Forum - View topicAnime Expo 2013 - Funimation
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getchman
 Space CowboyPosts: 9120 Location: Bedford, NH |
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so I guess the acquisition department didn't see very many shows that were worth picking up. I really hope not announcing DxD New means they are still working on getting the rights and not because they think it's a flop
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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A few years ago when Funi detached itself from Navarre and become a fully independent company, I worried that the move (which was out of Funi's control) would have an impact on their acquisitions. Sadly, it appears that I am right. A lot of Funi's releases last year were actually re-releases (i.e. shows that were originally released in two sets re-released as a single set, for example). I guess it's to be expected that when you are an independent company as opposed to a division within a larger entity, your acquisitions budget would shrink, but it's kind of too bad.
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v1cious
 Posts: 6202 Location: Houston, TX |
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I'd rather they focus on the titles they already announced for the moment being. Do you remember what happened when ADV tried to license every title under the sun? |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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Sigh. dragon_rider cody has a great response for anyone who drags out that point. The problems with ADV weren't as a result of licensing too much. They were the result of wildly over paying for some licenses that had zero hope of ever turning a profit. They had a bunch of other money-losing divisions that were a drain, too. It's pointless to refer to events that happened during the bubble period as if they apply in today's much different market. |
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v1cious
Posts: 6202 Location: Houston, TX |
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The problem is the market has changed for the worse. Between the middling economy and less fans, picking up any title that's not a guaranteed hit is a huge risk. Keep in mind this is a business. That's why I'd rather them focus on getting out what they have right now. I mean of course there's the "Attack on Titan" type stuff, which will inevitably get licensed, but there's no reason to pick up 100 shows that might be a "Maybe". Last edited by v1cious on Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:21 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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I agree that no distrib should ever pick up a title unless they think they have a shot of making money off it. That's an obvious point. Personally, and I could be wrong here, my feeling is that Funi's very noticeable drop in acquiring and licensing new shows isn't arising from the fact that there are fewer potentially profitable shows out there but rather from the fact that their operating budget is much smaller than it used to be and therefore they don't have the money to actually buy as many titles as they might want to if they had the funds.
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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I think Funimation's drop in acquisitions over the past few years is largely a result of the market. I believe their business model of being a relatively large distributor, in a very tiny market, that does everything in house doesn't allow then to be as nimble as companies like Sentai or NISA, who are have a much smaller number of employees and subcontract a large amount of their work.
They also spend a lot more, and spend much more time dubbing series than other R1 companies. Some may think it gives them a high level of quality, but it also puts them at a disadvantage when you have companies like Sentai that are becoming pretty skilled at dubbing more quickly and on a lower budget. I think we're going to see Funimation experiment with different types of releases, such as the upcoming GiTS Arise import set. I also wouldn't be surprised to see them try out a few subonly releases for more niche titles. Sadly, the days of really big sellers in R1 are coming to an end, and Funi can't depend on another DBZ or FMA popping up every couple of years, especially now that they have a lot more competition on the acquisition front. Also, some of the recent titles that Funimation has acquired, like GiTS Arise and Titan were extremely expensive. That would also explain some of the drop off in titles they are announcing. Plus, you have to factor in that Sentai and Crunchyroll are acquiring a large percentage of the new shows each season. With their unwillingness to guarantee physical releases for lower profile titles, it can be much harder to compete for new titles. |
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ZeetherKID77
 Posts: 981 |
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So basically that's why we haven't seen them announce Symphogear yet? They just don't want to acquire it at all because they aren't like Sentai, who gobbles up 90% of the shows each season and manages to turn a profit?
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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@dragonrider_cody: I don't disagree with anything you said, I think those are all valid factors, but I still think a reduced acquisitions budget is a factor, too. I can't stress enough that that is a totally uninformed guess on my part, but it kind of makes sense that a 100% independent company as Funi is now might not have the same acquisitions budget it had when it was a division of Navarre.
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NJ_
 Posts: 3007 Location: Wallington, NJ |
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There's also Dragon Ball as they may have renewed their license deal which was last renewed in 2009 and it's probably one of the reasons they're re-releasing Z again and of course, there's also the rest of Kai which Sean Schemmel & Kyle Hebert accidently revealed that they're working on now. |
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TheAncientOne
 Posts: 1870 Location: USA (mid-south) |
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An interesting thing about Symphogear G (and the third Milky Holmes series for that matter): Someone pointed out to me that Funimation had never licensed a sequel simulcast of a simulcast for which they had not obtained a home video license. As best I could determine, this is true. (If someone knows of an exception, speak up). The problem is, as best I could determine, there had also previously never been a sequel to any of the simulcasts they had, but which had not obtained a home video license for. In other words, regardless of what they do, it will set a precedent, but it isn't that useful for predicting if they will simulcast either series. |
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Yoda117
Posts: 406 |
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Well at least Rick is keeping a low profile with his new job down there.
Santorum to Jump into Texas Abortion Ban Battle I'm sure that ought to garner a lot of loyalty from the company's core market. |
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guildmaster
 Posts: 355 Location: Hot & Humid FL |
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Politeness and respect, people. It seems to be very lacking in this thread.
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