UK Anime Distributor Funimation UK Discussion Thread (Pre-Manga Merger)

I did enjoy Gosick overall when I watched it, I wasn't entirely keen on some of the story but the main characters and some of the supporting cast make up for that quite a bit. The way the show is executed probably helps to make it easier to ignore things that could otherwise be significant weaknesses, although I think it's also the kind of show that might be a bit different depending on which aspects you focus on.

I'd probably be tempted by a Blu-ray release, probably worth it to see Grevil's hair in HD.
 
Heard nothing but good things about Gosick, but wasn't able to watch it before it was removed from Crunchyroll, so I'd like to pick it up.
 
I don't believe they have UK rights to either Kaleidostar or Kodocha, so those are out for a start. They definitely have Holic since it was their first release with Manga IIRC and is still available to watch on their site, likewise School Rumble since Revelation started distributing it and it is also available to stream, however revelation also distributed Tsubasa back in the day it's not streaming any more (other than the OVAs) so the rights may have expired.
 
Is there any update on Overlord and what will be included (eg will it be a Funimation copy?) also Amazon need to update their listing.

is Dimension W also getting a CE or standard version?
 
crashmatt said:
Is there any update on Overlord and what will be included (eg will it be a Funimation copy?) also Amazon need to update their listing.
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Based on the fact Andrew told me that issue with the Funimation Overlord box not storing artcards would be fixed for our release. I imagine we're getting the same thing as US but with the aforementioned fix.
 
With no art work yet for Shimoneta (due March 27th) thought I'd check Amazon.

DVD is still listed for March 27th but the Blu ray has changed to April 24th... confirmation Andrew or Jeremy or just Amazon playing it safe?


Edit: also guessing Snow White and Daimidaler are a nope for March 20th?
 
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Funimation UK time.

Released:

-- Television Shows --
Absolute Duo - Standard Combo [Sub/Dub]
Assassination Classroom [Season 1] - CE Blu-ray (part 1), Standard Blu-ray (part 2) & DVD (2 parts) [Sub/Dub]
Brother's Conflict - Standard Blu-ray [Sub/Dub]
Fairy Tail - Standard DVD (parts 10-12) [Sub/Dub]
Mikagura School Suite - Standard Combo [Sub/Dub]
No-Rin - Standard Blu-ray [Sub/Dub]
Rage of Bahamut: Genesis - CE Blu-ray, Standard DVD [Sub/Dub]
Yona of the Dawn - Standard Combo (2 parts) [Sub/Dub]
Yuri Kuma Arashi - Standard Combo [Sub/Dub]

Available for Pre-order:

-- Television Shows --
Assassination Classroom [Season 2] - CE Blu-ray*, Standard DVD [Sub/Dub]
Attack on Titan: Junior High - CE Blu-ray, Standard DVD [Sub/Dub]
Barakamon - Standard Combo [Sub/Dub]
BlazBlue: Alter Memory - Standard Blu-ray [Sub/Dub]
Daimidaler: Prince vs Penguin Empire - Standard Blu-ray [Sub/Dub]
Fairy Tail - Standard DVD (parts 13-16) [Sub/Dub]
Heavy Object - Standard Blu-ray (2 parts) [Sub/Dub]
Ninja Slayer From Animation - Standard Combo [Sub/Dub]
Noragami Aragoto - CE Blu-ray, Standard DVD [Sub/Dub]
Overlord - CE Blu-ray [Sub/Dub]
Prison School - CE Blu-ray [Sub/Dub]
Shimoneta - Standard Blu-ray & DVD [Sub/Dub]
Shomin Sample - Standard Blu-ray [Sub/Dub]
Snow White with the Red Hair - Standard Blu-ray (2 parts) [Sub/Dub]

*Funimation have not listed a CE in the US, so this may just get released as a standard set.

