obispo21

Hey All,

I've read a few things about this here and there but have had a hard time finding any concrete info and was hoping someone here might be in the know. Apparently in Japan a new re-mastered box set of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series is (or has been) released.

Does anyone know if this will be coming to Region-1 as well? Is it just the series, or are they re-doing the two movies also?

Thanks for all the help.

Jackskeleton

Not going to happen for the simple reason that

ADV holds the rights to the series

MANGA holds the rights to the movies..

the new box set with the re-masters has both the series and the films in it so because the distribution rights are held by two companies, it doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon.

keyed

It's doubtful that they'll release the remastered set in R1 because of licensing issues and market saturation.

The license for Evangelion in R1 is split between ADV having the original TV series and Manga having the movies. Furthermore, I believe that ADV only has the license to what originally aired on TV, that being the case why they didn't use the director's cut of episodes 21-24. If ADV wanted to release Renewal in R1, they'd probably have to relicense it.

Also, at this point, it's safe to say that the market is saturated for Eva in R1. It's been out for a while and the set can be bought for $102 online. If they released Renewal, the market would be rather small as the only people who would buy it are the hardcore fans and those who haven't bought the current set.

These are just my opinions though.

The best place to get the answers you're looking for would be the R2 forums on AnimeOnDVD.

Philip Reuben

ADV recently announced that that they have licensed the 4 director's cut episodes. It's unclear if they have access to the new masters for them, but their plan is to rerelease the last 2 DVDs with both the original and director's cut eps on them, so I'm guessing not (why aim to keep people's sets consistent if the video quality will be hugely inconsistent - and why bother rereleasing just these episodes and not the whole series on fewer DVDs or something?)

Jlbkwrm

ADV would almost certainly have to renegotiate with GAINAX to get the newer materials for the TV series.

How much it would cost is unknown, but if the Director's Cut episodes are any indication, the fee won't become reasonable until the next version is released/announced for release in Japan. I'd guess that if we ever get the Renewal-quality episodes, it'll be when the next format rolls around.

I don't see Manga trying to get new or better materials to rerelease the movies, either. Just doesn't fit with how their company seems to function.

obispo21

Hey thanks for the replys guys - helped alot. I didn't know that the re-mastered series was called Renewal nor did I know that there were director's cuts for the last few episodes.

(I assume the Director's Cut episodes help the episodes mesh better with End of Eva instead of the TV conclusion?)

Too bad about the ADV / Manga licensing issues - I was really looking forward to the re-masters. Apprently Manga is putting out an Eva box set in November. MSRP is set at $50 though so it may just be a repackaging of the movies. (There have been rumors that they will add some extras though.)

keyed - thanks for the suggestion about the AnimeOnDVD forum, been going to that site for a while but always neglected the forums.

PrometheusUFO

Take a look at what the US is missing:
http://www.animenewsservice.com/archives/evadvdbox.htm

And I'm betting the Director's Cut DVDs will be released in the US around the same time as the live action movie.

Jackskeleton

But lets see who's willing to pay the extreme over inflated price once it does become a major motion picture.. I'm sure both ADV and Manga wont be able to afford it.

Josh Z

They stated in a Q&A session not too long ago that this was exactly the case and that they have no interest in licensing those materials from Gainax or re-releasing the entire series in the near future due to current market saturation.

I wish I still had the link. Think I saw this in Anime News Network.

Not really, no. It's just bits and pieces of more footage sprinkled throughout the last four or six (think that's right) episodes. The last two are still wildly divergent from the movie, as they are meant to be.

Canis Firebrand

All I have to add is wow... that is a very cool looking boxset.