Iron Chef, and copyright

I find the original Japanese Iron Chef (1993) fun to watch for everything from the cheesy ceremony to the strange window it affords us into Japanese culture. Unfortunately, it never seems to be released on home video, even in Japan. The other countries' adaptations fail to preserve its compelling charm.

I wonder why it remains unavailable, perhaps some strange rights issue? The intellectual property's certainly not gaining value over time: the show secured something of an overseas cult following for a while, but I'm sure even that's now largely dissolved into the mists of time, and an attempt to revive the show in Japan didn't draw enough of an audience.

Of course, the show's available online via fans' illegal copies, but I wonder why the rights holders do not offer us an easy and affordable legal box set of it.