Our Anime License Holy Grail

Is there an anime series you keep hoping will be rescued? The series below are either long out-of-print or have never seen a home video release in the United States. Our reviewers looked at their wishlists and picked their most coveted anime license requests. Let us know what anime series you wish would see the light of day in the comments.

DC Super Heroes vs. Eagle Talon

While never seeing major success in the U.S., new seasons of flash animation Eagle Talon have regularly appeared on Japanese TV for over 15 years. On top of this, there have been no less than nine films—the latest being the 2017 crossover with DC Comics: DC Super Heroes vs. Eagle Talon.

For those not in the know, Eagle Talon is the story of a secret society (led by a man who looks suspiciously like M. Bison) trying to take over the world through crazy schemes and mad science. A comedic deconstruction, the show tends to make a ton of jokes about modern Japanese society, engaging in a lot of meta-textual humor.

In DC Super Heroes vs. Eagle Talon, the Joker, Harley Quinn, and the Penguin travel to Tokyo. There, they buy numerous mad science inventions from Eagle Talon's yard sale. With three of Gotham's most notable villains up to no good, you'd expect Batman to be right on their tails. Unfortunately, he is too busy brooding over the death of his parents to be bothered to fight crime. This leaves it up to the Justice League to pick up the slack.

Unfortunately, the superheroes don't realize they aren't in a blockbuster movie and blow through the flash-animated film's entire budget in a single fight scene against the Joker's minor thugs—leaving them as mere crayon scribbles. Without Bruce Wayne's billions to finance them (and the film in general) and the Joker using Penguin's money to keep the bad guys free from budgetary constraints, how can our heroes hope to overcome the Joker's newest scheme?

What comes out of all this is a hilarious takedown of superhero films—filled with deadpan and slapstick humor (there's a gauge on the screen at all times that shows the film's remaining budget). Yet, more than that, the film is a lampooning of Japanese entry-level work culture, is an homage to kaiju films, and contains what is probably the best possible karmic ending for the Joker. It is legitimately my favorite superhero anime.

Now, as to why it never came out in the West... Well, that's the big mystery. This film was released in 2017—right between the release of the critically acclaimed Wonder Woman and the not-so-critically acclaimed Justice League. Part of the film's creation was to draw Japanese audiences into the DC Universe in anticipation of the upcoming crossover film. And while the inclusion of popular DC characters in an anime may have made a Western release seem like a foregone conclusion (especially with the high-budget portions of the film being animated by Gonzo), it simply never happened—even though previous Eagle Talon anime have appeared (and continue to appear) on Crunchyroll.

Perhaps there was some rights issue between DC, Warner Bros. Japan, and DLE, or those in charge simply thought the film wouldn't be profitable enough to release outside of Japan. Regardless of the reason, I've long since given up hope of this ever getting any Western release—but that won't stop me from talking about how amazing it is every chance I get.

Rebecca Silverman

Nurse Angel Ririka SOS

Although there are a lot of older titles I desperately want to see released – Neighborhood Story, Hana no Ko Lunlun, Akazukin Chacha, and more – my greatest anime dream has always been to see an official release of Nurse Angel Ririka SOS It's a standout in a variety of ways, and I don't think it's out of place to say that without Ririka's story, the modern dark magical girl show wouldn't exist. In large part, that's because of the devastating bait-and-switch finale, which I can't quite bring myself to spoil here, but Ririka's tale also doesn't skirt around the darker themes inherent in the genre. Magical girls are, after all, superheroes, meaning they have to fight monsters as scary as anything you can imagine. In Ririka's case, that's Dark Joker, an evil organization that has already destroyed the world of Queen Earth and is now coming for our Earth. Ririka is given the magic nurse cap and the power to use the green vaccine made from the rare Flower of Life. Because the flower is so hard to come by, Ririka has to deal with Dark Joker before her vaccine supply runs out – because once it's gone, there'll be nothing more she can do to save the world.

That's a lot to put on a ten-year-old, and the fact that Ririka is a solo magical girl act makes it even more tense. She does have her friend Seiya to help her and another ally later, but ultimately, the fate of the world is very literally on her shoulders. Through it all, she has to maintain the belief that she can succeed because if she starts to doubt herself, no one else can do it. Ririka is in a much harsher place than most of her contemporaries, who include Saint Tail (a mysterious thief), Wedding Peach (a bridal-themed magical girl team), and Tonde Burin, the magic pig girl. Only Magic Knight Rayearth came close, and there were still three of them to carry the weight. As the series goes on, we see Ririka learn coping mechanisms, firm up her determination, and realize that she can (and must be) the change she wants to see. She grows as a heroine in ways that we don't always see, and while there are filler episodes that don't do much for the overall plot, the show is mostly tightly plotted and extremely engaging. It certainly helps that it has some of the best opening themes of its day (although Neighborhood Story gives them a run for their money); I still catch myself singing them around the house.

