Another retro-blog of an old (but as yet unlicensed) series, Yami to boushi to Hon no Tabibito (The Travellers: Yami, Hat and Book - aired end 2003). Hazuki Azuma, voiced by the distinctive Mamiko Noto, has developed a serious (and unmistakeably) sexual attraction to her older sister, Hatsumi but the latter disappears on the wee morning of her 16th birthday. Hazuki goes world-hopping in search of Hatsumi, whom her companions - an Kansai-ben speaking bird Ken-chan and the formidably head-dressed Lilith - know as Eve.
Yuri. And sis-con. Hazuki goes to pieces after seeing Hatsumi bathing in the nude and then later flies in a jealous rage when she saw her consorting with a guy. The mute Hatsumi, who communicates by sign language, seems to be aware of her impending disappearance when she signed to Hazuki “goodbye” instead of “good night” after dinner. *Insert inevitable, with-hindsight ‘green sparkles bad’ Mai HiME joke.*
“Hi, this is Mayu. I’m unable to take your call right now so please a message after the tone.”
The first world or story involves an espionage caper onboard a train. There are spies, military counter-intelligence, a cross-dressering beauty and a time bomb. Ending cliffhanger as Youko’s breast bindings are revealed though without the cheekiness of Shizuru Viola vs. Akira.
It’s good to hear Noto in a more assertive role (which she does convincingly especially the pissed off, jealous rage and horny as hell modes) as she tends to get cast into the soft-spoken beauty roles e.g. Yakumo in School Rumble, Shimako in MariMite and Anna in Ichigo Mashimaro.
From what I have seen from your post, that series looks very interesting. I guess I will have to check this series out when I get a chance.
I don’t think the yuri content is why this show remains unlicensed. I think it’s the source material. A lot of shows adapted from H-games (or ero, ren-ai, dating sims or whatever the right term is), Kanon, Air, et al, remain unlicensed because of a perceived limited appeal by licensors. I guess since the games don’t have much exposure here, except among hardcore otaku, they don’t think they’ll be able to crack the mainstream market. Though I think, in some cases, the story stands alone pretty well, to those who haven’t played the game.
Scott, I have no idea if the tracker at Miyuki Fansubs for this torrent is still active though.
Chalcahuite, thanks again for sharing your insights. I agree with your point about eroge conversions or H-Game Turned Animes having limited appeal to the usual licensing companies. However that problem doesn’t apply to MariMite which I think could have appeal within as well as beyond the normal fanboy community. Or is it perhaps the distributors feel that only certain kinds of genres/titles will sell in the US market? More power to Erica and co!
Yeah, it’s good to see Noto Mamiko in a more “strong” role. Being a Noto Mamiko junkie, I didn’t miss out on this show.
The later parts can get quite confusing, but stick to the end, it’s an OK watch :).
I think Erica mentioned that Geneon didn’t think there was a market for Marimite, when she talked to them at Otakon. Which is why she urged people to write to Geneon telling them to license Marimite. But, I’m not sure how effective that’s been, as aside from her lackeys, myself included, we don’t know how many people from the list actually did that. Since, letter writing is SO analog. ;)
Kurogane, sometimes I wonder if the distinctiveness of Noto’s voice is a good and bad thing. Plus: Familiarity. Minus: Type-casting. For the first 2-3 eps of Ichigo Mashimaro, I just kept thinking to myself - that’s Shimako in disguise!
Chalcahuite, ah yes, I do remember the letter writing appeal on the ML - my excuse is that I don’t live in the US :P I wonder though what metrics Geneon and other licensors would use to determine possible US demand? Letters seem to indicate the hardcore fanbase. Anime blog entries? Discussion forum threads and posts? Official website hit data? (it’s frightening how many Mai Otome search hits I got within 2 weeks of the series airing) Info about series DVDs and merchandise being exported out of Japan? (Reminds me about my usual Sg anime shop being shocked by the huge demand for KannaMiko goods.)
Re: metrics. It’s hard to say. I don’t know anyone on the inside. I know that Fortune 500 article on ADV last month mentioned that they looked at the number of groups fansubbing a series as an indicator. But, Geneon might do things differently. I’m sure it’s probably a combination of fan interest, plus their own marketing and demographic research.
Which is why KnM is licensed, but Marimite is not.
I’m sure Geneon knows that there is buzz about Marimite, but ended up scratching their heads when they looked at it. Life at a Catholic Girls High school in Japan, but not a comedy, no save the world plot, no giant mecha, no fanservice, no overt romance, but plenty of lesbian subtext.
I think the market as a whole may have to grow a bit more before companies start taking chances on series without a clear cut, bankable audience, and since I’ve been hearing the US anime market is due for “a correction”, so it may be a while.
Though, who knows, with season 3 coming up, somebody might still pick it up. Here’s hoping.
+10 pts just for the sis-con. Another +20 pts for the breast-binding cliffhanger. Unfortunately, this series would have worked better if it had remained faithful to the game, instead of being very condensed series like Kao no Nai Tsuki.