(L) Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~

[Shiroth]

If Mahoraba is ever to be licensed, then i'm thinking sometime in 2007 that the news shall be given.. though i'm not to sure if its the type of show that shall be licensed.

Still its one of my fav's. ^^

[xris]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Shocked... yes, shocked I am that this little jewel seems to be drifting in limbo and not licensed yet. <sigh>

Along with Kamui4356, I also have confidence it will be licensed but how long it will take is another matter. The one aspect it has going for it in this regard is that it's a comedy as well. I think shows like Honey & Clover will have a more difficult time getting licensed than Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~

It certainly is on my instant "to buy" list once it gets released.

[Shiroth]

I just don't think its the type of show that would get licensed - its more along the lines of the show that'll just hide in Japan.. though Ichigo Mashimaro was lienced and to be on sale in June.. that i'm still shocked by.

[Kensuke]

Originally Posted by Angelsama

I just don't think its the type of show that would get licensed

I have to agree, I think that the odds Mahoraba getting licensed is pretty low, but on the other hand companies license series even years after their airing (KimiNozo and konoMini), so I'm still hoping.

What this thread need is more Kozue.

[rooboy]

I'm actually kind of shocked KGNE got licensed first. Mahoroba seems like much more of a R1 type of release. Cute, but not overly so. Romance is there, but it's primarily a comedy. Art is clean and stylistic. No bad language to remove, no nudity. It would seem to be a no brainer.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by rooboy666

I'm actually kind of shocked KGNE got licensed first. Mahoroba seems like much more of a R1 type of release. Cute, but not overly so. Romance is there, but it's primarily a comedy. Art is clean and stylistic. No bad language to remove, no nudity. It would seem to be a no brainer.

Well, unfortunately, that's just indicative of the overall R1 market these days, I guess. KgNE suits itself really well to the sort of blitz that Funimation has planned for it, because it generates a lot of "buzz". Marketing Mahoraba poses a bit more of a challenge though - it's 26-episodes long (which means 6-7 discs), character and "cute"-driven, and keeps a pretty steady pace the whole way through. Even though I'd be hurrying to get the singles as they come out (even though I already have the R2s...), I see today's market as the type of place where a lot of people would wait for the "cheaper boxset" - and that, obviously, doesn't make it easy to get your money back. There's just so much anime on the market these days (especially if you consider all the older series in boxset form) that there's not much room left for a nice show like Mahoraba. Really, I see Funimation's recent licensing choices as pretty typical for today's market: something by a famous studio, something with a popular manga, something that appeals to a trend/"fetish", and a loss-leader to generate buzz. Some of Geneon's choices have been a bit more risky, but in a lot of cases they were co-produced too. Anyway, all that to say that I do think Mahoraba will get licensed eventually, but it doesn't surprise me, given today's market, that it hasn't been rushed on. Too bad for us, though...

Edit: Oh yeah! Volume 11 of the manga comes out tomorrow.

[Sorrow-K]

The pessimist in me says that Mahoraba probably won't be licensed since it's such a mixing pot of genres and I'd imagine would be fairly difficult to market.

Here's to hoping I'm wrong... I'd buy it in a heartbeat if it ever did get released here.

[rooboy]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

Well, unfortunately, that's just indicative of the overall R1 market these days, I guess. KgNE suits itself really well to the sort of blitz that Funimation has planned for it, because it generates a lot of "buzz". Marketing Mahoraba poses a bit more of a challenge though - it's 26-episodes long (which means 6-7 discs), character and "cute"-driven, and keeps a pretty steady pace the whole way through. Even though I'd be hurrying to get the singles as they come out (even though I already have the R2s...), I see today's market as the type of place where a lot of people would wait for the "cheaper boxset" - and that, obviously, doesn't make it easy to get your money back. There's just so much anime on the market these days (especially if you consider all the older series in boxset form) that there's not much room left for a nice show like Mahoraba. Really, I see Funimation's recent licensing choices as pretty typical for today's market: something by a famous studio, something with a popular manga, something that appeals to a trend/"fetish", and a loss-leader to generate buzz. Some of Geneon's choices have been a bit more risky, but in a lot of cases they were co-produced too. Anyway, all that to say that I do think Mahoraba will get licensed eventually, but it doesn't surprise me, given today's market, that it hasn't been rushed on. Too bad for us, though...
Edit: Oh yeah! Volume 11 of the manga comes out tomorrow.

I agree with 90% of this, except the part about KGNE. KGNE is not a show that fits well into the R1 market at all. Though I guess it could be about generating "buzz", I find it hard to believe that they're planning on dropping a show as a loss leader that's in a genre that has never sold well in the US. Ero-game conversions are just not that big of a seller in the US market. If they were going to release one (even though I personally don't enjoy it) AIR would seem to be a much better choice. It's from a better animation studio and was much better received. Obviously though, Mahoroba is hurt by the weaker R1 licensing market. *sigh* Which is depressing, because it's a show my wife would really like.

Which is my long way of saying, I expect Mahoroba will eventually be licensed (and probably the manga too). I would imagine the manga will release a couple of volumes first, and then the anime will come a little later.

EDIT: Though, in a roundabout way, I guess KGNE does fit in with Funimation's marketing "strategy". Only the strategy seems (to me at least) to be, pick out a show that has a rather rabid fanbase or is from one of the larger studios and see if you can sell it. Though I guess I shouldn't complain, since it's getting me R1 Tsukuyomi and Negima.