At the end of the day, I think what has made this story stick with me for so long is that it manages to be about hope. Ririka is never sure that she can save the world. She knows there's a chance she might fail. But that doesn't mean she stops trying, fighting past moments of self-doubt or seemingly unbeatable odds, even when it means she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice. That's what Nurse Angel Ririka SOS means to me, at any rate. I want it to be available for everyone to take from it what they can – or need to.

Nicholas Dupree

Macross: Do You Remember Love?

I cannot tell you how much of a relief it is that I didn't have to put “Basically all of Macross” here. For decades, being a fan of the franchise outside of Japan has felt like entering a devil's bargain; you find something amazing and unique that connects with you and are ready to dig into it all, only to find out that getting any of it outside of Japan is like pulling teeth from a live bear. Thankfully, that barrier has been gradually falling, with several of the franchise's sequel and spin-off entries well on their way to seeing the light of day thanks to a long-awaited ceasefire between the various rights holders.

Sadly, that's still not true for two of the most formative releases: the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV anime and its film re-imagining Do You Remember Love. SDF remains firmly in the hands of Harmony Gold, the real-estate agency that occasionally pretends to be an anime company, and they seem staunchly determined to keep the series tied up with Robotech in the vain hopes of ever making that live-action movie happen. Yet, at least the TV series had a short-lived streaming run through Amazon Prime a few years back and a long-out-of-print DVD release from the mid-2000s. DYRL hasn't even had that much, and according to at least one informed individual, nobody's quite sure who owns the rights to the movie, and neither side of the Robotech/Macross divide can claim it definitively. Thus, the film has been left in the depths of limbo while its younger siblings begin clawing their way out.

That's an absolute crime as far as I'm concerned, and not just because I'm an enormous mark for this IP. While a part of my love for DYRL comes from its place in the franchise – its re-imagined ending is thematically critical to what the rest of the sequel series would become, and they're far better for it – it's mainly because DYRL is a drop-dead gorgeous movie and some of the most fun you can have watching anime. It features action and mechanical animation that remains awe-inspiring even today, capturing giant robots' power, imagination, and exhilaration in a way that I've never quite seen replicated. It carries a lush, striking soundtrack that caps off with one of the most enduring, climactic songs in all of anime. It has probably the most well-realized and gorgeous rendition of Haruhiko Mikimoto's enduring character designs ever put to cel. Even if you've never seen a second of the rest of the franchise, it's an experience worth taking all on its own.

Of course, it also holds a lot of meaning for the rest of Macross. If I had a few thousand more words to work with, I could go on about how the film shifts the thematic focus of the entire franchise alongside re-configuring its entire continuity and the myriad ways that spiraled out to make Macross such a unique and beloved entity. For now, I'll suffice by saying that through sheer artistic ambition, it managed to take Lynn Minmay, an under-served love interest in the TV series, and turn her into one of the ultimate icons of anime and science-fiction. To this day, no matter how many times I watch it or see it referenced in other series, the original Minmay Attack sends chills down my spine with just how hard it goes on every level. Do You Remember Love is an unassailable landmark of the franchise, genre, and medium – for any justice in the world, it must eventually see the light of day.

MrAJCosplay

This entry will be a little bit interesting. After the classic Death Note and before the train wreck Platinum End, there was Bakuman. Bakuman. was a reasonably popular series that acted as a glimpse into the world of manga creation for many anime fans. It wasn't perfect, but it offered some fascinating insight with a down-to-earth underdog story and, at the time, was pretty unique. I own all the manga volumes and planned on adding the anime to my collection when it eventually got licensed. Unfortunately, the most I could ever own from an official United States license is a single DVD with seven episodes; that is all that was ever released.

The series was licensed by Media Blasters in 2011, and saying this was a bad time for the company was an understatement. Despite being technically and LEGALLY dissolved as of April 2011, Media Blasters was still licensing series, with the first two seasons of Bakuman. being among them. After that single DVD was released, the subsequent discs were put on hold in February 2012, even though the episodes were done. The following year, with no further Bakuman. releases, Media Blasters officially announced that it lost the license.

