anime may be dubbed into English for Hong Kong. That is why there may be English dubs for some anime despite them never making it to Europe or North America.

Indeed, I know Animax especially has a number of (lost) English dubs?
I would imagine the market for English would also be decent in the Philippines, Singapore, and (to an extent) Malyasia

Azuki<3
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A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 8, 2024 23:39:30 GMT awesomereesee, extremewreck2000, and 1 more like this

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Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 8, 2024 23:39:30 GMT

Feb 8, 2024 22:49:44 GMT clockedbox said:

not quite never got an English release, but Tokyo mew mews english translation (mew mew power) was cancelled halfway through BC they didn't like how it was westernised or how countries preferred to localise the English version instead of the original.
this did also cause most of Mia Ikumis works to have their English translations cancelled.

Wow, so even the original company was unhappy with the dub? And that makes sense, because that would mean a unsatisfactory English dub would then be "recycled" into even worse dubs all over the world. I heard that's actually what happened with Mermaid Melody, that the English dub never released but nonetheless was the "base" for dubs all over the world. Wild! I imagine that the merch sales in the USA weren't too hot for TMM either, similar to the problem with DoReMi trying to make it here too.

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A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 9, 2024 2:33:05 GMT via mobile awesomereesee, extremewreck2000, and 1 more like this

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Post by clockedbox on Feb 9, 2024 2:33:05 GMT

Feb 8, 2024 23:39:30 GMT Azuki<3 said:

Feb 8, 2024 22:49:44 GMT clockedbox said:

not quite never got an English release, but Tokyo mew mews english translation (mew mew power) was cancelled halfway through BC they didn't like how it was westernised or how countries preferred to localise the English version instead of the original.
this did also cause most of Mia Ikumis works to have their English translations cancelled.

Wow, so even the original company was unhappy with the dub? And that makes sense, because that would mean a unsatisfactory English dub would then be "recycled" into even worse dubs all over the world. I heard that's actually what happened with Mermaid Melody, that the English dub never released but nonetheless was the "base" for dubs all over the world. Wild! I imagine that the merch sales in the USA weren't too hot for TMM either, similar to the problem with DoReMi trying to make it here too.

yeah it's really hard to find tmm stuff outside of Japan. they don't even print the English manga anymore. mew mew power was REALLY successful. everyone loved it (except Japan). surprisingly places that used the dub as their base had a thriving tmm community and got all the Mia Ikumi books that english readers missed out on.

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A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 9, 2024 2:35:32 GMT via mobile awesomereesee, extremewreck2000, and 1 more like this

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Post by clockedbox on Feb 9, 2024 2:35:32 GMT

the person who runs the Mia Ikumi fantranslation project is translating the French versions instead of the Japanese BC they're easier to access and there's enough French-english speaking fans to translate

Azuki<3
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A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 9, 2024 12:51:11 GMT awesomereesee, extremewreck2000, and 1 more like this

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Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 9, 2024 12:51:11 GMT

Feb 9, 2024 2:33:05 GMT clockedbox said:

Feb 8, 2024 23:39:30 GMT Azuki<3 said:

Wow, so even the original company was unhappy with the dub? And that makes sense, because that would mean a unsatisfactory English dub would then be "recycled" into even worse dubs all over the world. I heard that's actually what happened with Mermaid Melody, that the English dub never released but nonetheless was the "base" for dubs all over the world. Wild! I imagine that the merch sales in the USA weren't too hot for TMM either, similar to the problem with DoReMi trying to make it here too.

yeah it's really hard to find tmm stuff outside of Japan. they don't even print the English manga anymore. mew mew power was REALLY successful. everyone loved it (except Japan). surprisingly places that used the dub as their base had a thriving tmm community and got all the Mia Ikumi books that english readers missed out on.

Ah, did Dark Horse comics elect not to keep the rights? They had published all of the volumes that TokyoPop had. Pity.

I'm surprised if it was elected to be cancelled if it WAS a success ratings wise, but maybe the merch didn't sell? And it's not like MMP had games to fall back upon a la Pokemon if the main anime series "wasn't doing the best." Then again, I don't even remember MMP merch for sell anyway...like you said, we didn't get a lot of the stuff other countries did so who knows.

Last Edit: Feb 9, 2024 12:53:30 GMT by Azuki<3

clockedbox
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A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 9, 2024 13:10:04 GMT via mobile awesomereesee and extremewreck2000 like this

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Post by clockedbox on Feb 9, 2024 13:10:04 GMT

Feb 9, 2024 12:51:11 GMT Azuki<3 said:

Feb 9, 2024 2:33:05 GMT clockedbox said:

yeah it's really hard to find tmm stuff outside of Japan. they don't even print the English manga anymore. mew mew power was REALLY successful. everyone loved it (except Japan). surprisingly places that used the dub as their base had a thriving tmm community and got all the Mia Ikumi books that english readers missed out on.

Ah, did Dark Horse comics elect not to keep the rights? They had published all of the volumes that TokyoPop had. Pity.

I'm surprised if it was elected to be cancelled if it WAS a success ratings wise, but maybe the merch didn't sell? And it's not like MMP had games to fall back upon a la Pokemon if the main anime series "wasn't doing the best." Then again, I don't even remember MMP merch for sell anyway...like you said, we didn't get a lot of the stuff other countries did so who knows.

I forgot about the omnibus edition,,
they're so rarely stocked I never see them around.

