Someone asked John if Haibane Renmei -- as we know, the greatest anime series ever produced -- is likely to be re-licensed in America. For a simple "no", his answer went at an unnecessary length and on tangents. Some of it was even a bit... strange.

Abe ostensibly took a hiatus from anime following Haibane Renmei and a lot of his recognition, especially among American fans, expired over time. In fact, all four anime series that Yoshitoshi Abe has been involved with have been out of print on American DVD for at least the past two years, and in practical terms, much longer. In effect, a lot of today’s American anime fans aren’t especially familiar with either Haibane Renmei nor the work of Yoshitoshi Abe.

The expiration effect is there, but is the lack of DVDs important? Or at least, as important as it used to be? Remember, we hear whining about piracy destroying DVDs all the time. Rips and fansubs are out there for anyone who cares. And in fact, people do watch them (Choux is going it right now).

The other funny thing is, licensing is not only about DVDs and TV broadcast anymore. Crunchyroll now shows Eirin and Glass Mask for crying out loud. Would would prevent, say, Hulu to show Haibane Renmei? Only money. And you know, Hulu already shows Honey and Clover.

I reckon there's more to the topic than John considered in his answer.