Boy, we sure are living in some unprecedented times, huh?
No, this post isn’t about the plague or anything else upheaval-y in society. I’m talking about how Kamen Rider got licensed. Well, a little bit.
For those of you that aren’t aware, Shout Factory has been streaming original recipe Kamen Rider and Kuuga, along with recently coming out with the Heisei Generations Forever movie.
I have to admit, this makes me a bit trepidatious about just carrying on business as usual. I have no idea how successful the previous releases have been, and whether or not they intend to do any further series. But it just feels a little weird to keep on going like nothing has changed. I would hate to potentially sabotage any further legitimate releases (because remember, folks, none of ~any of this~ is legit, no matter how fun it is), or start working on a show and have to drop it part way. Did you know I was working on a release of the original Garo series when it got licensed and then we never got to put it out??? NOT THAT I’M STILL BITTER ABOUT IT OR ANYTHING.
So, I think we’ll be taking this year off to see how the situation develops. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little redundant in general, with other groups being out there and beating us fairly consistently in terms of speediness. I’ve always said my policy for this endeavor was “Good subs, done fast” but lately I haven’t been fast enough. So, in multiple ways, I just don’t feel as if these releases are as necessary as they might’ve been once.
That’s not to say we’re shutting down, as there’s still Sentai to put out, and we’ve got a few long static projects that could probably use some attention. But unless the Zero-One movie ends up being a crossover with Saber, we’re gonna sit this one out. And who knows, maybe next September rolls around and there’s been no other official English Kamen Rider releases and we’ll pick up the next series. But that’ll be then.
Sorry to disappoint any of you who were looking forward to it.
