Isn't it weird that Leo STILL hasn't been localized yet?

[Dr. Jerk]

Isn't it a bit odd that it's been nearly a decade since the first 'wave of Tezuka releases in English', and that the Jungle Emperor Leo still hasn't been localized yet?

When we think of Tezuka, the two most common things to appear in one's mind would most definitely be Astro Boy and Kimba. And if Kimba doesn't pop up, then Astro most certainly would. Either way, both have had a lot in common way back when they were introduced in English.

Astro Boy is considered to be one of the first anime to be introduced to America, or "Japanese cartoons" as people would call it back then since the term "anime" was pretty much unheard of back then. Or maybe just "cartoons" before people realized they were produced in Japan. And Astro Boy introduced it well, well enough to warrant consideration to dub the 80's, 2003 series and the manga, and retained its (now small) fame here long enough to warrant the movie. When you think about it, it's been 50 or so years since the 60's anime series, and it's still (kinda) going strong (but not as strong as before). That is a powerful legacy, and it certainly has made its impact since.

Along with Astro Boy, many other early Tezuka anime had been introduced. We can't possibly forget about Amazing Three, Princess Knight (Known as 'Choppy & The Princess' in America, 'Princess Knight' was the Australian title), and of course, Kimba The White Lion.

Like Astro Boy, there were two early series, one in the 60's and another in the 80's, which like Astro Boy, were also both dubbed into English. Kimba was another one of the early Tezuka anime, and one that some may consider to have been more successful than Amazing Three (I don't even think A3 was broadcasted, but I could be wrong) and Princess Knight, somewhat in the same vein as Astro Boy. And while not all of the early Leo works were dubbed, we also cannot forget about the movie whose title was properly kept as "Jungle Emperor Leo". Leo, like Astro, is another one of Tezuka's works that had a lot of early exposure when dubbed.

And like Astro, Leo has developed a bit of his own legacy here in America. Heck, it's pretty much undeniable at this point that Disney were most certainly 'inspired' by it to create The Lion King. (Don't argue with me on this, but I will say that there was a staff photo shoot, and that one of the members wore a Kimba costume to it.)

And then luckily for us, Fred Schott, being the great man he is, helped with the translation of the Astro Boy manga, which was then published by Dark Horse during the early years of 2000. Those years is what I mean by the 'first wave of Tezuka in English', which lasted for a bit before quieting down and seemingly never picking back up until fairly recently by Vertical.

The early wave of English Tezuka had brought us Astro, Black Jack (Viz dubbed it back in the late 1990's once), Phoenix, Metropolis, Lost World, Nextworld, Adolf, Buddha and possibly some more. Not to mention a select few anime and everyone's favorite Tezuka-related video game, Omega Factor.

The early wave died down and was eventually picked back up again by Vertical. They've brought us better releases of Black Jack, Apollo's Song, Ode to Kiriko, Ayako, Dororo, some others I might be forgetting...

And to be later released in 2011, Princess Knight! Another one of Tezuka's arguably very iconic works, even though it never really gained a big legacy here in America. Either way, to see another iconic work that is about to be released, well that announcement had literally surprised me when I had first seen it.

But there's something missing. That's right, Leo. We have had quite a bit of Tezuka works released here, some of which had previously had anime dubbed into English. (Astro, Princess Knight, Space Phoenix, so on.) And many of these works are frankly, not that well known in America or some other parts of the world. And yet poor Kimba's own manga has never been localized. For an iconic white lion who has had a pretty good impact on the world, if not as much as Astro's, the very work in which he had debuted in still hasn't been made available in English.

I find this to be rather weird, in some ways. Of all the Tezuka works out there, you'd think companies here would be releasing the more well-known works than things such as Kiriko or Dororo. Could it possibly be what companies would rather focus on? Dark Horse is known to focus more on sci-fi and horror, and Vertical has more of an interest in mature works, I find. And Viz, well, they do have an assortment of things, but maybe they deem Leo too kiddy... but not kiddy enough for their Viz Kids tag? Or simply have no interest in it? (Which is likely the case.) I have to admit, seeing VERTICAL announce Princess Knight had surprised me, for it was a work intended for young girls.

