Well, it has been quite a while since I have discussed the possibility of One Piece receiving some kind of release in the United Kingdom, one that essentially has not happened due to the license for it. But fear not, for I have some news about the situation just in time for Christmas Day!
โฆokay, I admit, I have known this information for quite some time but I have had to keep on top of alot of things lately, such as coursework, school and keeping an active social life like any other normal teenager. Also, considering there are no UK conventions set between November and January, at least to the best of my knowledge, it wasn't even near the top of my to-do list. Regardless, I do have something to discuss.
While nothing has changed about the situation (Toei still wants to charge by the thousands for each and every single episode), Manga have thought about purchasing the rights to some of the movies, since some of the more recent films have been quite popular amongest the fanbase. Unfortunatly Toei, making another one of their masterstroke moves, would let manga release such masterpieces as Strong World... as long as they released the first nine movies beforehand in order of their original release.
Now, this wouldn't be as bad if we had a similair situation to countries like Germany and Italy (who have either started dubbing or already have dubbed those movies), but considering FUNimation has dubbed a grand total of one, the first 7 releases would have to be sub only and considering the type of series One Piece is, that is an extremely hard thing to mass market to the average UK citizen.
Now, it is worth mentioning that the movie licenses should be cheaper to purchase, meaning far less copies would have to be sold in order for the product to make a profit. Since Kazรฉ (at least the German branch) have the rights to the movies, that could make a UK/European co-release alot easier, especially since Manga have worked with Kazรฉ before. It also gives us two notable choices, rather than the possibility we had before. I do plan to start the campaign with a better established goal in the new year because the chances of some kind of release happening is growing bigger and what it needs is a real boost in terms of people who will buy the products and the company KNOWING that people will. So when I make the huge explaination thread explaining exactly what we'll need we do on New Years Day, you will need to spread it wide and far because it will crash and burn otherwise. And this time, I promise to start "One Piece in the UK: The Campaign"!
Oh and I asked what the position was on the fan favourite series Dragon Ball Z Kai. Well, I got a response in that Manga could probably purchase the rightsโฆ as long as they released the original series it was based on first. Make of that what you will.