Expert: Akire - 5/3/2009

Question
QUESTION: I was wandering, if a manga was being released and is currently shipping in the US, does that mean the Anime would eventually be licensed for the US as well?

ANSWER: That is a very good question.
Of course the answer that most fans would like to hear is that an anime that follows a manga would also be licensed if the manga were already licensed in the U.S. Unfortunately due to many factors beyond the control fans, this is not always the case. It really depends on how well the manga sells in the U.S. before it's even considered to be licensed, then there's the difficult process of not only licensing, but also casting, editing, and dubbing the series.
In the end, it really all depends on popularity of the series as a manga and its potential profit as an anime as viewed upon by the licensing companies in the U.S.

In short, there's always a possibility for an anime to be released, whether or not the manga is released already isn't always a factor but it is a good sign. However, don't count on any eventual releases because you might accidentally get your hopes up. Even with series already released, if it does poorly enough in terms of profits then companies have every right to drop a project as they wish. I wish your series the best of luck in being licensed as an anime and I hope somehow that my answer helped.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you and it did indeed help. The series in question would be "Rosario + Vampire" The first season of the Manga is on its 6-7th volume in the U.S. and the second season of the Manga hasn't been licensed yet. And the second season of the  anime finished its run I think in Dec of 08 in Japan. I couldn't help but noticed the large amounts of AMV's and full episodes on youtube which makes me believe that it's been fairly popular. I really grew attached this anime and I'm really hoping that it get's licensed for the U.S. So my next question is, is there any websight that may show just how well an anime/manga is selling in the U.S.?

Answer
A good followup question.
Unfortunately, there is not such site that really shows that specific information.

The best thing I can recommend is to follow this page
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8517

but also to just follow anime news network for up to date news on anything anime. If it is licensed, they will be the first to release the news. Otherwise, I know that Rosario + Vampire has definitely gained popularity and so, in my opinion, it should be licensed, but that's just my prediction. It is a fairly new series and the manga seems to have recently released as well so I think it may be a while so I don't want to get your hopes up.

I hope this helps in some way and I hope it gets licensed soon.