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NEWS: Funimation Acquires School Rumble


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Riyousha



Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 817
PostPosted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 11:35 pm Reply with quote
Funimation does a good job on the Japanese cartoon industy (Like the time they did Dragon Ball Z and YYH).
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ACDragonMaster



Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 405
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 12:04 am Reply with quote
Ya know, I don't feel like arguing the whole issue 'cause other people already got it pretty much covered, but I do have one bone to pick. So let's just take a look at this lovely little quote (emphasis added)-

Malintex Terek wrote:
Steventheeunuch wrote:

Secondly, How do you know FUNimation are interested in/wanting to get Ouran?


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. Smile


Oh yes, because little fanbrats who think that jumping up and down and screaming "you should license this!!!!111!!!one!!" aren't a dime a dozen and posting that kinda stuff every day on Funi's own forums. Rolling Eyes
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Samurai-with-glasses



Joined: 17 Aug 2005
Posts: 628
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 12:12 am Reply with quote
School Rumble? That must be one of the best news out of Otakon! School Rumble! That is one excellent show. The second series are as good as the first so far, as well, and quite very far it is; not to mention how they started it with a big, big bang. spoiler[The latest arc kinda disappointed me though: it could've been so much more! Starting dramatically with a classic motorcycle escape like that...]

Since I've just (sort of) started my personal Crusade to Buy Everything Illegally Watched Prior (tm) I can now atone for my sins. Smile

It's also one of those shows that animation really excels in what static drawings will have less effect. The parodies of all sorts of old Hong Kong and Japanese movies wouldn't be as funny drawn as opposed to acted out.

Of the dub I fully put my trust on Funimation. They had a long history, good and bad, and they were improving constantly for years since the Dragon Ball days.

Of the Haruhi issue...I'm guessing though that Haruhi won't be licensed now. There's probably quite more than one companies interested in it, and some bidding war behind the scenes or something.
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Steventheeunuch





PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 12:23 am Reply with quote
Malintex Terek wrote:
What they were "trying to do" does not reflect the reaction, and "protecting their own works" is a misleading substitute for "fansubbing".


Regardless, they did not authorize the copies, and they have every right to stop them if they want, because it belongs to them.

Quote:
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.


Fansubbing was a very integral part of the Anime scene, and back in the VHS days it did, for the most part, fuel the industry, because the industry was for a good part run by those very people who were fansubbing. Nowerdays, the proliferation of pirated material has grown, the Japanese are activley participating in the US market, and there are other avenues to which Anime can get exposure (websites that aren't fansub-centric like AOD or even ANN, Adult Swim/other networks, Newtype, Conventions etc), and those tend to be the more deciding factors these days. Fansubs have their uses but they do not carry the majority weight.

Quote:
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.


You're missing something here- some do. There are other groups, such as speed subbers and what not, who's only goal is to get things out for free, and before everyone else. The Internet is, believe it or not, filled with people who activley have adisdain for US licensors/ANYONE who tries to sell anime. I'm not saying it's more or less, but atleast I can admit that, whereas you're of the line of thought where they possibly cannot be.

Quote:
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.


Yeah, I never said it was stopped completely. If one group drops something, another group will invariably go back and continue or restart it. However, I think we've come to a stage where fansubbing, paticularly digisubbing, cannot be used as the basis for a series license, because the ammount of people torrent it cannot be assumed to be the potential buying market (because inevitably, they will not all be).

Quote:
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!


Same problem- fansubbing isn't always as integral as you make it out to be. Fansub audience /= DVD buying/TV watching audience. ***

Quote:
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.


Except they essentially have for some time, but this isn't due to them 'embracing fansubs'. No business in their right mind would endorse piracy of their products, but you should know that. However, if you do not take a stance against piracy, you're sending a message to your investors, sponsors, financial backers and what not that you're a weak company, that cannot protect it's own properties. Once you're perceived as that, then you begin to loose ground with others, and overall it's bad for business.

