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Anime SKUs Ep. #2: ADV & Friends – Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here

The Anime SKUs series takes a look at anime publishers and the formats of their stock-keeping unit numbers, or SKUs. Join us as we applaud consistency and complain about things nobody ever cared about.

Today on Anime SKUs we’re looking at the anime publisher A.D. Vision (later ADV Films), and the SKU system used by them and some of their descendants. The ADV system stands out for it’s visual uniqueness, with a large slash in the center of all codes, and for its freeform numbering that makes it nearly impossible to define hard rules.

In order to even attempt to bring order to the madness, I cataloged every single known (US market) title to use the ADV SKU format into a spreadsheet, by hand, which can be found HERE, if you want to play along at home.

As always, please point out any mistakes or omissions in the comments.

In order to prevent this article from ballooning in size any further than already has, this page only concerns US market anime releases from the following labels:

  • A.D. Vision
  • ADV Films
  • ADV Kids
  • AEsir Holdings
  • SoftCel Pictures (1st incarnation, 1995-1999)
  • SoftCel Pictures (2nd incarnation, 2002-2005)

It does not include any titles from the following:

  • Any international division of ADV
  • Sentai Filmworks
  • Sentai Kids
  • Maiden Japan
  • Kraken Releasing
  • Switchblade Pictures
  • Happy Carrot
  • SoftCel Pictures (3rd incarnation, 2017)
  • ADV Manga
  • ADV Music
  • AnimeTrax

And without further ado, the general format used by almost all releases:

α[αα]β[ββ]/γγγ[δ]

[ ] implies optional. This code can be broken down into four main sections: the format code, series code, volume code, and content indicator. Codes are almost never reused once solicited, even if the release is cancelled.

α[αα] : Format Code

The format code indicates the home video format of a release. Originally three letters, it was later shortened to just one for new releases in November 2000.

  • VHS (VHS, before November 2000)
  • V (VHS, November 2000 onward)
  • CAV (LaserDisc, CAV-mode)
  • CLV (LaserDisc, CLV-mode)
  • DVD (DVD, before November 2000)
  • D (DVD, November 2000 onward)
  • Q (Mini DVD, a.k.a. “AniMini”)
  • B (Blu-ray, see note)

While all new titles made the switch from VHS to V and DVD to D in November 2000, most (but not all) in-progress series would continue to use the old system until their final volume. Later re-releases and collections would use the new format.

To date, only four titles have made the jump to Blu-ray (not counting those transferred to Sentai Filmworks). Of those four titles, Lady Death (BLD/001, BLD/002) is the only one to properly use the B format code. Kino’s Journey (DKJ/400) and Elfen Lied (DELF/120, DELF/130, DELF/140) just classified their Blu-ray releases as DVDs. Saiyuki (DSY/100B) would also classify it as a DVD, but with a B in the VHS content indicator field (which is nonstandard).

ADV announced, and then cancelled, two titles for the HD-WMA format in 2005: Noir (DNO/001HD) and Full Metal Panic! (DFM/001HD). These would have been combo packs with a standard DVD alongside a 720p DVD-ROM playable in Windows Media Center. Similar to the Saiyuki Blu-ray, these would instead indicate their format at the end of the code with the indicator HD.

β[ββ] : Series Code

An alphabetic code that uniquely identifies a single series. Originally one letter, then two letters, then 3, as they ran out of codes. usually, the code is simply a few letters of the official English title (Y for Devil Hunter Yohko, MN for Sailor Moon, ARM for Air: The Motion Picture), but it could also be from the Japanese title (CV for Sorcerer on the Rocks, original title Chivas 1-2-3, or MI for Grrl Power!, original title Makasete Iruka), or even a translation of the Japanese title (GWW for Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick, original title Hakugei Densetsu, translates to Legend of the Great White Whale).

There are two series codes which do not line up this way: MF is used for Mezzo DSA (I assume it stands for Mezzo Forte, the prequel film which ADV did not have), and CYB is used for 009-1 (I assume ADV incorrectly assumed it was related to Cyborg 009).

