Dragon Box Kickstarter - Would you fund it?

[coola]

I've got mail from Crunchyroll about anime news, there also is link to Kickstarter campaign for NA release of Skip Beat anime https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/85 ... t_20160402 If Funimation did similar Kickstarter campaign for American Dragon Box of DB/Movies/GT, would you fund it?

[Iberian_Saiyan]

No. Funimation has the means to support themselves releasing it. Heck, they could have already released all Dragon Box content with the success of the Orange Bricks.

[voltlunok]

Man they're doing this again?! I was grumpy when they did that kickstarter for a new Escaflowne dub! Companies are getting really comfy with abusing kickstarter...its given me the spooks.

As for the topic question...no, I wouldn't fund it. They have the money to do it on their own, they would just abuse kickstarter to have Joe Public cover the costs of production so they make a bigger profit.

[TheatreStyleKai]

Depends if there was any really compelling backer rewards. Maybe an exclusive figurine or something, I'm not really sure what to expect.

[Wezenheim]

I don't fund Kickstarters in general, but I wouldn't give FUNimation money just to re-release the Dragon Boxes. Not for Z at least. A project to somehow acquire the rights for a Dragon Ball Dragon Box is something I might be interested in. Don't the GT DVD singles actually look pretty good already? I'll have to take a look into that.

I might consider funding a project like that only if the release was somehow even better than the original Dragon Boxes.

[clutchins]

As much as I hate the misuse of Kickstarter, I love Dragon Ball even more. I don't care how I get my Dragon Boxes, I just want them done faithfully and swiftly!

[LordCrumb]

If Funimation wanted to put them out, they have the means and contacts to do so. It all boils down to Toei and their decision to give them higher quality sources.

[Lord Beerus]

No. Funimation has the means to support themselves releasing it. Heck, they could have already released all Dragon Box content with the success of the Orange Bricks.

This. Hell, FUNimation themselves had the golden opportunity to give Dragon Ball Z the definitive release on Blu-Ray, but they royally half assed.

[Gaffer Tape]

In the past I would have (and have) said no. But having read Amanda Palmer's book The Art of Asking, I feel I actually understand Kickstarter better. So, if I donated, and that donation guaranteed me a copy, then sure. And if I had the option to donate more to get more exclusive swag, then that would be cool, too. Don't know if I'd care to do that, but cool. But if I had to donate just to get the privilege of buying it in the future, screw that.

[NitroEX]

I personally don't agree with Funimation (the largest anime distributor in North America) resorting to crowdfunding to pay for new dubs or releases of obscure shows. Funimation have deep enough pockets to buy up the rights of just about every new hit show coming out of Japan these days, they also hold the rights to the biggest anime cash cow of them all (Dragonball Z) which they choose to milk every chance they get.

Clearly this is not a company that is hard up for cash and in need of crowdfunding support, especially not for the Dragon Boxes of all things which, they apparently had leftovers of in "the vault" (which they then chose to sell at scalper prices).

That being said, due to the fact that they hold the rights to produce and distribute Dragonball home releases I would consider crowdfunding them if they chose to acquire and release material that has never been given a home release before. Things such as the Japanese broadcast audio, Ocean/Westwood & Blue Water TV dubs, Ocean Kai & the Harmony Gold dub (to name a few) would imo be perfectly reasonable to crowdfund as they would need to understandably gauge fan demand for it, I would see it as more of a pre order system in that case.

When it comes to Dragon Boxes, redubbing old anime like Escaflowne or releasing obscure shows, I think they should cover the costs themselves as they're a big enough company. If they were a smaller company like Discotek I'd be more lenient but not for a giant like Funimation.

[sayian_nation_]

Funimation starting a kickstarter campaign....to me I'd take it as them yelling poverty. Like someone here said though if I were at least guaranteed the product beforehand then I would consider it.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Most of the other series I'd be interested in purchasing pretty much get the releases they deserve from the start. So I don't much care about the rest of the industry and who can or can't afford what. I want the Dragon Boxes for DB, GT and the Movies (as well as all the bonuses they should contain, and the ones excluded from Z too) and have avoided purchasing more recent re-releases of those portions of the series because of the quality of said products, or lack thereof.

