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Section 23 Scores Skullman, Maria Holic

The latest word from S23 comes with two new licenses!

By gia manry  |  Dec. 4, 2009

Hot off the presses: I just received a press release from Section23 Films announcing their February slate of release, and amidst the titles were two new licenses: Skull Man and Maria Holic.
 
Skull Man
Skull Man
Skull Man is a rather unique title; it's based on a one-shot manga from 1970 by Shotaro Ishinomori, the famed creator of Cyborg 009 and the Kamen Rider series. In fact, Skull Man-- which has some of that tokusatsu aesthetic but with a more mature tone --was created while Ishinomori was developing Kamen Rider, and is said to have been his own "personal version" of the famous still-running tokusatsu TV show. In 2007 BONES developed the concept into a 13-episode anime, and it can even be viewed as a prequel to Cyborg 009, connecting two of Ishinomori's classic series. I'm guessing this will be a must-buy for any tokusatsu fans (and given how much Kamen Rider is in our database, I know there are a few of you!).  The entire series is coming out on February 2nd for $39.98.

 Maria Holic
 Maria Holic
  Now, Maria Holic. I haven't read the original manga yet, but it's by Minari Endou, the creator of Dazzle-- a manga I'm rather fond of. The anime is another Shaft/Akiyuki Shinbo collaboration a la Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, and you can certainly see some ofthe SZS aesthetic in terms of color choice and visual effects. It's also a bizarre and random comedy. The story-- which some find awful and others hilarious --is about a girl who is allergic to men and so attends a Catholic all-girls school in hopes of meeting her true (female) love, only to find a delicious trap who blackmails her and harasses her to pretty ridiculously cruel ends.
 
 
 
The press release also includes dates for upcoming To Love-Ru and a pair of live-action films, Kirenji Women's College and Ryuji the Yakuza, so here's the full release!
 
Section23 Films Announces February Slate
Filed under: The Skull Man, Maria Holic, Section23 Films
24 Comments
Sigueon Dec. 4, 2009 at 10:32 a.m.
Mariaholic was a good watch. It might not be one of my all-time favourite shows, but it was a fairly funny series with some really memorable moments.
Nikoon Dec. 4, 2009 at 10:39 a.m.
@gia: I think every time you said sentai, you meant tokusatsu.  Sentai actually typically refers to the Super Sentai franchise, and Kamen Rider started before that. And the original Skull Man was kind of a protoform of Kamen Rider.
 
You know us geeks and our pickiness.
giaon Dec. 4, 2009 at 10:53 a.m.
@Niko: You are absolutely correct, sir. Thanks for the catch :)
ThePsychoGameron Dec. 4, 2009 at 11:37 a.m.
Isn't  Section23 the cheap studio that never puts out dubbed versions?
Dreamon Dec. 4, 2009 at 11:38 a.m.

Now for the interesting question: will these releases be bilingual releases or sub only? I recall getting Blue Drop last month from Section23 which was a sub-only release.
FoxxFireArt moderator is online on Dec. 4, 2009 at 11:38 a.m.
@Sigue: 
Maria Holic DVD ad
Maria Holic DVD ad
Agreed. Maria+Holic is a good parody series. It takes many of the themes of the whole bishojo stories and puts a twist on them. It can even be summed up in that image. Notice that Kanako isn't in that image, despite being the person most events revolve around? She actually is there. To the left is another version of that picture. You see that she's in the rooms. It's as if they had gathered everyone to take a photo for the ad and Mariya purposely didn't tell her so she would be left out. That pretty much sums up how he treats her in the series.
 
There was even a Kon from BLEACH pardoy. When the class president runs up after Kanako falls down. She sticks up her thumb and says "Nice angle.".  It's just meant to be a fun comedy. It takes the cliches of all the yuri romances and puts a wild twist on it.
John_Martoneon Dec. 4, 2009 at 12:27 p.m.
@ThePsychoGamer said: @Dream:
" Isn't  Section23 the cheap studio that never puts out dubbed versions? "
Section23, and this takes me the longest time to parse their new name, is actually built on the remnants of ADV. So, when you think of Section23, think of ADV. They also have Switchblade Pictures for their scandalous live actions (which are so terrible/good) and ACER Entertainment (which I think is the company they do their dubbed works in, but I could be wrong)
 
That said, Section23's currently releases have been almost entirely sub-only. This cuts down on their costs and transfer times (as Skull Man was just announced, and comes out in two months)
 
Plus, a show like Maria+Holic would take so much work to localize well, and the comedy could easily just not gel. That said, the sub is already good to go.
 