This is why companies do these things. It's not due to 'ignorance' or 'tyranny', it's called survival. You're right, you cannot stop piracy, but you do not have to give into it, nor are you short-sighted for trying to stop it. Personally, neither you or I can say why they did it, but from a business point-of-view I'd assume they would know what's best for their industry and company, regardless of whether you disagree or not (and still have no actual basis to stand on).

Quote:
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!


In that paticular scenario, VA's cannot represent Viz, a licensing company. Subsequently, Viz could have assessed that even if people are downloading and pirating their product, you'd find a lot of people are buying the English manga and watching the English anime, without even having gone to Narutofan. Viz may have even taken action against them, it's just that neither have published what's going on (and Narutofan may have servers located within non-Berne Convention countries, therefore making legal actions useless).

Just because one company does things their way, doesn't mean others have to aswell.

Quote:
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?


Because Perriot/Shueisha, and Media Factory, are completely different corporate entities with completely different mindsets. Viz and Co. Might have taken action against places, but they may not have publicised the details. Naruto's popularity is also not directly because of the fansubs, but because of it's actual child-appeal, it's CN run, it's manga run, etc. Notice how a lot of anti-dub Naruto posts come from the people who've been following 150+ episodes of Japanese Naruto? You hardly think they'd 'understand the big corporate process' and 'support the show', now do you?

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To paraphrase Socrates, I know nothing. This is "evidence" to support the "hypothesis" that FUNimation couldn't reel in Ouran.


You have evidence to prove Balogne. Don't assert that something happened when you can't back it up.

Quote:
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.


FUNimation have gone on record to say that one of the deciding factors in regards to their licensing desicions has been how well a show is doing in Japan, because they beleive popularity there, will mean popularity here. I honestly don't agree with it (see One Piece, Case Closed, etc), but that's how they work. If the series managed to get a sequal and two OVAs or so, it's a pretty big indication that it is popular.

Quote:
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.


Yeah, so it's popular. That's cool. But you're forgetting that just because School Rumble was announced instead of it, doesn't mean FUNimation cannot afford Ouran. Often companies can have licenses for properties, but haven't received clearance from Japanese licensors to announce them yet (which, this is shop talk, is the case with ADV and the new FotNS movies, but thats another issue).

You could even think of it this way- School Rumble came out before Ouran, so why not announce School Rumble first? Probably isn't the case, but it's a bit more sound than 'FUNimation cannot afford it'.

Quote:
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. Smile


Logically, the first two do make sense. But just because they haven't announced it, doesn't mean they don't have it, and they may have thought "well, maybe it won't actually do well here?". I may be under the guise that you're not actually stating these things as fact, but as opinion, but it's certianly coming off as you thinking they're 'fact'.

Quote:
Licensing anime is a messier affair than with manga; there are more companies involved that want a share of the economic pie.


True

Quote:
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.


Wolf's Rain also was Bones, but went to Bandai. Bones produced the Animation for FMA, but it belongs to Aniplex/Square. But carrying on-

Quote:
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.


That essentially proved my point. You made the assertion that FUNimation didn't have it, and weren't able to. Now you're saying that it's a 'struggle' between Viz and FUNimation, two of the largest, financially wise, US Anime companies? Make up your mind, PLEASE. Heres the original quote piece, with emphasis-

Quote:
Not only does it seem apparent that FUNimation lacked the economic muscle to reel in Ouran Host Club


But then you say?

Quote:
Basically put, aquiring Ouran is a tug of war between FUNimation and Viz.


So it's 'obvious' they cannot get it, but then at the same time they're in contest with Viz to get it? If they weren't financially capable of getting it, don't you think, under you logic, that they wouldn't be able to get it even if they tried and shouldn;t even be considered in the running?

Quote:

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.