I can only imagine the frustration of Michael Sinterniklaas, the dub's ADR director, and the rest of the cast, as the dub is pretty good with many well-known actors like Dan Green and Veronica Taylor. Considering the series is dialogue-heavy with an expanding cast of colorful characters, I think it would've been great to own the show with a high-quality dub. Bakuman. is a series that makes you want to work hard and pursue your dreams while embodying the frustrations of repeated failures. One of the underlying messages is how much luck is required to make it in a cutthroat industry like manga serialization. While the main characters were eventually rewarded for their hard work, I guess the staff who wanted to bring the series to America weren't so lucky.

It's hard to say if a redistribution would be in the cards. It's been about a decade, and no one seems interested, but I can't blame them. While the series was popular, it never reached Death Note status, but it would be nice if the series was picked up again so that the dub staff could finish what they started.

Steve Jones

Gamba no Bōken (The Adventures of Gamba)

My list of holy grails has shrunk considerably in recent years, with much credit where it's due to the licensors doing the hard work of preserving and distributing those older and more niche series (and yes, I'm mainly talking up Discotek). While there are more recent titles I'm still waiting on—Kemonozume and Angel's Egg are the two big ones—for this feature, I thought I'd go with the oldest one on my wishlist, The Adventures of Gamba. This 1975 TV series was based on a children's novel and ran for two seasons. It chronicles the tales and travels of plucky mouse Gamba and his growing cohort of cuddly companions as they make their way to win back Dreamer Island from the clutches of a killer cadre of weasels. Maybe that description alone doesn't light a fire in your belly, but trust me, the cute exterior belies sharp claws.

Arguably the most potent weapon in Gamba's arsenal is its director, the legendary Osamu Dezaki. Between the intense sports aspirations of Tomorrow's Joe and Aim for the Ace!, and the epic literary narratives of Treasure Island and The Rose of Versailles, Dezaki kept himself busy in the mid-'70s directing several shows including The Adventures of Gamba. Don't mistake this for a lesser work, however, because it has all the Dezaki hallmarks: triple-takes, postcard memories, and a consistently gorgeous flair for the melodramatic. There are just more mice this time around. Other famous contributors include art director Shichirō Kobayashi and his penchant for stunning background paintings, and character designer/animation director Yoshio Kabashima, who previously collaborated with Dezaki on Aim for the Ace! and here deftly utilizes these fuzzy faces for both yuks and yelps.

You don't have to be a sakuga nerd to appreciate Gamba. This is a series that seems to have stuck with the generation of children who watched it while it was airing. For example, in a 2006 poll of Japanese celebrities' favorite anime, Gamba ranked 22nd. And although you may not have realized it, you've probably seen references to it in later series; animators especially love to draw on the terrifying visage of the villainous weasels, whose iconic scowls have surfaced in shows like BNA and Pop Team Epic. While I think adults tend to overestimate the degree to which kids are “scarred” by cartoons, Gamba's semi-frequent and pseudo-psychedelic showcases of the animal kingdom's blood, violence, and horror certainly left their mark. It'd be wrong, though, to chalk Gamba's legacy up to shock factor. From what I've seen, the appeal of these mice's quest lies in its embrace of the full gamut of adventurous emotions, and there's plenty of awe, humor, and valor to go along with the danger.

I'm not surprised The Adventures of Gamba has never been licensed. It's a dated children's show that nobody outside of Japan would have any nostalgic affection for. I think its best chance in the States lies in the notoriety of Dezaki's name, and considering Discotek's recent releases of Aim for the Ace! and Treasure Island, that's not looking like such a longshot anymore. Amusingly, there is one other stateside connection. The anime was remade into a 2015 3DCG film which, for some reason, got two localizations: an international one called Gamba 3D and a 2017 American repackaging called Air Bound with English character names and a new cast featuring a bunch of YouTubers and also Jon Lovitz as the evil weasel? I know nothing about the movie, but if you want to legally watch something Gamba-related in the Western hemisphere right now, that's your only choice. Hopefully, however, that won't always be the case.

Caitlin Moore

Maison Ikkoku

Way back when I was a baby anime fan, Rumiko Takahashi was the defining creator for people new to the hobby. Ranma ½ was Viz's flagship series, Maison Ikkoku VHS tapes had a whole two pages in their catalog, Urusei Yatsura was an early floppy release, and InuYasha was… well… InuYasha. Now I can buy all those series on Blu-ray easily, with one notable exception: Maison Ikkoku, which was last released as eight individual DVD box sets in the mid-'00s. These sets are now difficult and expensive to find, and the anime version of Maison Ikkoku sits alone and unlicensed, unloved.

