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Here is the transcript of a brief email discussion I had with Jonathan Klein
on July 13, 2000. Mr. Klein is vice president of New Generation Pictures and
one of the producers of the new 3x3 Eyes dub/sub/DVD from Pioneer.
1. Why is the DVD not going to be available until December? I
originally heard that it would be released at the same as the
second VHS tape.
It's a marketing decision, since the DVD will have both OVA'S together
my guess is that Pioneer wants to see how many VHS versions they'll sell
first. Also there are some extras on the DVD (I can't say what they are at
this time) that Pioneer is trying to negotiate for. Since 3x3 is a
Kodansha title, Pioneer has negotiate with Kondansha for every extra they
want to put on the DVD and it's a long and slow process.
2. Can you give any details about the DVD? For example: how many
discs, single or dual layered, any special features on disc,
box set or unique packaging?
It'll be 2 discs with both OVA'S. As I said above, Pioneer is still
negotiating the extras. There will be cast bios on both Japanese and U.S.
actors.
3. The prices given at Anime Expo ($34.98 for VHS and $64.98 for
DVD) seem a bit high. Is there a reason? As you said, the series
is almost a decade old, and the Perfect Collection was available
for a long time for only $19.95.
I don't know why they set the price like that, but I don't think it's an
unreasonable price since you are getting almost twice as much video as the
average anime that sells for $24.95 S.R.P. (which is usually 60 minutes).
Yes 3x3 is an older title, but there are many people who haven't seen it
before. Not to mention that so many other older titles have been
re-released for standard anime prices (E.G. Vampire Hunter D, Goku, Wicked
City). And remember these are just suggested retail prices, most online and
retail stores that deal with anime will sell them for 20% to 30% less than
the S.R.P.
4. I haven't heard much about the subtitled version. Who did the
translation? Did you work from the sub script for the dub?
We did the translation from the original Japanese scripts for both the dub
and sub versions (we never looked at the Streamline or Orion versions- in
fact we deliberately avoided them). But we did have some help from Torren
Smith at Studio Proteus and Toshi Yoshida at Viz who worked or the original
manga translations.
5. Where did the idea for the volume titles (Immortals, The Demon
Seal) come from?
It was Pioneers idea. They obviously wanted to differentiate between the 2
OVA'S. Immortals, is not an unreasonable title for the first OVA (since it
never had a title except 3x3 Eyes). I'm still hoping they might change
back Volume 2 back to orignal title, Legend of the Divine Demon.
6. Do you have any promo or cover art that you can reveal? Pioneer
seems to take forever to update their web site with things like
that.
We're still working on the box cover design, once I have something to show
you I'll e-mail it to you.
I'm very happy that the upcoming dub (and finally an official sub) is
being done by someone who seems to really care about the series and
wants to do a quality job. I think a lot of people liked the Streamline
dub in a so-bad-its-funny kind of way, so I'm hoping the new dub will
change some opinions and bring more fans to the show. I'm definitely
looking forward to the upcoming releases.
Thank you. We hope that you and other 3x3 Eyes fans will like our dub as
well. We put a lot of effort into it. I won't mind if people say, they
liked the Japanese version better, (I mean nobody here in America can
compare to talent of Megumi Hayashibara as Pai) but I do hope they
appreciate that we tried to make the new English dub to be just as good. I
feel we tried to keep the flavor of the original Japanese show, while still
making it enjoyable for the U.S. audience (both old and new)
Regards,
Jonathan Klein
Vice President
New Generation Pictures
July 2000 News -
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