So unless they can release a better alternative without the fundraising, if they set up a Kickstarter and donating guaranteed me a copy, then of course I'd do it.

[theoriginalbilis]

If it meant we could finally get the Movies in DBox Quality, damn skippy.

Even better... If it meant we could get a 4:3 release of Z TV with the broadcast audio, damn skippy.

[sangofe]

Yes, I would, if the ammoun to get a copy wouldn't be unreasonably high.

[B]

Well, a precedent has been set with the Z Boxes. If the purchase tier for having a set delivered to my house was greater than what the original Boxes sold for retail, than no.

I kind of refuse to believe that Dragon Boxes for the other series/movies would sell so poorly that a Kickstarter would be needed.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

Well, a precedent has been set with the Z Boxes. If the purchase tier for having a set delivered to my house was greater than what the original Boxes sold for retail, than no.

I kind of refuse to believe that Dragon Boxes for the other series/movies would sell so poorly that a Kickstarter would be needed.

Hear, hear. Companies and wealthy people are getting a little too comfortable with crowd funding so rather than use their own company/business money they rely on the customers who want it. I personally would be very annoyed if I supported "Mighty No. 9" because at this point I just don't care about it (the design of stages don't look too great and music sounds bland) anymore and they've kept on delaying it (it was supposed to be out on February 2016 but it still isn't), plus, Keiji Inafune has made questionable decisions by using Kickstarter too.

P.S. I don't trust Kickstarter projects until the product is officially out and available for purchase.

[Cipher]

Maybe.

I'd definitely Kickstart a Slump box release, though, since at this rate that seems like the only way we'll ever see one stateside, and the first Slump anime is amazing.

[Super Sayian Prime]

I believe crowdfunding should be used by those unable to fund products themselves, or at the very least be a risky venture. Funimation can afford to put out the rest of the Dragon Boxes. They are in no way a risky venture.

Man they're doing this again?! I was grumpy when they did that kickstarter for a new Escaflowne dub! Companies are getting really comfy with abusing kickstarter...its given me the spooks.

As for the topic question...no, I wouldn't fund it. They have the money to do it on their own, they would just abuse kickstarter to have Joe Public cover the costs of production so they make a bigger profit.

The company running the Skip Beat campaign is a relative newcomer to the world of anime. They're not a multi-million dollar business begging fans for money.

[Cipher]

Not sure what the big resistance to crowd-funding as a whole is. Obviously more Dragon Boxes are somewhat risky releases, or we'd have seen them by now (if only in terms of their opportunity cost being released over other more cost-effective sets or flooding the market).

If the result of what is functionally a produce-on-demand system allows companies to put out niche products they could never have even considered otherwise, which would still pull resources away from other things they could be doing, what's wrong with that? The only result is that we see some production of things that might never have otherwise been brought to the table.

[Iberian_Saiyan]

I'd definitely Kickstart a Slump box release, though, since at this rate that seems like the only way we'll ever see one stateside, and the first Slump anime is amazing.

"first" doesn't sound right. More like "The original Dr. Slump" because the modernised version was just a trainwreck compared to it.

Not sure what the big resistance to crowed-funding as a whole is. Obviously more Dragon Boxes are somewhat risky releases, or we'd have seen them by now (if only in terms of their opportunity cost being released over other more cost-effective sets or flooding the market).

If the result of what is functionally a produce-on-demand system allows companies to put out niche products they could never have even considered otherwise, which would still pull resources away from other things they could be doing, what's wrong with that? The only result is that we see some production of things that might never have otherwise been brought to the table.

Wouldn't be risky. If Funimation were to advertise the hell out of them everyone would want one and making it 'Limited Edition' would also grab the attention of resellers and scalpers. Not that you'd want to, but to spice things up they'd be ready to snatch up their own copies to later sell them at scalper prices.