Media Blasters DVD Woes
Anime licensing company Media Blasters recently released new title solicitations for their upcoming DVD releases. One thing they all seem to have in common is that they'll only be available with Japanese dialogue & English subs. None of the series listed have English dubs on them. Such series include NebsTV shows "KashiMashi~Girl Meets Girl~" & the recently ended "Girl's High" (which seems to be called "Girls High Teen Spirit" for its American release).
Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising considering the types of series Media Blasters usually license. They tend to be fan service titles (for both guys & girls) that usually only small sectors of the anime fandom would be interested in purchasing. For example, they also licensed Eiken & the other former Nebs TV series "Green Green," & the dub for those were largely terrible (although the Green Green Character OVAs were left undubbed, for obvious reasons). So perhaps it's better this way. On the other hand, maybe you can say fanservice-heavy shows like Girls High & Green Green don't need to be dubbed, but KashiMashi was a very sweet & nice romance series at its heart. It deserves more attention than its being given.
Additionally, Media Blasters has found themselves in hot water by editing a recent hentai title of theirs called "Legend of the Pervert." It seems they took out a 10 minute scene involving young children in sexual situations. Some people are really upset by this, while others think it was a wise choice on their part. Personally I'm against editing & censoring no matter what it is. Even if it's not something I agree with, I don't think there's a right to change it. Usually Media Blasters wouldn't edit like this, but it seems they weren't aware of the scene when they licensed the title & didn't want to deal with any repercussions that might come their way (which is weird considering the loli yuri scene they left intact in Green Green). According to CEO John Sirabella:
"The characters were obviously under-age and it was too much for us. I am a chicken**** when it comes to going to jail and I am not going for this title. In the future we will review these (titles) a lot more closely, maybe we can convince someone else to release this one for us uncut."
Source: http://www.animeondvd.com