Toon Zone Talkback - FUNimation Led Anime Market in 2006

[livingfruitvirus]

FUNimation held an industry panel on Sunday to show off their achievements of their past couple years, and some of their recent licenses. I managed to capture some of the slides they showed, and you might be interested to see some of this stuff.

First off, the market share. FUNimation is the #1 anime company in North America by retail market share. Almost 1/4 of the sales of anime on the continent belong to FUNimation. They attributed this heavily to the popularity of Fullmetal Alchemist, and some of their Gonzo releases like Samurai 7, Desert Punk, and Trinity Blood. Here's where the companies place, according to Nielsen Videoscan:

2004-
FUNimation - 22.4%
ADV Films - 20.5%
Geneon Entertainment - 12.5%
Viz Media - 7.3%
Bandai Entertainment - 7.1%
Buena Vista Home Entertainment - 5%
Media Blasters - 4.2%
Manga Entertainment - 4.1%
Central Park Media - 2.5%
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - 1.5%
Other companies - 13%2005-
FUNimation - 21.2%
ADV Films - 21.1%
Geneon Entertainment - 14.4%
Viz Media - 7.2%
Bandai Entertainment - 7.2%
Buena Vista Home Entertainment - 6.8%
Manga Entertainment - 5.4%
Media Blasters - 4.8%
Central Park Media - 4.5%
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - 1.8%
Other companies - 6.5%2006- (EDIT: Just realized I made a typo. Sony and Viz were switched.)

FUNimation - 23.2%
ADV Films - 12.6%
Geneon Entertainment - 11.1%
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - 9.3%
Viz Media - 9.2%
Buena Vista Home Entertainment - 9%
Bandai Entertainment - 7.6%
Manga Entertainment - 5.4%
Media Blasters - 5%
Central Park Media - 3%
Other companies - 3.2%Next, Afro Samurai's ratings on Spike TV.
Show had an average of 700,000 viewers per episode, exceeding Spike's expectations. They will replay the miniseries a few more times this year. They attributed a lot of the attention to the show's cast.
Scored a 1.1 in its timeslot in the target demographic of men 18-34.
In its timeslot with men 18-34, it was only bested by Comedy Central (1.3) and Adult Swim (1.2). It managed to beat popular networks like ESPN and The History Channel in its timeslot with the same demo.Then, Dragon Ball Z remastered DVDs.
Season 2 available 5/22/07 (35 episodes).
Points out that it's digitally remastered in high definition, and has a Japanese music track included with English dialogue.
Widescreen justification: "A ways to rejuvinate the brand with a young audience and introduce them to the greatest action adventure anime ever! There's a nine-year-old born every day."License recaps for Ragnarok, Aquarion, Mushi-shi, Suzuka, My Santa, and Shuffle!

Recap of shows now on iTunes - Samurai 7, Desert Punk, and Speed Grapher. FUNi's PR rep claimed that the Japanese are still scared of broadband delivery.

FUNimation Channel upcoming new shows - Shingu, Boogiepop Phantom, Ninja Nonsense, and Hare+Guu.

Some random questions answered:

- They are keeping their eye on the One Piece situation, as they were one of the companies to bid on it originally.
- Shin Chan returns to Adult Swim this year, and the show will be released in boxsets. See the AS forum for more on that.
- The representative discussed the procedure of adapting shows and dubbing, and how the fans will react to their decisions. 4Kids slam included.
- Their goal is to get five shows on (non-FUNi channel) TV this year. So far, three down.

[Classic Speedy]

Wow, 2006 was not kind to Bandai. But the other "main" four, FUNi, ADV, Geneon, and Viz, held the same spots for three years in a row, albeit with ADV and Geneon losing ground while Viz gains in 2006. That's kinda interesting.

[Karl Olson]

Damn, Funimation's been holding it down for a long time. The surprising thing is how little Viz really accounts for in Anime. All that Jump stuff still doesn't hold up to Funimation's quality work + the occasional smash hit.

The telling thing in the rest of the data is not the places, but the changes in percentages. Bandai's actually doing better in terms of market share in 2006 than in year past, but huge gains made by Sony and Disney makes it seem like they are worse off. The company that has been most damaged in the past year is ADV.

[Gokou Ruri]

What happened to ADV between 2005 and 2006? That's a pretty big drop.

[Classic Speedy]

What happened to ADV between 2005 and 2006? That's a pretty big drop. I guess some people just didn't like the shows they picked up. I know my ADV purchases in 2006 dropped a tad. It probably didn't help that they were releasing thinpaks left and right; I can imagine many consumers would rather just wait for the complete collection, leaving their initial single volume DVD sales slumping a bit.

