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[Valdfellgar]

How do you define what is a misstep and what is a pay off when it comes to funding content to diversify the library in an all-in subscription model though?



Well the series is already 10 years old... so...

I more meant there are a lot of titles there that got little fanfare or didn't seem to generate a large audience or critical presence. I'd argue a pay off is something that bolsters their brand presence and manages to become a decent hit. Like I might say Luluco from that list seemed to do it, where as Kiznaiver had a lot of hype behind it and fizzled out fast.

 

[BassForever]

I have heard that in the last few years the cost of licensing new anime has gone up considerably. Supposedly Funimation paid a ridiculous amount per episode to grab My Hero Academia.



I remember reading that they may be involved in the production committee for Dragon Maid, though I have no idea if that's true or not.

Edit: Actually, it may be that they have the home video rights to it, not that they're a member of the committee. Hm.

The problem is now you have amazon and netflix trying to get a piece of the pie to diversify their portfolio and they're so massive that neither funimation or crunchyroll alone can compete with either of them. Thats why the two partnered together and I wouldn't be surprised if Viz or Sentai teams up with them to form one larger manga/anime company that can afford to get into bidding wars with Netflix and Amazon for shows.

Netflix and Amazon don't even need to make a profit off of anime, those could be loss leaders to get that market into their expanded empire. Crunchy and Funi don't have that luxury, and the presense of Netflix and Amazon bidding up the price likely means their revenues are less the expected hence the lay offs.

 

[duckroll]

I believe that after all these years the best selling individual volume of a TV anime in Japan is still the final volume of Gundam SEED Destiny. Someone correct me if I'm wrong so we can wake up from this nightmare!

 

[names2hard4you]

For real though Names I'm glad you enjoyed the show. I remember going into that show expecting nothing and coming out of it enjoying it like I had never enjoyed a show before.

You just witnessed Super Robots at its very finest.

You just can't beat a robot driving a robot, driving a robot, driving a robot (I may or may not be missing one here LOL). Anyway, you just can't, it's impossible.

 

[firehawk12]

K-on sales feel kinda low given the impact it had on the industry, then again, it was 8 years ago.

I'm still surprised that there aren't any Monogatari ripoffs.

 

[nintendoman58]

You just can't beat a robot driving a robot, driving a robot, driving a robot (driving a robot? I may or may not be missing one here LOL). Anyway, you just can't, it's impossible.

Actually, you can.

Watch the movies.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

I believe that after all these years the best selling individual volume of a TV anime in Japan is still the final volume of Gundam SEED Destiny. Someone correct me if I'm wrong so we can wake up from this nightmare!

Even above Osomatsu or Love Live S2s first volumes? That's impressive.

Seems hard to come to a consensus on what the "best" selling anime of all time is. By median its Bakemonogatari, but longer series sold more, naturally

 

[Thoraxes]

For real though Names I'm glad you enjoyed the show. I remember going into that show expecting nothing and coming out of it enjoying it like I had never enjoyed a show before.

You just witnessed Super Robots at its very finest.

Man, my friend called me while I was visiting home from college and told me he had a show I needed to see the first episode of. I had basically stopped watching most anime for about 10 years at this point (outside of maybe one or two shows total over that duration), so I was skeptical at best, and me not being able to pronounce the name of the series didn't help. I had no expectations, zero knowledge of what the series was even about. 100% a blank slate on the show.

Got over there, sat down, we watched the first episode, then subsequently binge-watched the rest of the series in one sitting. Best day ever.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

A MasakoX video going over an interview and discussion on how Vegeta is a better person and family member than Goku. That's what happens when you don't kiss your wife.

 

[names2hard4you]

Actually, you can.

Watch the movies.

Oh I am going to. But I think it's going to be something I am going to do later in the year now. I wanna experience this all over again, and if I get even crazier visuals? I'm all for it. But damn if it isn't gonna feel good in October or November when I pick the two up and think back to my reactions from January.

