Forum - View topicFunico - What Does it Mean?
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
toyNN
 Posts: 252 Location: Seattle, WA |
|
|||||
Others have noted titles such as Natsume and I'll add Skip Beat! - I'd buy these titles too but I think these titles aren't here on DVD because Funi/Sentai don't believe they would sell vs. what it would cost them for the license. I don't think it has that much to do with Crunchyroll having streaming (ok maybe a little).
Crunchyroll seems to have room to strengthen their ties with Bandai, aniplex, NIS - maybe TAN/Sentai would be part of that but it would be a major merger since they are somewhat direct competitors and not natural partners. |
||||||
|
||||||
MUSAWE
 Posts: 34 |
|
|||||
|
Feels like a 1 step forward and 2 steps back situation..
It's a shame because if NicoNico wasn't such a bad service I would gladly subscribe. Same goes for JManga. The pricing on JManga is completely off and the series selection is very poor atm. I would love to have regular high quality volume releases of my favorite manga to read online whenever I want. That's one thing that legal services like JManga have over scanlation groups, consistency. Went off on a tangent there but whatever.. online manga should not cost more than physical copies, JManga. |
||||||
|
||||||
agila61
 Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
|
|||||
But they are not head to head competitors across the board ~ TAN is not concerned with streaming outside of R1, and on the flipside TAN has its cable anime on demand operation and the streaming of dubs from DVD releases and the DVD catalog, that both lie outside of Crunchyroll's target market. Even when two going concerns compete for part of their revenue streams, when they each have independent revenue streams as well, there may be a basis for a rights sharing, cost sharing deal. And so long as the DVD distributors still swing a much bigger stick than simulcast streaming, Crunchyroll can't get an exclusive simulcast stream to a title that a DVD distributor wants to license with exclusive simulcast streaming rights thrown in on top, so a shared stream with subtitle costs tailored to how close it is to being a simulcast is a good "second best" outcome for Crunchyroll on series where the DVD distributors are swinging their big stick. A basis for a standing deal could be automatic shared next-week streaming with either a side payment to TAN for the script or a shared next week stream of a Crunchyroll simulcast of TAN/Sentai's choosing, and a negotiated shared first week simulcast with either a steeper side payment or a shared first week simulcast of a CR licensed series. Then when Crunchyroll makes its original offer for series, it makes a structured offer that includes one level of minimum guarantee for exclusive first week simulcast in North America, and incremental MG's for various regional rights options, and a rights holder side option to scale it back to a non-exclusive second week stream at a substantially lower MG, contingent on a delivered subtitle script. With the TAN/Sentai deal in place, the second week option is worded to be compatible under the deal with a standing Sentai license, so the original licensor can sign both without any three-party negotiations. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
|
|||||
Actually, not only are Sentai streaming a show on there now (not just both streaming the same show like Daimao, Sentai are listed as the publisher on CR) but, IIRC, some of the first legal streams on CR were from ADV so there is history. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
jvowles
Otakon Representative
 Posts: 219 Location: Maryland |
|
|||||
|
Real briefly:
This sort of thing has been in the cards for some time. Funimation needed beefier streaming capabilities, and the cost of doing so *well* for their existing fanbase was probably prohibitive and difficult because it isn't their core business. NicoNico has been desperately trying to expand globally. They have streaming experience, but probably needed a solid boost to justify and fund the promised HD enhancements. Beefing up the HD streaming offerings was going to be pricey for both parties; sharing the costs makes perfect sense. Funi gets NicoNico into the US market (and possibly helps with other markets where they have some traction). NicoNico solves a host of technical and investment issues for Funi. Both sides keep their core competency businesses intact and collaborate on something that helps licensing, builds content, and serves casual fans very well. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
agila61
Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
|
|||||
And if Funico goes for US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Oz & NZ streaming licenses, that'd push the market in that direction, since it saves the original licensors contracting costs to do those as a group and let the licensee in the group sort out sublicensing relationships. |
||||||
|
||||||
lemursrule
 Posts: 16 |
|
|||||
|
You do realize that Viz and Warner Home Video have had a distribution alliance since December 2008. animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2008-12-17/viz-media-and-warner-home-video-forge-distribution-alliance Still not as big as this though.
|
||||||
|
||||||
zensunni
 Posts: 1294 |
|
|||||
That was just my attempt at a clever usage of an old saying. What I meant was the fact that they require subscription to watch practically everything beyond the 2nd episode. I pay for a Crunchyroll subscription, but just because I am impatient and don't like to go to web-forums and have to avoid spoilers for a week. I wish TAN would offer an option to watch the shows delayed without paying instead. Luckily, very few of their recent simulcasts were ones that I cared about and most of them were offered free to registered users (IS, Croisee (sp?))