Luckily, 2007 is already looking to be a better year for ADV than 2006 was.

[GWOtaku]

Yeah, that information was at Katsucon too. Kind of made me smile at the whole debate about who was on top from a few days ago. Viz, who was slightly winning that debate, has a third of Funi's market share. I'm not surprised, diversity trumps a handful of hit programs even if they are the likes of Naruto and Death Note.

[Beat]

I'm not surprised at FUNi's market share, or the ratings pwnage of the Afro Samurai. Good times.

[Maxie Zeus]

This is the talkback thread for FUNimation Led Anime Market in 2006 (http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=15320).

FUNimation seems to be popular around here, so I assume this will be greeted as good news.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

Good for Afro and dang... I would have thought Viz was 2nd or 3rd by now. Guess not though.

Nice to see they still give a darn about One Piece.

[Karl Olson]

I guess some people just didn't like the shows they picked up. I know my ADV purchases in 2006 dropped a tad. It probably didn't help that they were releasing thinpaks left and right; I can imagine many consumers would rather just wait for the complete collection, leaving their initial single volume DVD sales slumping a bit.

Luckily, 2007 is already looking to be a better year for ADV than 2006 was.

Well, in general, it seemed like the brought less to the table last year too. They went from just cranking titles out, to actually taking some time with them, in that shift, they lost some market share, especially since they really don't have the TV penetration of Funimation, so they can't take an other small title like Trinity Blood, and turn it into a massive success. However, ADV does have some very strong comedies on deck (namely Pani Poni and Daikon,) and typically ADV makes mad money off that stuff (see Excel Saga, Abenobashi.) The 10th Anniversary Eva box will help too, even if it is a specialty item, because it'll get people looking at ADV trailers again.

[firecrouch]

I'm curious, was their anyone at that panel that's reading this thread? If so, can you tell us what exactly happened? I'm curious to know how "One Piece" came up, and what they mean by "situation".

[Dark Fact]

Widescreen justification: "A ways to rejuvinate the brand with a young audience and introduce them to the greatest action adventure anime ever! There's a nine-year-old born every day."
Do they even know what the hell they're talking about? By that logic, you should put all Shonen Jump fullscreen anime into widescreen.

I'm still baffled into how Geneon could stay in third place for the third straight year in a row considering that they pick up more A list titles than any other company!

[AstroNerdBoy]

They don't mention who #2 is. Anime News Service had a bigger piece on this, which appeared to be a quote from some source, but I can't find it on Navarre's site and FUNimation's blurb only has a small piece. I'll be quoting from ANS (which thankfully appears to have abandoned their newsletter idea).

"We knew when we started this company that our commitment to quality over quantity would put us into the leadership position in the United States," said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO of FUNimation Entertainment. "We have achieved this honored position through the hard work of all the employees of FUNimation and with the help of all of our great business partners in Japan."

I'm a fan of FUNimation because of their subtitles, which I find some of the best in the business. FUNi caters their subtitles to the more "hardcore" fans and do them more like fansubs. The only thing that FUNi could do to improve things on the subtitles is have translator notes as an extra of some sort.

FUNi knows there are two types of anime fans though and so they do their dubs for the dub fans. I don't watch dubs, but I do know that some of the dubs have taken some liberties based on questions I get concerning GXP and TM!R OAV 3 from fans who only watch dubs. Personally, I wish that FUNimation would take as few liberties as possible when it comes to dubs, but most dub fans apparently haven't noticed (unlike a certain dub director who works for ADV who's changes are noticed).

FUNimation compiled data from Nielsen VideoScan reports for 2001 through 2006. The analysis showed that FUNimation has been the market share leader since 2001 and has continued to outdistance its competitors with a solid catalog of titles. "This has been one of our biggest years and we plan to keep growing our market share in the years to come," continues Fukunaga.

Well, I think we've all noticed how FUNimation has been scoring big on the licensing chart, bigger than the other guys. That doesn't mean that ADV, Bandai, or Geneon haven't had big licenses, but FUNimation seemed to get more.

For 2007, FUNimation plans to continue its number one market share presence with releases from such titles as Afro Samurai, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, Witchblade, School Rumble, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles and new releases from franchise titles such as Dragon Ball Z and Fullmetal Alchemist.

I know the controversy over the re-release of DBZ cost them some sales, but I wonder if the lost sales were enough to make a difference. Afro Samurai seemed to be a hit on SpikeTV (certainly, it helped spread the brand name among those who are non-anime fans). I suspect DVD sales will be pretty good. And I expect School Rumble to do good as well (I know I can't wait to start adding that to my DVD collection).

If they play their cards right, the re-release of Slayers will help. I think this would be added if FUNimation were to license the new Slayers movie that's being included with the re-release of the series in Japan.

