Jubenhimer
Member
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. was once one of the most well known names in syndicated and broadcast television, mostly known for their dubs of Japanese anime titles. The company was the subject of controversy among anime fans. Unlike other licensors at the time like Funimation or ADV Films, 4Kids was one of the only distributors at the time who didn't dub their shows uncut. Instead, they custom produced their licenses to be marketable towards American kids. Thus, most of what the company went for were popular Shonen and toyetic shows for young audiences in Japan.
4Kids dubs are known for their awkward editing and confusing censorship, bizarre plot and name changes, hammy, stilted voice acting, writing and dialogue that consists mostly of puns, and other changes to meet Saturday Morning content guidelines and perceived notions about what kids want. The company was hated by virtually every self-respecting anime fan during their peak, mostly due to their reluctance on releasing uncut versions of their shows, making the bizarre changes stick out even more.
Their production of One Piece was the tipping point of their infamy, combining all the company's worst traits into a single show. 4Kids backed away from anime in its later years, shifting its focus to more US and Canadian-produced shows, with the occasional toyetic anime and Yu-Gi-Oh! series. This culminated into the company's bankruptcy in 2012, which resulted in its Saturday Morning block and Yu-Gi-Oh! rights being sold off, and most of its anime licenses long since lapsed.
It's been 8 years since then, and with the modern anime scene now comprising of uncut dubs on streaming services, the reaction to 4Kids seems to have shifted from that of blind hatred, to one of a punchline. 4Kids has since become a source for countless memes, parody videos, and general so bad, it's good entertainment provided by its old dubs. For better or worse, 4Kids knew how to make you laugh with their incompetence. Their approach to editing and production evokes a sense of batshit insanity, that you can't help but smile at it. Even One Piece, their most infamous trainwreck, has become sort of an ironic thing of beauty in the wake of the more faithful Funimation dub and official uncut releases. 4Kids has since become a guilty pleasure of mine. Yeah, their dubs for the most part, aren't very good, but they are entertaining.
4Kids dubs are known for their awkward editing and confusing censorship, bizarre plot and name changes, hammy, stilted voice acting, writing and dialogue that consists mostly of puns, and other changes to meet Saturday Morning content guidelines and perceived notions about what kids want. The company was hated by virtually every self-respecting anime fan during their peak, mostly due to their reluctance on releasing uncut versions of their shows, making the bizarre changes stick out even more.
Their production of One Piece was the tipping point of their infamy, combining all the company's worst traits into a single show. 4Kids backed away from anime in its later years, shifting its focus to more US and Canadian-produced shows, with the occasional toyetic anime and Yu-Gi-Oh! series. This culminated into the company's bankruptcy in 2012, which resulted in its Saturday Morning block and Yu-Gi-Oh! rights being sold off, and most of its anime licenses long since lapsed.
It's been 8 years since then, and with the modern anime scene now comprising of uncut dubs on streaming services, the reaction to 4Kids seems to have shifted from that of blind hatred, to one of a punchline. 4Kids has since become a source for countless memes, parody videos, and general so bad, it's good entertainment provided by its old dubs. For better or worse, 4Kids knew how to make you laugh with their incompetence. Their approach to editing and production evokes a sense of batshit insanity, that you can't help but smile at it. Even One Piece, their most infamous trainwreck, has become sort of an ironic thing of beauty in the wake of the more faithful Funimation dub and official uncut releases. 4Kids has since become a guilty pleasure of mine. Yeah, their dubs for the most part, aren't very good, but they are entertaining.
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