Former Manga UK head of marketing and aquisitions answers "How Hard Was it to Get the UK Rights for Dragon Ball Z?"

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

The former head of marketing and acquisitions for Manga UK (now Crunchyroll) Jerome Mazandarani, who now runs the Answerman section of Anime News Network has answered a fan question about the challenges he faced trying to license Dragon Ball for the UK and Irish market.

It's a great read, I was unaware Australia and New Zealand were controlled by TOEI of Japan, and that he was trying to get the rights since 2005.

Its interesting to know Crunchyroll and Funimation demanded "all English-speaking territories" during negotiations, and luckily TOEI Europe didn't let them have Dragon Ball for the British Isles, because, as Jerome said Dragon Ball, One Piece and Digimon helped Manga UK stay in business, and bring anime from small arthouse theatres to larger mainstream multiplexes.

What are everyone else's thoughts on these reflections and the insights?

[90sDBZ]

Jerome has mentioned in the past how hard he had to fight to get DBZ released on DVD here. I remember him saying that Kai's TV deal on Kix was the reason Toei finally allowed it.

It really is a testament to how out of touch Toei were back then. Kai did well on Kix, but it's hardly the reason the Orange Bricks sold so well here. The UK/Ireland fanbase had been long established since the first Cartoon Network airings in 2000, and had continued to flourish in the following years. The Orange Bricks could've come out here at any point with no TV deal, and they still would've sold extremely well.

I'll always look back on 2006-2011 as the time were the franchise was essentially dead over here (outside of videogames which we thankfully always got). It was dead not because of lack of popularity, but because the rights holders were too blind/incompetent to recognise said popularity.

Jerome and Manga UK were heroes for persevering, making the deal happen, and essentially reviving a franchise that shouldn't have been dead to begin with. If it weren't for them the potential for this franchise in the UK/Ireland might never have been realised.

Not only did they release all of the DB shows and most movies, but they also went above and beyond with the theatrical screenings, and took the popularity to another level.

The fact that we've come this far is honestly something I'll always be grateful for.

[TechExpert2021]

I'll always look back on 2006-2011 as the time were the franchise was essentially dead over here (outside of videogames which we thankfully always got). It was dead not because of lack of popularity, but because the rights holders were too blind/incompetent to recognise said popularity.

Yeah, that was an unfortunate era for DB fans in the UK and Ireland, because the only way to watch DB, DBZ, and DBGT (and their respective movies and TV specials) in the UK and Ireland until 2012 was watching them on Cartoon Network UK (2000-2002), CNX (2002-2003), and Toonami UK (2003-2005), as AB Groupe, when they had the rights to the Dragon Ball anime franchise in the UK and Ireland, never gave them home video releases in the UK and Ireland, including the alternate English dubs (Blue Water dubs of DB and DBGT, the Westwood dub of DBZ, and the AB Groupe/"Big Green" dubs* of DB movies 1-3, DBZ movies 1-11, the DBZ TV specials, and the DBGT TV special).

*The AB Groupe dubs of the DBZ movies and TV specials did get home video releases, but only in the Netherlands by Bridge Entertainment B.V. The AB Groupe dubs of the DB movies and the DBGT special never got any home video releases.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I'll always look back on 2006-2011 as the time were the franchise was essentially dead over here (outside of videogames which we thankfully always got). It was dead not because of lack of popularity, but because the rights holders were too blind/incompetent to recognise said popularity.

Same, even though I enjoyed the games I did always want Dragon Ball back during those years especially during those years when I was a teenager and it was considered uncool to like the series. I remember people getting really into other anime like Bleach and Naruto and looking down on Dragon Ball as being inferior. In the long run I think Dragon Ball has been more loved, and AB Groupe really underestimated its longevity in territories like the UK and Ireland by not going all-out on the home video department like Manga UK did.

The AB Groupe dubs of the DBZ movies and TV specials did get home video releases, but only in the Netherlands by Bridge Entertainment B.V. The AB Groupe dubs of the DB movies and the DBGT special never got any home video releases.

We did get VHS and DVDs of Dragon Ball Z movies 2-4 back in 2003, but they only had the Big Green dub. Finland also got two of the movies. Apart from that I think the Netherlands was the only European territory to receive English-friendly home releases around this time. Your right that the original Dragon Ball movies and GT special dubs were TV-only.