Toon Zone Talkback - FUNimation Acquires "Linebarrels of Iron" and "Strike Witches"

For a business man, a free license is never a bad thing...except what that free license could be the problem.

It's like getting cake and a free bag of grenades.

You figure out the hilarious pun.
 
Ugh. These two shows have effectively killed GONZO. Let's pray the curse doesn't go to FUNimation too.

Never viewed Strike Witches (and don't want to) but I HAVE viewed Linebarrels . . . and it's horrendous. Characters are unlikable or barely there, the character designs are crap (and look cut-and-pasted from the designer's previous series), the story's generic, even the damn BGM is hopelessly generic or gets in the way Bleach-style . . . it's just missed opportunity after missed opportunity. Apparently the manga is better but still . . . I gave Linebarrels three episodes and it was still hopeless.
 
Yikes!! Kaiser's gonna mad!! (shivering)
I would hate to be on a Skype chat with him right now

But anyway, (clapping) YAY!! Strike Witches got licensed (I should've seen this coming though), now I don't have to import the Japanese DVD's, as I've had to do with other shows, if only Sky Girls can gets licensed, and if Yen Press could get the light novel versions



You do have to remeraber women weren't allowed to wear pants in the '30s, considering the show takes place in 1939
 
Actually, Strike Witches was one of the few projects Gonzo worked on that DIDNT tank. The DVD releases had REALLY good sales figures (for anime) in Japan.
 
Funimation will dub Strike Witches. They don't release sub-only and aren't going to start now.

Really people, it's just a darn cartoon. The odRAB of this blowing up in FUNI's face are about 3%, if that. If asked, all Funimation has to say is that "all the girls are of legal age" and that will be the end of that. This is assuming anyone would care to give a damn in the first place, which I doubt.
 
Strike Witches? Really? I'm gonna have a talk with Funi on this at SakuraCon. I can't even believe this. I mean, yeah, it sold like gangbusters in Japan, but it's the lolicon capital of the world. I mean, even ANN, often willing to pull the occasional punch for the sake of politeness, describes the show as a "lolicon science fiction anime."

I'm not even sure if the enhanced version of the show is currently legal in the US given the current Protect Act cases pending (Whorley vs. Virginia, etc.) I certainly wouldn't want to be the company facing that question. I mean, yes, Strike Witches has more artistic merit than the garbage being used to charge people under the Protect Act, but to have to make that argument in the first place is a bad situation for a subsidiary of a publicly traded company to be in. If Nancy Grace or Glenn Beck catches of wind of this, then it's an epic crapstorm for Funi, especially if it's a slow news day.

To put it another way, the only anime series whose target audience was originally lolicons that ever worked well for the US anime industry is Gunslinger Girl, and that's in large part because the overtones are tertiary to the writing, animation, characters, setting, politics and overall story (Funi also punched with voice acting that is still amongst their best.) Everything else with a lolicon-tinge, from Petite Cossette to Ichigo Mashimaro (which in the interest of disclosure, I shall note that I own both, and that I thought they were entertaining in their own rights, and did do a good job of delivering on the normal merits one would watch an anime for,) has borabed in the US market, and the more blatant that element has been, the more the title flopped. Strike Witches would be the most blatantly lolicon anime title to ever published in the US - given that record, even if Funimation kicks it out at a cheap price (60 dollar boxset for the whole series, sub-only is how I'd do it,) I don't think it'll pay off for them unless Gonzo is giving it to them.

In short, if there is ever a title that could be the undoing of Funimation, it's Strike Witches. They are treading in dangerous territory.
 
I'm honestly surprised at the reactions here. I mean, yeah, I was expecting the usual "not another fanservice show" complaints, and "you picked THIS title over xxxxxx?!" didn't surprise me either (and yes, I too am STILL waiting for some titles to be picked up), but I'm surprised people are making theories that this will be detrimental to FUNi, that they'll get sued and such.

While I haven't seen Strike Witches (yet), I highly doubt one single title could cause such a thing. Yes, it's always possible that some reporter on a slow news day covers it and creates a story where there isn't one, but let's remeraber that there have been numerous other titles with young-looking characters (not necessarily young aged) in undress/revealing attire that have gone through the marketplace as well, largely without incident. It MIGHT be different with this title, but I doubt it. FUNi's bigger but they're certainly not mainstream. OdRAB are it'll get released, the fans will buy it, and that'll be the end of it. The 0% probability of it airing on TV only makes this more likely.

