by In this day and age, there’s no streaming or DVDs…what?
In recent years, video streaming services have become increasingly abundant, and we are now in an age where we can watch whatever we want, whenever we want. Of course, the anime from Weekly Shonen Jump, which has been a hit across the board in recent years, is no exception. You can watch many popular works such as One Piece, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen, but some Jump anime are challenging to watch because they are not even sold, let alone streamed.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series, which started in 2000, has aired eight works on the TV Tokyo network, including Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, but it has also been animated once on TV Asahi. The TV Asahi version aired in 199, mainly focuses on episodes before card battles were established. The main character, Yugi Muto, whose alternate personality is awakened by the power of the ancient Egyptian treasure, the Millennium Puzzle, punishes evil people through the Dark Game.
After that, the broadcasting station was transferred to TV Tokyo, and the rights were unified, so the TV Asahi version could not be distributed. The official YouTube channel opened to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the anime and will distribute eight anime series, but the titles of the TV Asahi version are not included.
The cast of this work was luxurious, with Ogata Megumi as Yugi and Midorikawa Hikaru, known for his role as Rukawa Kaede in “SLAM DUNK,” as his rival Kaiba Seto. It is a pity that it cannot be viewed on distribution sites.
“D. Gray-man” is set in a virtual 19th-century Europe and depicts the exploits of exorcists who fight against “AKUMA,” a malign weapon made from human souls and tragedies. It was made into an anime in 2006. The first season of the anime can be viewed on distribution sites, but the second season, “D. Gray-man HALLOW,” which aired in 2016, is not distributed, and even the video software is not sold.
The DVD and Blu-ray of this work were initially scheduled to be released in September 2016, but the release was postponed to improve the quality of the main story. However, in March 2017, the announcement was made that the release was canceled, not the release date. The official website only stated that it was “due to various circumstances,” and no apparent reason was given.
“The End of the Century Leader Legend Takeshi!” “The End of the Century Leader Legend Takeshi!”, based on the original work by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro, is a gag manga in which “Takeshi,” an elementary school student with an old man’s face, solves problems with his charismatic leadership.
This work gained popularity as soon as it began serialization in 1997, and a unique anime was screened at the “Jump Super Anime Tour ’98” held in 1998, with a luxurious triple feature of “ONE PIECE,” “HUNTER×HUNTER,” and “The End of the Century Leader Legend Takeshi!”. The following year, “ONE PIECE” and “HUNTER×HUNTER” were made into TV anime, so a TV broadcast of “The End of the Century Leader Legend Takeshi!” was probably on the cards.
However, the serialization was discontinued when the author, Shimabukuro-sensei, was arrested, and to this day, there has been no talk of an anime adaptation. Incidentally, a VHS copy of the unique anime screened at the anime tour was distributed as a service to all applicants. Since then, it has not been sold to the general public or streamed, so the only way to watch “The End of the Century Leader Legend Takeshi!” anime seems to be to get hold of this VHS.