There are also two series codes which contain a number: BS2 was used for Blue Seed Beyond, but only on the standalone DVD release (all others used BS like the TV series). and CH1, which was used for City Hunter TV Season 1, but only on VHS (DVD releases used CH like the rest of the franchise). It’s unclear if the cancelled VHS tapes for season 2 were ever solicited, but if they were, they likely used CH2.

In general, a series code is used for an entire series and associated OVAs and movies, (SL being used for five Slayers movies and 2 OVA series), but occasionally there will be strange splits, such as BK being used for Jing: King of Bandits TV, and BKJ being used for the OVA.

Finally, a series code is supposed to remain constant for its associated series, but there are a few exceptions:

  • For a single series that has multiple series codes for different seasons/entries, a “complete series” box set may result in a code change. As an example, Divergence Eve was assigned code DVE, and its sequel series Misaki Chronicles was assigned MSC. Hoever, the 2008 (DDVE/BX2) and 2009 (DDVE/100) complete series sets with both seasons use the DVE series code of season 1. For more information, see the “Combos” section below.
  • The DiC Knights of the Zodiac dub (KZ) and the uncut ADV dub of Saint Seiya (SE) use different series codes, presumably as ADV viewed them as different series with different titles. Robotech (RT) is separated from the uncut Super Dimension Fortress Macross (MCR), Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross (CR), and Genesis Climber Mospeada (MO) series codes for a similar reason. This practice was not universal, as MN was used for both edited Sailor Moon and uncut Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon releases.
  • Sol Bianca used the series code SL on VHS, but S for its lone LaserDisc release, and it is unclear why. Neon Genesis Evangelion originally used the series code EV from August 1996 to March 2004, but would switch to NGE for all remaining releases, again for unclear reasons.
  • Hello Kitty’s Paradise was split into separate English-dubbed (HK) and Spanish-dubbed (HKS) codes. While some other ADV series had included Spanish dubbing on DVD (Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 as an example), they were never in separate sets.

γγγ : Volume Code

The volume code uniquely identifies a specific release against all other for the same title, and is the most complex and exception-filled part. There are very few hard rules, and this is more of a general overview, broken up by platform. Unless otherwise stated, any exceptions or rules presented are assumed to be non-exhaustive.

LaserDisc

With just 20 solicited titles for the platform, there’s not much variation, and only three volume codes were used:

  • 001 (Standalone title, volume 1, or complete series)
  • 002 (Volume 2)
  • 003 (Volume 3)

VHS

All but two series (Devil Hunter Yohko and Guy) follow a simple pattern. The volume code is always only numeric, and the first digit is always 0. All releases contain exactly one VHS tape. Volume codes take the form of 001, 002, 003, … where each new release gets the next number. Changes in content indicators do not normally result in a new number. As an example, the dubbed release of the second volume of MAPS is VHSMA/002D, even though it was the fourth release for the series. This numbering extends to re-releases with multiple volumes on one tape, and the next MAPS release, the complete series on one tape, is VHSMA/003D. There are a few slight exceptions, and this list is not exhaustive:

  • Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie‘s first release was VHSHH/001D, but the second was VHH/010, when it should have been VHH/002.
  • The subtitled release of Galaxy Fraulein Yuna was split over two volumes (VHSGY/001 and VHSGY/002), and the dubbed release is a single volume (VHSGY/001D). As the contents of VHSGY/001 and VHSGY/001D do not directly line up, it should have been given a new number of VHSGY/003D. (003S and 003D would later be used for the sequel OVA series Galaxy Fraulein Yuna Returns).
  • The English-dubbed “Essential Collection” VHS tapes for Hello Kitty’s Paradise use the DVD format of #00 (VHK/100, VHL/200) instead of the VHS format, and should have been VHK/006 and VHK/007.

Devil Hunter Yohko was ADV’s first title, and it uses a different numbering scheme based on the included episodes for each volume instead of a sequential release number. Episode 4 is actually a music video compilation, which contributes to the odd numbering. For the subtitled release, this is relatively straightforward, but things take a turn for the non-standard with the dubbed releases.