But in some ways, could Vertical also have been preparing itself all along? Had they been strictly releasing the most thought-out, and mature works of Tezuka, hoping to appeal to more audiences before releasing other, more child-like works? Have they been (re)making a name for Tezuka here in America? Were we being 'tested' all along? Perhaps.

That said, seeing Princess Knight being announced has given me some hope for perhaps Leo one day being localized here.

It's not that I'm dying for Leo to be released here, but it would be nice...

But for now, I'll just view it as being a bit weird that no one has bothered with him yet, despite the legacy he has.

[MightyAstro]

Yes I agree with what you say about Kimba/Leo Jerk. I hope it eventually gets released.

And even Tezuka in your current signature picture looks like he can't believe Jungle Emperor manga isn't yet available in English himself.

[Fauna]

Well, the anime needs to fall into a certain market in North America. There was a dub in the sixties that has since shown up on unlicensed tapes and DVDs, but that's not the problem...

The reason the manga hasn't been published is because there's a lot of hesitation from Tezuka Productions. Some people might remember the huge American controversy over Dragonball Z's Mr. Popo, a big fat guy with all-black skin and huge red lips, whom was immediately caught as an awful depiction of a Black guy. Now, throughout the original Kimba manga, the African tribe people throughout are drawn in this same sort of style. This is really just because Tezuka's only reference at the time was in American animation, but since the Mr. Popo incident, Japanese studios are all fairly concerned about it happening again. Jungle Emperor Leo might not be debuting for a very long time.

Each Astro Boy volume has a foreword letting the reader know that Tezuka didn't mean any harm in the way he drew other races, even if such material isn't even in that volume. I'm pretty sure Dark Horse was obligated by contract to put that in.

[Dr. Jerk]

Each Astro Boy volume has a foreword letting the reader know that Tezuka didn't mean any harm in the way he drew other races, even if such material isn't even in that volume. I'm pretty sure Dark Horse was obligated by contract to put that in.

Which was what I was about to mention. But I don't think it was so much being obligated by contract, but rather that they didn't wanted to edit the original source and therefore would have to put that foreword in themselves. It's kinda like how the Looney Tunes Golden Collection had their own forward, something along the lines of "If we edited or cut out the scenes that people might have found offensive, then it would just be turning a blind eye to the past. Yes, what was done in the past is wrong, but to censor it would be showing ignorance."

Speaking of which, I've been hearing that they're considering about releasing the Censored Eleven on DVD, sometime after they had a showing of them in last year's Comic Con...

Anyway, yes I realize about the depiction of African people in Leo. And while they indeed have more screen-time (...panel-time...) than in Astro Boy, solutions for those things can still be found. Such as the foreword, or if not, an edit that will make fans angry. Viz did edit Mr. Popo a bit in their editions of Dragon Ball, although I guess it would be harder to edit some things than others...

Edit: I just realized...

That didn't prevent Leo from being licensed in French, Italian and German.

Although I guess people don't overreact to ethnic stereotypes there quite as much.

[jeffbert]

If the manga is anything like the anime, very few tribesmen are depicted. I suppose that the NBC demands may have been largely responsible for the scarcity of tribesmen in the anime, but the thing was not even about human Vs. animal as much as it was about the different animal species resolving their differences.

[Dr. Jerk]

If the manga is anything like the anime, very few tribesmen are depicted. I suppose that the NBC demands may have been largely responsible for the scarcity of tribesmen in the anime, but the thing was not even about human Vs. animal as much as it was about the different animal species resolving their differences.

The dubs had cut out a lot of the depictions. Unless you're referring to the originals.

Oh and believe me, an anime, even one that closely adapts a manga, can have quite a few differences.

[jeffbert]

But the entire series was made with NBC's $$; why would they include anything that Tezuka did not consider necessary? Granted, F. Ladd does say that T often crossed the line that NBC had drawn, but I would not think that these were cut.

I sent CraigA a PM about this question.

[Dr. Jerk]

Source or it didn't happen.

The most I heard was that NBC sent someone to Japan to teach Mushi Productions how to make color productions, although that does kinda contradict certain things. I can't remember where I read that though.

Regardless, the dubs did have cuts.

[Dr. Jerk]

Hate to double post but,

Forget about this thread. I feel like everyone is just trying to make me look stupid.

[jeffbert]

I myself feel similarly bad; but rest assured, I have no such intention. There is nothing shameful about being wrong.