Forum - View topicDid the demise of and backlash towards 4Kids cause the downfall of kids anime in America?
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mgree0032
Posts: 293 |
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There was once a time that kids’ anime in America were abundant in the late 90s and early 2000's! But for some reason, they just disappeared suddenly. Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, DBZ, Digimon, Sailor Moon, Medabots, Monster Rancher, Beyblade! Now all the popular anime is more adult like JoJo, Attack on Titan, etc. The only anime that were aimed at kids in the early to mid 2010s for Americans were Yo Kai Watch, Glitter Force, and Doraemon in the early to mid 2010s. But I wish they still showed anime on Disney, CN, and/or Nick so kids could feel nostalgic for them later on, just like we did in the early 2000s. Some people wanted to figure out what happened that led to the demise of kids’ anime in America. Some say it had to do with the demise and backlash of 4kids that caused anime that are for kids. Do you think that 4kids’ demise and backlash caused the downfall of kids’ anime in America, or was it something else?
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 10022 Location: Virginia |
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Short answer, NO.
The proliferation of cable and associated proliferation of cable channels caused a tremendous need for content to fill the hours of time available. 4Kids and similar companies looked overseas to find shows that could be adapted for U.S. release. They found a treasure trove of animated shows intended for children in Japan. You have to understand that 4Kids and the others were not bringing "anime" to the U.S. They were bringing content for children. They did their level best to hid the source of that programming. The fact that these shows were anime was of no importance to them or to the networks they were selling them to. I can't say for sure why children's programming is now much less prevalent but I can make some suggestions. First, Disney and similar networks offering shows for children found that they could make their own cheap animation and even cheaper live action shows for kids at less cost then licensing Japanese animation and with more control. Second, the success of anime in general both in the U.S. and internationally has drastically increased the cost of licensing anime shows. Also the Japanese creators are more aware of what is being done and have drastically limited how much editing can be done on such shows. While this is good for those of us who want to see what was shown in Japan, it is bad for children's shows because as noted the Japanese are comfortable with concepts that will not fly in U.S. children's programming. As for the so called backlash, that was among adult fans. It would have no effect on the people who would have licensed content from 4Kids. I suspect that 4Kids died of an inability to cope with the changes listed above and some degree of internal mismanagement. |
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Nipasu
 Posts: 127 |
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Inazuma Eleven Ares had a season dubbed for Disney X-D, and there was Bakugan. And on the decline in children's anime, I have a few tinfoil theories: The first is the treatment of anime on US broadcasting channels. I'm no expert, but it seems like Kids' TV channels were moving away from broadcasting anime By the 2010s, the only American TV channel I heard airing anime was Disney X-D--and the majority of their titles flopped (Pokémon and Beyblade Burst survived, and Bakugan found popularity in the USA). The second reason (surprisingly) is the rise of the US Anime Industry. Yes anime received a huge serge in popularity by the early 2010s, but who where these newer titles appealing to? Many appeared to teens and young adults, the latter group being the main target for the newer Anime-exclusive companies that were popping up. Sure this brought us simulcasts and uncut dubs, but these companies strayed away from children's content to focus on the teen/young adult crowd. And with nobody in the "anime industry" licensing kids' shows, many newer kids' content struggled at this time---even streaming services were targeted young adult content. There were exceptions (like Netflix streaming Dino Girl Gauko and the GF dubs) but the wider plethora of anime content had been aimed towards older audiences. This especially sucks for girls, as their anime titles were often the ones ignored by the US, regardless of how popular or profitable they were in Japan. But there has been changes: Anpanman has dubbed movies on Tubi, Waccha PriMagi is streaming on Hidive, and Crunchyroll has licensed Chibi Maruko Chan, Minky Momo, A few seasons from the Pretty Series and the newer Pretty Cure seasons. Yes most of the content is subbed and aimed at young adults, but it's better than nothing. Pokémon and Beyblade Burst are also still around, though I don't think the USA is airing Pokémon on TV. |
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Nate148
Posts: 510 |
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It was a bubble and it popped more over nick and carton network killed the sat blocks plus Pokémon was down.
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Digimon_Sommelier
Posts: 28 Location: NYC |
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Anime in the west was the best. We need it back . . .
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Spawn29
Posts: 556 |
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I don't get why people hated 4kids for their changes when other companies did the same like with Funimation for DBZ and Saban with their anime titles.
