Note: Moving conversation to a more appropriate thread.
The conversation within that link does seem quite interesting. Although it's not conclusive (Geneon USA is still the owner of mariasamadvd.com), it's still the closest thing to a licensing rumor that I've heard recently.

I said "great" since I believe any licensing is basically good news, at least until I actually see if any "butchering" has been done.

And don't worry, even if maria-sama is licensed the forums will still be open. There are lots of other subforums that are for licensed anime (Negima for example). Only posting about downloads will be restricted.

So far, broadcasters and distribution companies in other countries were lucky to acquire the titles, with mixed results, of course. Some cut them up in fear of offending the "moral values police" (i.e. the Roman Catholic Church), and others put in some questionable dubbing.

Prior to Animax Southeast Asia's version, we were the first country to have what was then official foreign-language (Tagalog) broadcast of Maria-sama, but never completed.

I've interviewed one of the voice actresses who played Yumi (and is now known as Nanami in the Tagalog version of Utena), and said that she was disappointed with the cancellation despite that they've finished dubbing the first season, and she guessed that the reason for the cancellation was partly due to pressure from the Catholic Church, pro-censorship and parents' groups, on the broadcast management.

Going back to topic, despite Geneon's pullout, I was hoping that a very competent company with a proven track record in handling anime faithfully like antique Ming vases should acquire Maria-sama... I'm betting on either Central Park or Rightstuf.

@Dahl_Moon
Ok, so this may be off topic, but I just a quick one:
If you go to licensed thread, you'd see only topics of anime, not "threads" like this whole thread is dedicated to MariMite topics, so we can make as much topics as we want.. But in licensed thread here, you don't see any 'threads' but only 'topics' of animes.


Going Back:
If you noticed, like Sailor Moon who later on focused on Yuri, the yuri pair there (forgot who since I hadn't watched it) the supposedly 'cousins' were really not cousins. They were originally childhood friends who found love to each other. Of course, it was cut, cause in most Christian countries, these things are not widely accepted, hence some episode aren't even featured.

Inuyasha is also one example.. They 'dumbed' down the anime because the American licensors wanted to fit it for mass audience.. So rewrite, re-script and changed a lot of things so it will be 'easier to digest'.

I'm thankful Utena wasn't touched like that.. *sweatdrop* If that anime was 'butchered' I wouldn't have liked it.

Just think, if MariMite (with no plot but just character-driven development) were to have cuts, no subtle feeling into it, and interactions were dumber down.. I wonder if it would still be appealing?

I love MariMite, simply because the relationships are just wonderful.. But if it were changed for simpler.. I cannot describe my depression. It's like.. Maybe almost nothing happens!

Well, it is just a rumor after all, a terrible rumor, but if the licensor has a past reputation of 'butchering' animes, there's like 80% chance of MariMite being rewritten.. D:

Yep, exactly


Actually, the link I sent you should have shown you this : licensed series which had their own child-board keep them, but moderation is stricter there concerning talking about where to find raws/subs, etc... I'll let you see the link again.


--------------------------

For those still sceptical, just go to the main "older series" section and start browsing a few popular names : you'll find a "this show is licensed" thread stuck up in many child-boards and theirs is still here and active :)
a few examples : AIR, death note, code geass, ETC. :)

Hmm, actually I haven't receive a PM from you for a long time..

I see.. I just went to the Licensed thread, I didn't even see the animes available here that are long licensed..

Anyway, since it's already there, it's still nice to keep it alive, and I've connected the forums leading here and into another forum anyway..



Anyway, going back to topic.. If we look at Animax, the largest anime show in the whole of Asia, MariMite there have so many cuts! D:
Example was Noriko looking at Shimako.. OMG, nothing even happens there.. She's just staring at Shimako and it was cut >_<

So what more for others? Sei and Shiori story has many cuts, also Yumi kissing Sei, etc. any thoughts that will lead to 'girl love' or something like that. Now, here's the thing, what if someone never watched the subbed of MariMite? Then they would've missed a lot of things..

Some forums/boards for a certain anime mail and try to make the licensor change their mind.. Though a few are only successful, most were ignored because money is the case with them for their "dumb" down target market..

