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NEWS: Madman Entertainment Completes Buy-Back from Funtastic Limited




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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1823
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 1:21 pm Reply with quote
It's been great to have a company like Madman around, who also distribute a lot of non-anime titles, so one can not only get anime they distribute from the anime stores, but also the big retail/online stores and even from my local hi-fi/music store.

I hope that they continue to bring us good anime and other titles for many years to come.
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:36 pm Reply with quote
Will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes from this. I've never really looked into Madman's library outside of anime/manga.
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robotenchi



Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:20 am Reply with quote
Hope they start to bring out anime related toys.
I know this is a long shot But Macross or even Robotech stuff will be great . Hey I can dream Very Happy

Robotenchi
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sonictail
ANN.au Editor in Chief


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 326
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 9:09 am Reply with quote
robotenchi wrote:
Hope they start to bring out anime related toys.
I know this is a long shot But Macross or even Robotech stuff will be great . Hey I can dream Very Happy

Robotenchi


Madman once had the Robotech license, I can't speak as to why they let it lapse but Beyond Home Entertainment now has the AU release (http://www.beyondhe.com.au/shows/tvseries/robotech/)

Good luck on Macross tho, I highly doubt that will ever happen.

Ali07 wrote:
Will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes from this. I've never really looked into Madman's library outside of anime/manga.


Madman has many great titles outside of anime / manga, their Eastern Eye range alone should open your eyes to some excellent cinema. And they have great collections of other animation, especially America with their Cartoon Network and Hasbro releases (For the record I'm talking Transformers Animated and Ben 10 Omniverse, not My Little Pony:FIM, tho the show ain't bad).
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:14 am Reply with quote
Had no idea they have CN stuff...Samurai Jack caught my eye! And Transformers Beast Wars! Very Happy

Though, Beast Wars is something that I only have vague memories from when I was a kid. I know I loved what I was watching, but not sure if it would turn out to be one of those nostalgic shows I may ruin if I watch it now as an adult. Laughing
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Kirben



Joined: 26 Feb 2003
Posts: 53
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 7:11 pm Reply with quote
sonictail wrote:
Madman has many great titles outside of anime / manga, their Eastern Eye range alone should open your eyes to some excellent cinema. And they have great collections of other animation, especially America with their Cartoon Network and Hasbro releases (For the record I'm talking Transformers Animated and Ben 10 Omniverse, not My Little Pony:FIM, tho the show ain't bad).


Actually Madman tend to handle their animated (non-anime) titles very poorly, with a complete lack of care. Only their old Retro line of cartoon series, got decent releases.

Cartoon Network:
Cropped releases (Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Bakugan: New Vestroia, Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Chowder, Deltora Quest, League of Super Evil, My Gym Partner's a Monkey)
Incomplete releases (Camp Lazlo, Codename: Kids Next Door, Cow & Chicken, Ed, Edd N Eddy, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Generator Rex, Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls)
Lack of extras (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy)
Episodes out of order (Ben 10 Omniverse)

Hasbro:
G.I. Joe: Renegades: No Blu-Ray release.
My Little Pony FIM: Single DVD volumes, lacking the extras.
Pound Puppies: Dropped after a single DVD release, not even digital releases continued.
Transformers Prime: Single DVD volumes, lacking the extras. Blu-Ray dropped after season 1.

Movies (Monster in Paris, Sammy's Adventures, Secret of the Kells):
No Blu-Ray releases, late releases, and complete lack of extras.

Also the majority of cartoon series released via the PlanetMad label, were never completed either.

Even the recent releases of Transformers Animated and the Unicorn Trilogy are poor value compared to the USA, since they were split into season sets.
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sonictail
ANN.au Editor in Chief


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 326
PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 9:51 am Reply with quote
Kirben wrote:
sonictail wrote:
Madman has many great titles outside of anime / manga, their Eastern Eye range alone should open your eyes to some excellent cinema. And they have great collections of other animation, especially America with their Cartoon Network and Hasbro releases (For the record I'm talking Transformers Animated and Ben 10 Omniverse, not My Little Pony:FIM, tho the show ain't bad).


Actually Madman tend to handle their animated (non-anime) titles very poorly, with a complete lack of care. Only their old Retro line of cartoon series, got decent releases.

Cartoon Network:
Cropped releases (Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Bakugan: New Vestroia, Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Chowder, Deltora Quest, League of Super Evil, My Gym Partner's a Monkey)
Incomplete releases (Camp Lazlo, Codename: Kids Next Door, Cow & Chicken, Ed, Edd N Eddy, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Generator Rex, Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls)
Lack of extras (The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy)
Episodes out of order (Ben 10 Omniverse)

Hasbro:
G.I. Joe: Renegades: No Blu-Ray release.
My Little Pony FIM: Single DVD volumes, lacking the extras.
Pound Puppies: Dropped after a single DVD release, not even digital releases continued.
Transformers Prime: Single DVD volumes, lacking the extras. Blu-Ray dropped after season 1.