Well, both Last Exile: Fam and Guilty Crown are playing only on Hulu Plus. I don't think that this deal will have any impact on things that are not simulcasts in terms of Hulu, though. |
||||||
|
||||||
einhorn303
 Posts: 1180 |
|
|||||
Edit: Nevermind, it's up now: http://www.hulu.com/last-exile-fam-the-silver-wing Last edited by einhorn303 on Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
||||||
|
||||||
Finny-chan
 Posts: 448 Location: West Virginia, U.S.A |
|
|||||
|
As a supporter of CR since they went legal I'm personally against this. While I am happy this means we will get more physical dubbed releases I hate Niconico since you have to pay one week after the episodes air while on CR you can view it free one week later and it remains free until the streaming rights expire. Also Niconico doesn't have a yearly plan like CR does cause I like to pay for one whole year so that way I don't have to worry about it.
If this drives CR into the ground I will be very angry since thats the only place I will even touch simulcasts well except for whatever is on Funi's site especially Guilty Crown. Every thing else I watch fansubbed. Only way I can see CR surviving now is through their drama selection and if they can get streaming right to old series that are out of print both in the US and Japan or series that will have little chance of ever making it over here even through Sentai. tl;dr? Funico isn't getting a damned thing from me not now and especially if they drive CR away as well as the other small companies such as Media Blasters. Sorry if I'm overreacting I just love CR so much since it gave me alot of great memories over the past 4 years. 
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
marcos torres toledo
Posts: 269 |
|
|||||
|
The problem I have I cann't stream Anime Network or Manga.com here in Puerto Rico or Shonensunday as well I bared because of where I livw
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
|
|||||
Well, FUNi, Sentai and MB are pretty much the only independants left (Viz, Aniplex and Bandai have parent companies in Japan). Sentai are doing pretty well this season and, like FUNi, can offer simulcast and physical in one package (and will do so for titles that FUNi wouldn't since they are willing to do sub-only). There will always be titles like Kanokon and Queen's Blade that FUNi wouldn't touch with a bargepole which are right up MB's alley. CR is in the worst position since they can only offer streaming (although they do have merchandising with the "daily deals", JManga, and their relationship with TV Tokyo). |
||||||
|
||||||
|
PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
|
|||||
I'm not sure if I can agree with this yet. The PR, like every other PR, leaves out so much information, people are spinning their wheels. It's no secret FUNimation has "first dibs" on much of the anime in Japan when it comes to DVD distribution, yet they chose to walk away from some titles which seem to be doing quite well, even if they are "table scraps". Section 23/Sentai Filmworks is not ADV. This company has changed, and it's been very impressive to see their aggressive attack bearing fruit. They look to be profitable if we consider they're now beginning to dub titles again. I've read the PR notice several times, and it is my belief this "Funico" isn't about anime alone. NicoNico is, and always has been, a social networking site, not an anime streaming site. This is just a side benefit of attracting more customers, which obviously worked to its advantage. From FUNimation's point of view, they will now try to take advantage of this by marketing its goods to the largest market when compared to CR. Should this become a problem, it will only be so when Funico presents itself as a monopoly in the NA industry. This would be very bad, and worse, will ultimately fail if it truly does knock out the competition. I am not opposed to a monopoly situation. In fact, I believe the NA industry needs it, but this can only be possible if every distributor is a "partner". I suspect both FUNimation and NicoNico will change, but it's going to take a considerable amount of time. Plenty of which can be used to form other partnerships, and if some were wise, take advantage of the weakness of NicoNico now. By the way, readers, a small note: if you think CR will be hurt, don't forget about ANN. It will be hurt the most, especially if FUNimation decides to pull advertising funding in lieu of its new baby. It would not surprise me if they've considered this. Wait! There was this survey I took... This is why I don't believe this is a monopoly and I'm doubtful it'll hurt anyone other than those with a relationship with FUNimation unless it decides "business as usual". Sorry for the burning rubber smell as I spun my wheels. 
|
||||||
|
||||||
Mr. sickVisionz
 Posts: 2173 |
|
|||||
I think most of that is a bit extreme. As long as Crunchyroll is dual-wielding the two 900 pound gorillas that are Bleach and Naruto, they'll be in a good position. The extra traffic and exposure that those two bring to everything else advertised on the site is something that many will find attractive. Until another company releases a title that Funi simul/delaycast, I think there will be a perception that Funimation streaming results in a physical license situation that is very much them or bust. A company with an anime that may not fit into the type of stuff that Funi licenses may opt to goto a source like Crunchyroll where they can get streaming exposure AND can still get a US physical license by Funi or a variety of other companies. The only way CR goes down from this is if Funimation starts licensing significantly more titles than they've been doing in the past few years and it starts to look like streaming on Funimation is a near guarantee of being licensed by Funimation. Then I could see companies passing over CR left and right. I don't think that will be the case though. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
agila61
Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
|
|||||
The direct competitive threat to Crunchyroll seems unlikely to come from Funico itself ~ which, after all, will tend to be series that FUNimation is at least considering ~ but rather in what streaming licenses niconico can pick up, with the leverage provided by the audience attracted by the Funico series. |
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group