Man, my friend called me while I was visiting home from college and told me he had a show I needed to see the first episode of. I had basically stopped watching most anime for about 10 years at this point (outside of maybe one or two shows total over that duration), so I was skeptical at best, and me not being able to pronounce the name of the series didn't help. I had no expectations, zero knowledge of what the series was even about. 100% a blank slate on the show.

Got over there, sat down, we watched the first episode, then subsequently binge-watched the rest of the series in one sitting. Best day ever.

This is a cool story. I cannot imagine binging 27 episodes like that, but I think this show would be worth it aha!

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

I believe that after all these years the best selling individual volume of a TV anime in Japan is still the final volume of Gundam SEED Destiny. Someone correct me if I'm wrong so we can wake up from this nightmare!

Nope, it looks like the best-selling individual volume of TV anime is the first volume of Love Live S2 (116,896) followed by the first volume of Osomatsu-san (114,548). The 13th volume of Gundam Seed Destiny is quite high but still a fair ways behind those. (95,544).

 

[Deadly]

I believe that after all these years the best selling individual volume of a TV anime in Japan is still the final volume of Gundam SEED Destiny. Someone correct me if I'm wrong so we can wake up from this nightmare!

Were there that many fangirls for Seed and Seed Destiny? It's numbers are crazy.

 

[Clov]

The problem is now you have amazon and netflix trying to get a piece of the pie to diversify their portfolio and they're so massive that neither funimation or crunchyroll alone can compete with either of them. Thats why the two partnered together and I wouldn't be surprised if Viz or Sentai teams up with them to form one larger manga/anime company that can afford to get into bidding wars with Netflix and Amazon for shows.

Netflix and Amazon don't even need to make a profit off of anime, those could be loss leaders to get that market into their expanded empire. Crunchy and Funi don't have that luxury, and the presense of Netflix and Amazon bidding up the price likely means their revenues are less the expected hence the lay offs.

I can't see Viz or Sentai partnering with Funimation and Crunchyroll. While Crunchyroll had decided to get into home video releases before their partnership with Funimation, they still hadn't released any of them themselves; their partnership makes sense since Funimation gets to handle Crunchyroll's home video output. Both Viz and Sentai already have healthy home video releases; should they partner with Funimation to form "one company" so to speak, what would happen to their releases? It sounds like it would be too messy to make anything out of; too many cooks!

I can see Sentai adding more of their catalog to other streaming services; they already have put some on Amazon's "Anime Strike". Viz's titles are already on Crunchyroll, so I don't think they have anything to worry about there.

I do think that you're right about the reason costs are going up; with Netflix securing exclusive shows like LWA, and Amazon buying all of Noitamina's content going forward, there's bigger fish dropping bigger amounts of money than companies like Funimation and Crunchyroll may be willing to spend.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Those current sales records won't last for long, because the first Appmon set will come out in April, and I assume that's going to do Totoro numbers at the absolute minimum.

Were there that many fangirls for Seed and Seed Destiny? It's numbers are crazy.

Yes. Yes there were. SEED fandom was massive back in the day.

 

[nintendoman58]

Man, my friend called me while I was visiting home from college and told me he had a show I needed to see the first episode of. I had basically stopped watching most anime for about 10 years at this point (outside of maybe one or two shows total over that duration), so I was skeptical at best, and me not being able to pronounce the name of the series didn't help. I had no expectations, zero knowledge of what the series was even about. 100% a blank slate on the show.

Got over there, sat down, we watched the first episode, then subsequently binge-watched the rest of the series in one sitting. Best day ever.

I literally looked at the show's wiki, saw the words: "critically acclaimed", and said "eh, why not." I watched an episode a day until like, episode 9 where I became physically unable to stop for the entire day.

It felt so surreal to me. I didn't feel that way with Nanoha, Madoka, or Code Geass, all shows I that loved.

TTGL struck a special chord with me.

