Support NeoGAF

[duckroll]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-07-04/funimation-picks-up-over-30-former-ad-vision-titles

Fresh after the announcement yesterday that they will be taking on the most popular of Geneon's licenses, today they have announced that over 30 of ADV's suspended licenses have been acquired. Seems like the R1 anime market is shaping up to be Bandai Entertainment vs FUNimation. Lolz.


Edit: Summary of the FUNi keynote panel at Anime Expo:

- FUNi is looking into online stuff and digital rights
- They will no longer license anything without digital rights, its too important
- They've partnered with Youtube, possibly other partners too
- Pushing for day and date release of subtitled stuff online with Japan
- Blu-ray is important, early adopters are anime fans, etc
- Geneon deal = FUNi handling distribution and marketing, the production is still Geneon
- They're talking with ADV to hopefully get them to continue production on the titles that FUNi now owns

 

[Aegus]

What's happening with ADV anyway? Has their strategy of throwing shit at the wall until it sticks backfired? (as anyone with a degree of sense could see would happen)

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Damn it duck, I had been working on my thread for a good 10 min. ;P

 

[DrForester]

Might as well post he big list of Geneon and ADV titles duckroll.

Surprised Funi didn't grab Trigun and Chobits too. Those are probably old enough they could be re-released.

Also surprised they didn't get Haibane Renmei since that was co-produced by Geneon to begin with.

 

[Prime crotch]

Moonlight Mile?! I liked the show but that's a weird one to release here, it's not beatiful like Planetes, it's low budget hard scifi, I don't know it just seems weird.

Ohhh Guyver, never saw the new one but loved what I read of the manga and the old anime.

 

[chaostrophy]

Glad they picked up Wallflower. That's a great series.

 

[akachan ningen]

I for one don't mind this. Funimation is actually doing decent dubs now. ADV still does dubs as horribly as they ever have.

 

[akachan ningen]

damn double posts

 

[Kagari]

I saw this coming when I was at their ACen panel and they announced a ton of stuff, while ADV was a no-show and no one else announced a thing.

 

[Tokubetsu]

Not surprised. Funimation is the house that DBZ built and Bandai is the house that cowboy bebop and gundam built. What did/does Geneon and ADV have that are anywhere near as big as those?

Glad I can get tokyo majin on dvd now. STILL haven't seen any of season 2 and that's a damn shame. Are they gonna be re-releasing the discs that ADV did get out as well? Which reminds me to pre-order GL1 this weekend.

 

[Branduil]

Whoa, wait, they're going to put out the rest of Higurashi and Rozen Maiden? Awesome, I was so pissed off about that.

 

[radios shipping overview]

Not surprised. Funimation is the house that DBZ built and Bandai is the house that cowboy bebop and gundam built. What did/does Geneon and ADV have that are anywhere near as big as those?

Uh, Evangelion.

 

[Tokubetsu]

Uh, Evangelion.

Competely forgot about Eva :lol

 

[hellclerk]

Kanon! WUT? DAMN. well, if they completely re-do the voice overs to something that more represents the Japanese intonation, then maybe i could get behind this. either way, they just better release the box set soon and at an economical price.

 

[lunarworks]

Uh, Evangelion.

...and bad management, I suppose.

Even with AAA titles, a company can sink.


In any case, I HATE the name "FUNimation". It sounds like children's programming. Their logo sucks too.

 

[Great Rumbler]

It's probably for the best that the industry do some consolidating. Bandai and Funimation [and to a less extent Kadokawa and Mange Ent.] taking care of the more high-profile titles and Media Blasters handling the more niche titles might weed out some of awful series we've been getting recently.

 

[JayDubya]

Uh, Evangelion.

Yeah, but somehow Manga got the rights to the movies, and then they managed to get all of the ADV voice actors. Don't know how that worked. :lol

 

[MetatronM]

Kanon! WUT? DAMN. well, if they completely re-do the voice overs to something that more represents the Japanese intonation, then maybe i could get behind this. either way, they just better release the box set soon and at an economical price.

Chances are they're just going to distribute the last volume or so that ADV was already planning on releasing.