Licensed:

-- Television Shows --
Concrete Revolutio - Licensed by Funimation in NA [??????]
Dagashi Kashi - Licensed by Funimation in NA [Sub/Dub]
Tenchi Muyo! GXP - Licensed by Funimation in NA [Sub/Dub]

Anime Limited titles that may be released under Funimation UK's label:

-- Television Shows --
Chaos Dragon
Dimension W
The Rolling Girls
 
Any chance we can get an update of what Funimation titles are coming over here. It's getting to the point where im considering importing a few Like Gosick and Scrapped princess as nothing has been mentioned about a UK release. I'm not even bothered when they are released I just need to know that they are. I presume some of the Spring line up will be coming over here.
 
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crashmatt said:
Any chance we can get an update of what Funimation titles are coming over here. It's getting to the point where im considering importing a few Like Gosick and Scrapped princess as nothing has been mentioned about a UK release. I'm not even bothered when they are release I just need to know that they are. I presume some of the Spring line up will be coming over here.
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I'm super interested in this too, really want to know whether Maria the Virgin Witch will see a release in the future.
 
Funimation UK really should start releasing old shows here.
Besides from AssClass and Snow White with the Red Hair I am not interest with they releases ATM.
I hope they will being shows like Baka and Test, Tusbasa Chronicles, Kanon 2006, Mushishi and a few others in the future.
 
If we are talking older funi shows I'd love a nice Heroic Age set. No one seems to mention that one :(. Never had a region B release on BD as far as I'm aware...
 
Tenchi Muyo GXP will be FuniUK's first 'old' release won't it, hopefully it'll lead to more of their older shows getting a release here if AL don't deem it worthy of a CE, saying that i'd definitely buy a Baka and Test CE.
 
bailey1985 said:
Just noticed that Shimoneta has been rated 18 and its uncut. bbfc
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I really wish things could be sold here without mandatory ratings. I know there hasn't been much anime censored by them in recent years, but it's still annoying. It unfairly discriminates against smaller companies too, since the fees they charge are mere pennies to a big distributer, but pretty damaging to a tiny one. On their podcasts, the guys at Anime Ltd have also stated that the BBFC are the reason a second series set for Prisma Ilya can't come over, because the BBFC would refuse it classification unless it's cut. I'm not a fan of that series so it doesn't effect me, but I know quite a few people are.

The home release rating system is also deeply archaic when you consider that streaming services don't have to jump through these hoops at all, and the BBFC doesn't bother them. God help us if they decided to make everything on Crunchyroll and similar services adhere to a mandatory BBFC rating if they want to market themselves in the UK. They'd probably just cease operations in the country. Considering that they are now supposedly making online pornography adhere to mandatory ratings if it wants to be shown in the UK, it probably wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine them branching out to all streaming services in general.
 
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Lord Bacchus said:
I really wish things could be sold here without mandatory ratings. I know there hasn't been much anime censored by them in recent years, but it's still annoying. It unfairly discriminates against smaller companies too, since the fees they charge are mere pennies to a big distributer, but pretty damaging to a tiny one. On their podcasts, the guys at Anime Ltd have also stated that the BBFC are the reason a second series set for Prisma Ilya can't come over, because the BBFC would refuse it classification unless it's cut. I'm not a fan of that series so it doesn't effect me, but I know quite a few people are.

The home release rating system is also deeply archaic when you consider that streaming services don't have to jump through these hoops at all, and the BBFC doesn't bother them. God help us if they decided to make everything on Crunchyroll and similar services adhere to a mandatory BBFC rating if they want to market themselves in the UK. They'd probably just cease operations in the country. Considering that they are now supposedly making online pornography adhere to mandatory ratings if it wants to be shown in the UK, it probably wouldn't be much of a stretch to imagine them branching out to all streaming services in general.
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The difficulty is, what happens when it's not something (mostly) harmless like Fate/Kalied Liner Prisma Ilya 2wei, it's A Serbian Film or some snuff movie? The BBFC's current existence is mostly as the easiest and most efficient way for the government to enforce the Obscene Publications Act and provide a helpful guide to parents.