  • VHSY/001 (Episode 1, subbed)
  • VHSY/023 (Episodes 2-3, subbed)
  • VHSY/004 (Episode 4, subbed)
  • VHSY/005 (Episode 5, subbed)
  • VHSY/045 (Episodes 4-5, subbed)
  • VHSY/006 (Episode 6, subbed)
  • AVD/001 (Episode 1 “Special Edition”, dubbed)
  • VHSY/023D (Episodes 2-4, dubbed [2-3], subbed [4])
  • VHSY/005D (Episode 5, dubbed)
  • VHSY/006D (Episode 6, dubbed)

AVD/001 is completely nonstandard, and I do not know where it came from or how it was derived. Additionally, VHSY/023D should be VHSY/234D to include all the episodes on the tape (and that’s even ignoring the only ⅔ correct dub indicator). Thankfully, episodes 5 and 6 are back to normal.

The other special case is Guy, a two episode adult anime that ADV managed to pump out eight releases of, all on VHS. As mentioned in the content indicator section below, the SKU system used for VHS has no way of indicating both the language and the edits of a release at the same time, so they really didn’t even try with Guy. Guy also featured ADV’s one and only multi-tape VHS box set, adding another special case to a title already full of them (it does not use the same numbering for boxes DVD sets would later use):

  • VHSG/001U (Episode 1, uncut, subtitled)
  • VHSG/001G (Episode 1, edited, subtitled)
  • VHSG/002 (Episode 2, uncut, subtitled)
  • VHSG/003 (Complete, single tape, uncut, subtitled)
  • VHSG/004 (Complete, single tape, edited, subtitled)
  • VHSG/BOXU (Complete, box set, uncut, subtitled)
  • VHSG/DUBU (Complete, single tape, uncut, dubbed)
  • VHSG/DUBG (Complete, single tape, edited, dubbed)

DVD/Blu-ray

Likely in response to the issues with the content indicator system used for VHS, the volume code system was completely redesigned for DVD, and with it came more complexity, more edge cases, and more exceptions. More so than any other section, the rules (if they can be called that) are more of suggestions, and titles frequently do not follow them.

The DVD volume code system can even further be broken down into two subsystems. The first, which will be referred to as the “standalone” system, works very similarly to the older VHS system, with sequential numbers indicating successive releases. It’s unclear exactly what qualified a title to use the standalone system, but in general, it appears it needed to meet the following requirements:

  • The initial DVD release of the title is complete. Either it’s a standalone film or OVA, or the entire series is included.
  • The initial DVD release was in a single DVD case (of any thickness), and was not a box set or thinkpak
  • The title is less than 13 episodes.

All films and single-episode OVAs use the “standalone” system, but multi-episode titles that still meet the criteria only appear to use it about 50% of the time, otherwise using the more common “series” system described below.

For the titles that do use the standalone system, the numbering is very simple. The first release is 001, the next release is 002, and so in. If the title is then broken up into smaller volumes, they will be numbered 101, 102, etc. As an example, the initial DVD release of 801 T.T.S. Airbats (DAB/001) contained the entire series on 2 discs. Later, separate volumes for each disc were announced. While they were cancelled before release, volume 1 was listed with the SKU of DAB/101, and volume 2 would have likely been DAB/102.

For the “series” numbering system, the releases are again broken down into categories, one final time. Each of these categories has its own numbering rules.

0## is used for most standalone volumes, with ## representing the volume number. In the case of a series that includes multiple seasons or OVAs, this can result in ## not lining up with the volume number on the spine. As an example, the series code for Sakura Wars, SW, covers two different OVA series, along with the TV series, all in the same numbering sequence. As such, DSW/004 is labeled TV volume 1, but is still the fourth volume for the series code as a whole, as it was preceded by both OVA series in DVDSW/001, DSW/002, and DSW/003. While it is possible for this number to get as large as 020, it is usually a single digit (001 – 009) as to not lead to confusion with other categories. The Fuccons is a special case, as ADV numbered the volumes 0 to 3 instead of 1 to 4, and the codes followed suit (DFCC/000 to DFCC/003).