Amongst Takahashi's series, all steeped in folklore and fantasy, Maison Ikkoku stands alone as a grounded romantic comedy that takes place entirely in the real world, without a single supernatural element. In it, a ronin named Yusaku Godai, living in poverty in a Tokyo tenement house surrounded by noisy neighbors, falls in love at first sight with the new building manager, Kyoko Otonashi. When Kyoko reveals she's a widow, he resolves to win her heart regardless. But recovering from grief is a lengthy process, and they both have a long way to go before either of them is ready for a meaningful relationship. It is the story where Takahashi's gift for character writing shines most, taking priority over gags when it matters most. Godai and Kyoko can be frustrating.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Maison Ikkoku is one of the greatest love stories of all time, and it's utterly criminal that it's so difficult and expensive to access legally. Sure, I can (and have) read the beautiful reissue of the manga, but there are so many charms unique to anime - theme songs! Sumi Shimamoto as Kyoko and Akira Kamiya as Mitaka! Akemi Takada's character designs! Plus, I know collectors would love to get their hands on the three OVA episodes and movie that have never been commercially released in English. Oh, and the series was remastered in high definition for the Japanese market nearly a decade ago, so whatever brave company licensed it wouldn't have to go through the ordeal of remastering or upscaling.

While we're at it, let's get some of the Rumic World OVAs licensed. That may be a more daunting task since they haven't gotten a physical release in about 30 years. However, I have a VHS of Fire Tripper on my bookshelf that I would love to replace with something that plays on modern technology. This trilogy of single-episode OVA released between 1983 and 1987 adapts early Takahashi short stories. Each one is a different genre, and they're practically historical documents of how one can trace Takahashi's early ideas to the megahits she would go on to create. I haven't seen the other two – last time they were available, I was a broke teenager with no job and no allowance – but Fire Tripper is a delightful time-loop story about a teenage girl blasted 500 years into the past by a gas explosion, arriving in a time period that will probably look quite familiar to any fan of InuYasha.

Rumiko Takahashi, though not as omnipresent in anime fandom as she once was, is a foundational creator. We deserve to have her foundational works available.

Monique Thomas

Animal Crossing: The Movie (Gekijoban Doubutsu no Mori)

Video games haven't always had the best luck when it comes to anime. Outside of maybe Pokémon, it isn't easy to name anime that could go toe-to-toe with their button-mashing counterparts. Some of the most widely known games don't even have much of a story to pull from. To be able to recreate something after removing the interactive elements is challenging enough; it's no wonder that many have tried and failed to do it well. Even Nintendo has had ups and downs when venturing into other mediums. Long before Illumination's Mario movie jumped to theaters globally, one franchise's first and only feature was kept from stepping outside Japan. That's the 2006 Animal Crossing movie, or officially Gekijoban Doubutsu no Moriin Japanese, an animated film produced by OLM, the same studio best known for animating almost every and all things Pokémon.

The Animal Crossing games have received much praise for their peaceful environments, thoughtful gameplay, and roster of quirky characters. In recent years, Animal Crossing: New Horizons became a smash seller for the Nintendo Switch console. All of this makes the still unlicensed movie feel like a pitfall in the game's branding history. Now, a few of you may question how Animal Crossing's lackadaisical premise could work as a film, but the simple story of Ai moving into a new town and the friendship that blooms between her and the other villagers mirror the game's intent to simulate common social challenges one might face in real life. While other games' stories are heavily modified to accommodate different mediums, the Animal Crossing movie remains true to its roots, featuring many characters, songs, and moments that will surely be recognizable to the player base. Audiences seemed to respond positively to this approach because the film ranked the 30th highest-grossing film in Japan that year. Meanwhile, overseas fans expressed frustration when Nintendo declared they had no plans to release the movie in English. Fast forward to almost two decades later, and Animal Crossing has become more popular than ever, but this policy hasn't changed.

The film was announced to commemorate three million copies of Wild World sold worldwide. Undoubtedly, many people might welcome the old movie as a source of nostalgia. I distinctly remember skipping around Wild World while my younger sister watched. One of my starting villagers, Alfonso (Albert), appears in the movie. Others might want to have it as another rare example of a movie that successfully nets the charm found in video games. Despite being well overdue for a Blu-ray update from the original DVD release, there's been no word regarding Gekijoban Doubutsu no Mori from Japan. Part of me keeps hoping that the franchise's continued success would at least open the door for streaming, but Nintendo has a record for upholding their past decisions. Any would-be licensor brave enough to make deals with the Mario-maker cannot afford to be ill-equipped. Sometimes, I get the feeling that nice things are being kept from everyone due to some arbitrary decisions made by a small few, but it doesn't stop me from wishing. Animal Crossing: The Movie is as vibrant and soothing as its namesake entails, and it's my dearest wish for everyone to enjoy it in a way that doesn't involve stepping onto a fox's shady sea vessel or taking an insurmountable loan from a tanuki real-estate tycoon.