[Potatochobit]

KGNE is by mediablasters right? they eventually release most of their shows here anyway. only surprise to me was that it was licensed before school rumble!

[rooboy]

Originally Posted by Potatochobit

KGNE is by mediablasters right? they eventually release most of their shows here anyway. only surprise to me was that it was licensed before school rumble!

Well, that's a crime against nature. I choose to forget School Rumble in discussions like this because it just makes me spitting mad to remember it's still not licensed.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Potatochobit

KGNE is by mediablasters right? they eventually release most of their shows here anyway. only surprise to me was that it was licensed before school rumble!

Well, no, you're mixing a few things up here. KgNE is by Media Factory, a Japanese company with no relation to MediaBlasters, the American licensing company you were thinking of. KgNE was licensed for R1 distribution by Funimation.

Originally Posted by rooboy666

Though, in a roundabout way, I guess KGNE does fit in with Funimation's marketing "strategy". Only the strategy seems (to me at least) to be, pick out a show that has a rather rabid fanbase or is from one of the larger studios and see if you can sell it. Though I guess I shouldn't complain, since it's getting me R1 Tsukuyomi and Negima.

You got where I was coming from with the "buzz" comment. They're trying to tap into the buzz the rabid fanbase and shock of the first disc will generate, and then release the next two volumes quickly while the iron's hot. It's only 14-episodes (and I'm sure much much cheaper to license than Air, which is probably one of the most expensive non-action-shounen properties on the market today), so while I don't know if they'll get their money back, it may (or may not) pay off in hype. We'll see...

As for Mahoraba, again, I still think I agree... though the sheer volume of new shows coming out nowadays makes me wonder... I'm definitely keeping my hopes up, though.

[dojikyo]

Mahoraba doesn't really have a lot to sell itself other than being good. KGnE and Kannazuki no Miko both have shock value. Funimation probably wanted to look like it does something other than shonen action and Fruits Basket (which I loved but I never understood why it was licensed by Funimation instead of Viz or maybe Geneon). Kannazuki has lesbians and bad mecha action so it probably would have been licensed by ADV if Geneon didn't already pick it up. Karin will probably be picked before Mahoraba despite being slightly worse because it has more fanservice.

[rooboy]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

You got where I was coming from with the "buzz" comment. They're trying to tap into the buzz the rabid fanbase and shock of the first disc will generate, and then release the next two volumes quickly while the iron's hot. It's only 14-episodes (and I'm sure much much cheaper to license than Air, which is probably one of the most expensive non-action-shounen properties on the market today), so while I don't know if they'll get their money back, it may (or may not) pay off in hype. We'll see...

LOL! I realized I left something very important out of my post. It should have read .... "Only the strategy seems (to me at least) to be, use a dartboard to pick out a show that has a rather rabid fanbase ."

Though if it is significantly cheaper than Air, I guess that makes a lot of sense.

[Vexx]

Well.... I've written ADV and asked they consider it given that they carry Azumanga Daioh (and they're based in my birthplace). Since Azumanga is pretty much family friendly and its done well for them, with proper marketing they could do well with this.

[Sorrow-K]

ADV have admitted that they wouldn't have picked up AzuDa, except for the fact that it was phenomenally popular on the fansub round. Mahoraba may be in a similar vein (if only because both are slice-of-life), but it never had AzuDa's popularity.

As much as I seriously want it to get licensed, I just can't see it happening.

[Vexx]

Well... I can't get ADV to respond either about Mahoraba *or* whether they intend to release the fourth volume of Yotsuba& .... so I don't know what their status is. They must not be totally dead --- I just got a monthly email newsletter. But they certainly aren't scoring points with me in customer response.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Sorrow-K

ADV have admitted that they wouldn't have picked up AzuDa, except for the fact that it was phenomenally popular on the fansub round. Mahoraba may be in a similar vein (if only because both are slice-of-life), but it never had AzuDa's popularity.

As much as I seriously want it to get licensed, I just can't see it happening.

I don't think the series was unpopular. The thread had 35+ pages before the forum wipe, not to mention the batch from fb has had over 9000 downloads + however many people downloaded the episodes individually. It might not have been the most popular series ever, but it seemed to have a solid fanbase. In fact, given the number of posts about it since this thread was revived, I'd say it still does. It might not be this year, but I'm fully confident Mahoraba will be picked up. In my opinion, it's much more marketable in the US than Azumanga. The only issue I can think of is people may consider the character designs to childish.

[NoSanninWa]

Maybe they're worried that it is too lighthearted in dealing with serious mental illness? I'll admit I find it a trifle disturbing when psychosis is used for humor, so it might have completely freaked them out.

On the other hand, American media has often used Multiple Personality Disorder for comedic effect, so that probably isn't too much of a hurdle.

[xxanimefan4_ever]

what do you guys think of the love hina and mahoraba comparison... do you think they are similar. I'm on episode 8 right now and it seems alright but I hated love hina from the first 5 eps

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by xxanimefan4_ever

what do you guys think of the love hina and mahoraba comparison... do you think they are similar. I'm on episode 8 right now and it seems alright but I hated love hina from the first 5 eps

Hmm... I'd say they're not very similar at all; I don't even see how you'd compare them, really. The humour and tone is just completely different. While it's a bit zany in places, Mahoraba's a much calmer, more heart-warming story about love and life. I'd at least say, whatever reasons you had for hating Love Hina, you'd probably have entirely different reasons if you didn't end up liking this show (somehow).