And that later one is probably more important than you'd think, the visual styling of anime often makes it look more childish than it actually is. The marketing for Assassination Classroom does not exactly indicate that the show would include an implied sexual assault and some sex and drug references. Nor does Yowamushi Pedal's marketing suggest it includes a scene of substance abuse (played for comedy). Both, for my money, look rather like Cartoon Network shows. Just because we are all adults, capable of making our own informed decisions, doesn't mean everyone is and the BBFC's relatively dependable guidelines and classifications provide a good guide for helping parents who might not be able to make such decisions. (I won't defend their "potential to harm" cuts though, those are ********.)

Whilst true, your comment about streaming services ignores an important fact. Both Amazon and Netflix already submit their original content to the BBFC voluntarily, and where possible use BBFC ratings within their streaming services. (Though Amazon doesn't seem to do it with it's anime originals for some reason.) The BBFC has no need to push for legislation within this field, because the important parties are already doing so. Parents view the BBFC ratings as understandable and trustworthy, so streaming services are using them voluntarily as a sort of badge to demonstrate that their streaming service is reliable and trustworthy too.

And according to their podcast, they looked at reducing their fees for indie distributors and charging more to majors to cover the difference. Unfortunately, the government told them they had to get the approval of all stakeholders, and obviously nobody would agree to pay more, so they were a little bit stuck there.


Finally, as a matter of personal curiosity, may I ask if you are from the UK ,@Lord Bacchus? The tone of your questioning leads me to think not, but then I wonder what the relevance of it is to yourself.
 
Buzz201 said:
The difficulty is, what happens when it's not something (mostly) harmless like Fate/Kalied Liner Prisma Ilya 2wei, it's A Serbian Film or some snuff movie? The BBFC's current existence is mostly as the easiest and most efficient way for the government to enforce the Obscene Publications Act and provide a helpful guide to parents.

And that later one is probably more important than you'd think, the visual styling of anime often makes it look more childish than it actually is. The marketing for Assassination Classroom does not exactly indicate that the show would include an implied sexual assault and some sex and drug references. Nor does Yowamushi Pedal's marketing suggest it includes a scene of substance abuse (played for comedy). Both, for my money, look rather like Cartoon Network shows. Just because we are all adults, capable of making our own informed decisions, doesn't mean everyone is and the BBFC's relatively dependable guidelines and classifications provide a good guide for helping parents who might not be able to make such decisions. (I won't defend their "potential to harm" cuts though, those are ********.)

Whilst true, your comment about streaming services ignores an important fact. Both Amazon and Netflix already submit their original content to the BBFC voluntarily, and where possible use BBFC ratings within their streaming services. (Though Amazon doesn't seem to do it with it's anime originals for some reason.) The BBFC has no need to push for legislation within this field, because the important parties are already doing so. Parents view the BBFC ratings as understandable and trustworthy, so streaming services are using them voluntarily as a sort of badge to demonstrate that their streaming service is reliable and trustworthy too.

And according to their podcast, they looked at reducing their fees for indie distributors and charging more to majors to cover the difference. Unfortunately, the government told them they had to get the approval of all stakeholders, and obviously nobody would agree to pay more, so they were a little bit stuck there.


Finally, as a matter of personal curiosity, may I ask if you are from the UK ,@Lord Bacchus? The tone of your questioning leads me to think not, but then I wonder what the relevance of it is to yourself.
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Yes, I am from the UK, and I'm not entirely sure what would lead you to believe I am not. I just happen to despise censorship (ruling out anything that actively harmed someone in its production), and while the major players submit voluntarily to the BBFC, the current biggest online providor for anime (Crunchyroll) does not. Having the BBFC muscle in on that particular front would at best cause delays for the UK due to having to go through the extra step of classification (ruining the point of it being simulcast). At worst it could lead to things like Prisma Illya (series 2 of that is on Crunchyroll despite the BBFC hinting it would be refused classification without cuts for home release), or perhaps less interest in the UK market as a whole due to the fees. I dislike the BBFC because they make their ratings mandatory for home releases, rather than chosen.

The people in charge of legislation in this country have already made it quite clear that they are the antithesis of the freedom the internet was built around (you only have to look at recent things like the snoopers charter and the legislation put forth on online pornography to see that), and I don't want to see the BBFC becoming a bigger influencer of online content in this country.
 
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