Forum - View topicNEWS: Funimation Acquires School Rumble
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AnimeJX
 Posts: 5 Location: Las Vegas |
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You might also want to note that the very same anime you are reffering to, is infact garbage. I'm waiting for the Gainax produced Negima anime, maybe it won't be full of suck xD |
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Sabakyuu
 Posts: 47 Location: Canada |
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I've honestly been waiting a long long time for this. I saw the first few episodes and decided that I would wait for the dvd release so that I wouldn't spoil the entire series before I bought it.
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Malintex Terek
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Wow, what horrible news.
FUNimation, a company I have long respected and admired as a pioneer and "friend of the common fan" in regard to their perception of entertainment salience and quality, picked the most *taboo* of shows, School Rumble. As some of you readers know, the animation studio MediaFactory sent C&D's to the major torrent distribution sites (of who I do not feel need mentioning) as an act of monstrous tyranny and intolerance at the thought of Americans "pirating" their products. The result was that MediaFactory had many of their major products overlooked by the west, as internet access to those shows were severely restricted (remember, MediaFactor halted subbing on major networks). School Rumble was an example of how an excellent show could be overlooked by big companies because of a lack of awareness, and the lack of any major licensing was supposed to be a punishment to MediaFactory for their impudence. Not only does it seem apparent that FUNimation lacked the economic muscle to reel in Ouran Host Club, a BONES-animated series (of which FMA is also from), but they were reduced to picking up a "straggler" series that no one else would touch. This looks like a sign of FUNimation not being taken seriously among Japanese studios, despite their numerous smash hits. I cannot denounce School Rumble as a bad show; FUNimation most likely wants to strengthen its ties with Kondasha related material to battle Viz and its premium access to Shueisha/Shogakukan related media (though I acknowledge that Anime is a tougher matter, Viz still gets presidence); however, the negative consequences of this license are fairly paramount. This is a huge blow to we fans, and I must admit, for the first time in my life, I am disappointed in FUNimation's decision. What a pity. |
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one3rd
 Posts: 1817 Location: アメリカ |
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I've been hoping and waiting for this license. Between this and Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, I'm going to be a happy anime buyer in the next year. Also, this reminds me that I need to pre-order the third volume of the manga.
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trankenam
 Posts: 9 Location: Montreal, Canada |
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Doesnt really matter who liscences it to me. Heck, this is The anime I wanted to come to North America, though I'm worried that it wont turn out all that well, especially since most jokes are based on Japanese culture. So I guess, as long as do an amazing job at conserving these aspects by possibly adding little help messages to understand. And of course, I'm really hoping for a great voice actor cast, especially for Harima Kenji!
Last edited by trankenam on Sat Aug 05, 2006 8:58 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Steventheeunuch
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Here we go.
Taboo eh? Let's keep going, rocky seas are ahead.
I've read the letter, and you're a GROSSELY overdoing it. They sent a letter to havetheir works, which were being copied and translated without their authorization removed. Last time I checked, a company is allowed to protect their own works.
You haven't figured it out yet, but Internet Fandom doesn't nessecerally translate over into equivilent DVD sales. It's a shame you don't realise this yet, but there's a good section of the Internet who insist on downloading anime because they use it as an ALTERNATIVE to buying legitimate products!. We aren't stuck in some crazy, corporate based, medieval knight storybook, where the brave and gallant fansubber battles with the corrupt industry duke of license-dor.
I would like to figure a few things out here, first being how you know FUNimation doesn't have the financial muscle to pull Ouran, but are able to pick up a much longer, and much more popular TV/OVA series? Secondly, How do you know FUNimation are interested in/wanting to get Ouran? THirdly, how do you know Ouran hasn't been picked up by another company before FUNimation could make negotiations? Fourth, how do you know 'no one else would touch' School Rumble? It's always been under the guide of being terrifically popular, as it is over in Japan. Fifth, you deduct "FUNimation not being taken seriously among Japanese studios", using logic you've clearly pulled FROM YOUR ARSE.