Ignored would imply 'no one would touch it', if FUNimation were the only ones who went for it. Also, in regards to popularity, once again, funimation, japanese popularity (which is what a lot of companies seem to base their licensing desicions on, well, the more influencial ones these days).

Quote:

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).


There's not much in the way of research you can do about it. ANN made a report that was inaccurate, because FUNimation said variosu things, such as One Piece, would be making it's way across. ANN reported it as something like, 'FUNimation has aqquired One Piece'. It never showed up on their site. It never got mentioned anywhere else, on any other cons or whatever. news sites reported the same thing, based on ANNs reports. Then what happened? 4Kids got it. There was an 18 month or so blank (if I recall correctly) between the announcement, and when 4Kids got the series. Contract negotiations of this kind of thing are clandestine and secret. No one is supposed to know what's going on, therefore basically everything you hear would be heresay and rumours, which cannot be relied on for accuracy or truth.

Quote:
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?


See above. You do it under the guide that people who are downloading, when told to stop, will buy it legally. Not always the case, but you have to show yourself as willing to take action, in certian cases.

For example, say a record company is actually alerted of someone pirating their music, and they take no action, saying 'well, so what, it's fine", if they go to actually sue someone else, they can, in court (under processes I'm not sure about) say that since the previous person had been bought to their attention, and not prosecuted/punished, they felt they were in their rights to do what they wanted to do. It's another reason why companies want to protect what is theirs. MediaFactory might have been made aware, possibly.

Quote:
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!


HAHAHHAAH

No, you don't. You assert things without any kind of backup, nor do you use any sense in any argument what so ever. You've got no idea on how media industries or businesses work, nor how people go about protecting their own things.

Quote:
they should have simply prosecuted those fools rather than restrict access to everyone.


Everyone who had no right to access in the first place.

diedrupo wrote:
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.


Serious in every post, sadly enough.
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rpgmaster1



Joined: 25 Feb 2006
Posts: 23
Location: Lawrecneville, Georgia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 1:06 am Reply with quote
Can't wait to see School Rumble. Haven't seen the anime yet and haven't read the manga. Probably watched it better subbed since who knows what changes are they going to do in the dubbed version. Witchblade would be better dubbed since the series originated as an American comic series.
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Espeon



Joined: 09 Apr 2004
Posts: 105
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 1:58 am Reply with quote
Well it's good and bad news.. Funimation did infact voice dub Negima the worst possible way and I hope they suffer.

Buf i'm just hoping to all heck they grow a brain for this series. IN the fansub circle this show was far more popular then negima.

Also fansub do equal money for the english company like heck everyone wants to watch subtitles the rest of the anime watching life.. Why do you think i buy all the animes after i have watch some or all of the episode on fansub cuase i rather watch the show then read the subs. I do thank the Fansubbers 110% for the hard work though.
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Steventheeunuch





PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 2:09 am Reply with quote
Espeon wrote:
Well it's good and bad news.. Funimation did infact voice dub Negima the worst possible way and I hope they suffer.


By apparently making the show funny?

Quote:
Also fansub do equal money for the english company like heck everyone wants to watch subtitles the rest of the anime watching life.. Why do you think i buy all the animes after i have watch some or all of the episode on fansub cuase i rather watch the show then read the subs. I do thank the Fansubbers 110% for the hard work though.


You've kinda not read my point, have you?
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Espeon



Joined: 09 Apr 2004
Posts: 105
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 2:37 am Reply with quote
Nope to much writing.
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Nagisa
Moderator


Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Posts: 6128
Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 2:51 am Reply with quote
Espeon wrote:
Nope to much writing.


If you're not going to read what you're replying to, then don't even bother replying. That's spam, and it gets us nowhere.
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Steventheeunuch





PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 3:02 am Reply with quote
Espeon wrote:
Nope to much writing.


Why is it that people, in their spare time, come to an anime forum to discuss anime and yet DONT WANT TO READ?
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Espeon



Joined: 09 Apr 2004
Posts: 105
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 4:19 am Reply with quote
Well excuss me for being human Razz

My point - Some people watch fansubs then buy the show equals money and some watch the fansubs and dont buy the show life goes on.