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mgree0032
Posts: 293 |
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Vee-Tee
 Posts: 140 |
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Except Funi and Saban made sensible edits for programming on a kid/teen channel/block. 4Kids were immediately seen as censorious and making baffling edits, even if they needed to be made to comply with broadcast regulations. Like every pirate in One Piece drinking frothy water or juice instead of beer. Helmeppo having a squeaky mallet and not a flintlock pistol. Also the dialogue, marketing and general feeling of the show was more kiddified. And that’s why people got so hateful about the 4Kids versions. |
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Andy26
 Posts: 68 Location: Flippin Arkansas |
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Maybe it is on the way back though. With Toonami Rewind now some of those exact shows are in the lineup. I was overwhelmed by the amount of anime related merchandise I seen in a recent trip to the mall. It wasn't kids anime for sure but everything is cyclical, it can still become a profitable operation to create content for kids.
How about "Bluey-The Anime"? |
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Cardcaptor Takato
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I think it was less to do with 4Kids and more with everything moving to streaming and networks wanting to focus on their own original works instead. Even Beyblade which was one of the last localized anime dubs airing on Disney is now just being released directly through streaming.
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Flash33
 Posts: 72 Location: Florida |
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To be fair to 4Kids they never really wanted One Piece in the first place but Toei wouldn't let them get Ojamajo Doremi unless they also took One Piece as well. I'll admit that the finished product could have and should have been better, but at least aside from some exceptions the voice cast was overall solid (Zoro's especially) as were the games (Grand Adventure especially), and if nothing else it also introduced many people to One Piece (myself included). While 4Kids isn't blameless for how their dub turned out Toei shares some of the blame as well for forcing it onto a company not the best suited for the job.
Actually Bakugan aired primarily on Cartoon Network as did Pokemon, Yugioh* and Beyblade until Disney bought the rights to them (Pokemon for Sun & Moon+, Bakugan for the reboot and Beyblade for Burst+). *According to Wikipedia Disney got Yuigoh for Sevens, Vrains was Pluto TV, Arc-V was Nicktoons and Zexal was The CW and later Nicktoons. DM-5Ds was on CN. |
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FishLion
 Posts: 233 |
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I honestly think a lot of companies showing content to children have to abide by much more puritanical social norms than Japan. We gotta remember that Pokemon of all things was a subject of controversy back in the day. If kids being friends with animals and roughhousing is controversial, what can they reliably bring over without controversy? There is also simply a ton of competition for animation here, when domestic companies could make something original they own forever and won't ruffle the feathers of parents, what is the incentive to license things from overseas that will need changing and possibly court controversy anyway?
Besides prestige animation studios like Disney that purposefully appeal to all ages, purposefully mature animation blocks like Adult Swim, and a very specific segment of animation like Teen Titans and The Justice League that is appropriate enough to air on CN but mature enough to attract older viewers, most animation here is made for children that don't know enough to be upset they are missing out on Chibi Maruko-chan and Nintama Rantarou and the people selling content are more concerned with volume than what children critically think of the show. Honestly, the best way to get more of those here may be for people to show their children these shows once they are available for streaming. I heard that part of the fun of Boomerang on CN was that older parents could watch shows they grew up with and show them to their kids at the same time. I think anime fans would love to show their children shows that are from Japan. Even if they didn't grow up with it, I personally I find anime targeted at children to be drastically more entertaining than anything western companies produce, so I feel like if we had dubs rather than subs so kids could understand then anime fan parents would be overjoyed to introduce their kids to anime and get something more entertaining than Cocomelon for themselves. That is kind of the appeal of Bluey, it's so well done that parents don't mind watching it compared to other stuff for kids, so if people could figure out how to market all of the great children's anime to parents who are anime fans they could have a huge new market. |
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Piglet the Grate
 Posts: 767 Location: North America |
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On one hand we something as innocuous as Yaku nara Mug Cup mo (Let's Make a Mug Too) being rated PG-13/TV14 here in the USA - someone please tell me what content in the show is objectionable? On the other hand Hideaki Anno stated that Shin Seiki Evangerion (Neon Genesis Evangelion) was intended for both children and adults. I have to side with the Japanese since at least the more mature shows will give the little hominids something to think about, rather than numbing their minds with pablum. |
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FishLion
Posts: 233 |
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Agreed, there is such an appetite for things that appeal to kids and adults here. Anything with the slightest hint of real world problems to it that doesn't handle the tone the way Disney does get seen as inappropriate for younger people. They seem to allow a bit more freedom in the realms of fantasy and comic books adaptations, because the violence and stakes are seen as so fantastic that children can be exposed to them, yet somehow characters making mugs is TV14. |
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RupanSansei
 Posts: 142 |
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A few months ago i heard the 3d anime adaptation Chi's sweet home did well for Amazon as a kid's property though i don't know if that what was a random
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