*Breathes* Holy crap... I cannot explain how surprised and excited I am. I know I've said this recently, but Maria+Holic was hands down one of my favorite shows last year, and my absolute favorite of Winter '08
Devillyon Dec. 4, 2009 at 12:38 p.m.
And right away i have a new 'New years resolution'' BUY THE SKULLMAN DVD SET!!
cfatalison Dec. 4, 2009 at 12:39 p.m.
will buy maria holic, delicious traps......
ThePsychoGameron Dec. 4, 2009 at 12:45 p.m.
@John_Martone said:
" @ThePsychoGamer said: @Dream:
" Isn't  Section23 the cheap studio that never puts out dubbed versions? "
Section23, and this takes me the longest time to parse their new name, is actually built on the remnants of ADV. So, when you think of Section23, think of ADV. They also have Switchblade Pictures for their scandalous live actions (which are so terrible/good) and ACER Entertainment (which I think is the company they do their dubbed works in, but I could be wrong)
 
That said, Section23's currently releases have been almost entirely sub-only. This cuts down on their costs and transfer times (as Skull Man was just announced, and comes out in two months)
 
Plus, a show like Maria+Holic would take so much work to localize well, and the comedy could easily just not gel. That said, the sub is already good to go.
 
*Breathes* Holy crap... I cannot explain how surprised and excited I am. I know I've said this recently, but Maria+Holic was hands down one of my favorite shows last year, and my absolute favorite of Winter '08 "
Then there's the question of will there be a dub, i'm still having a hard time getting back into subs, it it would be nice if i could just sit back and enjoy some of these
Slimon Dec. 4, 2009 at 1:10 p.m.
    
I like both Skull Man and Kamen Rider but you really have to like cheesy live action JPN crap. Never saw the anime though.
 
 
Kelleth moderator on Dec. 4, 2009 at 1:44 p.m.
@Slim: You should watch it for sure its more in line of what Ishinomori originally intended Kamen Rider to be :)

 a cool bloody mess
 a cool bloody mess

btw does the live-action prologue also get to be in the DVD set? maaaybe in the extra`s?
  
okandon Dec. 4, 2009 at 1:50 p.m.
Time to get a Region 1 DVD player then...
  

Section 23 is now officially awesome. Now also go get Zetsubou Sensei and Bakemonogatari.
giaon Dec. 4, 2009 at 1:58 p.m.
@ThePsychoGamer: They haven't put out any dubbed releases, it's true, but they're also young; they're probably better known as "that studio that's kind of ADV but kinda not." :)
 
@Kelleth: That's a great question! I'll see what I can find out.
Nikoon Dec. 4, 2009 at 3:29 p.m.
@Devilly: That's not a resolution. That's a requirement.
 
@gia: The Skull Man anime has a live-action prequel episode before. It's where the pick you included is from. Is there any word that episode is included in the collection?
John_Martoneon Dec. 4, 2009 at 3:53 p.m.
@okand: Whoa. You're a dreamer. I dunno, Zetsubo needs heavy crib notes and chalkboard translations, but should definitely be sub only in my opinion. Same with Bakemonogatari.
Dreamon Dec. 4, 2009 at 4:34 p.m.
@John_Martone: While sub-only releases do have the benefit of quicker releases and costing distributors less money, it prevents English dub viewers from being able to listen to said anime in their native language and they're still a major demographic of buying anime titles. While I have no problem with sub-only anime releases, that doesn't mean every American anime fan wants to listen to a foreign language and read subtitles across their screen when checking out a new anime title.
Nikoon Dec. 4, 2009 at 5:06 p.m.
@Dream: Dubs are also an expensive extra that's becoming harder and harder for companies to afford for many of their released.
JackSukeruon Dec. 4, 2009 at 5:39 p.m.
Skullman was interesting, it was kind of slow and not at all what I expected, was actually kinda bored with it until about halfway through, but the latter part and the ending was soo worth it.
giaon Dec. 4, 2009 at 5:53 p.m.
@Dream: I'm kind of part of the camp that thinks Zetsubou-sensei would just be un-dubbable. I feel for those who prefer dubs, but the characters in that show speak even faster than characters in your average anime. On the other hand, in terms of mouth movements it might be easier since there are lots of chunks of episodes that are just panning shots with no mouths in the frame (or they're not moving), but the amount of time to cram in a lot of stuff would be pretty crazy.
 
On top of that, even the fansubbers had a hard time figuring out how best to convey all the jokes...doing that in a dub would be insane, and let's face it: Zetsubou-sensei is the kind of show that's the most popular with the people who tend not to buy. 
 
All of which make it really, really hard to justify the cost of dubbing.

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