In the cases of the majority of series FUNi got out of both of these deals, most if not all of the real work on the titles has already been done for them. They just need to get them to market.

Still, I'm not sure how they have the resources to deal with this many new acquisitions. Not to mention that they were already stretched pretty thin with their own licenses to begin with. And I believe they still have even MORE new licenses to announce at their panel at AX tomorrow. :lol

 

[klee123]

Fine by me, as FUnimation's DVDs have always been cheap.

 

[Novid]

So lets see:

Funi, Bandai, Viz, Manga, Media Blasters, Central Park Media, Right Stuff.

Sounds about right.

3 Majors, one semi major and three smaller.

Just like the american animation business:

Disney, Nick, WarnerBrothers/Turner (CN), Sony, 4Kids, Dic, Cookie Jar.

With Three Majors, Two semi major and two smaller.

But back to ADV...they were too high on themselfs. Where the heck is John Layford anyway? He out getting some tranny suprise?

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Do you not like this or something?

Imagine if 4Kids picked up the most popular of Geneon's licenses...

 

[Door2Dawn]

Good.

 

[duckroll]

Damn it duck, I had been working on my thread for a good 10 min. ;P

Really sorry about that, if you still want to, I'll be happy to lock this one if you post yours.

In other news, the FUNi keynote at AX is going on now, and they just confirmed the Geneon distribution and marketing deal, as well as the acquisition of the ADV titles.

 

[Shouta]

FWO 4 lyfe?

Kind of amusing that this is happening but it doesn't surprise me. Stupid ADV. :lol

 

[duckroll]

Short summary of the keynote so far:

- FUNi is looking into online stuff and digital rights
- They will no longer license anything without digital rights, its too important
- They've partnered with Youtube, possibly other partners too
- Pushing for day and date release of subtitled stuff online with Japan
- Blu-ray is important, early adopters are anime fans, etc
- Geneon deal = FUNi handling distribution and marketing, the production is still Geneon
- They're talking with ADV to hopefully get them to continue production on the titles that FUNi now owns

 

[SuperPac]

Very happy about this. So can it be called finally that ADV is dead? Hoping someone picks up Yotsuba. ADV is never going to have the money to publish another volume, let's face it.

 

[hellclerk]

Chances are they're just going to distribute the last volume or so that ADV was already planning on releasing.

In the cases of the majority of series FUNi got out of both of these deals, most if not all of the real work on the titles has already been done for them. They just need to get them to market.

Still, I'm not sure how they have the resources to deal with this many new acquisitions. Not to mention that they were already stretched pretty thin with their own licenses to begin with. And I believe they still have even MORE new licenses to announce at their panel at AX tomorrow. :lol

well, it's not like i'd watch it in English anyway. i just find the localization unbearable after the original Japanese. just get that box set out FUNi...

 

[B-Rad Lascelle]

Very happy about this. So can it be called finally that ADV is dead? Hoping someone picks up Yotsuba. ADV is never going to have the money to publish another volume, let's face it.

ADV seems to still think they'll be able to license other titles, but I don't see where they'll get the money from or how they could get anything apart from the leftovers that won't stand a chance to sell anyhow.

I suspect they'll still operate as a dub studio for the remainder of the ARM titles FUNi acquired. It would be nice if FUNi agreed to outsource additional work their way but I don't see it being terribly likely.

 

[robot]

Moonlight Mile?! I liked the show but that's a weird one to release here, it's not beatiful like Planetes, it's low budget hard scifi, I don't know it just seems weird.

Ohhh Guyver, never saw the new one but loved what I read of the manga and the old anime.

I saw that in the store the other day and almost bought it since I'm a huge fan of Planetes. Guess I made the right decision by passing it up?

 

[Prime crotch]

I saw that in the store the other day and almost bought it since I'm a huge fan of Planetes. Guess I made the right decision by passing it up?

Well, it's a great show but it's very hard on the eyes.

