My Japanimation obsession began with one movie in 1990 - Akira. Over the years I rented it countless times, watched it every time on the Sci-Fi channel, and basically obsessed about it. When DVD starting hitting the market I was sure Akira would be one of the first animes to hop on the digital bandwagon. I mean, this movie was timeless, right? It had crossed the language border. But to no avail. The fate of Akira on DVD loomed in limbo for many, many years. So I moved on to other obsessions. Simpsons, Lain, Ghost in the Shell, Futurama–But none of them filled the void of Akira. Then, Todd McFarlane re-lit my flame for it with the release of Tetsuo and Kaneda toys. The memories came flooding back in. Now, my Akira obsession has hit a fevor pitch and I NEED to see Akira. I will whither away if I don’t! But where? The VHS versions are no where to be seen and the DVD is stuck in a “who owns the rights” battle..er..wait, is it? Flashback mid 2000. Pioneer buys the rights up for Akira and begins plotting for the return of the wonderous movie. They plan a redub of the English track, plan a 2001 spring release to theaters with the DVD to follow a few months later! Wahoo! I’m quite excited. My life will be complete once again. :) If you think I’m nuts read what Harry Knowles and his crazy staff have to say about it at Ain’t It Cool News.