[Editor's Note: While looking into this film, I discovered the anime film's homepage domain is now pornographic! Keep that in mind if you decide to Google it.]

Christopher Farris

Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~ (and its OVAs)

Part of me doesn't blame Sentai Filmworks for not following up on the Yozakura Quartet license. That original 2008 anime from studio Nomad is a rough go, and I can't imagine their DVD release performed particularly well. But they've still got that series up for streaming on HIDIVE, which makes it continuously galling that audiences can't also easily watch the good Yozakura Quartet show! It's not just that Hana no Uta (and its companion OVA miniseries Hoshi no Umi and Tsuki ni Naku) serves as an example of a superlative reboot following a middling adaptation, though that's certainly part of it. Remarkably, Suzuhito Yasuda's often outlandish and occasionally oversexed outlet of occult ongoings received a dramatically more faithful do-over just a few years after that initial attempt. But it's not just that the newer anime sticks closer to the base story of Yozakura Quartet, but in the way it is so much more effectively communicates the raw appeal of the ensemble action comedy filled with spear-slinging teenage mayors, psychic catgirls, and weapon-summoning military otaku lesbian schoolgirls.

Okay, sure, all of that ought to be a grab-bag of selling points in and of itself, but Hana no Uta's notoriety extends well past its adaptation of Yasuda's source material. Handing the reins to Ryousuke "Ryo-timo" Sawa saw him bringing over many of his friends to turn the new anime into a gorgeous showcase of web gen-era sakuga. The OVAs, with their shorter episode count and more concentrated production resources, are especially packed full of that kind of showing off, but the TV series itself is no slouch either. These are anime that excitedly vacillate from demonstrating personality-packed moments of character movement (including an aside indulgence wherein a katana-wielding battle nun dances around in a plush bear mascot head) to over-the-top combat choreography informed by any of the characters' unique powers. Kotoha, the aforementioned weapon-summoning military otaku, is a standout in this regard, allowing us to witness sights like the schoolgirl throwing an endless stream of stealth bombers at a giant earth elemental.

Yes, all these descriptions on their own should convince you to check out this series, but once you really see all this in motion, you come to understand that these Yozakura Quartet anime are the sort of things meant to sell themselves simply through the time-honored art of people posting gifs of them to their social media feeds. With a grasp of all that, this series remaining unlicensed actually stops seeming understandable and comes off more like an oversight. Even as a reboot of an adaptation of prior material, there's really nothing like Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~, meaning it's all the more baffling that Sentai or any other licensor hasn't stepped up to make this one more accessible.

Lynzee Loveridge

The Violinist of Hamelin

This show is near and dear to my heart. The Violinist of Hameln has never seen an official release stateside; however, it was the first series I purchased via snail-mail fansub orders (later followed by Vampire Princess Miyu (TV). I had this entire series on tape and bought it totally blind, which is surprising when you consider the lengthy process required to own it (including the slave wages I earned babysitting for neighborhood moms). The Violinist of Hameln is a barely animated dark fantasy drama directed by Junji Nishimura. The series utilizes a lot of panning still frames. This is hard to overlook for modern audiences, but it's a classic case of a story superseding a lackluster presentation.

Director Junji Nishimura was tasked with turning a comedy-fantasy series into something much darker to capitalize on the success of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Nishimura had already earned his directorial credentials, previously helming Ranma ½ after overseeing 22 episodes of the 1981 iteration of Urusei Yatsura. He was joined by scriptwriter Yasuhiro Imagawa, who readers might know from his work on Bartender and Pet Shop of Horrors. Problems, including poor viewer ratings, marred the series' production, but Nishimura later stated in an interview that the lack of animation was an intentional choice.

The story, though, despite being a complete tonal shift from the manga, grabbed me immediately. Hamel is a brooding orphan who teams up with an equally serious crow named Oboe (voiced by Shigeru Chiba) and the innocent farm girl who is actually a princess, Flute (Mayumi Iizuka). The series develops into a travelogue as Hamel picks up more allies looking to assist him in his fight against Demon Lord Chestra. He also encounters Sizer, a villain who I was immediately obsessed with (she has red wings and a scythe...I was 13). The cast of characters grows, but it never feels like the series is sidelining their contributions or personal stories. It also has a lot of #worldbuilding, a term that gets thrown around a lot. Multiple kingdoms and their allegiances are expounded upon, and there's a whole race of transforming bird people, including one with an eyepatch that is very cool.

The Violinist of Hameln is my pie-in-the-sky license request. Sure, there are more deserving anime (Angel's Egg), but this is my nostalgia pick.