Oh I am going to. But I think it's going to be something I am going to do later in the year now. I wanna experience this all over again, and if I get even crazier visuals? I'm all for it. But damn if it isn't gonna feel good in October or November when I pick the two up and think back to my reactions from January.

Oh definitely, cool off for a bit and let the experience come back to you in full force.

 

[Cornbread78]

I would say its cultural penetration among the english-speaking fanbase is very large, but it actually lags behind the real giants of the 21st century, namely -monogatari, Madoka, Fate, and Seed.
It is on the level of Haruhi, Code Geass and K-on, which, while popular in their heydey were still also FOTM memes compared to the absolute crushing power of suffering megucas.

How many casual anime fans do you think would spit out several hundred dollars for a bd collection of a show they like?

 

[duckroll]

Nope, it looks like the best-selling individual volume of TV anime is the first volume of Love Live S2 (116,896) followed by the first volume of Osomatsu-san (114,548). The 13th volume of Gundam Seed Destiny is quite high but still a fair ways behind those. (95,544).

Wow, the nightmare is truly over!

 

[ShinRPGamer]

Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans 37-38

Probably the best episodes of season 2 so far.

Spoiler

Seeing Iok get put in his place was great and the mech battles were some of the best the series has to offer so far. What will be interesting to see if how Mikazuki losing his right leg affects things going forward.

 

[Haly]

How many casual anime fans do you think would spit out several hundred dollars for a bd collection of a show they like?

Probably not many, but this is proportional you know? If 39,000 hardcore SAO fans are spitting out Benjamins to collect Lisbeth's Greatest Hits, and 71,000 hardcore Bake fans doing the same for Senjougahara, we can reasonably assume that, unless Bake fans are richer than their opposites in the SAO fandom, that there are more fans of Senjougahara overall than Lisbeth.

The alternative is that SAO fans are cheapskates.

 

[Quasar]

I do think that you're right about the reason costs are going up; with Netflix securing exclusive shows like LWA, and Amazon buying all of Noitamina's content going forward, there's bigger fish dropping bigger amounts of money than companies like Funimation and Crunchyroll may be willing to spend.

You'd think that would lead to licensing less shows.

 

[Man God]

The only boom period anime distributor worth mourning is Bandai of America.

 

[Quasar]

Probably not many, but this is proportional you know? If 39,000 hardcore SAO fans are spitting out Benjamins to collect Lisbeth's Greatest Hits, and 71,000 hardcore Bake fans doing the same for Senjougahara, we can reasonably assume that, unless Bake fans are richer than their opposites in the SAO fandom, that there are more fans of Senjougahara overall than Lisbeth.

The alternative is that SAO fans are cheapskates.

Or Aniplex has better trinkets than whoever distributes SAO in Japan.

 

[Clov]

You'd think that would lead to licensing less shows.

They probably still want to keep expanding their catalog of shows in the hopes of grabbing new subscribers. I wonder if the reason that Crunchyroll is going on the production committee of certain shows now is to try and make some hits that companies like Netflix and Amazon can't snatch up.

 

[Moonlight]

The only boom period anime distributor worth mourning is Bandai of America.

With them died Hyouka's chances of being officially brought over. Sigh.

 

[ShinRPGamer]

The only boom period anime distributor worth mourning is Bandai of America.

Man I wish Bandai were still around. Out of all of the companies that flatlined after the crash, Bandai was the one with the best and most noteworthy titles.

 

[PdotMichael]

Lovelive deserves that first spot.

And it only took me a pilgrimage to Akihabara to understand the beauty of idol culture.

 

[duckroll]

Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans 37-38

Probably the best episodes of season 2 so far.

Spoiler

Seeing Ion get put in his place was great and the mech battles were some of the best the series has to offer so far. What will be interesting to see if how Mikazuki losing his right leg affects things going forward.

You know his name is actually Iok right? Lololol. Not only is he fucking dumb, he has a fucking dumb name too.

So how did you feel about that uninterrupted 3 minute tour de force of Barbatos Musou?

