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NEWS: Dragon Ball Super Begins Running in Europe, Middle East, Africa

penguintruth wrote:

Funimation hasn't even released the Buu arc of Kai, the rest of the world's beating them to Super.

Arguably, though, none of that really matters to Funimation, as long as no other US company manages to grab Super out from under them. So, taking a look at who could do that:

Crunchyroll - With their new partnership with Funimation, this seems less than likely. Even if Crunchyroll did get it, Funimation would end up dubbing it anyway. Think of how this would effect the ability of Super to get on TV, though.

Netflix or Amazon - These two seem like the most likely parties, but neither of these companies would really benefit from putting Super on television once they have it on their sites. Is Toei interested in making that kind of deal?

Warner Brothers - They appear to be out of the game after their JoJo fiasco.

Sentai or Discotek - Having Super would be a major gamechanger for either of these companies, but if money is what's keeping Funimation from bringing Super to the US, then I doubt Sentai or Discotek can pony up the cash, either.

Viz - I honestly have no idea what would happen if the company whose Sailor Moon re-release has caused so much fan outrage were to get their hands on Dragonball, too. At the very least, we know they have the rights to the manga adaptation.

Media Blasters - Sorry, Media Blasters, but I don't believe for a single second that you could handle this license right now.

Ponycanyon, NIS, or Aniplex - doesn't seem to fit in with their catalogues of limited-run prestige format releases.

Any I missed? I can't see someone like Disney wanting this, but you never know.

I got a good laugh from this. I can't believe people actually think another company could license a Dragon Ball series or movie other than Funimation. I obviously don't have any facts to back this up but I'm pretty sure Toei and Funimation have a deal in place where they automatically get the license. I mean I guess Amazon would have the money to outbid them but Funimation would be destroyed if they didn't get it. I'm also pretty certain its Toei who is holding back Kai and Super and not Funimation from an United States release.

Any I missed? I can't see someone like Disney wanting this, but you never know.

xchampion wrote:

I got a good laugh from this. I can't believe people actually think another company could license a Dragon Ball series or movie other than Funimation. I obviously don't have any facts to back this up but I'm pretty sure Toei and Funimation have a deal in place where they automatically get the license. I mean I guess Amazon would have the money to outbid them but Funimation would be destroyed if they didn't get it. I'm also pretty certain its Toei who is holding back Kai and Super and not Funimation from an United States release.

I also don't doubt that funimation will have the license eventually, but when pressed on the subject a while back during an ANNCast, they said they don't have the license and when Zac asked if another company could get it, they didn't say no. So anything is possible, apparently.

What about Toei itself?

peno wrote:

What about Toei itself?

This is what I've been thinking for some time now, family or no family if Toei, as a business, decides to market DragonBall in North America there isn't much anyone could do about it. Funimation's licenses will eventually expire and they have made a LOT of money from them. It may be time to move on.

Mark Gosdin