×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more
You are welcome to look at the talkback but please consider that this article is over 11 years old before posting.

Forum - View topic
Anime Expo 2013 - Funimation




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
getchman
He started it



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 9135
Location: New Hampshire
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 7:05 pm Reply with quote
so I guess the acquisition department didn't see very many shows that were worth picking up. I really hope not announcing DxD New means they are still working on getting the rights and not because they think it's a flop
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24207
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 7:53 pm Reply with quote
A few years ago when Funi detached itself from Navarre and become a fully independent company, I worried that the move (which was out of Funi's control) would have an impact on their acquisitions. Sadly, it appears that I am right. A lot of Funi's releases last year were actually re-releases (i.e. shows that were originally released in two sets re-released as a single set, for example). I guess it's to be expected that when you are an independent company as opposed to a division within a larger entity, your acquisitions budget would shrink, but it's kind of too bad.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6235
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:53 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
A few years ago when Funi detached itself from Navarre and become a fully independent company, I worried that the move (which was out of Funi's control) would have an impact on their acquisitions. Sadly, it appears that I am right. A lot of Funi's releases last year were actually re-releases (i.e. shows that were originally released in two sets re-released as a single set, for example). I guess it's to be expected that when you are an independent company as opposed to a division within a larger entity, your acquisitions budget would shrink, but it's kind of too bad.


I'd rather they focus on the titles they already announced for the moment being. Do you remember what happened when ADV tried to license every title under the sun?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24207
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:59 pm Reply with quote
v1cious wrote:
Blood- wrote:
A few years ago when Funi detached itself from Navarre and become a fully independent company, I worried that the move (which was out of Funi's control) would have an impact on their acquisitions. Sadly, it appears that I am right. A lot of Funi's releases last year were actually re-releases (i.e. shows that were originally released in two sets re-released as a single set, for example). I guess it's to be expected that when you are an independent company as opposed to a division within a larger entity, your acquisitions budget would shrink, but it's kind of too bad.


I'd rather they focus on the titles they already announced for the moment being. Do you remember what happened when ADV tried to license every title under the sun?


Sigh. dragon_rider cody has a great response for anyone who drags out that point. The problems with ADV weren't as a result of licensing too much. They were the result of wildly over paying for some licenses that had zero hope of ever turning a profit. They had a bunch of other money-losing divisions that were a drain, too. It's pointless to refer to events that happened during the bubble period as if they apply in today's much different market.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6235
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 9:23 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
v1cious wrote:
Blood- wrote:
A few years ago when Funi detached itself from Navarre and become a fully independent company, I worried that the move (which was out of Funi's control) would have an impact on their acquisitions. Sadly, it appears that I am right. A lot of Funi's releases last year were actually re-releases (i.e. shows that were originally released in two sets re-released as a single set, for example). I guess it's to be expected that when you are an independent company as opposed to a division within a larger entity, your acquisitions budget would shrink, but it's kind of too bad.


I'd rather they focus on the titles they already announced for the moment being. Do you remember what happened when ADV tried to license every title under the sun?


Sigh. dragon_rider cody has a great response for anyone who drags out that point. The problems with ADV weren't as a result of licensing too much. They were the result of wildly over paying for some licenses that had zero hope of ever turning a profit. They had a bunch of other money-losing divisions that were a drain, too. It's pointless to refer to events that happened during the bubble period as if they apply in today's much different market.


The problem is the market has changed for the worse. Between the middling economy and less fans, picking up any title that's not a guaranteed hit is a huge risk. Keep in mind this is a business. That's why I'd rather them focus on getting out what they have right now. I mean of course there's the "Attack on Titan" type stuff, which will inevitably get licensed, but there's no reason to pick up 100 shows that might be a "Maybe".


