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NEWS: Bloomberg: Sony Pictures Weighs Bidding on Funimation Entertainment

MarshalBanana wrote:

So a lot of doom and gloom from the comments, however even of the worse happens, it wouldn't be much of a loss. Lots of publishers have come and go over the years, and this wouldn't even be the worst of them, as the loss of Bandai Visual US was a lot worse given the high quality of their dubs. And you may get them back in a similar way you got ADV back. Someone said about them moving to LA, which is actually really good, as that is where most of the best VAs work Aside from a few people, there are very few great VAs at Funimation, and they could always go work for Sentai, who have most of Texas best VAs anyway. Another advantage is that we may finally see the end of simul dubbing, no more endless stream of sub-par to decent dubs every season. It would be wonderful to return to before most dubs were from Funi.

I'm not sure I understand are you saying that they would buy a dubbing company and then stop dubbing? Also simuldubs are a huge draw for
funi and there is no one forcing you to watch "sub-par" dubs just wait till the physical release if it bothers you so much.

I'm not sure what you are on about either, you seem to have combined the part about how they would change with the part about them possibly going under, which was a reply to people saying that Sony would go under and take them with them.

I don't see how waiting for the psychical release solves the problem, the issue is with the quality of the dub as they are producing in such a short period of time, it is not like they are re-dubbed for the home release. I know I don't have to watch their simul-dubs but when a show I'm interested in gets one, then I'm either sticking with the subs, watching a not very good dub or if I'm lucky a good one, and that last option very rarely happens.

It's not like they have to put all these out, they are banking on shows being popular before they are even out, it puts them under tight deadlines and it's not like it is any more profitable than simulsubs(which cost less and are not as much as a gamble). Just look at Hand Shakers, no one would dub that, but because they planed it they are stuck with it.

All I want is there to be, on average at least, good dubs, and Funiamtion are unintentionally undermining this.

But they do go back and fix dubs for home release...

Honestly, my first reaction when I saw this was "I got a bad feeling."

At one time, corporations bought smaller businesses, it use to be a good thing. But in the past decade, the truth it has proven to be disastrous as they effectively gotten assimilated by the Borg. Case in point, EA. It was no longer about the player but how much money they would bring in. This is exactly what I expect to happen with Funimation if they happen to be bought out by Sony. Sony really does not care at all about the Anime and Manga communities, they only care about acquiring the titles and becoming "the next Marvel studio". That is their goal!

I don't think it's gonna happen, because it'd be as big a nightmare to sort out as Disney's deals with Marvel and Lucasfilm. And don't forget Sony's own deal with Disney and Marvel for Spider-Man.

I rather see Funimation left alone. And if they are making 100 million dollars per year, they seem to be in great shape to me.

It should be noted that Funimation is currently a subsidiary of a company known as Group 1200 Media. And Funimation isn't in that bad of a position for what it is. This wouldn't be a wise decision from a financial standpoint, though I really have nothing against a lot of Sony movies from a critical standpoint (but seriously, screw The Emoji Movie ).

I wonder if that 100 million is correct or an error. It seems like a lot for a company that sells discs with someone else's content and a streaming service that probably has less subscribers than Crunchyroll. If it is correct then they have no excuses for the poor quality control they have been exhibiting or the slowness on fixing some of their issues.

Random Name wrote:

But they do go back and fix dubs for home release...

I've heard they can do that, but I've not fount any examples where they've done, can you share some?

SWAnimefan wrote:

Honestly, my first reaction when I saw this was "I got a bad feeling." At one time, corporations bought smaller businesses, it use to be a good thing. But in the past decade, the truth it has proven to be disastrous as they effectively gotten assimilated by the Borg. Case in point, EA. It was no longer about the player but how much money they would bring in. This is exactly what I expect to happen with Funimation if they happen to be bought out by Sony. Sony really does not care at all about the Anime and Manga communities, they only care about acquiring the titles and becoming "the next Marvel studio". That is their goal!

lol what?Funi is just distributor,its not like acquiring it automatically gives them rights to all the titles,to be made into movies or other things.

off the top of my head snow white and assassination classroom. Then again I don't really buy home releases and I'm content with simuldubs. Sucks for you that your not.

Sucks for a lot of people, not just me. Will probably suck for people in future years who watch them.

So a lot of doom and gloom from the comments, however even of the worse happens, it wouldn't be much of a loss. Lots of publishers have come and go over the years, and this wouldn't even be the worst of them, as the loss of Bandai Visual US was a lot worse given the high quality of their dubs. And you may get them back in a similar way you got ADV back.

Someone said about them moving to LA, which is actually really good, as that is where most of the best VAs work Aside from a few people, there are very few great VAs at Funimation, and they could always go work for Sentai, who have most of Texas best VAs anyway. Another advantage is that we may finally see the end of simul dubbing, no more endless stream of sub-par to decent dubs every season. It would be wonderful to return to before most dubs were from Funi.

Sucks for a lot of people, not just me. Will probably suck for people in future years who watch them.

What? If Funimation ceased to exist it would be a huge loss for the anime industry in North America and parts of Europe. I don't have the numbers, but it NA alone they have to control 45-55% of the market. I would argue that Funimation's brand recognition helps the Japanese industry as a whole.

Losing Bandai Visual USA/Entertainment ended up not being such a huge deal because Funimation, the emerging Sentai and Crunchyroll did a great filling in. I get that you dislike Funimation dubs, but saying that Funimation would not be terribly missed by fans and the industry because their dubs suck is RIDICULOUS.