Forum - View topicIs anyone losing hopes with Bandai Entertainment?
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Dark Paladin X
 Posts: 268 |
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Is anyone losing hopes with Bandai Entertainment? Somehow, I feel that Bandai is a failure despite having released several series with nice dubs (Code Geass, Lucky Star, and Haruhi Suzumiya to name a few).
My reasoning has something to do with Hayate the Combat Butler. As far as I know, I'm pretty sure there a decent fanbase that would make this series worth dubbing in the long run (even worth dubbing more than Lucky Star in my opinion). But nooooo, they just released the series subbed. What's even more annoying is the DVD prices. $40 for 7 episodes with a sub-only track? With that price, I would expect the said episodes to be dubbed along with the sub track. And besides, I'd be better off watching the series fansubbed instead buying the official sub. Not only I've have lost all hopes with Bandai, but I lost all hopes of seeing Hayate the Combat Butler dubbed. I mean, I think Bandai Entertainment have very bad business practices. Of course, I understand the reasons why there are less dubs nowadays: inability to find talented voice actors (and even many of them are part of a labor union, particularly those who work in California), recession, etc. (most of them are mentioned in one of my earlier threads). A bit of advice to Bandai, if you can't really break even with the series, you should either have: 1) give the license to another licensor (like Funimation, Viz Media, or even Disney), & 2) not pick it up at the first place. So basically, I lost hopes with Bandai for two reasons: 1) bad business practices that result with unreasonable high DVD prices for a sub-only release. 2) inability to dub Hayate the Combat Butler. I would probably expect Bandai Entertainment to be bankrupt and/or bought out from a bigger company (since Bandai Entertainment is a subsidiary of Bandai America) sometime in the near future. Bonus anger towards Bandai if they pick up To Aru Majutsu no Index. I'm just wondering if anyone loses hopes with Bandai or not. Now I know there may be some people who would argue that Hayate the Combat Butler is not worth dubbing, but I like to hear your point of view. P.S. About the last sentence in the second paragraph, my general rule of thumb is that once an anime series is released subbed in the U.S., the chances of seeing a dub is greatly reduced. This is more evident with many of the Media Blaster's licensed releases where some of the series they licensed were subbed, but many of them were not dubbed later (of course, many of the anime series Media Blasters picked weren't even worth dubbing in the first place). Note that I'm a person who prefer dubs because I can connect with the characters more, but I'm a bit more flexible and can watch a series subbed. In fact, I watched the entire To Aru Majutsu no Index fansubbed, and I find the Lucky Star Japanese track to be better than the dub (although the dub did turn out decently). Don't flame me on my personal preferences. |
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Mr Adventure
 Posts: 1598 |
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Meh, who listens to Dubs anyway. Not me.
I don't really 'have faith' in Bandai, so much as they don't really put out any franchises I really follow regularly. But all the shows I have bought from them have been pretty solid and with excellent picture and sound at competitive prices. Which is what is important. the fact is, Niche shows are niche, and you can't blow a ton of dough on sprucing it up if it isn't a guaranteed sale. Be glad the show is being licensed and released at all. EDIT: I will say this, for Hayate the Combat Butler (which, as a series I have zero interest in) putting 7 episodes a volume per release is awesome, especially for a sub only set. That should be the point of Sub-Only, more episodes per release. That being said $35/40 a volume... is kinda ridiculous. At least the Gurren Lagann sub-only sets were 20 bucks a pop for seven episodes. That was a god damn bargain. I mean, I just bought Section 23's Skull Man complete series, that was 13 episodes sub-only, for 27 bucks yesterday, and I thought that was a little pricey for sub-only. I do think Sub-Only should be cheaper, but I'm not going to cry Doom over a whole company for one over priced niche show. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Losing? Nope, all hope is already gone and has been for quite some time.
