Crunchyroll/FUNi merger is official. What does this mean for Toonami?

[Jman]

https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2021/08/09/crunchyroll-now-joining-funimation-global-group?utm_source=community_cr&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=news_en&referrer=community_cr_twitter_news

The merger is official.  And with the merger comes companies struggling for a piece of the pie.  The problem is, where does Toonami get shows from with most of the anime on lockdown from two big companies that don't want to share?

[Sketch]

Sony's press release mentions they intend to offer anime in all the places people consume it including linear tv. Toonami is the only game in that arena.

My best guess is this either changes nothing or Crunchyroll shows become a bit easier to get than they were when WarnerMedia was overseeing their business transactions. We all know how ass-backwards WarnerMedia can operate. I'm really hoping it was their influence that made Crunchyroll so difficult to get shows from. FUNimation, Aniplex and Sony have all done more business with Adult Swim than Crunchyroll has.

I'm real curious what will become of the Crunchyroll section of HBO Max. Will it add be removed, get rebranded or perhaps get an infusion of FUNimation anime take on whatever name the unified streaming service goes by.

And hell if this actually meant all future FUNimation, Anipex and Crunchyroll licenses were off the table, there could do worse than to dig into Sentai's catalogue. I really don't think they're going to be desperate for content, at least not more so than they are from Netflix getting big shounen anime left and right.

I honestly expect this to be a net positive for Toonami itself but looking at the broader picture its probably terrible for anime streaming outside of the US, piracy is sure to see an increase.

[DangerMouse]

2 hours ago, Sketch said:

Sony's press release mentions they intend to offer anime in all the places people consume it including linear tv. Toonami is the only game in that arena.

Yup, pretty much just this for live TV anime.

And Funi has continued to be one of their biggest providers of big shows and premieres all these years, even after they became part of Sony, sometimes even still having dub premieres the night before their own streaming. So I don't think there's too much to worry about in regards to them continuing to be able to work out show deals. So they've been pretty open to sharing with Toonami.

 

It's also possible that that relationship helped strengthen theirs with AoA (huge Demon Slayer and SAO premieres, also KLK etc.) as Funi and Sony got closer and then merged. Plus I always forget they'd even had prior connections with Sony going way back with deals to air both the Bebop movie and Blood+. Given all this history, I'm not sure I'd even write off the possibility of some more Toonami + CR (or Funi/CR) co-productions yet like Fena and Blade Runner, if they're deemed successful. It's not like they've never gotten in early on shows with Funi before (Space Dandy, Dimension W) similar to these new attempts with CR.

And they even eventually worked out whatever was delaying the rest of Food Wars with Sentai, so I think Toonami is in pretty good shape aside from Netflix snags (no doubt they wanted Jojo) as long as their relationships with Funi+CR, AoA, and Sentai continue to remain close.

Edited August 10, 2021 by DangerMouse

[The1gairon]

[Daos]

Crunchyroll without any Funi titles kinda sucked, so this is good.

[The1gairon]

Why is everyone saying Funimation won't exist anymore?

[PokeNirvash]

Because they're idiots who lack reading comprehension.

[CountFrylock]

15 hours ago, elfie said:

Why is everyone saying Funimation won't exist anymore?

because those people(like this guy in the tweet above)think funimation hates that anime is Japanese and wants to hide the fact the characters are from Japan

i don't recall them ever pretending anime was american and that stuff like MHA Wasn't set in Japan

Edited August 11, 2021 by CountFrylock

[Jman]

Anime fans have always had a victim complex of sorts.  Late 90s/early 2000s, you kind of get it.  Today it just feels…needlessly reductive.  That despite being a multi billion dollar industry it’s as fragile as a Faberge egg and the people making money off it secretly despise it and want to destroy it with boring, milquetoast garbage.

It’s 2021.  I said it in another thread, the days of Shaman King edited to hell for Saturday mornings have been replaced by uncensored streaming in both English and Japanese.

[The1gairon]

2 hours ago, CountFrylock said:

because those people(like this guy in the tweet above)think funimation hates that anime is Japanese and wants to hide the fact the characters are from Japan

i don't recall them ever pretending anime was american and that stuff like MHA Wasn't set in Japan

Sorry I believe they're confusing it for 4Kids.

[CountFrylock]

1 hour ago, elfie said:

Sorry I believe they're confusing it for 4Kids.

 

 

[The1gairon]

"Allowing silence or any suspense build up" ..... how is that a criticism??

[Top Gun]

Why do you continuously read the worst fucking takes on the planet?

