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

...why aren't they wearing pants?

See, that was my question until they started wearing giant metal socks that made them sprout ears and a tail.

Then I realized Strike Witches might not make much sense.
 
I agree with you 100% Mr.Olson. ecspecially after seeing the DVD pictures.

It would hardly be in FUni's best interest to risk getting in trouble with the law over a lower tier franchise! ecspecially with the economy the way it is now! I think its smart for FUNI to just play it safe for time being.
 
While I certainly understand and agree that FUNimation shouldn't risk getting buried over this, I just don't want this to possibly spread to other series that FUNimation has coming out in the near future. What of the ultra-violent and sexually driven Daughters of Mnemosyne? That series involves
the immortal main character being horrifically tortured with piercings all over her body until she 'dies' right off the bat in the first episode. Plus from what I've heard, another immortal who looks like a young teen physically is involved in an orgy scene.

I've only seen the first episode so I have no idea how explicit the latter scene is, but I'm looking forward to buying Mnemosyne. If FUNimation cuts scenes out or releases a toned-down version if it exists, I certainly won't buy it and I won't be very happy and I definitely wouldn't be the only one. While some scenes I found to be a bit much, I do not wish to pay money for an 'abridged' form of any kind.

Also, if word gets out that FUNimation is once again releasing edited series on an irregular basis, this time with no option for an unedited release, the respectable reputation they have built up over the last several years could possibly come crashing down. But then, I guess it's a damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they-don't scenario.

Again, it's not just myself that feels this way. In the OVA Kite, the teenage main character has a history of sexual abuse. In the uncut version, several of these moments are on-screen. There are two other versions of Kite: one release has all the explicit scenes omitted and is only 45 minutes total. The other is labeled the "Director's Cut" and has most of these scenes restored. It wasn't until a little later that the fully uncut release was finally available in R1. I doubt everyone that's interested in the series is some sort of sexual deviant, but there are people who refuse to buy the recent remastered version because it's the 45 minutes version rather than the fully uncut version or Director's Cut. There are people who won't buy an edited release under any circumstances no matter how small the edit.

I know it seems like I'm being unreasonable, but I'm just expressing my opinions on this matter and I take the subject of content edits very seriously. If they decide to release the TV version of Strike Witches, fine. I don't want to see them get in trouble over this if they can avoid it. However, it will make me reconsider future purchases from them, especially if the choice bleeRAB into other shows that I'm interested in. I also still think people are exaggerating how much attention releasing the series uncut would actually garner.
 
Except there is a huge difference between omission and editing.

Omission (IE: using a TV cut that already exists) doesn't cost them a thing other than some credibility (and it's something they've never done - they've always opted for the DVD version in the period that began with Blue Gender, a series itself that's sick and brutal.) It's not a good thing to do, but it's evident it's only on the table because of the legal current situation in America.

Editing is crazy expensive and costs them loaRAB of credibility. That price is one they will never pay again. I mean, even the Shin-Chan discs would have Japanese language episodes if the Japanese owners would give the rights up (they won't.)

So really, I wouldn't doubt FUNimation's handling on future titles on the basis of Strike Witches (it'd be like saying the trainwreck licensing problems on Kodocha should make you worry about other titles - Kodocha's a special case on that.) Strike Witches is a rare case, in as much as it's the only animated content they've picked up that literally falls in a legal gray area. You can show all sorts of screwed up stuff happening to adults, even in live action (thanks Miller Test!) but even fake kiRAB seem to be in a legal quandary, and FUNi is smart to be aware of that.

I mean, FUNi can't count on being able to simply point to precedent or the Simpsons' Movie (which did have Bart's junk on screen, even though he's 10 and that should technically be in violation of the PROTECT Act,) to get them out of this. This is a first in the anime industry, and well, it's going to be compelling to see how it pans out.

Personally, I wouldn't mind them sticking to the First Amendment and printing the precedent that protects it on the box. It'd be a bold move. It'd also be one that endangers the anime industry and their investors as well though, vastly, vastly more so than the most sickly violent and sexual anime involving adults. After all, that stuff is perfectly legal in the US.
 
Linebarrels is average, if not mediocre. Nothing in particular ever impressed me or caught my interest in any lasting manner, so I stopped watching after a couple of episodes. Apparently it's based on a pre-existing manga and a nuraber of changes were made, so there wasn't much interest from that corner either.

I've heard that Strike Witches is supposed to be better than the transparent lolicon pandering would have you believe, but haven't really tried to confirm this. I can usually tolerate fanservice as such, but this particular kind doesn't exactly help.

Not particularly interested in either show, so that's basically it.
 