 

[Branduil]

Short summary of the keynote so far:

- FUNi is looking into online stuff and digital rights
- They will no longer license anything without digital rights, its too important
- They've partnered with Youtube, possibly other partners too
- Pushing for day and date release of subtitled stuff online with Japan
- Blu-ray is important, early adopters are anime fans, etc
- Geneon deal = FUNi handling distribution and marketing, the production is still Geneon
- They're talking with ADV to hopefully get them to continue production on the titles that FUNi now owns

Sounds like Funi is at least trying to do things the right way. Good for them.

 

[Calcaneus]

I like the direction Funi is going in, right on. Lets hope Bandai takes note, at least as far as the online stuff goes.

 

[rykomatsu]

oooh...bluray

it's quite amazing how much anime can benefit from HD...but I don't think I'll be buying any US released R1 BD's unless limited edition releases have similar quality to some of the stuff they get in Japan...

I wonder if Utawarerumono and AIR are going to be released on BD since they've already been released as such in Japan (Uta w/ US audio as well)

 

[Vaporak]

Short summary of the keynote so far:

- FUNi is looking into online stuff and digital rights
- They will no longer license anything without digital rights, its too important
- They've partnered with Youtube, possibly other partners too
- Pushing for day and date release of subtitled stuff online with Japan

I've always thought that those kinds of steps would be very effective at getting some revenue out of the fansubbers market. All entertainment is time sensitive, as in it's worth less as time goes on. If they can get the scripts to the shows early and have a subbed version out before any of the fansubber, then I can see this kind of initiative being very popular if they have some kind of Hulu like solution.

 

[Firestorm]

One Piece on the cheap on BluRay please =)

Was disappointed I didn't wait for FMA on BluRay but realized that it's not HD anyway so it doesn't matter. The dub for this show is amazing.

As for the online distribution thing, I hope it involves downloads. I absolutely hate the quality of streaming videos and would never pay for streams. Downloads on the other hand I'd be interested in. Especially if they offered some sort of a rebate for people who've downloaded for the DVDs.

 

[Rahxephon91]

ADV put out some good anime dubs. Rahxephon, Bubblegum Crisis 2040, and FMP. I'm not really a fan of Funi's dubs though. I do like that they put out cheap releases and I hope more of their titles come out like Aquarian has. That is 2 boxes for a 26 episode release.

 

[The Frankman]

I asked this it the other thread:

So other "small" entites like Manga Ent. and CPM need to step up.

I wonder how this affects FUNi's stable of VA's. More work for vets or better chance for new people in dub roles? I ask becuase I'd love to be a VA.

 

[zoku88]

I use to really really hate FUNimation a while back. I don't quite remember why. It seems as though they've improved recently, though.

Spoiler

I'm really only into manga, so I don't know much about the US anime industry..,

 

[B-Rad Lascelle]

I asked this it the other thread:

Quote:
So other "small" entites like Manga Ent. and CPM need to step up.

I wonder how this affects FUNi's stable of VA's. More work for vets or better chance for new people in dub roles? I ask becuase I'd love to be a VA.

Are you in the Dallas-Fort Worth area?
Do you have an acting background or formal voice training?

If your answer to both of these questions is no, then you're probably out of luck unless you want to train to be an engineer and get your foot in the door on the technical side of things.

 

[The Frankman]

Are you in the Dallas-Fort Worth area?
Do you have an acting background or formal voice training?

If your answer to both of these questions is no, then you're probably out of luck unless you want to train to be an engineer and get your foot in the door on the technical side of things.

1) No.
2) Sort of, Kind of.

The third is pretty much what Justin Cook said in '04. However I know it varies a bit company to company and I was curious. Eh, no one said it would be easy.

 

[Novid]

Sorry im a bit drunk...

but what the hell, why John Layford cant afford a bowflex or something, i mean if hes using money to get tranny suprised every friday over at the Hilton in Fort Worth, the least he can do is to clean himself up some...shit....:lol

 

[Jiggy]

Kanon 2006 has been salvaged and that's enough to make me happy. Great anime or greatest anime, that--in spite of its art style. Now to just hope they'll get around to releasing a box set of it in 2009 or whenever.

well, if they completely re-do the voice overs to something that more represents the Japanese intonation, then maybe i could get behind this.