[PokeNirvash]

It pays to listen to both stances on a certain subject in order to develop an informed opinion, even if one or both of those sides sound way too propaganda-ey to be taken seriously.

Speaking of the certain subject in question, here's a video that acknowledges, explains, but doesn't excuse some of FUNimation's "politically charged rewrites".

 

[EmpressAngel]

I mean, I get doing that if it's a subject that actually matters but these are just weebs on Twitter screeching about the companies that air their cartoons. You'd have to actively try to find a subject that matters less than that.

[PokeNirvash]

True. Besides, those dub lines the weebs are claiming are "proof" that FUNimation is a horrible localizer are just one- or two-time instances in series that altogether make up less than 1% of their total catalog, and on top of that aren't popular enough to actually make a convincing argument in their favor.

Edited August 12, 2021 by PokeNirvash

[Top Gun]

2 hours ago, EmpressAngel said:

I mean, I get doing that if it's a subject that actually matters but these are just weebs on Twitter screeching about the companies that air their cartoons. You'd have to actively try to find a subject that matters less than that.

Also they have all of two likes. Literally no one on the planet gives a shit about what people like that have to say, and yet you guys post their shit as if it's proclamations from the President of Anime.

[Sketch]

I do generally prefer dubs to not use very recent slang especially if the show isn't in a modern setting and referencing GamerGate was particularly stupid. That said, particularly with comedies I think some creative liberties greatly improve characterization and dialogue flow. Stiff dubs are pretty unpleasant to sit through as well. But when even the subtitles throw in terms like "they got cancelled online" (and the otherwise great sub of Kageki Shoujo did exactly that) it's at least a bit off-putting and feels out of place even in a modern setting. That could easily have been something less meme-y and they didn't even have to deal with lip flaps.

But rest assured a LOT of people who scream at the top of their lungs that FUNimation is ruining anime are mostly mad because FUNimation won't work with Vic McNugget anymore and have a hate boner for Jamie Marchi who often wrote scripts for FUNimation dubs and of course Monica Rial.

[Sketch]

7 hours ago, elfie said:

"Allowing silence or any suspense build up" ..... how is that a criticism??

That's referring to the way kid-targeted anime dubs abhor silence and avoid any real tension. Excellent case, 4Kids One Piece. Any instance of silence gone. Some happy go lucky music constantly playing even when it doesn't fit. Nami stabbed Usopp in front of Arlong to prove her loyalty? She tells Usopp and the audience that it was a rubber knife. Nami's mother figure didn't die, she just got sent to a dungeon (but was apparently never visited). Crocodile refers to his sand pit that is about to swallow up Luffy as a "big desert toilet". They make "Zolo" crack wise and cluck like a chicken. One Piece isn't always serious but good grief part of the charm is it has the heavy moments to go with the light ones. With 4Kids it's pretty much always goofy.

But the same is also true of Falcouner era DBZ at least with regard to silence, they allowed DBZ to be plenty serious. Hell, they tried to make it MORE serious given the comparison of Falcouner music and Kikuchi's original score.

[OwlChemist81]

17 hours ago, CountFrylock said:

because those people(like this guy in the tweet above)think funimation hates that anime is Japanese and wants to hide the fact the characters are from Japan

i don't recall them ever pretending anime was american and that stuff like MHA Wasn't set in Japan

Bob Mackey is a butt plug.

Dude doesn't even realize that "CrunchyRoll" is an obvious reference to a popular type of sushi. It's actually MORE Japanese than FUNimation, which is quite western-sounding by comparison.

...or maybe he does. Still, unless you know that, neither name actually SOUNDS Japanese, so I'd say it's a moot point.

[CountFrylock]

i think a lot of it does have to do with funimation no longer working with Vic Mignogna as they feel the company betrayed him

and framed him for something he didn't do(Any Discussion involving funimation online typically has a good chance of being turned into a vic mignogna discussion)

just working for funimation means you are liable to be harassed by Vic Fans online...

 

 

[The1gairon]

10 hours ago, OwlChemist81 said:

Bob Mackey is a butt plug.

Dude doesn't even realize that "CrunchyRoll" is an obvious reference to a popular type of sushi. It's actually MORE Japanese than FUNimation, which is quite western-sounding by comparison.

...or maybe he does. Still, unless you know that, neither name actually SOUNDS Japanese, so I'd say it's a moot point.

Their namesake may have happened due to them holding the rights to a handful of non-anime, which not a whole lot of people know about. Did you know you can buy a DVD set of Degrassi: The Next Generation on there!?