Funimation Featured on Anime Production Committees For Three Titles in Winter 2020 Season

[eledoremassis02]

Didnt see this until now, not sure how I feel about it

https://boundingintocomics.com/2020/04/ ... 20-season/

[Matches Malone]

Funimation can use their international expertise to better market the show to foreign viewers.

This might prevent things such as big delays from when something is released in Japan and when it goes overseas.

Funimation is now able to take part ownership of some titles directly when bringing them to the rest of the world. There’s no fear about losing the rights to these shows either

This is a good move, as it'll prevent another Full Metal Alchemist incident from taking place.

There’s a future where Funimation and companies like it are on the production committee for more and more shows.

I'm OK with this from a marketing standpoint but...

Funimation is trusted by the rest of the committee to provide detailed input to the Japanese companies regarding what fans abroad would like to see.

I'm anything but OK with this. What American companies claim fans want and what fans actually want are 2 very different things. The problem with these companies is they try to cater to people who will never buy anime or manga. It also doesn't help that Americans (this is who Funimation mostly is going to represent) don't have the best taste in entertainment, so I don't really see this going too well.

[Planetnamek]

Funimation can use their international expertise to better market the show to foreign viewers.

This might prevent things such as big delays from when something is released in Japan and when it goes overseas.

Funimation is now able to take part ownership of some titles directly when bringing them to the rest of the world. There’s no fear about losing the rights to these shows either

This is a good move, as it'll prevent another Full Metal Alchemist incident from taking place.

There’s a future where Funimation and companies like it are on the production committee for more and more shows.

I'm OK with this from a marketing standpoint but...

Funimation is trusted by the rest of the committee to provide detailed input to the Japanese companies regarding what fans abroad would like to see.

I'm anything but OK with this. What American companies claim fans want and what fans actually want are 2 very different things. The problem with these companies is they try to cater to people who will never buy anime or manga. It also doesn't help that Americans (this is who Funimation mostly is going to represent) don't have the best taste in entertainment, so I don't really see this going too well.

Japan does not always have the best tastes in entertainment either, some of the stuff that gets greenlit over there really makes me double over in shock, Dear S comes to mind, I'm eternally grateful the USA never got a show as fucked up and creepy as that one.

What happened with Full Metal Alchemist? I'm not real familiar with that show so i'm not aware of what the incident was.

[Matches Malone]

Japan does not always have the best tastes in entertainment either, some of the stuff that gets greenlit over there really makes me double over in shock.

What happened with Full Metal Alchemist? I'm not real familiar with that show so i'm not aware of what the incident was.

Most of the out there content they make remains pretty small. What I'm worried about is Funimation getting their hands on something like Attack on Titan or My Hero Academia. I'd be very happy if they got those shows to more people, but I don't want them anywhere near the creative process. The last thing I want is for anime to go from being the voice of an author to the voice of a "creative committee".

They couldn't renew the home video right so they went back to Aniplex and were being sold for extremely high prices.

[XanatosVanBadass]

Japan does not always have the best tastes in entertainment either, some of the stuff that gets greenlit over there really makes me double over in shock.

What happened with Full Metal Alchemist? I'm not real familiar with that show so i'm not aware of what the incident was.

Most of the out there content they make remains pretty small. What I'm worried about is Funimation getting their hands on something like Attack on Titan or My Hero Academia. I'd be very happy if they got those shows to more people, but I don't want them anywhere near the creative process. The last thing I want is for anime to go from being the voice of an author to the voice of a "creative committee".

They couldn't renew the home video right so they went back to Aniplex and were being sold for extremely high prices.

More over, the Japanese in general have better taste than we do in regards to anime. There ARE of course exceptions (Akira was a flop in Japan as I recall). What you said about Attack on Titan is interesting considering the er . . . Problematic direction the manga is supposed to take complete with antisemetic allegations. I wonder if Funi would try and have the anime revised to remove the unfortunate implications of the story. If so, I don’t really know how to feel about that.

As much as I think anime could stand to be less problematic, it feels even more so for a western company to dictate to an Asian one what content is “acceptable”. IMO anyway.

[Matches Malone]

What you said about Attack on Titan is interesting considering the er . . . Problematic direction the manga is supposed to take complete with antisemetic allegations.

I wonder if Funi would try and have the anime revised to remove the unfortunate implications of the story.

If so, I don’t really know how to feel about that.

As much as I think anime could stand to be less problematic, it feels even more so for a western company to dictate to an Asian one what content is “acceptable”. IMO anyway.

I'm not caught up with the anime much less the manga so please no spoilers.

I think AOT is too big for them or anyone to dictate what can and can't be shown in it. Are they even on an AOT committee ? I think it's worth mentioning that we don't even know what percentage of these projects Funimation will be funding. If they're only funding 5-10% of them, then that's how much their voice will be worth. But if that number goes up to 20-50%, then things will start becoming problematic.

Same here. On one hand, I think one's artistic vision shouldn't be touched by any outside voices. On the other, there are red lines even I'd draw in the sand, one of them being anti religious messages. I wouldn't blame anyone if they decided to leave that out of the anime, but I also don't want it to open the door to leaving anything someone considers offensive out.

The thing is, the Asian companies are the ones asking for Funi's opinions, no one's forcing them to do that. As great as it is to see anime reach far out of Japan and become an international success, there's also a downside to it, this being one of them.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

So basically this will be strengthening Funimation's monopoly on the anime industry? That could be very good or very bad depending on how things pan out.