[Zach Logan]

Good news, they've been doing a good job with selling DVDs. Hey, even I bought FMA: The Conquerer of Shamballa SE, and it was a cool box set. Their revenue is only going to go up from here with iTunes on the list.

[Nobuyuki sama]

I know the controversy over the re-release of DBZ cost them some sales, but I wonder if the lost sales were enough to make a difference.
Honestly, I think the difference will be made up by all the "Joe Wal-Mart"'s who'll see the set and plunk down $30 without blinking because it's DBZ. :shrug:

And it is $30 at Wal-Mart.

[calimike]

#2 could be ADV Films or Viz Media or Geneon. I pick Viz Media due to sale of Naruto, Bleach, Ranma 1/2 Season 1 (Re-Released 2007) and cooler DVD.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

#2 could be ADV Films or Viz Media or Geneon. I pick Viz Media due to sale of Naruto, Bleach, Ranma 1/2 Season 1 (Re-Released 2007) and cooler DVD.

2 was ADV, 3 was Geneon, 4 was Viz.

This was all mentioned in the thread (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=184357)we already had on this.

[HG Revolution]

I assume Fullmetal Alchemist played a big part in the company's huge sales last year.

As for 2007, however, I'm a bit concerned. Afro Samurai does have some mainstream recognition due to Samuel L. Jackson and as such should sell well, but that's just one volume. Shin-Chan is their next A-list series and they still don't seem to know exactly what to do with it. Beck is great, but I don't see it going beyond Furuba-level cult status without a decent TV deal. And frankly, DBZ can't last forever. Their slate of licenses currently seems to be mostly short obscure Gonzo stuff which I frankly have no interest in and I don't see them being huge hits either. FUNimation will survive by sheer quantity of product, but they should focus on getting something bigger of high quality if they want to stay the biggest player.

[livingfruitvirus]

I'm curious, was their anyone at that panel that's reading this thread? If so, can you tell us what exactly happened? I'm curious to know how "One Piece" came up, and what they mean by "situation".

Someone just asked them if they would buy One Piece.

[Weatherman]

ADV didn't have much of anything to release last year. I think their vocal tallent worked more with Funimation than they did with ADV. PPD is one of the only things that really comes to mind. I'm suprised that Buena Vista doesn't get even more of the market share. Jus tabotu everyone wants the Ghibli stuff.

[AstroNerdBoy]

2 was ADV, 3 was Geneon, 4 was Viz.

This was all mentioned in the thread (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=184357)we already had on this.

*lol* Yeah, I suppose these threads should be merged. They were posted roughly an hour apart though.

[AstroNerdBoy]

What happened to ADV between 2005 and 2006? That's a pretty big drop.

I remember the talk last year was about how ADV had over-extended themselves. The Anime Network I don't think has panned out for them like they'd hoped. They licensed a ton of titles, but there were many they sat on for ages. And as others have implied, they licensed a lot of stuff that folks weren't really interested in as much.

On a related note, is their manga division still struggling? I don't collect any ADV manga these days so I don't know if there are titles that got suspended, cut, etc.


Yeah, that information was at Katsucon too. Kind of made me smile at the whole debate about who was on top from a few days ago. Viz, who was slightly winning that debate, has a third of Funi's market share. I'm not surprised, diversity trumps a handful of hit programs even if they are the likes of Naruto and Death Note.

You know, if Viz made their subtitles to cater to a more "hard core" audience as FUNimation has done, I think their market share would be somewhat higher. I know some "hardcore" fans who love Inuyasha and Naruto but won't buy them because of the subtitle quality. So they buy other stuff (one guy I know bought Yu Yu Hakusho after borrowing my DVD's even though he liked Inuyasha better).


The 10th Anniversary Eva box will help too, even if it is a specialty item, because it'll get people looking at ADV trailers again.

Forgive my ignorance, but how will getting people buy (for the umpteenth time) another Eva set going to get folks to look a trailers? Frankly, who's going to buy that set yet again beyond those super hardcore fans and those who never owned the other releases? I'm not.

And maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't watch trailers, period. That's why it it mildly irritating that FUNimation forces them on folks (which granted they can be bypassed if you hit one of the menu buttons, but it is irritating to have to do that).

Regarding the DBZ re-release...


Do they even know what the hell they're talking about? By that logic, you should put all Shonen Jump fullscreen anime into widescreen.

If people just go out and buy the title, especially those who've never seen it before, and FUNimation makes money off of it, well...:sweat:

I'm not a DBZ fan, but I can certainly understand why fans would be upset by this. If I were FUNimation, I would have released two versions to maximize sales. I'm really surprised they didn't do this but sales of the first season may end up proving FUNimation right (after taking into account the certain percentage of hardcore fans they knew would be ticked and wouldn't buy).


