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NEWS: Funimation Adds Hero Tales, Master of Martial Hearts

Are you seriously suggesting that Funimation should take ANN members reviews into consideration? The same people who said that the third greatest anime of all times is Code Geass R2, a series which basically glorifies massacres.

No, Funimation shouldn't take into account ANN, they should be making what sells, and those are not the same thing.

Guys, just remember, it's the start of the year. There are going to be quite a few more announcements throughout 2010.

KanjiiZ wrote:

Hero Tales is the most generic manga I have ever read. I was surprised when I heard this was AFTER Fullmetal Alchemist. I thought manga-ka were supposed to go forward not backward.

Not a given. Buso Renkin came after Rurouni Kenshin, you know.

Reibooi wrote:

What the hell is up with Funi announcing shows so far in advance of the release of said show? I mean really? Spring 2011? It's gonna take a year and a half to translate/dub a show that's only 6 episodes? HUH? Why announce it now if it's gonna take so long. Everyone will have long since forgotten about it come it's release day and will probably be confused as to what exactly it is yet again. Seriously they do not need to announce something AS SOON as they get it(at least I don't think they do. Please correct me if I am wrong on that). Look at Section 23 they are announcing things and then on average releasing the show they announced 2-3 months after. Now granted they are not doing dubs but seriously a year and half for 6 episodes? I don't think the dub can take that long. Especially when you consider how fast Viz and Bang zoom are dubbing something like Bleach. Would it be so hard to wait for the show to be almost ready then announce it? I mean if the show is something most people don't know they will have forgotten about it. If the show is something people really wanted then the wait will be unbearable and they might resort to stuff like fansubs to see the show sooner. They might go to fansubs without a announcement as well which goes to show you can't please everyone but still. For those of us(like me) who like to buy the DVD's it's annoying to see a announcement with a release date that's so far away. Looking forward to the show or not.

Meh. Let's unpack this.

1. There have been large gaps between announcements and releases since...pretty much forever. Look up the New Show A Go Go from last year. That was when they announced Soul Eater, which is only now poised to come out. That was when they announced Rebuild of Evangelion, where the first (and lesser) release came out in November. That was when they rescued Champloo and Gankutsuou and they came out in June and April respectively, but those already had dubs.

This is nothing new.

You demand that license announcements happen only very soon before a release is due. Well, they could do that, but then we'd be waiting months longer for news. And then I imagine critics such as yourself would be asking "God, why isn't anything happening?!" Maybe not in your case, but the rhetoric would be there. So, I respectfully disagree.

2. Why would Master of Martial Hearts not come out until Spring 2011? Maybe because it's an obvious low-tier license and not high on FUNimation's priority list? Perhaps there are plenty of other titles to schedule for this year? The Bleach comparison is not apt; it's far more high-profile for Viz than this is for Funi.

3. Most of Section23's new licenses...aren't that good. The releases are also bare-bones and sub-only. I would rather see more digging into the recent past than acquisitions for the latest anime that were only halfway decent. Not that day 4 is a paragon example of this by any means, but still. I'd still buy Hero Tales, Kamui, or the newly-released FLCL before a sub-only release of Tears to Tiara.

Are you seriously suggesting that Funimation should take ANN members reviews into consideration? The same people who said that the third greatest anime of all times is Code Geass R2, a series which basically glorifies massacres.

No, Funimation shouldn't take into account ANN, they should be making what sells, and those are not the same thing. Personally from what little I saw Hero tales was Generic, but it was also pretty good.

I am aware that the wait forever and a half release thing from Funi isn't new. That's why I got annoyed with it and brought up the topic in the first place.

I can see what you mean when you say they would have less news if they were to wait on announcements until they were ready. For me that would not be a big deal. Because while Funi may be big they are not the only game in town. There will be licensing news coming from Section 23, Bandai, Mediablasters and so on and so forth. However I am sure you are correct in stating that tons of people would freak out over lack of news from funi.

If Martial Hearts is such a low tier show for Funi why bother including it in the roll out riot at all? They seem to think it's a big deal on the Funi blog so I don't know if I would entirely agree with that assessment. However depending on the shows and release dates we get tomorrow that may make more sense time will tell.

I am also aware that the Bleach comparison is unfair. My point with the comparison is that a dub for a show can be done very quickly and still be very high quality and seeing as Funi is the only consistent dubber these days I would think if anyone could do something like that it would be them.

As for Section 23 having licenses that are not that good I think that one is opinion. If you are referring to the sub only release with no extras well I think that's unfair. Alot of companies are releasing shows sub only. And the vast majority of shows Funi is getting don't have any good extras either. They more often then not come with nothing but a clean opener and closer. Those are to be expected and I don't consider those extras. Sure there are a few exceptions but you get my point.

Something just hit me: What if they gag dub Master of Marital Hearts? I feel like they've already started by giving it the title they did. I don't know a lick of Japanese, but I don't think "Master of Martial Hearts" is any kind of translation. If it's a horrible as others are making it sound, a gag dub seems perfect and I'd definitely buy it then.

Reibooi wrote:

I am aware that the wait forever and a half release thing from Funi isn't new. That's why I got annoyed with it and brought up the topic in the first place. I can see what you mean when you say they would have less news if they were to wait on announcements until they were ready. For me that would not be a big deal. Because while Funi may be big they are not the only game in town. There will be licensing news coming from Section 23, Bandai, Mediablasters and so on and so forth. However I am sure you are correct in stating that tons of people would freak out over lack of news from funi.

Quite so. On your first point, okay, that's fair enough I suppose. I don't like waiting either, I just consider it a necessary evil.

I know this is pretty much expected from Funi by now, but why would Zettai Shougeki take so long?? Spring 2011?? It's only 5 episodes (30 min each)!

Fair point on the extras and I'm willing to buy sub-only myself, but the show usually has to be really solid for me to consider it worthwhile. Complicating matters is that the sub-only shows that do exist have to compete against others that are dubbed. So I can tell people that Toward the Terra from Bandai is excellent (which it is), but if they don't own Gundam or PlanetES or Heroic Age it becomes a harder sell in comparison.

As for quality, I think a few are good whereas others are arguably just as weak...considering how the former ADV broke up in part because of too many B and C list titles saturating the market, I just worry and would prefer them to be careful about what they grab--especially in light of the sub-only issue, where quality has to overcome that shortcoming. I mean, is Polyphanica really going to sell? Don't get me wrong though--I'm interested in Glass Mask just for starters, and I may yet give Clannad a second look to see what the fuss is about (I tried it once, was ambivalent, and then moved on). My point isn't that S23 lacks good licenses, but that faster and/or more recent releases aren't necessarily ideal as a rule.