This past Friday marked the opening of the Canadian National Anime Expo 2000 (CNAnime), the second anime con held in Toronto this year, the other having been Anime North, while things came to a close the following Sunday. In between was a fairly interesting experience, certain aspects, like the Utena panel and the anime screenings, being highly entertaining and worthwhile, while other aspects, like corporate presence, were sorely lacking.

As a result of somewhat lacking corporate presence, new release info and title announcements were scarce at best. While CPM was there and ADV was scheduled to be, but had their booth material stopped by customs at the border (how many times has that happened to me trying to ship DVDs up here from the States? Too many to count... rotten border bastards!), Bandai had the only strong distributor presence and was the only one with a panel. This being the case, let's pick right up where we left off in our Otakon coverage and get down to the Bandai news.

BANDAI:

• Before the panel, while standing transfixed by the pair of Limited-Edition Escaflowne cold-cast resin statuettes displayed at Bandai's booth, one a highly detailed Escaflowne Guymelef, the other a beautifully posed Hitomi, Jerry Chu was talking about the initial delay of the first Escaflowne DVD. While I had assumed the delay had been the result of trying to track down a nice set of extras for the DVD release or to give the Fox broadcast time to come into its own, there was apparently a more pressing issue to be resolved first and foremost. The audio masters that they had for the series, presumably the same ones used in the subbed VHS release, had either degraded over time or the digitalization process had uncovered and amplified pre-existing glitches, as new audio masters were needed from Japan.
• These issues have apparently been resolved, the first Escaflowne DVD still on track for an October 3rd release, as indicated by a post from Richard Kekahuna on the American Anime Dubbing mailing list. Here's what he had to say about this first test disc after giving it an initial proofing:

  just watched the first DVD of esca, it has first 4 episodes, uncut sub/dub (original OP/EDs), and the 4 music videos (same ones that are on the Japanese LDs) with subtitles and romanji for those that have an urge to karaoke along. (Except the first one, which is a textless OP).