Not because of their no dub policy, prices, or the "let's delay this title again for yet another month" issues. It's pettier than that. I can't stand their "let's stack all their expensive DVDs on a single spindle" use of packaging. Though, I'll still pick up titles from Bandai if they're really, really, really marked down, say about $20. |
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Nermel
 Posts: 11 Location: Ohio |
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I just wish they would have a nice art-box for Code Geass R2 dammit...then I'll be happier
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John Casey
 Posts: 1853 Location: In My Angry Center |
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Fail comment of the day. And yeah. Bandai ah...erm...fails. =_= Dammit, I hate using two of the same prominent words in a single post at the get-go. Honestly, I've definitely noticed this weird trend - as I recall, it started spiking down somewhere around the completion of the first season of Geass, and Lucky Star. Personally...I think they've just used up too much of their revenue focusing on the releases of those two shows. I mean....their Geass sets were easily the most elaborate in terms of releases - not to mention disproportionate: The two-DVD sets were noticeably underselling compared to how much effort and money was put it. One DVD had one's worth of work and money put into it, yet they packed two as one. And the extras included in the limited editions were much more expensive than a first-eye glance. Basically...when you put a whole lot of money into something, which you decide to underprice to the point of almost making no profit, and the product doesn't even sell, you're pretty much screwed financially. They have to do things the cheap way, which in turn only makes things worse for them. They never hit the right balance to begin with, hence this was written out more or less a long time ago... Anime isn't selling like it used to. Bandai failed to realize that, and failed to take the appropriate measures, and they're screwed as a result. |
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Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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Doing sub only releases isn't a sign of bad business choices. In fact I would argue that it was a wise choice on their part. They didn't have the money to make a dub for a series that wasn't going to sell well. They had rights to the series but they didn't think there was enough of an audience to waste the money on a dub. And the truth is there a actually allot of fans out there who are fine with sub only releases. It's less expensive and many fans don't watch dubs to begin with. But if the sales show that there is enough interest in the series than they will most likely do a dub. Don't forget, Gurren Lagann was a sub only release to begin with. To claim that Bandai is a failure after one series not getting a dub makes no sense what so ever. Not to mention the argument that the dvds are to expensive is short sited seeing as EVERYTHING that Bandai releases (dub or no dub) is usually to expensive (unless they're the anime legends box sets).
P.S. I have a problem with the first sentence, mainly the part about Lucky Star having a "nice dub". My opinion, no it did not, in fact it was one of the worst dubs I've heard in years. |
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Dark Paladin X
Posts: 268 |
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I think if put more emphasis into other shows instead of a particular one or two, I think Bandai's practices would have improved. As for the anime isn't selling like it used to part, there are many factors to this: the increasing popularity of fansubs (not to mention, illegal, and can hurt the anime industry according to Greg Ayres), the Internet (I mean, even Funimation stream the episodes online), limited mainstream appeal when compared to Hollywood, the anime industry being non-union (where many of the well-known anime voice actors like Yuri Lowenthal, Crispin Freeman, and Johnny Yong Bosch are part of unions), etc. Not to mention, it appears there are less and less dubs nowadays due to those factors in addition to the current economic recession and those stupid dub vs. sub debates (I mean, I don't mind people expressing their views, it is just I don't want people pushing their own personal preferences into others'). Also, the practice of typecasting in anime doesn't seem to help as well. Yep, I believe that the late 2000s/early 2010s would be "the Dark Ages of anime dubs." Apparently, that doesn't mean dubbing will come to the end, it just means there will be less and less dubs. Judging by the situation, it seems Bandai and many others are shifting to being a sub-only licensor and Funimation becoming the ONLY dubbing licensor. Well, that doesn't mean that Funimation is a bad company since what I like about Funimation is that they seem to better connect with the anime fans and get feedback from them via polls and forums. I just wish other anime licensors can better connect with their customers and fans when it comes to their business practices. I'm afraid that Bandai Entertainment will become ADV 2.0 and will collapse. I think the only way that Bandai can be saved is that they get unionized to expand their voice actor pool (since it is based in California), merge with a larger company like Disney (and besides, Disney does a nice job in dubbing anime like Miyazaki's films), and/or improve their business practices by better connecting with the fans. Other than that, there seems to be no miracles for Bandai or seeing a dub for Hayate the Combat Butler.
