Forum - View topicNEWS: Exclusive: Funimation Launches Kickstarter to Dub Escaflowne TV Anime Director's Cut
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Themaster20000
 Posts: 864 |
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It's understandable why a show like Skip Beat would need a fundraiser like this considering how niche the show is,along with it being published by a small company. This on the other hand makes no sense. Funi isn't this small company,nor is this show obsure(pretty sure it will sell on nostalgia alone). I understand why they can't use the old for this master,but I don't why they can't use their own money for this.
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4474 |
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I understand where they are coming from as far as using Kickstarter to gauge interest since companies have been burned before with people wanting a show licensed or a physical release only for it to flop. That said, I've always been skeptical of crowd funding since there is little information shared, and you don't have as much of a say as you might if you were a regular investor. Throw in that Funimation is essentially contractually obligated not to share much information, and there isn't much to alleviate my skepticism in that regard. I also tend to raise an eyebrow when an already established company turns to crowd funding for a project that is well within its normal business operations.
If nothing else, I just hope this doesn't become a regular occurrence. I don't think I'd have much tolerance if I saw multiple pages saying, "Help us fund a dub!" |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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I'd rather see them spend a ridiculous amount of money on a new dub than to see any material cut out. Cutting material is always a NO situation, especially in animation, where it's not as easy as just running a camera to record people.
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TurnerJ
Posts: 481 Location: Highland Park, NJ |
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The original Escaflowne Ocean dub isn't a bad dub, but it IS a mixed bag that hasn't aged as well over the years. Some of the performances are done well in it: Kirby Morrow is fine as Van, as are Brian Drummond as Allen, Paul Dobson as Folken, and Richard Newman as Emperor Dornkirk. That said, there are week links in the cast: Kelly Sheridan doesn't really have the right tone for Hitomi and often misses the emotional mark of her scenes more often than not -- she got much better in the movie dub. Andrew Francis is also a very eccentric casting choice: although given who the character turns out to be it's hard to know HOW to do this character justice. But Francis' take on the character in at least the first eight episodes plays him too much as a spoiled brat instead of a genuinely crazed psycho. Again, he improved over the course in the show, but his first episodes were very weak.
I do agree that the reputation of the Ocean dub has partially suffered because of the Fox Kids edits to it, but even without that, there still are major issues. The script adaptation misses out on subtle details from the original (this is one of the few cases where I DO make the occasional comparison): Folken calling Van "brother" at the wrong time, diluting the emotional impact of the scene, and Van's first line at the beginning. The voice direction is also a problem, with a lot of lines coming across as rather wooden, even from some of the latter episodes. It's not a HORRIBLE dub, but it's certainly little more than an average dub at best. It's listenable, but it's not as great as it should be. That said, I'm not sure HOW I would feel about a new dub for this show. I mean, it'd have to be extremely good to blow me away, unless it somehow turns out to be WORSE than the original (which would be unlikely given today's standards of dubbing), but I didn't realize the situation behind this Anime was this shaky. I was wondering why we didn't see it on BD sooner. The only time I've ever really preferred a previous dub over any title to receive any alternate dub since then was Wicked City, but that was mainly because the Manga UK dub is just so bloody awful. The Streamline dub isn't anything spectacular, but it's at least less offensive. Funimation HAS done good work dubbing over the years since Fullmetal Alchemist, and I think they could potentially pull it off, but it remains to be seen how it goes. |
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prophetic
Posts: 8 |
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I'm a sub only snob, so this news is meh.
Good luck to the dub lovers, though. |
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walw6pK4Alo
Posts: 9322 |
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It affects us too. If they decide a new dub isn't worth it, then they cut out material from the BD so they can recycle the old dub. The dub means more to them than the show. |
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Zelenogorsk
Posts: 1 |
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I don't really care about dubs and I want this show to come out ASAP so I'll be a little perturbed if this kickstarter actually succeeds.
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Lynx Amali
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No. That's not what they'd do.
You'd still get the subbed release and DC. Last edited by Lynx Amali on Sat Feb 27, 2016 2:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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publicenemy333
 Posts: 563 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Kinda mixed on this. I love Funimation, and I kinda get where its coming from with this since this seems to be kinda a complicated scenario, release as sub-only or release with an entirely new dub? And which would end up hurting em more if it failed? I kinda get using this as more a means to gauge interest if there are enough escaflowne fans who are dub fans that wanna see this. Escaflowne definitely has nostalgia to help it, but not to the levels of Sailor Moon, which makes sense when the whole thing is being redubbed.
Though I can see how this can seem off-putting. Funimation, one of the biggest anime companies in NA, needs a Kickstarter to dub a show? I see how it kinda makes sense for this case (and again, it seems to be more for gauging interest), but I hope they don't make this a trend for trying to dub major titles they license. Maybe they can do it for licensing older, more obscure stuff they license to again gauge interest. I saw Escaflowne in College earlier in the decade because I heard so much good about it, but honestly I didn't get too into it. Maybe I just need to give it a second chance. Will keep this KS in the back of my mind before I decide to donate or not |
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ilovemurakamo
 Posts: 11 |
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I already own the original dub of this, so I'm not really that interested in a new dub of it. Nothing against the voice talent at funimation, I'm just happy with how it is.
Now if you were to redub Cardcaptor Sakura with the cast of Tsubasa...that I'd be interested in very much. But seeing as how you've got so much energy focused on broadcast dubs as of late...don't you think you should release some of Bandai's past licenses that you already have the rights to? Like stuff you aquired maybe 2-3 years ago? I'm thinking Haruhi Suzumiya, and Lucky Star specifically. |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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Am I the only one for whom THIS just jumped out of the screen at me:
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2341 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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Nichijou? Another Bandai anime series? No? Okay.
Don't know how I feel about this really. I never really got around to watching the whole series, sub or dub. I liked the movie, but that doesn't really have any relation to this subject whatsoever. My mind's been wandering today, sorry. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Took a look at the Kickstarter and it's kind of expensive when it comes to rewards. $125 to get the whole series, and that tier's limited, as is the next at $155 which includes the movie which some people won't want. If those two fill up it's $175 to get the whole series.
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pajmo9
 Posts: 630 |
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I was kind of hoping they would re-dub the Stars series but it probably isn't popular enough.
I guess this is Funimations way of seeing if the internet is skewing reality. I may actually support this. |
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Apollo-kun
 Posts: 1213 Location: City 7, Macross 7 |
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"We're not trying to make you pay for the whole production, we're just trying to gauge your interest in an English dub."
Sorry, but $150,000 of consumer money to the biggest anime company in North America as a gauging of interest is scummy, and represents what's wrong with Kickstarter today. Historically, I've had a lot of bones to pick with FUNimations, from botched releases to sitting on licenses to... well, the list goes on. But I'm sorry. This is a new low, even for them, and makes me reconsider ever purchasing directly from them again. Which is a shame, as they have some great licenses. But if they want a little extra money on top of the dosh they're making (well, comparatively speaking; anime is still a very niche industry in the grand scheme of American business)... yeah, nah. I'll stick with companies who put out better products (Sentai and Discotek) and don't ask for extra money as a "gauging of interest." |
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