I'm still baffled into how Geneon could stay in third place for the third straight year in a row considering that they pick up more A list titles than any other company!

Geneon hasn't licensed anything I've been interested in for some time. The last thing I bought from them was Bottle Fairy.


I'm suprised that Buena Vista doesn't get even more of the market share. Jus tabotu everyone wants the Ghibli stuff.

After buying Nausicaa and Kiki's Delivery Service, I found the subtitles to be just awful, so I've not bought another thing from them. There may be others like me in that regard.

As to One Piece, should FUNimation score this, not only will fans of all types rejoice, but FUNi will have another big shounen title to air on the FUNimation Channel.

[RomanMack]

Yeah, but such a big shounen title shouldn't be regulated to airing only on their channel...

[KuwabaraTheMan]

It won't.

First of all, Funi wouldn't air it on their channel when they could get a huge sum of money and much more exposure by putting it on CN.

Additionally, I'm sure Toei would require they air it somewhere it would get in a lot of households.

As far as Viz, their market share has steadily increased. Remember, Naruto didn't start coming out on Uncut DVDs until last summer, so 2007 is really the year to watch. And remember, this is only video sales. With manga factored in, Viz would be much higher than they are.

[Duke]

On a related note, is their manga division still struggling? I don't collect any ADV manga these days so I don't know if there are titles that got suspended, cut, etc.
The only manga I get from them is Yotsuba, and Volume 4 still isn't on store shelves.


You know, if Viz made their subtitles to cater to a more "hard core" audience as FUNimation has done, I think their market share would be somewhat higher. I know some "hardcore" fans who love Inuyasha and Naruto but won't buy them because of the subtitle quality. So they buy other stuff (one guy I know bought Yu Yu Hakusho after borrowing my DVD's even though he liked Inuyasha better).
Eh, I dunno if it would increase sales all that much. I remember an industry rep stating a few months ago that the overwhelming majority of anime consumers watch either the dub only, or the Japanese version extremely rarely.


And maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't watch trailers, period. That's why it it mildly irritating that FUNimation forces them on folks (which granted they can be bypassed if you hit one of the menu buttons, but it is irritating to have to do that).
I personally like to watch all the trailers at least once. Sometimes they've even gotten me to buy series I had no interest in whatsoever (Arcade Gamer Fubuki for one).

[calimike]

FUNimation has acquited hottest anime series, mostly come from GONZO. I know GONZO is best animation company, secondly to Kyoto Animation. JC Staff, Production I.G. and Milky (Hentai). I like Milky because of best hentai graphic, it was better than live-action porn. Milk Junkie, Immortality, The Hills have size (MUSE) are my favorite:D

[Soul]

I also hear they're keeping a eye on the One Piece Situation

[Dogasu]

Exactly. If FUNimation can manage to get the rights to One Piece, then BAM - instant money.

[AstroNerdBoy]

First of all, Funi wouldn't air it (One Piece) on their channel when they could get a huge sum of money and much more exposure by putting it on CN.

I didn't say it would make an initial run on a channel like CN, but lets face it, FUNimation wouldn't have their own channel if they didn't think they could ultimately make MORE money and get MORE exposure for their titles (once they can get the channel on more cable carriers and hopefully DirecTV). ;)


Additionally, I'm sure Toei would require they air it somewhere it would get in a lot of households.

I'm not sure why they would do that. After all, FUNimation has to secure the rights to air the show on TV when they secure the rights to dub, subtitle, and distribute the show on DVD. And with FUNimation having their own channel, having Toei impose such a requirement would preclude them from airing the title on their own channel and there's no doubt in my mind that FUNimation is keen on scoring anime licenses to improve their channel's lineup. Heck, such a requirement would seem to force FUNimation to try to get the show on a broadcast network because after all, broadcast channels get into the most households.


As far as Viz, their market share has steadily increased. Remember, Naruto didn't start coming out on Uncut DVDs until last summer, so 2007 is really the year to watch. And remember, this is only video sales. With manga factored in, Viz would be much higher than they are.

There's a reason that manga wasn't factored in -- FUNimation doesn't sell manga. So why add oranges when you are counting apples? ;)

Regarding changing the subtitles to cater to a more hardcore market...


Eh, I dunno if it would increase sales all that much. I remember an industry rep stating a few months ago that the overwhelming majority of anime consumers watch either the dub only, or the Japanese version extremely rarely..