That's my personal opinion, you don't HAVE to agree with me. And I also stated that the Japanese soundtrack of Lucky Star is better than the dub, but I find the dub to be decent. |
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John Casey
Posts: 1853 Location: In My Angry Center |
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If you guys wanna talk nice dubs from Bandai, just look into their glory days - they're practically no brainers: Wolf's Rain, Eureka Seven, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Escaflowne, oy-vey, oy-vey...
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Mushi-Man
Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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This is very true, in fact the majority of my favorite dubs have come out of Bandai. Usually Bandai invests allot of time, energy, and money into getting us a good dub to enjoy. Now there are some cases where I think that dub was crap, but on the whole Bandai has continuously met my standards for good dubbing and the list mentioned above are just a few. Honestly I have very high hopes for whats to come from Bandai. They tend to be quite reliable and safe, not to mention they hold the rights to all the Gundam series out here. |
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Dark Paladin X
Posts: 268 |
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Yeah, I think the golden age of Bandai dubs would be in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Other than that, I don't think Bandai puts enough time, money, and emphasis into dubbing like they used to. I think Bandai is trying to shift into quantity instead of quality, which is why they seem to be failing miserably. I would like Bandai to at least spend months or even years dubbing a series rather trying to jam 3-5 anime series within a year. Quality is more important than quantity. Also, it would be nice if Bandai Entertainment would simply put up an official forums, to, you know, get feedback from fans. Also, if a series doesn't seem to be worth dubbing, don't just sub it and release the DVDs that would almost equal the cost if you were buying the series dubbed and Japanese soundtrack. If you really think that a series can't break even for a dub, either sub-it with a reasonable price and set, or don't pick it up in the first place. Heck, I think Media Blasters or Section23 would have done a better job if Hayate the Combat Butler was to be subbed-only. Other than that, I'm quite pessimistic with Bandai Entertainment. A side unrelated note: But there is a good question for Funimation. Not only they have good business practices (i.e. dropping a series if it doesn't "sell" well, like they did with Big Windup!; getting feedback from fans like a poll), but they seem to combine both quality and quantity at the same time (well, the quality part isn't as great when compared to Bandai and the dubs of Miyazaki's films by Disney, but they are quite decent). And not only some of their dubs feature a few voice actors from California (about one out of 20 in some series would have a voice actor from California while the rest is from Texas), they are also non-union where the voice actor pool is very limited. I wish Bandai can emulate a few things from Funimation and fix up their mess. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Bandai stuck the knife in when they started doing that lazy sub only garbage with True Tears and Sola and now they just keep twisting it by delaying Kurokami multiple times even though it's already done, and denying Code Geas: R2 an artbox. Before all that corner cutting crap they were a respectable company though I was kind of mad that they never finished up the Banner of the Stars or Stratos4 franchises they started releasing.
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Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3967 Location: New York state. |
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I thought Bandai was gonna start placing more priority on releasing Blu-Ray releases of titles that they have licensed beginning this year.
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Hiyugi
 Posts: 59 |
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Although Bandai Entertainment is going through hard times, I still support them because they're the first company that I started buying DVDs from starting with Cowboy Bebop. Honestly, I like the English Dubs they done for many series like Eureka 7, Ghost in the Shell, Scrapped Princess, Wolf's Rain, Escaflowne & more. Plus, I watch all my titles in both English(where applicable) & Japanese with subtiles multiple times.