Whingy entitlement kids who complain about School Rumble being removed (on top of others) do not and will NEVER make the majority buying market/power of an Anime title, it's just common sense, which you lack in spade.
Don't think you speak for everyone, and infact, stop speaking for yourself, because you do not know a damn thing. |
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hikaru004
 Posts: 2306 |
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We should give FUNimation a chance. They did a good job with the Desert Punk dub, so I'm not worried about this franchise. Besides, this baby was probably expensive from the start and they managed to get all of it.
I hope for loads of cultural notes. Go Tenma! |
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Jabberwock
 Posts: 92 Location: Currently attending the University of Florida |
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Yes, God forbid they try to stop people from pirating their products... I don't know if you didn't receive the memo, but pirating someone else’s products is illegal. If someone tries to steal my stuff, I am going to do some serious "monstrous tyranny and intolerance" on their asses as well. I don't even know what must be wrong with someone for them to think that a Company is in the wrong for protecting their own products, but something is wrong I will tell you that. I am not going to even get into the rest of this tirade of yours because this whole thing is just ramblings of idiocy. |
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hikaru004
Posts: 2306 |
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When all the Media Factory drama subsided, we really didn't miss out on much imo.
The great... Aria the Animation and Aria the Natural School Rumble TV and OVA Noein The ugly... Probably not nice to go there. 
The great will eventually make it over (only Aria is left). The ugly deserves a proper burial imo. 
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The Naked Beast
 Posts: 1028 Location: A Blue Planet |
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I am currently reading the manga and enjoy it especially Harima's antics. I am looking forward to the third volume of the manga this month. It is great that someone got the series. I do agree with putting in cultural notes in it similar to what Del Rey Manga do with their manga. These are great announcements from companies at Otakon 2006. I hope to hear more great news by the end of this weekend.
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Buster Blader 126
 Posts: 1206 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
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Is the ugly that "ugly" to not mention? My curiosity is at its limit. 
& to be honest, I would doubt Aria being successful over here if it got brought over. Don't get me wrong, I love the Aria series. It's one of those series I watch on a lazy afternoon & it makes me feel good inside whenever I watch it. But I would think that it would be more of a niche title & appeal more to the hardcore Aria fans, thus not getting the sales that would warrant licensing the series. Of course, this is only my opinion.
& more thoughts on School Rumble. I'm happy and sad at the same time. Happy, because I think that FUNi would give it a proper release. Sad, because since I don't have that much money (thus I generally wait until a boxset comes out), I know I'll be waiting for a LONG time until a boxset comes out. =\ One question I have is how will FUNi release the titles by episode count. |
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Malintex Terek
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What they were "trying to do" does not reflect the reaction, and "protecting their own works" is a misleading substitute for "fansubbing". Believe it or not, fansubbing has (pretty much) become an integral part of the anime licensing process. Years ago, before the world was connected by digital networks, investing in a show was a speculative gamble; generally, only shows that were massively popular in Japan were picked, and many of the "good" lesser shows were overlooked. Ergo, we get DBZ, Sailor Moon, and Neon Genesis Evangelion to set the cultural presidence (and bar) for what future shows need live up to. The downside to fansubbing is that the companies lose potential profit to the free product provided by pirates; however, every fansubbing group (except the scanslation groups for Tenjou Tenge) advocates support for the English adaptions of a show, and most viewers have the moral desire to support the western release. As such, while companies loose profit due to pirates, they could potentially loose more without the free advertising of the internet. Just because School Rumble was barred from major torrent sites doesn't mean the illegal fansubbing stopped; it just means that fewer people got to see the show and its license would be delayed indefinitely. It was an illustration to MediaFactory that "fansubbing is part of the advertising process now, live with it or sink", and this was especially profound because School Rumble is a *good* title!