 

[Man God]

Man I wish Bandai were still around. Out of all of the companies that flatlined after the crash, Bandai was the one with the best and most noteworthy titles.

The worst part is that they basically outlasted the crash and closed up just as things really turned around.

 

[names2hard4you]

I literally looked at the show's wiki, saw the words: "critically acclaimed", and said "eh, why not." I watched an episode a day until like, episode 9 where I became physically unable to stop for the entire day.

It felt so surreal to me. I didn't feel that way with Nanoha, Madoka, or Code Geass, all shows I that loved.

TTGL struck a special chord with me.

Oh definitely, cool off for a bit and let the experience come back to you in full force.

I watched it because you kept pushing me to do it. I watched 3 episodes and then life got in the way and I kept delaying it (like I always do with the stuff that I don't watch seasonally). However as soon as I watched episode 4, the show had its hooks in me. Took me 12 days since then, but damn if this wasn't a trip that was very worthwhile. Again, thanks for always reminding me to do it, or else who knows how much longer it would be until I watched it.

 

[Clov]

The only boom period anime distributor worth mourning is Bandai of America.

I do miss them, and they had some very good BD releases. I have all their K-ON singles, Sword of the Stranger, and the Haruhi movie. All well-made discs.

I actually really did like Geneon; while they didn't last long into the BD market (their only BD being Samurai Champloo), they had some great stuff on DVD; Haibane Renmei, Paradise Kiss, Lain, Ayakashi... I miss them a bit, despite the many stupid decisions they made.

 

[Haly]

Lovelive deserves that first spot.

And it only took me a pilgrimage to Akihabara to understand the beauty of idol culture.

Pmichael's been taken over by kurobugs. Quick, strip him!

 

[duckroll]

The worst part is that they basically outlasted the crash and closed up just as things really turned around.

It's not quite that simple. Lots of politics with regards to Bandai. From what I understand, politics which still exist today, in the form of Daisuki.

 

[Cornbread78]

Twin Star Exorcists ep.40

Wow... best episode of the series to date; not even a question. Almost the entire episode was action from start to finish highlighting the bond those two have wrought throughout the series, highlighted by the use of their special moves when in a tough situation.

Now that ending, WTF WTF WTF. Just when I was loving seeing the 12 go to work,

Spoiler

and a confession finally dammit

THAT happens... I hate ridiculous OP bosses...

 

[Haly]

It's not quite that simple. Lots of politics with regards to Bandai. From what I understand, politics which still exist today, in the form of Daisuki.

Man what happened to daisuki I remember watching... GBF? On their site.

 

[nintendoman58]

I watched it because you kept pushing me to do it. I watched 3 episodes and then life got in the way and I kept delaying it (like I always do with the stuff that I don't watch seasonally). However as soon as I watched episode 4, the show had its hooks in me. Took me 12 days since then, but damn if this wasn't a trip that was very worthwhile. Again, thanks for always reminding me to do it, or else who knows how much longer it would be until I watched it.

Hey, no worries!

I always aim to please with the shows I recommend.

Once again, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 

[duckroll]

Man what happened to daisuki I remember watching... GBF? On their site.

They're still there and strong. They get all the Bandai exclusives, including IBO, before CR. ToZ is also on Daisuki.

Don't forget last year's super expensive CONCRETE REVOLUTIO banner at Anime Expo.... I have heard.... tales from the depths of insider asses.... about that banner....

 

[Quasar]

They're still there and strong. They get all the Bandai exclusives, including IBO, before CR. ToZ is also on Daisuki.

Don't forget last year's super expensive CONCRETE REVOLUTIO banner at Anime Expo.... I have heard.... tales from the depths of insider asses.... about that banner....

I just wish they had a client I could use. No chromecast, no appletv, no androidtv, no PS4 or XBO apps.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

It's not quite that simple. Lots of politics with regards to Bandai. From what I understand, politics which still exist today, in the form of Daisuki.

