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NEWS: Sony Pictures TV to Acquire Majority Stake in Funimation


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macattack



Joined: 07 May 2011
Posts: 256
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:50 pm Reply with quote
Before everyone freaks out because of the Aniplex elephant in the room:

Sony Pictures TV =/= Sony Music, which is the branch of Sony Aniplex operates under. Sony Pictures TV acts mostly autonomously from Sony Music.

What this means for Aniplex licenses, FUNi pricing, the future of Texas dubbing, etc. is up in the air. We'll just have to wait and see what Sony Pictures TV does with their new acquisition.
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FlowerAiko



Joined: 05 Apr 2017
Posts: 218
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:56 pm Reply with quote
macattack wrote:
Before everyone freaks out because of the Aniplex elephant in the room:

Sony Pictures TV =/= Sony Music, which is the branch of Sony Aniplex operates under. Sony Pictures TV acts mostly autonomously from Sony Music.

What this means for Aniplex licenses, FUNi pricing, the future of Texas dubbing, etc. is up in the air. We'll just have to wait and see what Sony Pictures TV does with their new acquisition.


Good to know. I still hope some sort of a merger doesn't happen.

Honestly, considering how Sony Pictures has been losing money and the previous record of bigger companies getting into anime and not understanding how the fan base works, I can't help but be worried.

I hope this is good for streaming, though. Maybe Sony can put more money into anime licenses to quiet all the Anime Strike and Netflix fears.
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CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:02 pm Reply with quote
Hopefully they don't try to merge FunimationNow and Crackle. Shocked

Something good they could do is relaunch the Funimation Channel as Animax. Sony could use their small catalog of anime along with Funimation's to make a channel full of eye-grabbing shows and movies. Plus, Sony will likely be able to talk to cable providers much easier than Funimation alone. Maybe they could also offer it on PlayStation Vue?
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FlareKnight



Joined: 17 Apr 2008
Posts: 171
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:05 pm Reply with quote
There is nothing good that can be pulled from this. Sony's film division has been a mess. Really don't want that kind of nonsense near Funimation. Not that Funimation is perfect, but they are a fairly large entity in getting anime out here.
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Snakebit1995



Joined: 25 Apr 2015
Posts: 842
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:06 pm Reply with quote
Everything is in a good spot right now, Funi is making good dubs with good casts, not charging an arm and a leg and putting out good product.

My point is basically...Don't let this fudge everything up, especially the partnership with Crunchyroll which has been great for pretty much everyone.
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Thorfinn





PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:08 pm Reply with quote
Seems like a bad investment to me.
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:20 pm Reply with quote
I wouldn't expect any big changes for some time, Funimation has commitments to the Crunchyroll Streaming Alliance and a contract with Universal for Disk distribution. And for those that don't want to see this happen, it is subject to regulatory (FTC?) review, which probably won't be a problem but could always throw a wrench into things.

Mark Gosdin
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matt78



Joined: 25 Jul 2015
Posts: 249
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:22 pm Reply with quote
Hopefully this will be an arrangement like Disney has with Pixar and Marvel where Sony TV owns Funimation but continues to let them do things their way without much interference. Hopefully this means we might also get a blu ray of Blood+ in the future as well.
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Snakebit1995



Joined: 25 Apr 2015
Posts: 842
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:30 pm Reply with quote
mgosdin wrote:
I wouldn't expect any big changes for some time, Funimation has commitments to the Crunchyroll Streaming Alliance and a contract with Universal for Disk distribution. And for those that don't want to see this happen, it is subject to regulatory (FTC?) review, which probably won't be a problem but could always throw a wrench into things.

Mark Gosdin


What do you think the odds are Sony buys them but stays hands off and continues to basically let Funi operate as an independent entity under their umbrella.

My worry is more that Funi's already got a good formula and I don't want a new chef buying the restaurant and changing recipes so to speak.
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Chrono1000





PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:31 pm Reply with quote
I hope things continue the way they are at Funimation but with Amazon throwing bags of money around with Anime Strike this was something that was needed. Funimation needed a huge corporation behind them or they were going to have trouble getting new anime licenses.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:32 pm Reply with quote
macattack wrote:
Before everyone freaks out because of the Aniplex elephant in the room:


Funny, my first thought was of a Japanese company obtaining ownership of a North American distributor of Japanese licenses. My elephant is bigger than yours. Seriously, with the number of red flags I'm seeing, it must be a bull elephant...

Quote:
"With the acquisition of Funimation, the combined IP of Animax, Kids Station and Funimation allows us to deliver the best anime to fans across all screens and platforms."


It always comes down to physical media with these guys. Stream all you want but once you want a piece of it, that's when they get you.

Also, I distrust anything Sony, be it movies, TV or hunks of plastic that use to play media discs. "It was just working. What happened?"
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NOGI48



Joined: 14 Feb 2016
Posts: 70
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:32 pm Reply with quote
if they can get Blood + and release home video much faster than this is fine by me, if not its going to be a compete monopoly. And if Sony falls apart so will funimation. Maybe Sony can get Aniplex shows and make funimation do all the dubbing and not so expensive prices. If NONE of this happens then this was a very BAD decision.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13540
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:33 pm Reply with quote
I wouldn't trust Sony Pictures TV with getting a majority stake in Funi considering SPTV's lame anime DVD release history here (still waiting for a complete series of the "Cyborg 009" that aired on Toonami back in the day. Even though Aniplex of America charges ridiculous prices for their titles, at least this is a branch of the Sony Empire that has an established rapport with anime fans here.
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encrypted12345



Joined: 25 Jan 2012
Posts: 715
PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:41 pm Reply with quote
FlareKnight wrote:
There is nothing good that can be pulled from this. Sony's film division has been a mess. Really don't want that kind of nonsense near Funimation. Not that Funimation is perfect, but they are a fairly large entity in getting anime out here.

Didn't they technically make Spiderman Homecoming, or was there something else going on there?
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Chrono1000





PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:43 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
Funny, my first thought was of a Japanese company obtaining ownership of a North American distributor of Japanese licenses.
Compared to 130+ billion dollar Amazon which is doing exclusive streaming deals in both Japan and the United States why is that a problem? Amazon desperately needs more competition since Anime Strike has a double paywall and doesn't offer dubs for any of their simulcast shows. With more competition Amazon might try a bit harder to improve their service instead of just throwing bags of money around to get anime licenses.
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