Movies (Monster in Paris, Sammy's Adventures, Secret of the Kells):
No Blu-Ray releases, late releases, and complete lack of extras.

Also the majority of cartoon series released via the PlanetMad label, were never completed either.

Even the recent releases of Transformers Animated and the Unicorn Trilogy are poor value compared to the USA, since they were split into season sets.


I'm aware of the quality of their cartoon sets compared with the anime collections, but if I can buy all of Transformers Animated legit, i'm not going to quibble too much over cash.

Pity to hear about Gen Rex and Ben 10 Omniverse being incomplete and out of order. But I do understand about the single volume releases and changes on slate, there's a business case to be made and if the releases can't justify the cash spent they're not going to bring them out based on good will.

Ali07 wrote:
Had no idea they have CN stuff...Samurai Jack caught my eye! And Transformers Beast Wars! Very Happy

Though, Beast Wars is something that I only have vague memories from when I was a kid. I know I loved what I was watching, but not sure if it would turn out to be one of those nostalgic shows I may ruin if I watch it now as an adult. Laughing


Channel 7 in the afternoon, I remember racing home to watch Beast Wars and being amazed. Now after a rewatch I'm counting the polygons on the boulders in the first ep >.> But the writing still stands up as being some of the best TF in years. Just don't continue onto Beast Machines (TFA was far better work from Isenberg)

Fun fact, Mainframe was famous for doing toy tv series (War Planets, Action Man, Beast Wars) and of course Reboot! But there was a split leading to the creation of Nerd Corps by Asaph Fipke and Chuck Johnson, they did a bunch of toy and original work you've probably seen on our screens, especially ABC, their own mainline of fantasy shows is a standout (tho the toys never sell) being Dragon Booster, Storm Hawks and Slugterra (currently on ABC3!) and while they still do toy work, Battle Force 5 and Max Steel (more like Max Dubstep in S2) they continue to put writing first, which helps swallow the bitter pill... sorry I mean to sell toys.

Mainframe on the otherhand slowly went off the deep end with a bunch of inane toy tie-ins. Last year they put out their first feature film, Escape from Planet Earth, and now they're doing Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank movies. Milage will of course vary if you see this as a good idea.

</endgeekout>
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Kirben



Joined: 26 Feb 2003
Posts: 53
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 6:37 pm Reply with quote
sonictail wrote:
Pity to hear about Gen Rex and Ben 10 Omniverse being incomplete and out of order. But I do understand about the single volume releases and changes on slate, there's a business case to be made and if the releases can't justify the cash spent they're not going to bring them out based on good will.

Only Ben 10: Omniverse had the episodes out of order, since they are mirroring the DVD releases in the USA. It isn't clear why Ben 10: Omniverse is been released out of order, when all previous series were released in order.

The Cartoon Network titles could have easily been good sellers, if the DVD releases had been done well. Madman could have used the widescreen masters (marketing that first time on widescreen aspect), included all available extras, and had regular DVD releases (not years between releases).

sonictail wrote:
Fun fact, Mainframe was famous for doing toy tv series (War Planets, Action Man, Beast Wars) and of course Reboot! But there was a split leading to the creation of Nerd Corps by Asaph Fipke and Chuck Johnson, they did a bunch of toy and original work you've probably seen on our screens, especially ABC, their own mainline of fantasy shows is a standout (tho the toys never sell) being Dragon Booster, Storm Hawks and Slugterra (currently on ABC3!) and while they still do toy work, Battle Force 5 and Max Steel (more like Max Dubstep in S2) they continue to put writing first, which helps swallow the bitter pill... sorry I mean to sell toys.

I didn't know NerdCorp was a split from Mainframe, but their cartoon series are much worse.

I watched the complete Dragon Booster because I liked Dragons, but that series had too many flaws:
Generic characters, which lacked any depth.
Lack of on-going elements, which were spread out too much.
Filler episodes were often just learning a lesson type, or silly/stupid (i.e. brain swapping).
Too focused on the toys, the Dragon races were not even interesting, and racing focus of the last season killed the series.

The worse part, is all the later cartoon series from NerdCorps continue to have the similar issues, since they still focus too much on the toys.
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sonictail
ANN.au Editor in Chief


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 326
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 1:15 am Reply with quote
Kirben wrote:

Only Ben 10: Omniverse had the episodes out of order, since they are mirroring the DVD releases in the USA. It isn't clear why Ben 10: Omniverse is been released out of order, when all previous series were released in order.

The Cartoon Network titles could have easily been good sellers, if the DVD releases had been done well. Madman could have used the widescreen masters (marketing that first time on widescreen aspect), included all available extras, and had regular DVD releases (not years between releases).