Worse nightmare would be re-scripting the whole thing..

YES! YES!!! YES!!!!!

THANK YOU Nozomi Entertainment & RightStuf!

What's that I see? Format- English subtitles???
Oh thank you!

And we can expect it this summer? That's even better!:D I am preodering right now!

Seriously, best news ever. It makes it all the more special that all three seasons have been licensed, and they'll be released in boxset form!

All we do now is wait for the Novel license.

Yes. I am so hoping someone will license the novels now. THat would just make me sooo happy.

Not surprised that it looks to be just subtitles, happy about that anyway and always love a box set. Kinda hope it gets released in the UK in box set form eventually, but if not import it shall be.

Wow. It seems like I've been praying for this forever.

Preordered. If they're accepting preorders for seasons 2 and 3, I'm guessing they expect to release seasons 2 and 3 within a year? That's fantastic.

I gotta go write them an email thanking them, and then beg them to license the novels.

Just woke up this morning, read off every site I liked and checked mail, and then checked out the comm down at LJ... and, whoa, all three seasons got licensed! Good thing I managed to download all of them and preparing to archive to DVD.

It's been a very, very long time to wait for this to happen. I nearly thought of buying some bubbly and start celebrating. XD

Hope that Rightstuf does it right all the way. Will order soon. WOOT!

This is serious amounts of awesome...

...but why do US licensing companies always pick such terrible names for their English translation of titles?

I honestly don't have a problem with their chosen title for Marimite at all. I like the "watching over us" --to me it sounds so much better than just "is watching" Using Maria instead of Mary might be considered a little strange because Mary would be the English form of the virgin's name but there are other languages that use Maria too. ---but not English, which might make it sound a little weird, hmmm...

I guess I'm too happy to find any fault right now.:heh:

"Maria-sama ga Miteru" roughly equates "Maria [Virgin Mary] is watching" but its French subtitle of "La Vierge Marie vous regarde" translates into "The Virgin Mary watches you (plural)" or "The Virgin Mary is watching you (plural)".
I would say that Spanish and Italian are the more common languages that come to mind that refer to her as Maria as opposed to English Mary and French Marie, as well.

gah. This could either be good or bad news, since I haven't seen the second or third seasons yet.

Is nozomi/rightstuff good? Are they gonna cut off lots of scenes?

Dont wanna pre order and realise all the good stuff are missing =P

Nozomi/RS is quite good in dealing with niche titles. There is pretty much zero chance that they'd edit the video. It's also been announced that they'll be including the special shorts, as well. About the only thing missing will be a dub.

I never imagined Maria-sama would ever be licensed o.o

Well, it is definitely a good series :)

This license/rescue is certainly good news for all those R1 fans who want Marimite on DVD. While it appears that it'll be a sub-only release, I don't think that that's necessarily bad since it's hard to think of an English-language cast that can capture the same kind of chemistry that the original one managed. In any case, this along with the pick up of Emma and the earlier rescue of SuperGALS! definitely puts the RightStuf in the "Really Good Guys" column. I encourage any fellow R1 Marimite fans to give them our financial support (it's only about $100 for all three sets).

I think that "Maria Watches Over Us" is about as good a title as we can expect in English. It feels like The RightStuf is making an effort to leave "Virgin" out of the title to assauge religious sensibilities. Under this constraint, "Mary" by itself doesn't really connote the Virgin Mary, while "Maria", as the Latin form, does (e.g. as Ave Maria).

As for the rest, if it were "Maria is Watching Us/You", it'd feel like a show about a stalker by the name Maria! I think that "Maria Watches Over Us" feels much more comforting, and parses better with the original title.

Hopefully it'll do well enough in R1 for the RightStuf to license Season 4 as well.

But isn't it more offensive to believers to call the Virgin Mary just Maria? The translation totally switches the meaning of the title from some deity (or semi deity or whatever she is according to the different variations of Christianity) watching over some people, to some normal woman taking care of some people. Would anyone think it refers to the Virgin Mary just from reading the title? I don't think so.