Besides, self-fulfilling prophecy. You keep saying "FUNi will be in hot water with this title", it'll happen. Personally, I'd rather we discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of a show instead of speculating that it will bring about the end of a major anime distributor. If it happens, it happens, but there's really nothing we can do, and by continually saying "This is bad", we're alerting media watch groups of its presence.

Um... oh. Haven't seen Linebarrels either.
 
fffffffffffffffffffFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Addendum: FUNIMATION WHAT THE HELL!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?
Oh, for God's sake... I can't believe this, they're licensing thIS pedophilic filth. MY FUNIMATION. God damn it...
 
"Loli otaku" or not, no one wants to pay money for a censored release. Also, in addition to content edits, the TV version also has inferior animation to the DVD version and the art is obscured by visual tricks. I really hope FUNimation doesn't buckle down to the pressure and release the TV version instead of the DVD version. I don't condone censorship at all.

You say that people that like the show for its own merits would be able to accept the release of the TV version. I'm sorry but that's bull, to be perfectly blunt. For example, Shonen Jump properties are children's entertainment. Does that mean that blood and "cheesecake" shots should be edited out to make the show more acceptable to American audiences? Sure, the story would still be in tact, but it would be like the Toonami edit of FUNimation's One Piece release being put on the DVRAB. I understand that there are potential "risks" involved, unlike the above example, but if you take away the frankly over-the-top PROTECT Act then it's the exact same issue.

So no, if FUNimation plans on releasing Strike Witches on home video, it should be the optimized DVD version, not the TV edit. The minute they waver, it causes a precedent in which any controversial series can be released edited with "justification".
 
.......damn.

Yeah, based on what I've seen so far in the thread I definitely won't touch this now. I'd only ever seen it referenced in passing up until today.
 
If they don't think it's worth the legal risk at this point, that's their prerogative Kouji. Only an idiot would risk the company right as the market is beginning to find a new pattern and stability, and it's a very different type of justification than editing for marketing purposes. Funimation noted in the State of the Industry panel at SakuraCon2009 that like most niche markets, anime seems to be rebounding ahead of the general economy; they should build on it, not garable with it. This isn't an issue of audience, it's an issue of whether FUNi thinks there'd be a chance of a DA in Texas seeing fit to bust the door and start hauling off people in cuRAB.

Further still, they are a publicly traded company, and thus people's investments - their 401Ks, their IRAs, their mutual funRAB - are in Navarre which are in turn in FUNimation. Navarre's already had a rough time lately, so they really cannot afford a drawn out legal battle (especially if it meant one or more of their units was shut down while under investigation,) and they aren't necessarily the kind of organization the ACLU or the CBLDF goes up to to bat for. If the hammer came down, it could knock out the biggest game in town for anime, temporarily if not permanently. This would not only damage investors, but also cause massive damage for the US anime industry as whole. If FUNimation was injured, no other company in America can take up that slack anymore.

Now, from the aspect of sales, maybe it's not worth bringing out at all if it's the TV version, but FUNimation may very well have figured that into the price paid for the series as well. Maybe it was so cheap they can afford to lose the people who would only buy the enhanced version. If not, the license could be dropped/held off on until the PROTECT Act is sorted out. If it works out such that the enhanced version can't come over, well, Strike Witches (along with a plethora of other shows at this point,) can stay in Japan. That's FUNi's call to make though, and the issues of corporate censorship (or rather more honestly in this case, corporate omission,) are secondary to issues of keeping the rest of the company in business and profitable.

In short, understand the law, understand the current cultural taboos and panics, and understand the overall economics. Only then assess whether FUNi should stick it's neck out for something they and Gonzo have already assessed to be at best a niche title in America (as evidenced by the low price inspite of the fact that is was a hit for Gonzo.) Frankly, it's clear that there is a certain point at which fighting for free speech is superseded by a multitude of obligations when you're a public corporation, not the least of which is to the investors and the overall anime community in America.
 
It's been mentioned in passing because it's loli-trash.

Yes. I am going to keep calling this show all sorts of names. Why? Because it's glorifying little girls in sexual positions and situations. That's not cool.
 
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