In March 2022, in preparation for my retrospective on Garzey’s Wing, I had the opportunity to interview the industry legend who reminded the world of Tomino’s “masterpiece” back in 2007, Justin Sevakis.
vi:
Do you know anything surrounding how Garzey’s Wing was licensed? Was it chosen directly, or was it part of a package of more desirable titles?
Sevakis:
CPM licensed Garzey before I got there, but general Business Affairs wasn’t too careful about what they licensed. They were Japanese business people, not fans. They probably saw the Tomino credit and made a bid.
vi:
Were titles given to different dubbing studios (TAJ Studios, Audioworks, etc.) with any particular rhyme or reason, such as how well CPM thought it would do, or was it more of just random allocation based on who was free?
Sevakis:
There was some consideration made to giving better shows to better dub studios, but that was years afterwards. Kip was JOD’s motorcycle buddy. The guys in charge of producing the dubs, Karel Havel and Chris Sippel, genuinely did not like anime and didn’t check in much. They were gone or almost gone by the time I got to the company. Tom Wayland took over, and did a much better job.
vi:
Was the DVD menu opening with a 3-second long scream an intentionally comedic choice?
Sevakis:
That is what the authoring house came up with. It made the DVD producer laugh, and by that time everyone knew it was trash, so it stayed.
vi:
If you had never brought Garzey’s Wing back into the limelight with your Buried Garbage column, do you think someone else would have discovered it, and shared it to the world? Or do you think it would be long forgotten, like so many other OVA series?
Sevakis:
Oh sure. The internet loves laughing at garbage, and anything that unintentionally hilarious would’ve become a thing at some point. I just got there first.
The infamous “screaming menu” of Garzey’s Wing
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