[Matches Malone]

So basically this will be strengthening Funimation's monopoly on the anime industry? That could be very good or very bad depending on how things pan out.

If Funimation are allowed on these committees, then surely others will be as well. It's a matter of funding, if a company wants to invest in a show, they're allowed in.

[JulieYBM]

I have never held interest in seeing the desires of American fans of Japanese cartoons and comics catered to in said cartoons and comics. Otaku are interesting because of the historical context that saw their original birth and we see this reflected in the use of moe characters or various technical aspects of hobbies. What is the content of the American fan? Desperately trying to defend the very manhood and institutionalized masculinity that Otaku have gladly shirked? It'd be a polar opposite of content.

That being said, this will never affect Dragon Ball. If FUNimation couldn't get more Dragon Ball made in 2001-2002 they will never get more Dragon Ball made now.

[Planetnamek]

I have never held interest in seeing the desires of American fans of Japanese cartoons and comics catered to in said cartoons and comics. Otaku are interesting because of the historical context that saw their original birth and we see this reflected in the use of moe characters or various technical aspects of hobbies. What is the content of the American fan? Desperately trying to defend the very manhood and institutionalized masculinity that Otaku have gladly shirked? It'd be a polar opposite of content.

That being said, this will never affect Dragon Ball. If FUNimation couldn't get more Dragon Ball made in 2001-2002 they will never get more Dragon Ball made now.

Japan have their own institutionalized issues though: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/the-troub ... nd-fascism

[Matches Malone]

This will never affect Dragon Ball. If FUNimation couldn't get more Dragon Ball made in 2001-2002 they will never get more Dragon Ball made now.

This has been affecting DB for a few years now. Shueisha established a Dragon Ball room which is used to not only deliver what Japanese fans want from the franchise, but also international fans. I don't know if Funimation has been asked for input, but considering they're the American and now UK right holders to the franchise, I assume they have. Broly's popularity resulted in Kale being introduced and later Broly himself being rebooted in his own movie. As far as I know, Broly isn't the most popular character in Japan, and his movie made less than half of the overall 125 million box office gross. This will probably result in international fans getting even more consideration moving forward.

[JulieYBM]

I have never held interest in seeing the desires of American fans of Japanese cartoons and comics catered to in said cartoons and comics. Otaku are interesting because of the historical context that saw their original birth and we see this reflected in the use of moe characters or various technical aspects of hobbies. What is the content of the American fan? Desperately trying to defend the very manhood and institutionalized masculinity that Otaku have gladly shirked? It'd be a polar opposite of content.

That being said, this will never affect Dragon Ball. If FUNimation couldn't get more Dragon Ball made in 2001-2002 they will never get more Dragon Ball made now.

Japan have their own institutionalized issues though: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/the-troub ... nd-fascism

All militaries are fascistic. They'd have to completely ignore all real-world military uniform designs to avoid fascistic designs.

[XanatosVanBadass]

I mean, it goes far beyond mere aesthetics. Then again this isn’t the right place to discuss the pros and cons of AOT and the like, especially since I was already asked not to spoil.

[10gigtriforce]

huh well thats a bit worrying. Sony has enough control over Japanese media companies as is. them using their animation branch to weasel more in could end badly

[Majin Buu]

I have never held interest in seeing the desires of American fans of Japanese cartoons and comics catered to in said cartoons and comics. Otaku are interesting because of the historical context that saw their original birth and we see this reflected in the use of moe characters or various technical aspects of hobbies. What is the content of the American fan? Desperately trying to defend the very manhood and institutionalized masculinity that Otaku have gladly shirked? It'd be a polar opposite of content.

Agreed. I personally don't want American licencees having influence in the creative process of these shows since one of the appealing aspects of being anime fan for me is being able to experience media (and animation to boot) that isn't primarily made for an American audience.

[Matches Malone]

One of the appeals of being anime fan is being able to experience media that isn't primarily made for an American audience.

Same here, but that's the price you pay for something getting popular in another country, they start getting a voice in the creative process. What I'm afraid is going to happen is that we're going to start seeing multiple versions of these shows, the intended version released in Japan, and an edited/altered version for the west.

[Majin Buu]

What I'm afraid is going to happen is that we're going to start seeing multiple versions of these shows, the intended version released in Japan, and an edited/altered version for the west.

So in essence, Funimation could potentially take us back to the days of "reversioning".

I can't go back to that.

[Matches Malone]

So in essence, Funimation could potentially take us back to the days of "reversioning".

I can't go back to that.

If their investment is big enough, then yes, they can do whatever they want. They could start giving notes to studios about what they can and can't do (which would require a pretty big investment). What I'm hoping is that they're only going to help get shows made to have more to sell, which I'm all for. Kai's Buu arc wouldn't have happened without outside influence, so hopefully it's just more of that.

[JulieYBM]

I mean, it goes far beyond mere aesthetics. Then again this isn’t the right place to discuss the pros and cons of AOT and the like, especially since I was already asked not to spoil.

LOL, I forgot about that aspect. Still, I must be missing something because Shingeki no Kyo-jin seems to be screaming "fascism will never work" to me just going by the focus of the characters really trying to avoid genocide.

[Majin Buu]

What I'm hoping is that they're only going to help get shows made to have more to sell, which I'm all for. Kai's Buu arc wouldn't have happened without outside influence, so hopefully it's just more of that.

I'm also hoping that's all this is, just a way for them to have a bigger cut of the profits.