BX# is used for boxes and thinpaks. The number is sequential for each successive box for a series. If a single volume comes with a mostly empty box, it is given a BX# code instead of a 0## one. As an example, for the series Gilgamesh, DGLM/001 is the standalone release of volume 1, DGLM/BX1 is volume 1 bundled with a box, and DGLM/BX2 is the thinpak complete series released a few years later. DVD “fatcases” which contain multiple discs, but are not actually a cardboard box, are supposed to use the #00 format instead, but a few use BX# instead. Additionally, metal tins should use TN1. This format only supports a maximum of nine box sets per series. While normally more than enough, this led to issues with Robotech, made even worse by counting the DVD fatcase releases as boxes. The 2003 New Generation fatcase has the SKU DRT/BX10, which at four characters for the volume code, is completely non standard. Instead of continuing on with that, the “Remastered” box sets use a completely different format of 1D#, starting back at 1. But for the final box set, collecting all of the “Remastered” discs, instead of 1D8, they went with DRT/BX100, which is even more non-standard (and has a five letter volume code!).

#00 is used for complete series and many-volume sets that come in single DVD cases of varying thickness, instead of a box of discrete cases like BX#. This number is sequential for each set or re-release. As an example, for Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, DNS/100 is the 2004 release of Collection 1 (Volumes 1-5), DNS/200 is 2004 Collection 2 (Volumes 6-10+Movie), DNS/300 is the 2008 release of Collection 1, and DNS/400 is 2008 Collection 2.

10# is used for re-releases of a sequence of single-disc volumes. As an example, Burn Up Excess was originally released over four volumes in 2002 (DBX/001 to DBX/004). In 2005, ADV started to re-release each individual volume, leading to DBX/101 for volume 1, and DBX/102 for volume 2 (they cancelled the line before volumes 3 or 4 could be re-released).

0#0 is used when a sequence of single-disc volumes is re-released as a smaller number of multi-disc volumes, and there at least three of them. If there are only two, they are treated as many-volume sets and use #00 instead. As an example, Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 was first released over six 1-disc volumes (DVDBG/001 to DVDBG/002), later they were re-released under the Essentials banner as three 2-disc volumes (DBG/010, DBG/020, and DBG/030).

TN1 is used for metal tins with lids. No title received more than one. This does not apply to “Paul Champagne” boxes (which resemble normal cardboard boxes with an open side and no lid) made for Neon Genesis Evangelion or Gasaraki.

BBX is used for the Best Buy exclusive sets put out between 2007 and 2009. Every one of these is either a previous complete series set or two half-series sets shrink wrapped together. The only uniquely identifying mark is a new barcode/SKU sticker.

OTHER SPECIAL CASES OF NOTE:

  • Despite having a distinct series code (BS2 vs BS for the TV series), Blue Seed Beyond’s standalone DVD release has a volume number of 5 (DBS2/005). Presumably this was due to the TV series volumes being DBS/001 to DBS/004, but this is not in line with any other franchise split over multiple series codes, and it should have been DBS2/001.
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion used DEV/DC1 and DEV/DC2 for the standalone “Director’s Cut” releases of episodes 21-24.
  • New Fist of the North Star had a “Blockbuster Exclusive” set (DFNS/BLK) that contained the entire series in a single DVD case.

