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Jonathan Klein Interview

Here is the transcript of a brief email discussion I had with Jonathan Klein on July 13, 2000. Mr. Klein is vice president of New Generation Pictures and one of the producers of the new 3x3 Eyes dub/sub/DVD from Pioneer.

1. Why is the DVD not going to be available until December? I originally heard that it would be released at the same as the second VHS tape.

It's a marketing decision, since the DVD will have both OVA'S together my guess is that Pioneer wants to see how many VHS versions they'll sell first. Also there are some extras on the DVD (I can't say what they are at this time) that Pioneer is trying to negotiate for. Since 3x3 is a Kodansha title, Pioneer has negotiate with Kondansha for every extra they want to put on the DVD and it's a long and slow process.

2. Can you give any details about the DVD? For example: how many discs, single or dual layered, any special features on disc, box set or unique packaging?

It'll be 2 discs with both OVA'S. As I said above, Pioneer is still negotiating the extras. There will be cast bios on both Japanese and U.S. actors.

3. The prices given at Anime Expo ($34.98 for VHS and $64.98 for DVD) seem a bit high. Is there a reason? As you said, the series is almost a decade old, and the Perfect Collection was available for a long time for only $19.95.

I don't know why they set the price like that, but I don't think it's an unreasonable price since you are getting almost twice as much video as the average anime that sells for $24.95 S.R.P. (which is usually 60 minutes). Yes 3x3 is an older title, but there are many people who haven't seen it before. Not to mention that so many other older titles have been re-released for standard anime prices (E.G. Vampire Hunter D, Goku, Wicked City). And remember these are just suggested retail prices, most online and retail stores that deal with anime will sell them for 20% to 30% less than the S.R.P.

4. I haven't heard much about the subtitled version. Who did the translation? Did you work from the sub script for the dub?

We did the translation from the original Japanese scripts for both the dub and sub versions (we never looked at the Streamline or Orion versions- in fact we deliberately avoided them). But we did have some help from Torren Smith at Studio Proteus and Toshi Yoshida at Viz who worked or the original manga translations.

5. Where did the idea for the volume titles (Immortals, The Demon Seal) come from?

It was Pioneers idea. They obviously wanted to differentiate between the 2 OVA'S. Immortals, is not an unreasonable title for the first OVA (since it never had a title except 3x3 Eyes). I'm still hoping they might change back Volume 2 back to orignal title, Legend of the Divine Demon.

6. Do you have any promo or cover art that you can reveal? Pioneer seems to take forever to update their web site with things like that.

We're still working on the box cover design, once I have something to show you I'll e-mail it to you.

I'm very happy that the upcoming dub (and finally an official sub) is being done by someone who seems to really care about the series and wants to do a quality job. I think a lot of people liked the Streamline dub in a so-bad-its-funny kind of way, so I'm hoping the new dub will change some opinions and bring more fans to the show. I'm definitely looking forward to the upcoming releases.

Thank you. We hope that you and other 3x3 Eyes fans will like our dub as well. We put a lot of effort into it. I won't mind if people say, they liked the Japanese version better, (I mean nobody here in America can compare to talent of Megumi Hayashibara as Pai) but I do hope they appreciate that we tried to make the new English dub to be just as good. I feel we tried to keep the flavor of the original Japanese show, while still making it enjoyable for the U.S. audience (both old and new)

Regards,

Jonathan Klein
Vice President
New Generation Pictures

July 2000 News - Archives

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Last updated: March 1, 2011 2:38AM UTC