Considering that Madman has a "ask sly" feature, why don't you put this directly to the company?

Kirben wrote:

I didn't know NerdCorp was a split from Mainframe, but their cartoon series are much worse.

I watched the complete Dragon Booster because I liked Dragons, but that series had too many flaws:
Generic characters, which lacked any depth.
Lack of on-going elements, which were spread out too much.
Filler episodes were often just learning a lesson type, or silly/stupid (i.e. brain swapping).
Too focused on the toys, the Dragon races were not even interesting, and racing focus of the last season killed the series.

The worse part, is all the later cartoon series from NerdCorps continue to have the similar issues, since they still focus too much on the toys.


So on the flipside, what do you consider to be a better example of a series designed to sell toys?
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Kirben



Joined: 26 Feb 2003
Posts: 53
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 1:33 am Reply with quote
sonictail wrote:
Considering that Madman has a "ask sly" feature, why don't you put this directly to the company?

I tried asking Madman about Cartoon Network DVD releases long along via email and their forums, but basically just ignored. The Cartoon Network label is handled by different manger, so Sly can't answer those types of questions.

sonictail wrote:
Kirben wrote:

I didn't know NerdCorp was a split from Mainframe, but their cartoon series are much worse.

I watched the complete Dragon Booster because I liked Dragons, but that series had too many flaws:
Generic characters, which lacked any depth.
Lack of on-going elements, which were spread out too much.
Filler episodes were often just learning a lesson type, or silly/stupid (i.e. brain swapping).
Too focused on the toys, the Dragon races were not even interesting, and racing focus of the last season killed the series.

The worse part, is all the later cartoon series from NerdCorps continue to have the similar issues, since they still focus too much on the toys.


So on the flipside, what do you consider to be a better example of a series designed to sell toys?

Recent series (Beware the Batman, Green Lantern:TAS, Thundercats, Young Justice) from Warner Bros, which are focused more on the characters and story. Although toy sales didn't seem to go well for those series.

Or Digimon Xros Wars for anime series, which have been even worse for focusing on toys (especially card games) lately.
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 5:53 am Reply with quote
sonictail wrote:
Channel 7 in the afternoon, I remember racing home to watch Beast Wars and being amazed. Now after a rewatch I'm counting the polygons on the boulders in the first ep >.> But the writing still stands up as being some of the best TF in years.

Ah, the nostalgia! Yeah, not surprising to hear about the animation quality, but happy to hear that the writing still holds up. I've seen some series, that I loved as kid, where the writing just doesn't hold up. 90s X-Men being a big culprit in my eyes.

Batman TAS is still awesome, in my eyes.

sonictail wrote:
Fun fact, Mainframe was famous for doing toy tv series (War Planets, Action Man, Beast Wars) and of course Reboot!

Oh, god...Reboot. As a kid, I found that show to look extremely ugly...but I still watched it when it was on...
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sonictail
ANN.au Editor in Chief


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 326
PostPosted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:14 am Reply with quote
Kirben wrote:

Recent series (Beware the Batman, Green Lantern:TAS, Thundercats, Young Justice) from Warner Bros, which are focused more on the characters and story. Although toy sales didn't seem to go well for those series.

Or Digimon Xros Wars for anime series, which have been even worse for focusing on toys (especially card games) lately.


Beware the Batman and Green Lantern: TAS never got anything beyond Happy Meal toys, but yeah Young Justice got tanked pretty quickly (and the toys were cool) and Thundercats I think failed on more than just the toy level. Which is a damn shame, excellent writing, animation and VA and it just didn't strike the kids as interesting.

I'll agree with you on Xros (or Fusion over here). But nothing can beat Tamers IMO.

Ali07 wrote:
sonictail wrote:
Channel 7 in the afternoon, I remember racing home to watch Beast Wars and being amazed. Now after a rewatch I'm counting the polygons on the boulders in the first ep >.> But the writing still stands up as being some of the best TF in years.

Ah, the nostalgia! Yeah, not surprising to hear about the animation quality, but happy to hear that the writing still holds up. I've seen some series, that I loved as kid, where the writing just doesn't hold up. 90s X-Men being a big culprit in my eyes.

Batman TAS is still awesome, in my eyes.


Chris Sims writes an excellent series watching through 90's Fox x-men, well worth reading here and there.

And while TAS is incredible, nothing can top Batman: Brave and the Bold in my eyes now.

Ali07 wrote:
sonictail wrote:
Fun fact, Mainframe was famous for doing toy tv series (War Planets, Action Man, Beast Wars) and of course Reboot!

Oh, god...Reboot. As a kid, I found that show to look extremely ugly...but I still watched it when it was on...


Still is if you go back and check it out, and the ongoing plot is incredibly weird.
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