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NEWS: Recode: AT&T Aims to Buy Out Crunchyroll's Otter Media This Summer

That is the purpose behind websites such as AnimeFeminist and this is the type of deal they have been hoping to see happen to the anime industry. The opportunity to push censorship over the western anime industry by making the argument that ecchi shows for men shouldn't be licensed because they don't like them. A smaller company has to listen to their customers to stay in business but ironically giant corporations can afford to make horrible business decisions.

far too low of bitrate, poor translations/transliterations/localization choices, very inconsistent, and literally dozens of grammar mistakes per season, mistakes that PAID people shouldn't be making).

still using Flash instead of HTML5

MsVitchDaSecond wrote:

I see them prepping the sneaky double pay wall huh now that net neutrality is gone

Setting aside the discussion about net neutrality, I'm certain the double pay wall will work out just as well as it did for Amazon.

If they handle CR the same as they have handled the purchase of DirectTV, it will be a disaster. DTV used to have the very best customer service, then AT&T bought then and it went to crapola. And, a years subscription will probably double in price.

That is the purpose behind websites such as AnimeFeminist and this is the type of deal they have been hoping to see happen to the anime industry. The opportunity to push censorship over the western anime industry by making the argument that ecchi shows for men shouldn't be licensed because they don't like them. A smaller company has to listen to their customers to stay in business but ironically giant corporations can afford to make horrible business decisions.

AT&T is in the middle of starting up their own streaming service, to compete directly with Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu. Otter Media also has stakes in several other ventures, including live sports, so I suspect that is AT&T's primary interest in acquiring Otter. Therefore, Crunchyroll being swept up sounds like it could just be an afterthought. It could also mean AT&T might bundle it off to someone else, if they decide they don't want to deal with anime. Or it could mean that Crunchyroll might someday be available with your Uverse subscription.

I'm not really that worried. If they kill Crunchy, then the license fees will go to another entrepreneurial company that's interested in picking-up the content.

I've seen at least two (minor) anime fansites state that they find the concept of Back Street Girls to be offensive and plan to not only boycott the series but urge others to do the same. Others have said similar things about Keijo, High School DxD, Armed Girls Machiavellism, etc. And we haven't even gotten into the violent content that others will surely object to. This will surely become a minefield, and probably quicker than we think.

now I'm kinda shitty at keeping up with the anime scene online cause I've got more offline problems then I'd like to mention but what's the story behind that group? do they have legitimate reasons for their opinions or is it endless butt hurt and self imposed entitlement to demand that their opinions and their's alone are heard

MagusGuardian wrote:

now I'm kinda shitty at keeping up with the anime scene online cause I've got more offline problems then I'd like to mention but what's the story behind that group? do they have legitimate reasons for their opinions or is it endless butt hurt and self imposed entitlement to demand that their opinions and their's alone are heard

Well the website has talked about how dark magical girl shows such as
Puella Magi Madoka Magica aren't suitable for children so the website has some questionable ideas about what anime should be. They haven't yet called for any censorship outside of a few vague Twitter posts but they did try to shame Funimation for using an anime woman in a bikini to promote a summer sale. In other words I wouldn't be surprised if their official position on censorship changes in the future.

For some shows, yeah you can get away with some judicial editing. But what about series where the entire concept might be considered objectionable to some people? Like, say, Eromanga Sensei or the upcoming Back Street Girls? Never mind that fan service is the cornerstone for a number of franchises.

Once these services become beholden to Big Corporations, I have no faith that they'll be able to keep their independence and not be forced to police their content. Or just avoid some of it altogether. All it would take is one Angry Internet Mob, and any one of these services could find themselves forced to buckle down under corporate pressure. I'm actually surprised it hasn't happened yet, considering some of the anime content out there.

now I'm kinda shitty at keeping up with the anime scene online cause I've got more offline problems then I'd like to mention but what's the story behind that group? do they have legitimate reasons for their opinions or is it endless butt hurt and self imposed entitlement to demand that their opinions and their's alone are heard

DeTroyes wrote:

For some shows, yeah you can get away with some judicial editing. But what about series where the entire concept might be considered objectionable to some people? Like, say, Eromanga Sensei or the upcoming Back Street Girls? Never mind that fan service is the cornerstone for a number of franchises. Once these services become beholden to Big Corporations, I have no faith that they'll be able to keep their independence and not be forced to police their content. Or just avoid some of it altogether. All it would take is one Angry Internet Mob, and any one of these services could find themselves forced to buckle down under corporate pressure. I'm actually surprised it hasn't happened yet, considering some of the anime content out there.

And then anime just goes back to the fansubbers rather than simulcasters. No big deal. As someone who grew up in the era of Saban and 4Kids, there are always alternatives

MagusGuardian wrote:

now I'm kinda shitty at keeping up with the anime scene online cause I've got more offline problems then I'd like to mention but what's the story behind that group? do they have legitimate reasons for their opinions or is it endless butt hurt and self imposed entitlement to demand that their opinions and their's alone are heard

The only thing I've heard about them is them trying to get Hunter x Hunter censored on Crunchyroll because it uses the word 'tranny'. They put out a call for translators to help them get it changed, and when translators chimed in that it was a fine translation, they basically did a "ok, we're only going to be accepting opinions from translators who agree with our point of view to send to CrunchyRoll". But given they're a spin off of The Mary Sue, I imagine they have a lot more nonsense that I haven't paid attention to.