I really can't understand why people have so much hate for companies when they can't produce a English Dub. They are trying their best to please their fans and people are heavily criticizing them for being unfair for not doing a English Dub. I'm pretty sure they want to do Dub for shows like Hayate the Combat Butler, but they can't hire people for "Free". The business world doesn't work that way. I'm happy they licensed Hayate at all, because I highly doubt the biggest anime company FUNimation would take that chance to release it. Maybe Media Blasters or Sentai Filmworks would have picked it up and if they did the chances of it getting a English Dub, unlikely. Unless people were buying it like pancakes and unfortunately some of you aren't. |
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2094 |
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(MASSIVE FACEPALM) Thanks, pal. So if no one else is interested in licensing it, you'd rather just screw over us DVD-buyers for no real reason? Because no one's putting a gun to your head and making you buy sub-only releases. Get over it, since FUNi has practically said they get first dibs on looking at almost all new licenses, and Viz has said they don't plan to license many anime in the future, sub-only releases by Bandai and Sentai are pretty much "this was the only way, a dub could never have happened". Now, if you want to be self-centered and tell companies to ignore the portion of the anime fandom that DO buy sub-only releases, then I guess you just have a warped way of thinking. Especially since you do watch subs, so I'm not entirely sure what the problem is here. And I do like dubs, in fact I primarily watch dubs. But I also understand what anime probably won't make a profit with a dub, and also don't have any problem with Japanese voice acting. Hayate most likely wouldn't make a profit with dubbing. It's a show with tons of cultural references, but seems to lack the fanbase that similar shows like Lucky Star have (which also flopped, but I blame that the release style, mainly those silly shirts). So a sub-only release is logical to me. I do agree that the episode count per DVD is stupid (more forgivable if we were getting an artbox, but no go there), but I can easily wait for the complete boxsets to come out in 1-2 years. To other posters: you probably know, but Bandai is not a dubbing company. Their dubs have been handled by different dubbing companies, so if there's a difference in quality and/or VAs, don't be surprised. I would disagree with the idea that all their best dubs were a while back (not that those weren't really good as well, of course), Haruhi Suzumiya is one of my all-time favorite dubs (mainly because of Crispin Freeman as Kyon), and I personally like the dubs for Code Geass, Lucky Star, and Gurren Lagann. |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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I think people would whinge about the Hayate release less if it were 20 dollars for 3 or 4 subtitled episodes on one dvd..... though 7 subbed eps on 2 dvds for 40 bucks is more or less the same thing, so I guess fans are just bad at math.
I'm guessing Bandai was just playing with pricing possibilites after the subbed releases of Gurren Lagann [9 eps/2 dvds for 30 each in a 2disc case] and To Terra [8 eps on 2 dvds in seperate cases in a paper slip for 35]. Given the length of Hayate, going with the release they did makes sense in a way..... probably only dedicated fans'll go for it, and with no TV broadcast, keeping it subbed is probably a good idea money-wise. I still have faith in Bandai- they're just adapting to the current market, in terms of dvd sales, tv broadcasts and streaming. They look to be focusing on a smaller number of releases but the same number of licenses [ie- more boxsets/2disc sets], and only doing dubs for TV. They're also doing a good job with their movie releases, getting limited threatrical runs for fans, and it looks like Sword of a Stranger did well. They also seem to be doing smaller runs for reissues, and not releasing everything in boxsets after done with the initial release, but taht's something everyones doing, adapting to the demands of retailers with slimmer packaging [both Bandai and Media Blasters use liteboxes, while ADV/Sentai uses StackPacks]. PS--- Kurokami's getting released next month with a dub, in a 2-disc dvd set for 30 bucks, plus in BluRay singles [if dubonly]. Which is pretty snazzy. They also look to be one of the few studios really pushing bluray [which I don't care for, but it seems to make some fans happy, so what the hey], which is apparently an expensive [authoring costs more due to the way blurays are made/the technology is licensed], timeconsuming [production is apparently very long compared to dvd's] and complicated [the whole region-free, feat of cross imports to japan] thing to do [Escaflowne, GITS2, and a few other classics have gotten blurays so far]. So you have to give them a pat on the back for those things. |
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