Funimation ("You Should Be Watching")

Yeah, they're not Aniplex and Ponycanyon. No way they can go THAT far into hell.

I can weather a ten buck increase if I'm getting the same stuff. I shelled out to Aniplex for Madoka but that was all. Did Ponycanyon make money on their sales pitch? As much as I wanted some of what they have or plan to offer, nothing was worth those price tags.

The only thing that should be making any money for them right now is Yuki Yuna is a Hero, which has a dub and is a great show in general.

They really missed the chance at cashing in on KLK mania for the dub. Waiting a year just to shill out expensive bluerays in four-episode packs is insanely stupid. Especially compared with what they could have gotten with a decently priced two-part set.

And I hate to say this, as much as it pains me...

...Anime could be folding back into it's niche.

Don't get me wrong, Toonami is back, you'll find tons of cosplayers on Deviantart...

...but the mainstream has kinda moved on.

Around 2000-2005 it was everywhere, I saw tons of Naturo and Dragonball T-shirts on the military bases I was stationed at. Suncoast and FYE had tons of DVD's. Even Walmart had some anime on the shelves. Shoen Jump and other anime magazines were on newsstands.

Now it's kinda dead outside Cartoon network and the internet (anime is second only to LOL cats and Star Trek in internet fandom).

So the DVD sales are going to take a hit as the new fans are drying up a bit.

Until we can get some new blood who'll watch and buy the DVD's, that is.

Anime has always been niche though.

Anime is more popular in America than ever. People are just watching it using all of the tons of great online streaming options instead of on television or buying dvds.

Ehhh, I wouldn't go that far.

The bubble burst, yes, but it burst a long time ago. Things are actually starting to pick back up again to a more moderate level.

I think companies learned their lesson (... some more than other certain ones). I really liked how anime hit its popularity peak while i was mostly in college, but I hated how most of what got the biggest spotlights were all the same old shows with huge, obnoxious fandoms (Naruto, DBZ, Pokemon, etc). ... also, illegal pirated streaming was one of the deathtolls of anime's popularity come 2008, along with the revelation that a lot of anime.... just aren't good at all.

Wuuuuuuu-elp.

Well, we already have Sentai. This just seems like Theme Naming to me, unintentional or otherwise.

We call ourselves Anime Pay so pay us for some anime.

edited 9th Dec '15 10:52:12 AM by Mizerous

They need money to survive. Just like we need money to survive.

I dunno what the big deal is, honestly. What exactly does this mean again?

Monica Rial had a panel! And dispensed some factoids about Funimation that has been happening recently:

• The broadcast dubs WERE very taxing on everyone involved when they first made them. Writers had to adapt a script in a third of the time usually spent on them, forcing them all to work late nights and trust their intuition and judgment more often. After the first season, Funimation eased down on the broadcast dub workload, so things have since gotten slightly more relaxed around the offices.
• Monica has gotten to the point where she never seeks out work herself anymore. Jobs ask for her.
• She was not originally the voice of Michiko!
• These days Funimation used a lot more young actresses to fill out the young cute girl roles, resulting in Monica not doing those as often as she used to.
• Being on Aqua Teen has inspired her to seek out more Western animation roles, since the idea of acting without worrying about mouth flaps is appealing. But right now, she never wants to move out of Texas.
• Unrelated to Funimation, but she recorded the role of Tomoko from Watamote in the span of only 6 hours!!

edited 14th Dec '15 9:02:48 PM by kyun

See I told you guys she would consider doing more Western Animated roles.

edited 14th Dec '15 11:53:21 PM by Mizerous

Unrelated to Funimation, but she recorded the role of Tomoko from Watamote in the span of only 6 hours!!

Holy crap, really? And Tomoko seemed like such a taxing role to begin with. Good at her craft she may be, but I think my worrying about Sentai's overwork where their dubs are concerned is pretty much justified.

• Just curious, who do you think are the best English rookie VAs in Funi / Sentai right now?
• Now that Sentai has licensed The Pet Girl Of Sakurasou, I think it would be really awesome if Scott Gibbs and Caitlynn French would land Sorata and Mashiro, respectively, as they did in the dub of No Game No Life with Sora and Shiro. That way both of them will voice the respective characters of Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Ai Kayano.

edited 15th Dec '15 4:30:50 AM by judasmartel

• I'm liking Christine Kelly in Akame Ga Kill the more I see of her, so she has a ton of potential.
• I can't place new voice actors in Funimation at the moment because I conveniently am not following any of their shows where they stand out so far.

Monica said Tomoko is one of her favorite roles to play. Yes, on top of the hundreds of roles she already had, so that's saying a ton. I think she's just naturally fitting for dub work. (she has ADD, which works well for characters who switch voices or have mood swings)

edited 15th Dec '15 8:39:33 AM by kyun

It's about damn time, Funi. Physical rights for Kingdom season 2 and Cube X Cursed X Curious are the notable additions to March's release slate.

edited 15th Dec '15 12:03:16 PM by PikaHikariKT

That explains so much.

All of it?

I think all of it.

BTW, Jamie Marchi and Monica Rial are both selling signed prints online for the holidays, in case you can never go to a con they're a guest at. Sadly, the free shipping deal has ended by today.

edited 16th Dec '15 8:22:28 AM by kyun

Hopefully Black Butler Season 3 comes out next year.

Winter simulcast and Broadcast dub announcements! Awesomely, Snow White's dub is starting from season 1 next month.