Last edited by v1cious on Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:21 pm; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24207
PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:25 am Reply with quote
I agree that no distrib should ever pick up a title unless they think they have a shot of making money off it. That's an obvious point. Personally, and I could be wrong here, my feeling is that Funi's very noticeable drop in acquiring and licensing new shows isn't arising from the fact that there are fewer potentially profitable shows out there but rather from the fact that their operating budget is much smaller than it used to be and therefore they don't have the money to actually buy as many titles as they might want to if they had the funds.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
dragonrider_cody



Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 6:57 am Reply with quote
I think Funimation's drop in acquisitions over the past few years is largely a result of the market. I believe their business model of being a relatively large distributor, in a very tiny market, that does everything in house doesn't allow then to be as nimble as companies like Sentai or NISA, who are have a much smaller number of employees and subcontract a large amount of their work.

They also spend a lot more, and spend much more time dubbing series than other R1 companies. Some may think it gives them a high level of quality, but it also puts them at a disadvantage when you have companies like Sentai that are becoming pretty skilled at dubbing more quickly and on a lower budget.

I think we're going to see Funimation experiment with different types of releases, such as the upcoming GiTS Arise import set. I also wouldn't be surprised to see them try out a few subonly releases for more niche titles. Sadly, the days of really big sellers in R1 are coming to an end, and Funi can't depend on another DBZ or FMA popping up every couple of years, especially now that they have a lot more competition on the acquisition front.

Also, some of the recent titles that Funimation has acquired, like GiTS Arise and Titan were extremely expensive. That would also explain some of the drop off in titles they are announcing.

Plus, you have to factor in that Sentai and Crunchyroll are acquiring a large percentage of the new shows each season. With their unwillingness to guarantee physical releases for lower profile titles, it can be much harder to compete for new titles.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ZeetherKID77



Joined: 17 Jun 2007
Posts: 982
PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 7:05 am Reply with quote
So basically that's why we haven't seen them announce Symphogear yet? They just don't want to acquire it at all because they aren't like Sentai, who gobbles up 90% of the shows each season and manages to turn a profit?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24207
PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 8:51 am Reply with quote
@dragonrider_cody: I don't disagree with anything you said, I think those are all valid factors, but I still think a reduced acquisitions budget is a factor, too. I can't stress enough that that is a totally uninformed guess on my part, but it kind of makes sense that a 100% independent company as Funi is now might not have the same acquisitions budget it had when it was a division of Navarre.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
NJ_



Joined: 31 Oct 2009
Posts: 3120
Location: Wallington, NJ
PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:17 am Reply with quote
dragonrider_cody wrote:
Also, some of the recent titles that Funimation has acquired, like GiTS Arise and Titan were extremely expensive. That would also explain some of the drop off in titles they are announcing.


There's also Dragon Ball as they may have renewed their license deal which was last renewed in 2009 and it's probably one of the reasons they're re-releasing Z again and of course, there's also the rest of Kai which Sean Schemmel & Kyle Hebert accidently revealed that they're working on now.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
TheAncientOne



Joined: 06 Oct 2010
Posts: 1896
Location: USA (mid-south)
PostPosted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 5:37 pm Reply with quote
ZeetherKID77 wrote:
So basically that's why we haven't seen them announce Symphogear yet? They just don't want to acquire it at all because they aren't like Sentai, who gobbles up 90% of the shows each season and manages to turn a profit?

An interesting thing about Symphogear G (and the third Milky Holmes series for that matter): Someone pointed out to me that Funimation had never licensed a sequel simulcast of a simulcast for which they had not obtained a home video license. As best I could determine, this is true. (If someone knows of an exception, speak up).

The problem is, as best I could determine, there had also previously never been a sequel to any of the simulcasts they had, but which had not obtained a home video license for. In other words, regardless of what they do, it will set a precedent, but it isn't that useful for predicting if they will simulcast either series.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Yoda117



Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Posts: 406
PostPosted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:31 pm Reply with quote
Well at least Rick is keeping a low profile with his new job down there. Rolling Eyes

Santorum to Jump into Texas Abortion Ban Battle

I'm sure that ought to garner a lot of loyalty from the company's core market.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
guildmaster



Joined: 17 Dec 2012
Posts: 364
Location: Hot & Humid FL
PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 1:06 pm Reply with quote
Politeness and respect, people. It seems to be very lacking in this thread.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group