• The Bandai panel itself consisted of a brief news rundown from Jerry Chu, followed by an extended Q&A session, a flurry of question spurred on with the promise of Escaflowne T-shirts (X-Large: One size fits all... or two of me, but free is free, no?) and promotional DVDs. One such question led to what was referred to as an "unofficial answer," dealing with the possibility of future toy lines from Bandai. While no plans are completely solid as of yet, action figure lines for a number of series are almost certain, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne being among the shows mentioned. While these action figures would get a decidedly mainstream push, the Escaflowne statuettes that had me so mesmerized at the Bandai booth will only be getting limited exposure, being sold in specialty and comic shops, as well as through Anime Village.
• YTV, who plans to start airing Escaflowne shortly, unfortunately will be using the edited Fox version of the series. Despite this somewhat disheartening news, there's still hope that their airing of Gundam Wing will be as true to the original as possible. YTV previously aired a three episode sample run of Gundam Wing, full Japanese opening intact, and according to Jerry Chu, they've yet to ask about altering the opening sequence for their upcoming airing, meaning it'll be broadcast with the opening song unaltered, as they did with their test run... or there'll be no opening at all.
• While on the topic of Gundam Wing, it was announced that a deal with Upperdeck had been signed for a new card set for the series, scheduled for release in September. Special foil cards are also being made by Upperdeck for inclusion with the home video release of Gundam Wing, packed with the 3rd DVD, as well as the 4th and 5th VHS volumes. Along with the Gundam Wing action figure promotion, Bandai is really packing a lot of value into the release of this series.
• Previously announced plans for the rest of Gundam was also covered. Each and every Gundam series is on tap for release eventually, not being so much a question of if, but rather when, and will be the priority for them throughout the foreseeable future. The DVD release of the original TV series, with both the 0080 and 0083 series, possibly as individual box sets, likely to start while it's still being put out, is scheduled for the first half of next year. The subsequent Gundam series, spanning both the Universal Century and the Alternate Universe continuities, will follow these first releases in chronological order.
• Gundam Wing:Endless Waltz will air on the Cartoon Network October 20th at 5 PM. The DVD for this OVA is currently scheduled for February 2001, with the movie also being planned for inclusion in the set. Both the OVA and movie will feature uncut subbed and dubbed versions, while the VHS dub will be the Cartoon Network edit. Also in Gundam broadcast news, the Cartoon Network has shown interest in the original series, but nothing has come of it yet.
• Blue Submarine No. 6 will be broadcast on the Cartoon Network October 16th, with the release of the 4th and final volume, on both DVD and VHS, scheduled for October 3rd. When asked about the degree of editing, if any, this series would have to undergo for its Cartoon Network broadcast, Jerry Chu explained that, even if shown during the midnight run, certain things would simply need editing, like "naked fish girls and severed arms getting hit by submarines." An early "naked fish girl" scene in the first episode plays a rather important role to both character development and the plot of the show, so I hope any such edits will be done with story continuity in mind, perhaps masking the nudity or cutting around it, rather than omitting the scene in its entirety.
• Outlaw Star is currently being pushed for broadcast among a number of TV stations, yet no word yet on which, if any, have secured the television rights for the series. The first of several 2 disc sets, each containing 9 episodes, is scheduled for release on October 3rd, retailing for $44.98. Also on tap for the following year is Angel Links, a 13 episode Outlaw Star spin-off series set to span 4 volumes.
• The release of Cowboy Bebop is scheduled to wrap up by November, and won't likely be re-released as a box set compilation due to the strong sales of the individual DVD releases. In fact, DVD sales of Cowboy Bebop are outpacing those of their VHS counterparts by a large margin, while the opposite is true of Gundam Wing, demonstrating the acceptance of DVD within the core of anime fandom, while VHS is still the format of choice for mainstream audiences. Cowboy Bebop is also likely to continue having its appeal limited to those within anime fandom as it has created little to no interest for broadcast among any television networks. Bandai has, however, indicated an interest in acquiring the rights to the soundtracks for both Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne, two series showcasing the musical genius of Yoko Kanno.
• While Saber Marionette J-X was originally planned as one of the first DVD releases of SM, the schedule for it, on both DVD and VHS, has been pushed back to allow for the proper chronological release order of the series on DVD. Saber Marionette R has also been pushed back till after the release of all three series in the J continuity. The Saber Marionette J TV series, scheduled for an early 2001 release, is now set to be the first in the series to hit DVD and will feature 3 audio tracks, Japanese, English and Spanish, the dubbed Spanish version having been previously used for broadcast on a Florida station. Following this release will be the Saber Marionette J Again OVA, then the follow-up Saber Marionette J to X TV series, and finally the Saber Marionette R OVA.
• Bandai has made it known for a while that sub VHS is a thing of the past as far as they're concerned, no future titles being planned for release on the format, but the November 7th experimental release of Tenamonya Voyagers will mark yet another step away from the dying VHS format. The series will be released on DVD ONLY, compiling all 4 episodes on a single disc for $29.98. This may be the first release of its kind, but it certainly won't be the last, so those still clinging to VHS will either have to pass on this series entirely, a dub VHS not even being planned, or make the jump to DVD ASAP.
• Some of the more recently acquired series mentioned included Crest of the Stars, a 13 episode series set to span 4 volumes and scheduled to start next year, Betterman and Fancy LaLa.
• Wrapping up the loose ends, Don't Leave Me Alone Daisy will see a December 5th release as a sub only DVD set containing all 13 episodes for $39.98, while upcoming sub VHS releases of Brain Powered, another series brilliantly scored by Yoko Kanno, will feature an expanded episode count of 7 eps per tape for $29.98, volume 5 scheduled for release September 5th.

That more or less wraps up all the news coming out of CNAnime this year, but it's just the beginning of our reports. Next up will be a recap of the Utena panel, featuring both Kunihiko Ikuhara and Chiho Saito in a Q&A session that served as THE highlight of the con for this fanboy... err, neutral observer =P Finally, my impressions of both the Escaflowne and Utena movies, with a word or two on some of the other shows I saw at the con, will be posted to close out our coverage on CNAnime.