The numbers I've heard over and over are roughly 80% dub and 20% sub, but I have never been able to verify this from an independent source. The numbers feel right to me, but that doesn't mean anything. Anyway, that is an overwhelming majority to be sure, but assuming these numbers are right,that's still a decent percentage of folks who watch subs. Why not do what FUNimation has done and toss those fans a bone, build your reputation more, and make more inroads on market share? And if the numbers of people who want the Japanese audio with subtitles were so insignificant, why have them at all?

In my mind, if you are going to have the Japanese audio with subtitles (and lets face it, there would be an outcry if anime were sold without them), then why not take the tiny extra step and make them to appease the hardcore fans?

At the moment, when it comes to my anime budget, FUNimation titles get priority over anyone else. A real gem of a title like Planetes will get me to purchase a non-FUNi title, but otherwise, FUNi gets my anime budget because they cater to me (for the most part).

Anyway, its just my opinion and clearly the other companies don't see FUNimation's two-market strategy as one they need to follow despite the fact that they trail FUNimation.

[Freedom Fighter]

What did Sony release in 2006 anyway? Hopefully someone can explain quintupling their share in a year.

Also, Naruto did help give Viz a jump, but what else in their line is really selling at a similar level? And I'm also surprised to see them behind ADV and Geneon. Guess the Shonen Jump titles as a whole aren't selling out across the board.

[Duke]

The numbers I've heard over and over are roughly 80% dub and 20% sub, but I have never been able to verify this from an independent source. The numbers feel right to me, but that doesn't mean anything. Anyway, that is an overwhelming majority to be sure, but assuming these numbers are right,that's still a decent percentage of folks who watch subs. Why not do what FUNimation has done and toss those fans a bone, build your reputation more, and make more inroads on market share? And if the numbers of people who want the Japanese audio with subtitles were so insignificant, why have them at all?
Yea, but how much of that 20% are like you, people who care deeply about the translation and want it as perfect as possible, and how many are "Japan rocks! America sucks! The first translation I see is always the right one, regardless of facts!" type of people?

[Dark Fact]

If people just go out and buy the title, especially those who've never seen it before, and FUNimation makes money off of it, well...
Yeah, for the people who never seen it before, what they don't know won't hurt them...unlike those who bought the previous DVD releases and/or watched the show on Cartoon Network. I sure would love to see the sales figures from this gimmick.

Geneon hasn't licensed anything I've been interested in for some time. The last thing I bought from them was Bottle Fairy.
Not for you but there are plenty of titles that appeal to others. Geneon also distributes titles that come from different studios such as Madhouse and Kyoto. There is variety here from different studios while FUNimation gets all their stuff from Gonzo. ADV's position makes sense as they also get their stuff from a variety of studios as well.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I didn't say it would make an initial run on a channel like CN, but lets face it, FUNimation wouldn't have their own channel if they didn't think they could ultimately make MORE money and get MORE exposure for their titles (once they can get the channel on more cable carriers and hopefully DirecTV). ;)
True, but we're looking far into the future now. I have no doubt Funi will try to get it on CN at first.

The Funimation channel is probably about 3 years away from being significant enough for a major show like One Piece to actually premiere there and it not be a boneheaded decision.


I'm not sure why they would do that. After all, FUNimation has to secure the rights to air the show on TV when they secure the rights to dub, subtitle, and distribute the show on DVD. And with FUNimation having their own channel, having Toei impose such a requirement would preclude them from airing the title on their own channel and there's no doubt in my mind that FUNimation is keen on scoring anime licenses to improve their channel's lineup. Heck, such a requirement would seem to force FUNimation to try to get the show on a broadcast network because after all, broadcast channels get into the most households.
Toei is known for being very heavy handed, and we know they've repeatedly asked Viz why One Piece isn't bigger than Naruto in the US. I'm sure they'd make some provisions to make sure it aired on a big outlet.

Now I'm not saying they'll keep Funi from airing it on their channel eventually. Just that it won't be for a few years.

And remember Toei and CN have a pretty good relationship via Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. Toei would probably want to strengthen that relationship.


There's a reason that manga wasn't factored in -- FUNimation doesn't sell manga. So why add oranges when you are counting apples? ;)
These numbers don't come from Funi, they come from Nielsen.

My point is that while Viz may be 4th in Anime sales, they're an overall juggernaut with all their manga sales. Just want to remind people of that.

[Dark Fact]

And remember Toei and CN have a pretty good relationship via Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. Toei would probably want to strengthen that relationship.

Which means that Toei could finally work on finishing the Bo~BoBo series since the show ended on such a cliffhanger in japan.

On a related note, is their manga division still struggling? I don't collect any ADV manga these days so I don't know if there are titles that got suspended, cut, etc.
I've heard the manga division is practically dead in the water. This not only annoys me, it flat out upsets me because they [ADV] have the license to Eidolon Shadow, a manga by none other than Satoshi Urushihara! :mad:

[Duke]

What did Sony release in 2006 anyway? Hopefully someone can explain quintupling their share in a year.
I believe Steamboy.