Azuki<3
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A failed licensed "anime?" Feb 12, 2024 20:08:07 GMT awesomereesee, extremewreck2000, and 1 more like this

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Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 12, 2024 20:08:07 GMT

Yeah, I've seen the TMM manga occasionally stocked at major bookstores, but not in super plentiful supply. You can find the original TokyoPop print decently easily at secondhand stores.
But actual English language merch like dolls, clothes, tech goodies, plushes, jewelry/makeup, the works? Snort. I don't even remember seeing it on shelves WHEN the show was airing here in the USA!!!

extremewreck2000
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A failed licensed "anime?" Mar 26, 2024 7:41:13 GMT doraemon2000 and Azuki<3 like this

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Post by extremewreck2000 on Mar 26, 2024 7:41:13 GMT

There are several times where trailers were made for anime that were presumably meant to get ahold of US/Canada licensers but were never sold. TMS has several of these, such as Aishiteruze Baby(called Babe, My Love in the trailer), Emily of New Moon, Spellbound! Magical Princess Lil'Pri, Mameushi-kun(called Mini Moo Moo in the trailer), among possible others. There are probably more of these trailers out there, not just for anime, but for some European cartoons as well, such as Os Vixilantes de Camiño, which is a Galician-language animated series from Spain that was given the English title of Watchers of the Milky Way on the site for Milimetros, which was the show's main producer.

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Azuki<3
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About the broken <div> formatting, I sadly have no idea. I will work on it though!

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A failed licensed "anime?" Mar 27, 2024 23:25:36 GMT extremewreck2000 likes this

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Post by Azuki<3 on Mar 27, 2024 23:25:36 GMT

Mar 26, 2024 7:41:13 GMT extremewreck2000 said:

There are several times where trailers were made for anime that were presumably meant to get ahold of US/Canada licensers but were never sold. TMS has several of these, such as Aishiteruze Baby(called Babe, My Love in the trailer), Emily of New Moon, Spellbound! Magical Princess Lil'Pri, Mameushi-kun(called Mini Moo Moo in the trailer), among possible others. There are probably more of these trailers out there, not just for anime, but for some European cartoons as well, such as Os Vixilantes de Camiño, which is a Galician-language animated series from Spain that was given the English title of Watchers of the Milky Way on the site for Milimetros, which was the show's main producer.

I knew a girl who claimed to have worked in anime dub voice acting at one of my old workplaces. Even more interestingly, she said she had dubbed for one of the "sisters" from the Emily of New Moon anime. She had lived in Japan before via her dad's job, and I assume she had made contacts that way. Does make me wonder? This would have been 2007 right before the financial recession (our worst since the Great Depression), and furthermore, makes me wonder if any attempts to dub multiple "obscure" (for the USA) anime went kaput in the recession.
EDIT: Should also note I am a major Emily of New Moon book fan, which is why I talked to her specifically about that anime.

Last Edit: Mar 27, 2024 23:26:48 GMT by Azuki<3

darkrage6 Lost Media Veteran Banned Posts: 4,447	A failed licensed "anime?" Mar 30, 2024 7:12:40 GMT extremewreck2000 likes this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by darkrage6 on Mar 30, 2024 7:12:40 GMT The Powerpuff Girls anime comes to mind.

crumbelivable Lost Media Veteran LMW's skeptic-in-residence Posts: 3,018	A failed licensed "anime?" Mar 31, 2024 22:40:06 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by crumbelivable on Mar 31, 2024 22:40:06 GMT Mar 30, 2024 7:12:40 GMT darkrage6 said: The Powerpuff Girls anime comes to mind. Wasn't that still a moderate success for Toei?
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extremewreck2000
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A failed licensed "anime?" Mar 31, 2024 23:45:46 GMT

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Post by extremewreck2000 on Mar 31, 2024 23:45:46 GMT

Mar 31, 2024 22:40:06 GMT crumbelivable said:

Mar 30, 2024 7:12:40 GMT darkrage6 said:

The Powerpuff Girls anime comes to mind.

Wasn't that still a moderate success for Toei?

In Japan, yes, but it failed to reach the States. Reportedly some of the original 1998 voicecast would've reprised their roles in an American English dub of the anime that was different from the Ocean Productions English dub, but that never ended up airing. I can't seem to find much on this, but there probably exists some pages out there about this.

Dreams are boundless, imaginations are infinite, space is a multi-directional spiral & Akazukin ChaCha is my favorite anime

Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 8, 2024 21:23:33 GMT

Post by clockedbox on Feb 8, 2024 22:49:44 GMT

Post by rowler on Feb 8, 2024 22:55:26 GMT

Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 8, 2024 23:28:28 GMT

Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 8, 2024 23:39:30 GMT

Post by clockedbox on Feb 9, 2024 2:33:05 GMT

Post by clockedbox on Feb 9, 2024 2:35:32 GMT

Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 9, 2024 12:51:11 GMT

Post by clockedbox on Feb 9, 2024 13:10:04 GMT

Post by Azuki<3 on Feb 12, 2024 20:08:07 GMT

Post by extremewreck2000 on Mar 26, 2024 7:41:13 GMT

Post by Azuki<3 on Mar 27, 2024 23:25:36 GMT

Post by darkrage6 on Mar 30, 2024 7:12:40 GMT

Post by crumbelivable on Mar 31, 2024 22:40:06 GMT

Post by extremewreck2000 on Mar 31, 2024 23:45:46 GMT

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