Mini DVD

All standalone Mini DVD releases use the format 00#, with a sequential volume number. The singular exception is Kino’s Journey. Only the 3rd episode was released on Mini DVD, and as such, it uses the code QKJ/003. The Mini DVD/Manga bundle for Cromartie High School is actually coded as a manga release (MCM/001) to prevent overlap with the standalone release of the same episode (QCHS/001)

[δ] : Content Indicator (optional, VHS only)

Optional, and exclusively used for VHS releases, this either indicates the language of the release or the level of censorship, but not both at the same time:

  • D (Dubbed in English)
  • S (Subtitled in English)
  • G (General release, edited)
  • U (Uncut)
  • E (Special case, see below)

Most releases either carry a D or an S to indicate the language., but this is not universal. If the format code is VHS, a release is assumed to be subtitled if no indicator is present. This is due to ADV’s practice at the time of releasing a subtitled set fest, and not planning for a dubbed release (thus no S on the subbed release). Normally, if a title was also being released dubbed at the same time, or there were plans for it, an S would be added, even if said dubbed release never actually materialized. Panzer Dragoon (VHPZ/001) and Samurai Shodown (VHSSS/001) are exceptions, and are dubbed despite the lack of an indicator. If the format code is instead V, this inverts, with no indicator implying a dubbed release instead of a subtitled one. These practices may even change volume to volume. As an example, 801 T.T.S. Airbats‘ 3 subtitled VHS releases use the codes (VHSAB/001, VHSAB/002S, VHSAB/003S).

Instead of a language indicator, a set may instead carry G or U to indicate a “general release” (edited) or uncut release. There are used almost exclusively on adult titles. Similar to the assumed language indicators, if a set does not carry either G or U, it is assumed to be uncut, as not titles was released on VHS edited before a later uncut VHS release. With no way to specify both the language and the censorship in a single letter, so series had to get creative like Guy, which used the completely nonstandard VHSG/003 for subtitled/uncut, VHSG/004 for subtitled/edited, VHSG/DUBU for dubbed/uncut, and VHSG/DUBG for dubbed/edited.

The subtitled “Special Edition” release of Gunsmith Cats episode 1 used the content indicator E (VHSGS/001E), presumably for edition. However, this is the only time an E content indicator is ever used, even for other VHS “Special Edition” sets.

Combo Releases

Occasionally, multiple titles with different series codes would be bundled together into a single set. All were on DVD, all contained the complete series or film inside, and all but one special case (Go Nagai’s Collector’s Set, see below) contained titles from exactly two series codes. The format the SKU would take for these releases depended on the relationship between the included titles.

For “cross-franchise” combo releases, where the titles span two series codes, things work differently, and use a completely different SKU format:

Dφ[φφ]/ω[ωω]

Where φ[φφ] is the series code of the first title, and ω[ωω] is the series code of the second. The order of the two is somewhat arbitrary, and there even exists the same two titles, New Fist of the North Star and Neo-Tokyo, being put into nearly-identical combo sets a year apart with codes that just swap the series (DFNS/NT in 2008, and DNT/FNS in 2009). This swap trick was only used once, and the other time a duplicate combo was re-solicited, a 2 was added to the end instead (MazinKaizer and Shuten Doji, DMK/SD and DMK/SD2). Additionally, all of the “cross-franchise” combo sets consist of 2 DVD cases shrink wrapped together, with the barcode/SKU only on a sticker. The one exception is the Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross/Genesis Climber Mospeada combo set, which consisted of 2 DVD fatcases in a chipboard box. There also exist two more combo sets which do not fit cleanly into either the single-franchise or cross-series categories.

The first speacial case is the Shinkai Collection box (DTPP/002). Containing The Place Promised in Our Early Days (TPP) and Voices of a Distant Star (VD) in a slipbox with a soundtrack CD. The set is coded like it’s a single-franchise set, except that the titles aren’t actually related, barring the same director. And even if they were, it should have been DVD/002, as Voices is the older title.

The second special case is a set that was never actually released, but was solicited. The Go Nagai’s Collector’s Set (DSD/100) would have contained Delinquent in Drag (DE), Kekko Kamen (KK), and Shuten Doji (SD) all complete in one set. At the time, all had only seen VHS releases, and a combo set serving as the jump to another format is unique. Similar to the Shinkai Collection Box, these series have been joined based on their creator, and are not part of the same series. This is also the only combo set to contain three series codes instead of the standard two.

Cool ADV logos in header image courtesy of the Audiovisual Identity Database.

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