Also, Naruto did help give Viz a jump, but what else in their line is really selling at a similar level? And I'm also surprised to see them behind ADV and Geneon. Guess the Shonen Jump titles as a whole aren't selling out across the board.
The only SJ titles, I believe, in 2006 were Naruto, Hikaru no Go, and One Piece. I don't know Viz's entire catalog, but I believe their major non-SJ titles are MegaMan NT Warrior, Pokémon, InuYasha, and Zatch Bell.

However, their manga line more than makes up for their DVD shortcomings. Hell, they can even afford to put their manga into hardcover.

[livingfruitvirus]

What did Sony release in 2006 anyway? Hopefully someone can explain quintupling their share in a year.

Little thing called Advent Children maybe?

[Karl Olson]

I believe Steamboy.

And that definitely moved discs.

Edit: As did Advent Children. Talk about a well-recieved title.


The only SJ titles, I believe, in 2006 were Naruto, Hikaru no Go, and One Piece. I don't know Viz's entire catalog, but I believe their major non-SJ titles are MegaMan NT Warrior, Pokémon, InuYasha, and Zatch Bell.

Sounds about right, though IIRC they had Saikano OVA that year too, which probably did alright.


However, their manga line more than makes up for their DVD shortcomings. Hell, they can even afford to put their manga into hardcover.

T-Pop's done that too though (Clamp's Shirahime-Syo, and first volume or two of Dolls,) and Barnes & Noble sub-licenced Trigun & Hellsing v.1 from Dark Horse for hardcovers a while back. Hardcover isn't that big a deal.

The bigger thing is that by sales, Viz, manages to pull a Funimation - a very diversified line that all sells pretty solidly, with a few major hits that really reach a wide swath of the fandom. In fact, in terms of packaging and handling, Viz has made missteps where the competitors haven't (or atleast their competitors have corrected,) so while they've done well, they've left a gap where other people can and have stormed in with less known, but better handled titles (see: Del-Rey, Dark Horse, and when they aren't screwing up Tokyopop.)

[Freedom Fighter]

I believe Steamboy.

Little thing called Advent Children maybe?Ah, now it makes sense. So basically, 2006 was a good anomaly for Sony. They'll probably fade back to their 2 percent share this year.

(And for the record, I bought neither.)

[Karl Olson]

Ah, now it makes sense. So basically, 2006 was a good anomaly for Sony. They'll probably fade back to their 2 percent share this year.

(And for the record, I bought neither.)

I'd say whether Sony remains a player hinges on their handling of Blood+. Done well, and they'll at least keep in at about a 5-7 percent level. Botched, and they're down to 2 percent again. Joke is, they could have been doing more in the years prior had they handled Cyborg 009 and Astro Boy better.

[AstroNerdBoy]

Yea, but how much of that 20% are like you, people who care deeply about the translation and want it as perfect as possible, and how many are "Japan rocks! America sucks! The first translation I see is always the right one, regardless of facts!" type of people?

Actually, there's a third group to factor in as well -- the group that wants the Japanese audio with subs, but to have the subs along the lines as the dub to remove the Japanese experience. I don't have numbers for any of those groups, but if I had to guess, I'd say my group is first, the other group I mention is 2nd, and the group you also mention is 3rd.

I'll admit that early on, that I was one of those people who thought that the translation I saw first had to be right. But my experience with Hand Maid May on DVD opened my eyes to certain things regarding initial translations that folks might see before the DVD comes out. :sweat: I learned that some early translations weren't that good (whether they used honorifics or not) and I also learned that some official translation subtitles weren't always that good. For example, should FUNimation ever officially announce a license for xxxHOLiC, I highly doubt that Mato or whomever will translate "kuro manju" (black meat bun) to "dust bunny" when referring to Mokona. :sweat:

So yeah, there are a lot of folks who fall into that "first translation I see is the best no matter what," but I believe that a significant percentage of them do come around after a while. Of course, there are some who will never change (which amazes me, but that's how it is). But that's why I wish FUNimation would add translator notes to educate the masses. :)

Regarding DMZ...


Yeah, for the people who never seen it before, what they don't know won't hurt them...unlike those who bought the previous DVD releases and/or watched the show on Cartoon Network. I sure would love to see the sales figures from this gimmick.

I'd like to see the sales figures as well. As much as I am a pro-FUNimation person, unless Toei forced the widescreen release on them because they felt American audiences would iku over that kind of release, the widescreen strategy puzzles me since FUNimation has been a more fan-friendly company. I still think they should have done a dual release and had the best of both worlds. I suspect the 4:3 would easily have outsold a widescreen version but I guess we'll never know.