It's just all the recent series i have collected have been gradually getting less and less impressive. I love voice actors and I'd like to be one my self but when it comes to listening to english dubs of stuff i have seen in english I and many other may no be impressed with it. I'd like to see the companies such as ADV, Funimation actually take information from the public befor they release it to the market. Just a little.

But thats just my idea's way what you like about it Razz
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-Ajax-



Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 1
Location: FL
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:35 am Reply with quote
after hearing the voice acting for Negima im even more inclined to stick to subs Confused but if they mess School Rumble up ill be traumatized Crying or Very sad School Rumble is my favorite comedy so i hope funimation can put some effort into this project Anime smallmouth
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AstroNerdBoy



Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Posts: 413
Location: Denver, CO
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:37 am Reply with quote
For a subtitle watcher like me, FUNimation scoring this is the best news ever! I was turned onto School Rumble by a fan from Aeka Fan Club after Del Rey released the first volume of the manga. I found the manga to contain unexpected moments, which in turn made things funnier. I've seen the first TV series, the OAV, and whatever has been shown of the 2nd series. Like everything, it has ups and downs, but for me, way more ups. As such, I'll be pre-ordering this title as soon as it appears on online!

For you dub fans, I do hope FUNimation takes care of you. Since I'm not a dub fans, I don't care about the dubs, but most folks do. As such, I hope they'll pay attention and do a good job. They have done decent enough jobs on some series, and some not so much.
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Nagisa
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Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Posts: 6128
Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 10:12 am Reply with quote
-Ajax- wrote:
after hearing the voice acting for Negima im even more inclined to stick to subs


Why is everyone instantaneously jumping to Negima when there's mention of a FUNimation dub? Is everyone really that negative as to cling solely to one bad example and ignore the really good dubs FUNimation's done? No, FUNimation doesn't have a spotless record dub-wise, but they've done some really good ones, like Fullmetal Alchemist, Case Closed, Samurai 7, Spiral (minus Kanone, anyway...), Fruits Basket, & Kiddy Grade.

Just strikes me as odd that mention of a new reasonably high-profile license automatically strikes everyone with amnesia as it concerns the good dubs FUNi's done. And it's worth noting that FUNi does seem to put forth more effort when dubbing more popular series (compare, for example, the aforementioned Fullmetal Alchemist and Samurai 7 dubs to, say, the Baki or Galaxy Railways dubs, which were serviceable, but not much more). So there's really not this much need to automatically fear the worst regarding School Rumble's dub.
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hikaru004



Joined: 15 Mar 2004
Posts: 2306
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 12:11 pm Reply with quote
Nagisa wrote:
-Ajax- wrote:
after hearing the voice acting for Negima im even more inclined to stick to subs


Why is everyone instantaneously jumping to Negima when there's mention of a FUNimation dub? Is everyone really that negative as to cling solely to one bad example and ignore the really good dubs FUNimation's done? No, FUNimation doesn't have a spotless record dub-wise, but they've done some really good ones, like Fullmetal Alchemist, Case Closed, Samurai 7, Spiral (minus Kanone, anyway...), Fruits Basket, & Kiddy Grade.

Just strikes me as odd that mention of a new reasonably high-profile license automatically strikes everyone with amnesia as it concerns the good dubs FUNi's done. And it's worth noting that FUNi does seem to put forth more effort when dubbing more popular series (compare, for example, the aforementioned Fullmetal Alchemist and Samurai 7 dubs to, say, the Baki or Galaxy Railways dubs, which were serviceable, but not much more). So there's really not this much need to automatically fear the worst regarding School Rumble's dub.



Because Negima! is a high profile title and a recent release.


Last edited by hikaru004 on Sun Aug 06, 2006 12:16 pm; edited 2 times in total
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