[EVA] Sean McCoy to write OtakuUSA Sept/Oct cover-story feature article on Evangelion

[V V]

Yeah Khara has been getting pretty strict about that; I can't even use still-shots from *Rebuild of Eva 1* without them getting taken down from youtube (now I've just got to use equivalent shots from the original series and describe how they are different)

Question:   do you feel, as I do, that we're living in a "anime news blackout"? Because almost all of the magazines are gone now.  Oh, we've got animenewsnetwork but that's just news blurbs.

In terms of "actual interviews" or "lengthy analysis feature pieces" it seems like a lot of people are in the dark (again, even RECENTLY, this Fall, I have to explain to people specifically that Rebuild of Eva is not 'a clip show' like Death and Rebirth.

At least OtakuUSA is doing everything they should be doing:  i.e. they're transitioning content to online-only so they could continue as a website some years from now, I can't really suggest anything different to do.

--- On Sat, 12/19/09, Carl Horn <once at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

From: Carl Horn <once at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: [EVA] Sean McCoy to write OtakuUSA Sept/Oct cover-story feature article on Evangelion
To: "The english-language evangelion mailing list." <evangelion at eva.onegeek.org>
Date: Saturday, December 19, 2009, 8:32 PM


On Dec 19, 2009, at 12:00 PM, ObsessiveMathsFreak wrote:

> 
> 
> Carl Horn wrote:
>> 
>> I just wanted to say that it often very difficult to get licensor approval for anything but the box art. In many cases, this isn't the fault of the American licensee (Funimation, in this case); foreign anime and manga licensees are often obliged as a condition of their contract to seek approval from Japan for any specific image requests. If you're on a deadline--and magazines and books usually are--you may run out of time before that approval finally comes, and have to fall back on the box art as "plan B."
>> 
> I though there would be things like press packs or the like, containing a suite of images for such generalised use? Do Japanese distributors not engage in this kind of thing, or is it a question of no-fee no-photo?
> --

Sometimes there is something as elaborate as a press pack, but often not, and again, anything in that press pack must be approved by the Japanese licensor--even if the American licensee would like to offer more images (or different images than the ones the licensor is offering), they can't simply do so on their own accord. You're beginning to see why Japan tolerates a massive doujinshi industry, yet gives uploaders of manga and anime jail sentences. They are very serious about permission and use when it comes to the *actual work they made,* whether it's the whole film, a clip, or one still. Fan art of it is seen to be a different thing. By American standards this is perhaps inconsistent, but it's their industry, built within their society. I'm sure Hollywood does things that don't make sense to the Japanese entertainment industry.

As a matter of fact, some anime companies (including ADV and U.S. Manga Corps), having difficulty in getting good box art from the licensor, on a few occasions simply commissioned original paintings for their covers using the anime characters. I've seen English-language anime magazines use that approach, too. Really, there are times when a company does try, and they've got good relations with the licensor, and they still can't shake the art out of them. Pretty much anyone who's worked in the industry can tell you stories like that. But it's just a challenge to be worked through--every industry has its particular conditions, after all.

--C.
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