Regarding Geneon licenses...


Not for you but there are plenty of titles that appeal to others. Geneon also distributes titles that come from different studios such as Madhouse and Kyoto. There is variety here from different studios while FUNimation gets all their stuff from Gonzo. ADV's position makes sense as they also get their stuff from a variety of studios as well.

First, FUNimation isn't a Gonzo-only company. Indeed, the biggest license for FUNimation last year (at least for me) was the two School Rumble TV series and the OAVs. That was not a Gonzo title but a Media Factory (Studio Comet for the animation) title. Tsubasa Chronicles is a Bee Train production. TM!R OAV 3, Suzuka, xxxHOLiC: The Movie, Mushishi, and on and on are all non-Gonzo titles. So to say FUNimation gets all their stuff from Gonzo is a complete non-starter. Thanks for playing though. :p

FUNimation is pretty well rounded as I look over their licenses. They may have a deal with Gonzo to get said titles at a discount (and if true, more power to them), but FUNimation hasn't restricted their licenses to one or two companies.


Toei is known for being very heavy handed, and we know they've repeatedly asked Viz why One Piece isn't bigger than Naruto in the US. I'm sure they'd make some provisions to make sure it aired on a big outlet.

Yeah, I know Toei is pretty heavy handed, which is why I sometimes believe they forced the DBZ widescreen thing on FUNimation. And you may be right that Toei would force something on FUNimation should they license it. Indeed, maybe that was the reason FUNimation couldn't score the license to begin with (just SHEER speculation here) -- 4Kids could do just what you stated and get the bigger potential audience with 4Kids TV. However, now that 4Kids has clearly failed, maybe FUNimation could come in and show that their two-market strategy would win with the show airing on Adult Swim (because we can't show people smoking somewhere else) and unedited DVD's with Japanese and English audio tracks.

I've never seen One Piece, but should FUNimation get the license, I would certainly check it out based on all the talk I've seen about the series.


My point is that while Viz may be 4th in Anime sales, they're an overall juggernaut with all their manga sales. Just want to remind people of that.

Well, having a manga line AND the Shounen Jump publication doesn't hurt. Were FUNimation and say Del Rey had a partnership for manga and anime stuff, I suspect that the combined company would be right up there with Viz.

To be fair, I am biased against Viz because of how they treated the Maison Ikkoku manga. And their translations of the manga Inuyasha made me cringe so that I ended up selling all of them.


The bigger thing is that by sales, Viz, manages to pull a Funimation - a very diversified line that all sells pretty solidly, with a few major hits that really reach a wide swath of the fandom. In fact, in terms of packaging and handling, Viz has made missteps where the competitors haven't (or atleast their competitors have corrected,) so while they've done well, they've left a gap where other people can and have stormed in with less known, but better handled titles (see: Del-Rey, Dark Horse, and when they aren't screwing up Tokyopop.)

Dark Horse is on the fence since they've had such a struggle getting Oh My Goddess out last year. I know I've been purchasing the re-release of the early volumes of the manga (because they are unflipped, retranslated to remove most of the domestication and they even throw in an honorific or two here or there, color pages included, and excellent notes at the end of the manga to explain cultural items as well as changes between the original release and the re-release) but apparently they've had big problems with the Colors book which made them keep delaying and delaying the releases of the re-released volumes as well as the new volumes. However, it looks like they may get back on track this year. IMO, they need to adopt TP's strategy with Fruits Basket where they accelerated the release of the manga for a while which (IMO) increased sales of the title to the point to where it now scores high on USA Today's book sales list.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Yeah, I know Toei is pretty heavy handed, which is why I sometimes believe they forced the DBZ widescreen thing on FUNimation. And you may be right that Toei would force something on FUNimation should they license it. Indeed, maybe that was the reason FUNimation couldn't score the license to begin with (just SHEER speculation here) -- 4Kids could do just what you stated and get the bigger potential audience with 4Kids TV. However, now that 4Kids has clearly failed, maybe FUNimation could come in and show that their two-market strategy would win with the show airing on Adult Swim (because we can't show people smoking somewhere else) and unedited DVD's with Japanese and English audio tracks.

I can say with great certainty that One Piece would never air on AS.

And what do you mean they can't show people smoking elsewhere? Naruto and Prince of Tennis both have smoking on Toonami.

Anyways, while a big mistake was made with Bleach, Toonami has already been the exclusive US home of One Piece for about a year and a half now, the people who run Toonami love One Piece, and if Toei has anything to say, it won't be anywhere near Adult Swim.

