Forum - View topicNEWS: Exclusive: Funimation Launches Kickstarter to Dub Escaflowne TV Anime Director's Cut
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ittoujuu
Posts: 164 Location: SoCal |
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I'm a bit torn on this. Escaflowne is one of my all-time favorites, and I'd snap a nice HD blu-ray transfer up in a heartbeat. In fact, I've been waiting for Funimation to finally get to the series ever since they announced that they had it.
I never really liked Escaflowne's dub, but then, I never made myself watch the series through totally in English, so my dub exposure is limited to just whenever I turned it on to see how the dub handled a couple scenes. Normally, I'm pretty positive on Ocean's talent pool/dubs, but this one just didn't hit the mark for me. The idea that there's actually some new material in this release that we've never seen before is really exciting! Even if it's just some incidental scenes, I can't wait to see them added in (or back?) to the mix. Is this something that was left out of the original western release, or something they went back and appended later, at some point after the NA DVDs but before the HD transfer was made? I could definitely see the back half of the show benefiting from some extended or additional scenes. The conundrum here, for me, is this: I want this product, 120%, but I don't really care if there's a new dub or not. I'd buy it even if it was sub-only, because that's how I've seen it all the times I've watched the series. I don't know where people are getting the idea that, if they can't produce a new dub, they'll just excise the new content that doesn't match up with the old dub, but I'd hope that's just baseless conjecture. Were it true, that would be tantamount to holding actual content hostage to fund a dub, and I doubt Funimation would do that. More likely, it'd just be a sub-only HD mix on the blu-ray, with the old dub on the new transfer on the DVDs (with the new material cut to fit the existing dub). In any case, I want to give my support to the release of Escaflowne on blu-ray, but since I have no particular interest in a dub for the show, I'm not sure what to do. Maybe pledge a modest amount? There's also the question of whether this release itself would be one set of backer rewards, and the price they set was to account for "regular sales" that would be lost by people "pre-ordering" it via the Kickstarter (for perhaps less than what the eventual retail price would be). Here's the thing - if Funimation is going so far as to run a kickstarter for a series that can be reasonably assumed to sell solidly, I want to see them use that reduction in risk to actually DO something that might otherwise be unfeasible. In this case, I'd like to see them draw from both the Texas AND LA voice talent pools, and/or go union on this dub. I think that could yield up access to the optimal talent for the roles, and would provide a solid reason Funimation could point to and say, "See this? THIS is what having a Kickstarter instead of doing it all ourselves allowed us to do. BOOM." - which is what they're lacking, at present. |
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Primus
 Posts: 2778 Location: Toronto |
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No thanks. I believe crowdfunding should be for those that aren't able to bring their ideas to life with their own money. Funimation can pay for a new dub of Escaflowne. It's not a super obscure show that they'd lose their money on either.
Even if I were to ignore that personal roadblock, I think it's important for crowdfunding campaigns to actually say what the supporter is getting. The Kickstarter details tonnes of physical product, but those are just vehicles for the thing they're actually funding. There's no confirmed cast, or even word on if they'll attempt to bring the original voice actors back (though, given the $5000 tier I'll assume they won't). In fact, I've learned more from this interview than I have from the actual Kickstarter page. The way it's worded over there makes it sound like the original dub was edited beyond its TV airing, when in reality Funimation is using an extended cut released after the original dub was recorded. |
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Parse Error
 Posts: 592 |
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It's just a CYA move. If they consistently claim it's more, then the voice talent might do the math and decide they're not getting a fair slice of the pie. If they were state on record that it's definitely less, the Japanese producers would come to believe they could afford to pay more to license the shows. Either way, any information that becomes public ends up costing them more money. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7987 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I already have the Limited edition with action figure and everything, it's a great show. However, I'm not sure these supposed new scenes would be worth buying it again. I mean what is this new stuff? How much total new stuff was added and is it even important to the story or characters?
Last edited by Kruszer on Sat Feb 27, 2016 3:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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sailorsweeper
Posts: 416 |
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Sentai is worse just look at their subs for Unlimited chronicle which are terrible |
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Gemnist
Posts: 1758 |
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I mostly prefer original dubs also, unless the original dub was edited for content (which this one partially was). As for Cardcaptor Sakura, Pioneer Entertainment made a full uncut dub of it, but you'll have to get in touch with NIS America for any word of it. As for Bandai, I'm getting really pissed at how slow it's taking to get them off the ground - the wait's even longer than Evangelion 3.0's! While a handful of Bandai titles have be re-released, such as Eureka Seven, almost ALL of the purchased Sunrise titles have seemingly been completely ignored, the only exception being Cowboy Bebop (for obvious reasons). I'm still waiting for Code Geass Blu-Rays and a dub for AtE, as well as Haruhi Suzumiya (which will probably come out around the time Nagato Yuki-chan gets its home video release), Outlaw Star, etc. This is their first Sunrise title since Bebop, however, so maybe there's some hope coming soon. |
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TnKtRk
Posts: 183 |
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pshhh....pass.
Funi...on kickstarter for a "classic" lilke Escaflowne. Naww, not happening. Funi ain't no AnimEigo or Pied Piper. They're Funi; they can afford co-productions, simul-dubs, games...they can afford a new dub for a beloved anime series. am I'aight? |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5453 Location: Iscandar |
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I encourage everyone to visit the Kickstarter page; it has answers to most of the questions being raised in this thread.
