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NEWS: New Anime Licensee Announced with Unico as 1st Title

One bites the dust (Geneon) and another rises up, heh, that's business for ya. Let's hope these guys can pull this off, would be nice to have a completely new name out there.

I'm curious about this company.... there's not much info on their website. Still, given they've just launched it, and ANN's reporting on it, I'm not too worried about their authenticity.

The promise of classic shojo titles definitely does have me optimistic- hopefully, they'll find a way to bring over some really special titles in a quality, and keep themselves in buisness [given today's market, launching a new anime company can be difficult, though if they find a way, it means a more diverse market for everyone]

YES!!! UNICO!!!! now I can finally throw away my old tapes ;_;

8O My best friend is going to SPAZZ when she reads this. Hell, even I'm amazed that Unico got re-licensed. I never saw it as a kid, so I'd like to see it now. :)

Keonyn: I think what's ironic is that the bigger companies are failing precisely because they're over-investing in newer shows, while the newer companies like Discotek, ImaginAsian, and New Galaxy are able to bring older shows, because they're cheaper and stand out more than the new stuff. If only Animeigo put in as much effort at distributing, they might still sell anime...

Dr. Tezuka did not direct Unico. The first two films (pilot and feature) were directed by the great Toshio Hirata, and the second was by Mami Murano.

I'm cautiously optimistic. Getting something as basic as the director's credit wrong is a bit weird, though perhaps this is because Tezuka Productions gave the company incorrect information (not exactly unheard of). Also, Tezuka tends to be given credit for stuff he didn't direct, like Phoenix 2772 (Taku Sugiyama) and Marine Express (Ozamu Dezaki). Still, this is a film worth getting-- it was one of Sanrio's better forays into animation, and certainly the first great production from MADHOUSE.

A student last year made a request for it. So now that's another one to add to the collection. We're not getting just one but TWO -- Unico titles.

Mike Toole wrote:

Dr. Tezuka did not direct Unico. The first two films (pilot and feature) were directed by the great Toshio Hirata, and the second was by Mami Murano.

Actually, they all directed the Unico films. Tezuka is credited with kanshū (supervising director) for the first film, while Toshio Hirata is credited with enshutsu (technical director) below him. Technically, neither role is the kantoku, or the director in the auteur sense of Makoto Shinkai or Hayao Miyazaki.

Quote:

I'm cautiously optimistic. Getting something as basic as the director's credit wrong is a bit weird, though perhaps this is because Tezuka Productions gave the company incorrect information (not exactly unheard of). Also, Tezuka tends to be given credit for stuff he didn't direct, like Phoenix 2772 (Taku Sugiyama) and Marine Express (Ozamu Dezaki). Still, this is a film worth getting-- it was one of Sanrio's better forays into animation, and certainly the first great production from MADHOUSE.

Tezuka is also credited as a different kind of executive director (sō-kantoku) on Phoenix 2772 over Sugiyama. Osamu Tezuka and Osamu Dezaki are credited with the same role, enshutsu (technical director), for Marine Express, while Tezuka also has genan (original concept) and kōsei (story direction), and Dezaki adds chief director.

So in Tezuka Production's eyes, all of these staffers directed these films in different capacities.

"Enshutsu" = "animation director" (in these cases). For more on the Japanese terminology, see

• Appendix:Japanese film credit terms at Wiktionary
• "Various Positions in the Anime Industry" by Jan Scott Fazier
• Introduction of anime production at AIC's English site (unfortunately incomplete)
• The Making of Animation at Sunrise's English site

(This is a topic which has been discussed on occasion by the ANN Encyclopedists.)