Hope you like Funimation

If you haven't heard yet today and yesterday Funimation made some rather huge annoucements concerning animes that it will be releaseing. For starters yesterday they announced that they came to an agreement to distribute a select number of titles from former distributor Generon.
Those titles include:
Ergo Proxy
Hellsing Ultimate
Black Lagoon
Black Lagoon Second Barrage
Karin
Kyo Kara Maoh Season 2
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Elemental Gelade
Fate/Stay Night
Kamichu
Paradise Kiss
Rozen Maiden
Rozen Maiden - Traumed
Shana
Shounen Onmyouji
Familiar Of Zero
Story Of Saiunkoku
When They Cry
Law Of Ueki

Well Today Funimation made another huge, yet underhanded, annoucement. They announced that they aquired 30 titles that where formally held by ADV.
Those titles are:
009-1
Ah My Goddess: Flights Of Fancy
Air Gear
Air TV
Air: The Movie
Blade Of The Phantom Master
Comic Party Revolution
Coyote Ragtime Show
Devil May Cry
Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor
Jing. King Of Bandits: Seventh Heaven
Jinki: Extended
Kanon
Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora
Le Chevalier D'eon
Magikano
Moeyo Ken TV
Moonlight Mile
Murder Princess
Nermin Daikon Brothers
Pani Poni Dash
Project Blue Earth SOS
Pumpkin Scissors
Red Garden
Sgt. Frog Season 1 & 2
Tokyo Majin
UFO Princess Valkyrie
Utawarerumono
Venus Versus Virus
Wallflower
Welcome To The NHK
Xenosaga

If things keep going this way ADV might end up like Geneon and that will be a terrible thing for the R1 market as this will pretty much leave Funimation as the last heavy hitter in the industry.

"Underhanded announcement"?

Sounds to me more like they've just saved ADV from bankruptcy by allowing them to turn moderate-to-no profit titles into instant cash so that they can try and buy some big hitters.

I mean, it's no secret that ADV has been in serious, serious financial trouble lately, and outright selling 30 titles to Funimation should give them a huge cash boost to help alleviate that.


I'm also still not sure why you're calling this underhanded, since they've, you know, announced. it.

ADV had no say what so ever in the lose of those titles though, it was Sojitz. When ADV and Sojitz ended their partnership Sojitz held the license to those shows and took them with them. When this happened ADV had already said they would try to reaquire the titles lost but when Sojitz went to Funimation with the shows they took the license knowing ADV was trying to get them back. Essentailly Funimation is taking all the hard work and money ADV put into each of those titles and is just slapping their label onto them and putting them back on the market to turn a quick profit.

ADV made a grand total of $0 from this "deal" so all Funimation did was make it harder for ADV to regroup from the lose of those titles.

Ah.

However, Funimation can't just take the content that ADV translated and put their name on it. That part of it belongs to ADV. At the very least they'll have to re-translate it.

That does suck, though. However, it isn't in any way underhanded, these sorts of things are common.

I also think that this, then, could quite clearly sound the doom bell for ADV.

'course, it was inevitable, really. The R1 market has fallen so fast that there's barely room for one company, never mind three.

It's unfortunate, especially since anime prices will likely skyrocket now that there's a monopoly, but as I said, it was likely inevitable.

[quote=GDwarf;2285543]

However, Funimation can't just take the content that ADV translated and put their name on it. That part of it belongs to ADV. At the very least they'll have to re-translate it.

That's what I'm hoping for since ADV does its own in house dubbing that they own the rights to the dub or at least have to get some compensation for Funimation to use it. However Sojitz does own the rights for both the subbed and dubbed versions of all the titles listed so maybe ADV again has no say in if Funimation can use the dubs ADV made for the titles.

It would be hilarious if Funimation can't use ADVs dub of the shows and have to re-dub it using the company they use often for their dubs, ADV.

That does suck, though. However, it isn't in any way underhanded, these sorts of things are common.

I only really call it underhanded because Funimation only got the titles simply to repackage them and put them back on the shelves knowing ADV was trying to reacquire them. I know it is common but when you have two companies who have helped each other out in the past and are practically neighbors it just seems a little underhanded that Funimation would do something like that.

I also think that this, then, could quite clearly sound the doom bell for ADV.

I wound have thought so too til I read a press release from ADV yesterday saying they already had a new partner lined up and are in negotiations to acquire over 20 new titles. ADV is wounded but still alive and kicking.

'course, it was inevitable, really. The R1 market has fallen so fast that there's barely room for one company, never mind three.

It's unfortunate, especially since anime prices will likely skyrocket now that there's a monopoly, but as I said, it was likely inevitable.

Your right the market is falling fast and hard. Every company is hurting big time from it since more and more people are simply just using fansubs to watch anime instead of buying it. Hell the only reason Funimation isn't doing as bad as the others is because they have the financial backing of a corporation to help soften the damage.