[Duke]

And what do you mean they can't show people smoking elsewhere? Naruto and Prince of Tennis both have smoking on Toonami.
Not to mention Smoker smokes cigars which, thanks to Looney Tunes and the like, are MUCH easier to get past censors than cigarettes.

[RomanMack]

Of course, they still do edit them being lit. Which means alot of Sanji's "blowing smoke in, blowing out" scenes will proboally be altered.

But... That's okay.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Of course, they still do edit them being lit. Which means alot of Sanji's "blowing smoke in, blowing out" scenes will proboally be altered.

But... That's okay.

Not on Prince of Tennis they don't...

[Duke]

Yea, they'll probably just edit out the smoke from Sanji's cigarette and call it a day.

[RomanMack]

Oh, yeah. True.

I wonder why they do it for Naruto, then...

[Space Cadet]

I'd say whether Sony remains a player hinges on their handling of Blood+. Done well, and they'll at least keep in at about a 5-7 percent level. Botched, and they're down to 2 percent again. Joke is, they could have been doing more in the years prior had they handled Cyborg 009 and Astro Boy better.


Well, yeah but, remember, Sony doesn't focus exclusively on anime distribution. If I remember correctly, Sony does some other stuff.:sweat:

[Karl Olson]

Well, yeah but, remember, Sony doesn't focus exclusively on anime distribution. If I remember correctly, Sony does some other stuff.:sweat:

Yeah, I know they're a conglomerate, but my point is that if they are going to play around in the market, they might as well do it right. If a massive publisher like Del-Rey can do better manga releases than virtually every other manga publisher out there, Sony ought to be able to pull the same trick in relation to anime: use the size of the company to really up the ante for the release quality and general consistency of the line.

[Hanshotfirst113]

I see having Toriyama-san's franchise is still a boon. FUNi didn't even pick up anything big this year did they? You'd think Viz, with Naruto? They again, at the rate they're releasing the uncut volumes...What was the big high profile Japanime title this year? Was there anything in particular?

[Karl Olson]

I see having Toriyama-san's franchise is still a boon. FUNi didn't even pick up anything big this year did they? You'd think Viz, with Naruto? They again, at the rate they're releasing the uncut volumes...What was the big high profile Japanime title this year? Was there anything in particular?

Well, Funi continued to make money hand over fist with FMA, and apparently Trinity Blood has blown the doors off of virtually everyone's expectations, as it's actually been selling out it's Limited Edition versions. Samurai 7 was also very kind to Funi, and everything else in their line up has still been beating expectations, so really, between a few fairly sizable titles and a good line up of secondary titles, they creamed Viz.

Viz has Naruto and Inuyasha in terms of big sales getters for 2006. Maybe Bleach and Hikaru no Go a little too, though I think a lot of people are waiting for the inevitable boxsets with bonus goodies (I know I am.) Add to that a lack of secondary titles, and Viz just wasn't in any position to move up the ranks, even with ADV faltering some what. It'll be even more difficult this year, because even with Naruto and Bleach in full effect with a Death Note kicker, because Funimation's certainly continuing to push forward, managing to get more titles on more networks than anyone would have expected and scoring distro-rights to what will probably be one of the biggest sellers of the year, Afro-Samurai. Add to that ADV's comedy barrage (which includes Keroro Gunso,) and their 10th Anniversary Limited Edition (and super expensive) Evangelion Boxset, and Viz may be not even have a shot at second. They'll certain be stuck if they Funi gets One Piece over them (which is plausible.)

[Duke]

Maybe Bleach and Hikaru no Go a little too, though I think a lot of people are waiting for the inevitable boxsets with bonus goodies (I know I am.)
I thought the Bleach singles didn't come out until this year?

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I thought the Bleach singles didn't come out until this year?

I think the first came out in December.

Still, it wouldn't have helped them in 2006.

[Karl Olson]

I think the first came out in December.

Still, it wouldn't have helped them in 2006.

If it had been a box, I think it would have had more effect. A lot of Bleach fans are also Inuyasha fans, or they're at least aware of what happened to Inuyasha in DVD, and are thus probably banking on that Viz boxsetting Bleach with bonus goodness sooner rather than later. Singles don't do much for a bottom line in general, but singles that you know are going to be super-ceded by a superior boxset? That's going to kill sales.

[Weatherman]

I see having Toriyama-san's franchise is still a boon. FUNi didn't even pick up anything big this year did they? You'd think Viz, with Naruto? They again, at the rate they're releasing the uncut volumes...What was the big high profile Japanime title this year? Was there anything in particular?


It doesn't come out until this year, but they did pick up a little show called BECK.;)

It probably won't be as big as FMA has been, but it should sell fairly well all in all once it gets out into broadcast.