You're talking about the "free rider" dilemma, where we have a public good that everyone contributes to but some take more than their fair share. In this instance, the public good is a fansub, and the people who "benefit" are the Internet as a whole, but those who "bear the cost" are the ones who purchase the DVDs. Whether anime studios like it or not, their shows are going to get pirated one way or another, so instead of resisting the piracy, they should go along with it and use fansubbing as a form of advertisement. This "allowance" need not go so far as "advocacy", they merely need to take a "blind eye" to what is going on. Assuredly, fansubbing and scanslating is illegal, but not all companies really care; Viz Media doesn't denounce NarutoFan, a gigantic fansite that actually requires a fee to access its reservoirs of scanslated manga and fansubbed anime. Heck, Viz even has its Naruto VA's attending the NarutoFan forum and fielding questions! Naruto and Genshinken are fine examples of how fansubbing can swell demand for a show. Ironically, the latter show is a product of MediaFactory, the same people who did School Rumble; why did they try to put a stop to a good thing?
To paraphrase Socrates, I know nothing. This is "evidence" to support the "hypothesis" that FUNimation couldn't reel in Ouran. In regard to the "popularity" of School Rumble, I call your assertion into doubt; it's not necessarily wrong, I just have no information on how well the show is doing because the anime activity has gone underground. I do know, though, that Ouran Host Club is one of the most popular shoujo titles of all time, rivaling if not equalling Fruits Basket and earning a Viz license after only two volumes were released. Ouran has phenomenon-level status in Japan (and, apparently, Korea), although I should note I do not think "phenomenon" level status for a girl-oriented title is as large as one for a boy-oriented product.
1) Fruits Basket was a high selling show for FUNimation. 2) It's animated by BONES, who have good relations with FUNimation due to the acclaimed reception of Fullmetal Alchemist here in the west. 3) I told them to get it. :)
Licensing anime is a messier affair than with manga; there are more companies involved that want a share of the economic pie. Additionally, Ouran has no "significant" ties with any of the big companies; the original manga was ported in a magazine owned by Hakusensha, a publisher that doesn't immediately default to Viz Media as it's western representative. Viz snagged the manga, but FUNimation has a good relationship with BONES. None of the other serious anime distribution companies have any edge over that. Basically put, aquiring Ouran is a tug of war between FUNimation and Viz.
I shouldn't have said "no one else would touch", but rather, "it's been ignored". See above; again, I cannot testify to School Rumble's popularity, because I personally didn't like it (manga/anime) and I have no idea about the mainstream internet's esteem of it.
Do some research on the aquisition of One Piece by 4Kids; I personally think FUNimation gave up the product, but most seem to think Toei Animation snatched it back. This was surprising, as Gen Fukunaga has an uncle at Toei. Ergo, licensing School Rumble supports the latter (FUNi lost OP) more than the former (FUNi gave it away).
So, you're agreeing with me on the matter that MediaFactory was arsinine to stop major torrent distribution of School Rumble, since many of the people who downloaded the fansubs (and complained) have no influence in the western anime scene (might I call them the "vocal majority"?) because they don't buy DVDs? In that respect, they're not even part of the market, so why bother to bring them up?
Huh. Who in the world has concrete "knowledge" about social phenomenon? I cite historical examples, empirical data, and use logical assessment; if you claim you "know" something and I do not, you're even more elitist and arrogant than I am! |
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hikaru004
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Well, if my memory serves me correctly, there was that little debacle called the Akane Maniax DVD ep. 1 release. In poor judgement, some English language fansubbers released DVD ep. 1 prior to the Japanese DVD release and totally pissed off Media Factory leading to our problems today. I also believe that Genshiken had finished its fansub release prior to the Akane Maniax issue and the Media Factory response. So if you want to get mad at someone, then get mad at those fansubbers who caused this mess in the first place. |
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Malintex Terek
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Poor judgement is an understatement; that's outright vile behaviour. However, like in the case with Israel and Lebanon, Media Factory overracted to the incident; they should have simply prosecuted those fools rather than restrict access to everyone. |
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Diedrupo
Posts: 58 |
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I seriously cannot believe you are actually serious about this. You, my friend, are the only person in the world who could possibly think that the licensing of a show is bad. I'm glad that people are making fun of you on 4chan as we speak. |
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