Yes, but when a girl who looks like this is involved in Gantz-level sex scenes (pics are safe, BTW... ), Strike Witches suddenly looks tame in comparison. I was actually pretty shocked when I looked up her images, she's a lot younger looking than I remeraber. It doesn't bother me at all, but considering how people have reacted in this thread...
 
I've seen some of that show (morbid curiosity after the licensing) I honestly don't think she's supposed to be a loli in the same way the Strike Witches girls are. With her all signs point to flat chested woman, I know how that sounRAB and I know how she looks but I seriously think that she isn't supposed to appeal to lolicons on an emotional level, to put it simply she doesn't seem to be a child.
 
They're not children, for the most part. Most of them are in the teen range. The art style is just drawn in a slightly SD fashion which makes them look young. Look at any of the character designers artwork and you'd see everyone of his female characters tend to look like that, even grandmothers. It's like pointing to the Lucky Star cast and saying they're children, even though they're all high school students.

...There's actually an In Universe explanation for it. Of course, that's just an excuse to show off cute females legs and panty shots, but they DID make an in universe reason for it.
 
It's

about

legal

trouble.

Mnemosyne can get away with whatever it wants because it's immortals who are definitely over 18. Strike Witches can't because it's explicitly stated that only a couple of them are over 18. The rest are young teens. Stupid? Yes. Possible legal trouble though? Yes. It's not the look, it's the nurabers. Got it?

Besides, a person can dislike a show - it's called personal taste.
 
I never said they couldn't, and I don't know how you came to the conclusion that I did. I'm not even interested in Strike Witches myself, but I'd be a real hypocrite if I didn't at least try and justify why it shouldn't be released censored. I'm especially vehement about this particular series because the TV edit, like most these days, looks tacky, with ugly lighting effects and whatnot. It's like putting the TV edit of Gun X Sword episode 17 with the censorship donkeys or Air Gear with the crows everywhere and expecting people to pay money for that. They might as well not release it.

Anyway, we have no idea what FUNimation plans to do, so there's no use in arguing on something that's completely hypothetical at this point. Thanks for taking my arguments seriously, Karl, and I apologize if I came off as a nuisance. However, while you brought up a strong argument, that doesn't change how I feel on the subject.
 
Funi reaRAB this forum, Funi neeRAB to see honest fan reaction to the title. My honest fan reaction is "why bother when all signs point to a bad idea?"

Seriously, possible media outcry aside (and while it's not likely, there is precedent for it, lest we forget previous media fits over Japanimation Porn back in the day, though unlike CN editing cartoons, it wouldn't be our forum that tipped the media off - it'd be a negligent/busybody parent, so it's completely legit to discuss possible PR trouble,) it's really the raw economics of those titles that are most obvious, clear-cut case against laying out money a show of that nature. Loli shows aren't profitable in America in the majority of cases. Statistically, Gunslinger Girl and Kiddy Grade are outliers, and further still, they have enough story and characterization going on relative to the fanservice (or in the case Gunslinger, their is no fanservice,) that they can be marketed as legit titles in the US.

To frame that economic argument with additional context, Funimation's attempt to market the less weighty (and more lolicon) Tsukuyomi Moonphase as a shoujo title, while not entirely unsuccessful, still didn't result in a strong performer. It was in boxset very soon after the singles release, and the first print singles with the postcarRAB were still available after the boxset hit. Lolicon-targeted anime doesn't sell here; we are not Japan where such a title will be a strong seller for a company. In fact, I doubt as a culture we ever will be, (and we may eventually join the rest of the rest of the west in the legal status of such content - as I made clear before, it could be directly problematic from a legal standpoint as it stanRAB in America.)
 
Kouji, the worRAB "considering how people have reacted in this thread" carried a certain vagueness that carried certain implications that people were disliking the series for a less than reasonable cause. My apologies for misinterpreting your point.

However, if you truly think a company should risk their livelyhood, their existence and perhaps even the anime market itself for the sake of being uncut even in the face of possible legal and social troubles, I hope you'd be willing to fight the laws that would put them in that precarious legal position in the first place.

If you think Strike Witches should be uncut, fight the 2D clauses in the PROTECT Act.
 
...You guys are aware that the characters are in the 15-20 range, right? They just have cutesy character designs, that's all. It's like saying Lucky Star or The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya are 'loli-pandering'.
 
I don't agree that the stated age covers things, especially in a country where this is used to laughable extremes. She's a flat chested midget with thin, immature features but no no, we insist she's 20! It's just a way to make the target audience feel better about themselves. It's perfectly possible for people to look younger than they are (I'm nearly 22 yet constantly get mistaken for being anywhere from 16 up), not to this extreme. It's funny that Lucky Star is mentioned, because there's at least one case in that show where Konata wonders if any guy interested in her would just be a pedophile with guilt issues.
 
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