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Forum - View topicNEWS: Australia, New Zealand Anime Streaming Service AnimeLab Rebrands as Funimation
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KitKat1721
 Posts: 978 |
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I don't think a single person is shocked by this, but its a shame that AUS/NZ users will have to switch to Funi's site most likely.
The newer Funi apps/updates (like for Switch) are definitely improvements, but Anime Lab's from what I've heard is great. Their word of mouth has been really solid from users (and since people are more vocal about any downsides of apps, that's more of a rarity). |
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micpp
Posts: 10 |
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Looking at the FAQ on their site https://support.animelab.com/index.php/article-categories/funimation/ it seems like for a while they'll have both Animelab and Funimation running in parallel, but eventually the plan is to close Animelab and just have the Funimation app and website.
A few things about this make me a bit concerned: - The Animelab app has in general been on the fairly stable and usable side, as far as streaming apps go. I'm not sure if the same is true of the Funimation app, though - last time it was available in Australia it was pretty janky, although it may have improved since then. Animelab's social media seems to have been hinting that some of their tech may be used to improve the Funimation app but it's kinda vague. - More importantly perhaps would be shows that Animelab has but Funimation doesn't. Probably the most interesting example would be the infamous Interspecies Reviewers, which Animelab kept streaming after Funimation dropped - but there's also a lot of shows Animelab has that are owned by other licensors in the US, so like is the Australian version of the Funimation app going to have like Sailor Moon and Made In Abyss for example? To be honest, I've been generally a bit confused about the sale of Madman's anime division to Funimation, largely because Madman's website still lists all their anime titles alongside the non-anime releases, even though that's apparently two separate companies now. I'm not sure if their physical releases are just still handled by the previous company or if it's some sort of situation where they're somehow sharing a website, but it's a bit confusing which company I'm actually dealing with if I buy a bluray from them haha. Oh well presumably everything will make sense eventually |
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6599 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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It's the end of an era. Madman has been around ever since I've became an anime fan, and much longer besides. I'll miss the name Madman, as well. It has an ironic or self-deprecating edge to it that's very Australian, whereas Funimation seems more corporate, anodyne and self-promoting. And forcing northern hemisphere season references on us? Urgh. That's an insult.
The good thing, and it outweighs by far the previous points, is that the internationalisation of anime distribution should make more content available and, hence, provide greater choice. One genuine fear is that the concentration of ownership may also have an impact on pricing. |
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Erufailon4
Posts: 202 Location: Finland |
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I hope they won't do the same for Wakanim - then again, Funimation as a brand is not very well known in Europe so they probably wouldn't benefit much from a rebrand.
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Lynx Raven Raide
 Posts: 412 Location: Central Coast, AU |
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Aniplex JP bought it, not Funimation. It's even in the article.
It's gunna happen, unfortunately. AnimeLab has such a strong brand, yet they are doing it, so it is inevitable Wakanim will follow suit. Not happy to be honest. AnimeLab had the stronger brand with a better reputation, so ditching it in favour of Funi is not a good idea. Also, I am concerned about the catalogue due to the licences Madman/AnimeLab have, and especially if our viewing is dictated by Dallas over Melbourne I will be extremely pissed |
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Cryten
 Posts: 1175 |
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Damn, are we gonna loose all the Australian only licenses for Madman's old anime content? Cause Anime Lab has access to a heap of older anime that Funi's licenses expired on or never acquired.
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CatSword
 Posts: 1489 |
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Exactly! As an American I had compared a lot of the streaming services both available here and internationally and realized that AnimeLab had the best legal English-language service out of any that I could find. Shame it's going to get stuck under the Funimation umbrella and the mediocrity that comes with it. |
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Norbuck
Posts: 19 |
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As someone who is currently subscribed to both services in NZ (Funimation relaunched here about 3 months ago) I think they will be able to manage the content differences fine.
I wanted to watch all the Monogatari series when Funimation acquired it, but they only ever put the first season on the Animelab service (this was around the time they said they were adding heaps of content to the Animelab library when they removed Funimation from our region) So I have a VPN service and switch my region from NZ to USA to watch the full catalog. The content library in the app changes based on location so if they can region block me one way, I'm sure they can add all the AU/NZ exclusives to the service and region block the other way. For all those in the rest of the world who use VPNs to subscribe to Animelab to get the additional content, this will hopefully mean you need to pay for one less subscription. |
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micpp
Posts: 10 |
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Ahh yeah, sorry brain fart. But yeah it does seem something of a messy split still. |
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Lynx Raven Raide
Posts: 412 Location: Central Coast, AU |
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Just looking on social media to say this hasn't gone down well is an understatement, with some saying they would rather return to pirating. Hope Sony is taking note cause this is small compared to the shit show when Wakanim inevitably gets rebranded as FunimationEU. Personally, I don't think it would be as bad if the oversight was coming from Tokyo but we all know Dallas will call the shots
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2709 |
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Lynx Raven Raide
Posts: 412 Location: Central Coast, AU |
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Probably not. If it's anything like other streaming platforms you will probably need a sub for that region to access the content, much like Netflix or Disney+ |
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Norbuck
Posts: 19 |
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Funimation App currently doesn't do this. I have the one app on my phone and my content library changes based on my location. I get different material when I swap from NZ to US, and just confirmed I get some different titles again by changing the location to Canada. Seems Funimations Geo blocking isn't as sophisticated as Netflix or Amazon Prime. (also with regards to Disney+ plus, we get additional Fox TV and movie content in NZ via Star which disappears when I set my region to USA) FYI I use PIA as my VPN service. |
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