And I am assuming the goal might be met this weekend. $25,000+ has already been collected in less than 4 hours. Way to go greedy bastards, I mean, Funimation. |
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2458 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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Fair enough to say that Kickstarter is better for the up-and-coming than the already established, and that being so blatant about this being a glorified preorder is against the spirit of Kickstarter… but that's an argument about what Kickstarter is supposed to be (in someone's mind), not what it is in the here and now.
Big Kickstarter campaigns get noticed, in wide-ranging circles. There are surely fans of Escaflowne who don't follow sites like ANN, but will see the Kickstarter and get psyched for it. Kickstarter is an effective tool for marketing and promotion and whether you like or dislike it being used that way, it is what it is. As you can tell, I'm OK with and actually somewhat impressed by the ruthlessness and chutzpah of this particular campaign. One thing that stood out to me is that there's no subtlety about pushing backers over the $100 mark. To just get the goods themselves -- the full series and the movie -- you need to be in at the $155 level. That's about retail for two one-cour sets and a movie, so that's not obnoxious, but the logic of "in for a penny, in for a pound" kicks in, and then you're looking at $200 just for a nicer box and the soundtrack. As of this writing, Escaflowne's average pledge per backer is $191. Compare that to some other anime Kickstarters: a $72 average for Under The dog and $71 for Bubblegum Crisis. Kickscaflowne is killing it. If anything, Funimation is missing the boat by not having any merch associated with higher tiers other than the discs and a poster. They could have shaken another $50-100 out of us with junk like tarot cards (which was actually a mail-in promotion for Bandai USA's release back in the day) or model kits of the various mechs. On the latter point, the Muv-Luv Kickstarter really showed how it's done: originally offering model kits out of existing stock that hadn't sold in Japan, the higher tiers proved so popular that Kotobukiya actually had to do a new production run. Disclosure: I'm in for $175 on Escaflowne. Last edited by invalidname on Sat Feb 27, 2016 3:31 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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I understand why they don't lay out the actual expenses (I agree with others that Kickstarter should require it, but that's a different debate), but if they haven't already spec'd (and in the case of the Japanese studio contracted) the costs, then there's no way to have a "realistic" number for KS. You SHOULD always have your number BEFORE launching the KS. But to make my point: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ankama/wakfu-the-animated-series/description That was a kickstarter to make an English Dub for WakFu so the people behind it could try to pitch it to "English Broadcasters". (it was originally made in French) According to the KS page, the show is 26 26-min episodes (basically same length as Escaflowne TV). Their original goal was $80,000. While one can argue "cost of talent" or whatever other argument people want (I'd point out that FUNi has an inherent advantage of having their OWN dubbing studio) the fact is that another group with MUCH less experience and history of English language dubbing quoted a number HALF as large for an equivalent length of material. (they also offered a MUCH wider assortment of rewards, so "fulfillment" should've been more expensive for the Wakfu KS). There is no downside to FUNi only saying "cost is HIGHER, but we'll eat that for this project" if that were true. The fact is that assuming they're recasting the project, the actors have ZERO leverage to demand an increase in wages based on KS performance. No names are given and basically FUNi's stable should have pretty set rates. And if someone tries to go higher, FUNi will just move on to the next voice actor. Until/unless someone is actually NAMED in the cast, there's nothing compelling FUNi to say "ok, we'll add X to your fee just because we now have more money". Look at DBZ, they recast that thing when they remastered and that had a MUCH larger following than Escaflowne. |
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CCTakato
Posts: 514 |
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getchman
 He started itPosts: 9122 Location: Bedford, NH |
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That was fast, that $5000 pledge option is already taken. Hope the role they get is more than just a one scene wonder
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5399 |
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BlueCatMage
 Posts: 139 Location: Florida, USA |
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Personally, I'm rather annoyed at one of my favorite all time anime series going on display like this, in this kind of fashion.
Seriously people, whether the old Ocean dub was good or bad is a matter of preference so leave that issue alone. As for the possible new dub; since that will depend on whether Funi reaches their kickstarter goal or not (I'm quite furious at Funi for using kickstarter like this for Escaflowne!) that's a moot point until it actually happens. I honestly could care less about a new dub or not as long as they give us the Directors-cut version of this release. That I want to see no matter what! And although I have no idea how this type of thing works; I'm hoping that if this generates enough interest, that maybe those in charge in Japan might consider doing something more for the series as a whole. Especially since, like Pokemon, Escaflowne will be turning 20 years old this year. I truly would love to see a continuation of the series since the ending left much to be desired. Then again, considering how much things have changed in the animation world, it might be better to leave it alone. Ugh, I still want something though to celebrate Escaflowne's anniversary though! |
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DmonHiro
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Read again, paying more attention, please. If they don't make the dub money, they will release it SUB-ONLY. They will not cut the stuff out of the DC edition just to use the dub. No, the dub doesn't mean more to them then the show. What does that even mean? Anyways, for those of us who don't care about the dub, we don't need to pledge anything, seeing as they will release it sub-only if the pledge fails. There's no point in paying for something we don't want. |
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