Remember that time Bandai launched Bandai Visual US for the specific purpose of running Bandai Entertainment out of business? Which they succeeded at eventually, but only after Bandai Visual US died first.

What a complete joke.

 

[firehawk12]

They're still there and strong. They get all the Bandai exclusives, including IBO, before CR. ToZ is also on Daisuki.

Don't forget last year's super expensive CONCRETE REVOLUTIO banner at Anime Expo.... I have heard.... tales from the depths of insider asses.... about that banner....

Rip Mandoric.

 

[jbug617]

Crunchyroll got weird the past year. Remember when they announced that they planned to release shows on DVD and Bluray with Dubs.

 

[duckroll]

Rip Mandoric.

He came to Singapore, and I ate him. That's the official story.

 

[Hellwarden]

How would a Gintama dub work?

Doesn't that show have a lot of puns that wouldn't translate?

 

[Moonlight]

Crunchyroll got weird the past year. Remember when they announced that they planned to release shows on DVD and Bluray with Dubs.

Did anyone really see that as a warning sign at the time?

 

[sonicmj1]

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid 2

I really like what this show is becoming.

I wonder why they call it the 180.

This episode isn't just really well-produced, but like Cool Kyoushinja's previously adapted series I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying, it's got a surprising amount of warmth and humanity. It's not a screwball comedy, but more a story about loneliness and discovering a sense of belonging through love and friendship.

Like, it would have been easy for Tohru to stay in her comedy trope lane and continue to act haughty and superior to lowly human beings not named Kobayashi, but that's not what happens. When they go out shopping together, Kobayashi is surprised to discover that Tohru has befriended the people in her shopping district. When Tohru nearly blows her cover in front of those people for reasons, she's actually scared of what she might lose. And the show gives that moment room to breathe so we can appreciate its significance, without soaking it in melodrama.

What I'm sort of trying to say here is that these characters actually have some depth to them. I'm enjoying seeing them live and learn from each other, or just goof off. It was a really heartwarming episode.

 

[Jarmel]

Kobayashi Maid Dragon-2

just the usual levels of roughhousing

I liked this episode more than the first. Not because it made me laugh but rather due to the fact that it felt more cohesive and relied less on straightforward gags. The atmosphere was more laid-back but it works because of the 'big sis' nature of Tohru and Kobayashi acting like a mother. There's less attempts at making the audience member laugh, although I do love the catapult scene complete with 'argh' from the dragon, and more about the show playing up the general absurdity of the situation. This is somewhat effective through Tohru's tour of the modern world as it allows Tohru and Kanna to play off each other to a limited extent. The show also puts more effort into characterizing Tohru through snippets into her background, as her conversation with Kanna was a bit enlightening. It's a very mellow sort of show but I think it works fine for now.

 

[Haly]

See people were down on Maiddragon earlier on but it's actually legit.

 

[Crimson_Echidna]

Crunchyroll got weird the past year. Remember when they announced that they planned to release shows on DVD and Bluray with Dubs.

I think the production on those slowed down because of the partnership they made with Funimation. Isn't Funimation taking over the distributions of those series now?

How would a Gintama dub work?

Doesn't that show have a lot of puns that wouldn't translate?

I'm not sure about puns, but Gintama makes a shit ton of references to other anime and Japanese pop-culture, so I can see that going over a lot of people's heads.

 

[firehawk12]

He came to Singapore, and I ate him. That's the official story.

Does this mean you can burp out the Monogatari commentary translations now?

How would a Gintama dub work?

Doesn't that show have a lot of puns that wouldn't translate?

They did it for the movie and it was fine I guess. Although the movie wasn't particularly "funny" of course.

 

[Clov]

Crunchyroll got weird the past year. Remember when they announced that they planned to release shows on DVD and Bluray with Dubs.

It's strange that they've been so quiet about this. What's the hold-up?

 

[Quasar]

It's strange that they've been so quiet about this. What's the hold-up?

I assumed Funi took it over and those titles need to be slotted into the existing Funi schedule so its taking a while to work out.