I don't know, I'm not sure any English speaker alive could handle uguu~ correctly. But yeah, ADV's dub is bloody terrible; pretty much all the characters sound approximately like 28-year-olds attempting to imitate 16-year-old valley girls. You can't take a purposefully uber-cute show and inflict some kind of quasi-real world voices on it as if it were a live-acting TV sitcom. :/

 

[rykomatsu]

Kanon 2006 has been salvaged and that's enough to make me happy. Great anime or greatest anime, that--in spite of its art style. Now to just hope they'll get around to releasing a box set of it in 2009 or whenever.

I thought AIR was better tbh but reviews are somewhat mixed in terms of which most people think is better...stemming mainly from the fact that the ending was open to so much interpretation.

Hoping that TBS (pony canyon?) will release KANON on BD eventually...I bought the AIR BD set and even just the new full OP is amazing...hoping something similar will happen with KANON (and eventually Clannad, arguably the weakest of the 3)

 

[Jiggy]

Yeah, I pretty much adored Air right up until the ending just killed it for me. Even without that, I'm not sure I loved it quite as much as Kanon, but I'd have to think about it. Honestly, I didn't like the Kanon 2006 ending that much either (Kanon 2002 is a different matter and is just fine with me) despite stopping and starting crying three separate times for its last episode (;_, so yeah, for both of them it's really the rest of the show that I like...


Glad to see another person who thinks Clannad is the weakest of the three, also. I'm not even sure I can say I enjoyed it overall (though it had its moments here and there), much less that it's in my favorite seven ever like Kanon and Air.

 

[speedpop]

I only care if Moribito gets a release.

 

[BluWacky]

I only care if Moribito gets a release.

Media Blasters picked up the licence from Geneon, they're releasing it (well, according to John Sirabella anyway).

As happy as I am for the industry to see all these titles get picked up again, looking at the list of rescued ADV titles there's only really about 4 or 5 that I ever planned on picking up in the first place, and even then it was only if I had spare cash and they were out as cheap boxsets. I'm sure that having Sojitz on board will only help Funimation, but quantity does not equal quality and I'd be surprised if they got particularly great returns on some of those shows.

I'm far more excited about the Geneon distribution deal, although mostly for their recent and slightly older back catalogue. Give me an Ergo Proxy or a Gankutsuou thinpak and I will be a happy camper...

 

[Great Rumbler]

I use to really really hate FUNimation a while back. I don't quite remember why.

Probably because their localization used to be really terrible and they only had a few decent series. They've really stepped it up in the past few years, though, and fixed most of their problems.

 

[rykomatsu]

Yeah, I pretty much adored Air right up until the ending just killed it for me. Even without that, I'm not sure I loved it quite as much as Kanon, but I'd have to think about it. Honestly, I didn't like the Kanon 2006 ending that much either (Kanon 2002 is a different matter and is just fine with me) despite stopping and starting crying three separate times for its last episode (;_, so yeah, for both of them it's really the rest of the show that I like...


Glad to see another person who thinks Clannad is the weakest of the three, also. I'm not even sure I can say I enjoyed it overall (though it had its moments here and there), much less that it's in my favorite seven ever like Kanon and Air.

There aren't too many people I hear of who've watched KANON 2002, but I thought the story was better presented in the original production even though the art was...the chins were fucking huge...2006 and 2002 complement each other really well...particularly the Mai arc which in 2006 was somewhat devoid of the underlying story as to her situation. I REALLY hope this makes it to BD though...maybe in 2009 or 2010? The AIR on TV BD sold reasonably well from what I've read and is fetching quite a premium now since its discontinuation back in April (bought it a few days after discont for about $250...next copy on yahoo auctions sold for $760 and it's been holding at 400-600 since)

Was Ergo Proxy an HD production to begin with?

 

[BluWacky]

Was Ergo Proxy an HD production to begin with?

Pretty sure it was, WOWOW airs all its anime in HD and I remember some ludicrously beautiful raws being out there that my computer couldn't handle at the time.

 

[Replicant]

I've been wondering about this: does the money that a US anime company spends on dubs pays off? I mean, does it really increase the amount of people who would see them in comparison to if it's just subbed? Otherwise, I don't see the point of dubbing them instead of just subbing them since the later can be done quicker and probably cost less.