Astro Boy, Kimba, and Gigantor License Question

[a7m4]

I was wondering if anyone knows if Right Stuf owns the license to the Japanese language versions of these shows, or just the the English dub that aired in the 60s. I have contacted Right Stuf about this a few times before but they never seen to get back to me.

[noodles87]

Right stuff has the license in America to sell those anime, but they do not actually own them. As you know licenses eventually expire or is renewed.

[Guest]

I understand that they are licensed to sell these anime, but are the licensed to sell the Japanese language version as well? Since those titles are edited and the dialogue is changed from the original it might be a different case. For example, I have heard that voyager only has the license to the dubbed Star Blazers, but not to the original Japanese Space Battleship Yamato. I was just wondering if that was the case with these shows as well.

[Kyle Bloodheart]

It is all on a case to case basis. If what you are ordering comes with the Japanese language as well the English dub, then they are licensed to sell it.

It would be easier for you to ask the Right Stuf yourself. More often then not, now a days, when a company sells the English dub, the original Japanese is also on the DVD.

[Duuz]

It's possible, often when a series is licensed some parts of it require a sperate licence. I know this because it happened with Zeta Gundam. They got the license to release a subbed and dubbed DVD of the series but were unable to get the license for the original openning and closing music.

[WhoWantsToKnow]

I understand our guest is having difficulty getting in touch with RightStuf, and this is why he/she is here now.

Because of issues with older licenses for American television (and the treatment of said anime at the time), practically any anime before 1995 (and a handful beyond that) has a very complicated license that requires limited or specialized releases when they come to DVD.