Dead company and Obtaining licence?

#1 It only puts it back on the market if their parent company (or the company itself) sells off the rights or if the original rights holder offers the rights to another company. I would suggest looking for English e-mail contacts on the original company's site and asking for who to talk to through that channel. In Japan, many companies are open to fan-based works, but US companies like to squash them...especially if the rights get picked up by one of the biggies here. Even if you get the go-ahead from the Japanese company, it does not mean that you will have the right to make it here. But you will know who to contact down the road. The rights may have already been sold to another company that you can contact, even if they do not currently have distribution/translation rights at the moment (or until the current company is out of business).

#2 Well the US rights were held by a company that is completely dead and had no parent company. Is it possible that someone who worked for that company could personally hold those rights?

#3 For this, you really should contact an IP lawyer. You should also consider a search of the US PTO for clues as to what has happened to their intellectual property.

...with no intention to ever release it.

However we will eventually want to release it...

Well, which is it?

Just because a company goes bankrupt doesn't mean that the company ceases to exist. All of their property is eventually liquidated to pay taxes, payroll, vendors and creditors, then maybe owners and shareholders (but usually not, at this point money is rarely left).

#4 Most likely not. Usually in such cases, the right transfer back to the original grantor unless they were purchased for a specific period of time and had nothing about the company going under (rare). Your best course of action is to contact the Japanese company and see who has the North American rights. They may have been reissued as soon as the company closed its doors.

EDIT:
It would be extremely stupid for a company to have a single person have the rights as that person could leave and take any use of that property with them.

#5 Alright.

So, noone owns the right for the show. But there is a second season and someone is buying the rights for that. So I could try and contact them about the rights for the first season?

Sorta weird for them to make a second season and try and pass it off as something new. Even if they slightly changed the name (from shakugan no shana to shakugan no shana second)

Well ill send them off an e-mail.

#6 Braedon - there are different types of "rights". Just because a company owns rights to distribute a series, does not give them rights for everything else to do with that IP (hence you can see why someone else had to have rights to get the second season). You should contact the actual IP holders to see who to talk to about securing the right to use their IP in a game.

#7 Alright. Im sending them an e-mail with both original english and a google translated version. I hope its not as bad as when you translate into english and "I went to the park" become's "my area big tree"

#8 Usually, a game company buys the rights to develop a game based on an intellectual property. Even if no company owns the game rights, they still might not give you permission. You might need to get a good portion of the game completed before they'd consider even discussing the IP. Without something to show for yourself, they have no reason to trust you can even complete the project.

#9 I would send a letter not an email. Put in some demo material.

You can make the concept game on your systems as long as you don't release the game
or sell it. If it's just one your pc then it's legal as an "artwork" I have Planetside 2d
and Star Wars: Clone Wars 2d just on my systems as a work of art.

Then show them your demo. Email is just gonna wind up in the delete basket.