UPDATED: Funimation Acquires Manga Entertainment UK

Jerome noted in his call to me that it'll be easier for them to get shows now, as pitching for only UK/IRE rights was becoming harder when companies like Netflix and CR would bid for global, and Manga are now part of a global family. So I expect that when Funi acquire UK rights to a show, they'll release here via Manga.

No point in buying Manga if they were just going to continue sublicensing. With them all being owned by Sony, it'd be pointless for them to pay themselves for something they already own.

The one I do wonder though, is Aniplex. Jerome did point out to me that they're owned by Sony too (albeit Sony Music rather than Television), but Aniplex of America have been doing their own thing desperate to post-buyout Funimation. So maybe there won't be much of a change there? But then it could be argued that AOA was already set up before Funi was bought, and there's no official Aniplex presence in the UK yet. Time will tell, I guess.
 
Aniplex recently bought the anime division of Madman.
They also bought Wakanim (France) in 2015, which recently expanded to Scandinavia + Russia + Germany as a streaming service. They also hold a share on Peppermint (Germany DVD/Blu-ray) .
 
ayase said:
This...

But also this. It would be nice to think that maybe this means the UK could get Funi shows (and LE releases) we currently don't, but market consolidation in the hands of fewer companies is rarely in the consumer interest. Especially when the parent companies are so far removed from the market the subsidiaries are serving.
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This could be the rare exception given this is a niche industry. I can't but feel the less middle men, the better off we'll be. It a certain American company is localising shows into English, why shouldn't they sell to English territories directly?

sniper_samurai said:
It's happened with other companies before. Bandai Entertainment had to bid like everyone else on Bandai produced shows, hell Bandai Japan often told them they had to pony up X amount for the property which was usually much higher than what the licence was worth.
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It probably varies company to company. I would think Funimation would bid for the UK home media rights in initial nehotiations?


crashmatt said:
That's just poor business practice. It's only something Manga can confirm really but I don't see why Manga would have to pay Funimation for shows they have the rights to anyway. As I said there has to be an advantage to the takeover.
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So many aspects of this industry don't seem 'normal' to us. Think of the tons of show, popular or small, that we don't get to stream still? You'd think it can't be that hard to just tick a box and bri g the money they'd get for more territories but nope. And it isn't lime the niche titles yave a ton of different services wanting to take them.
 
Joshawott said:
The one I do wonder though, is Aniplex. Jerome did point out to me that they're owned by Sony too (albeit Sony Music rather than Television), but Aniplex of America have been doing their own thing desperate to post-buyout Funimation. So maybe there won't be much of a change there? But then it could be argued that AOA was already set up before Funi was bought, and there's no official Aniplex presence in the UK yet. Time will tell, I guess.
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i think the company that owns Funimation is the American Sony company that produced stuff like breaking bad rather than the Japanese Sony, i mean they both report to the same boss but i assume they have their own ways of running stuff
 
Oldmario said:
i think the company that owns Funimation is the American Sony company that produced stuff like breaking bad rather than the Japanese Sony, i mean they both report to the same boss but i assume they have their own ways of running stuff
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Pretty much. The very top is the same, but the branches are very different. If my understanding of an intricate corporate make-up is correct, to put it into family tree terms, Aniplex of America is like Manga Entertainment's second cousin. I think the current tree is something like:

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So there's less of a direct link to Aniplex of America (and Madman) as there is Funimation. I believe the only public movement we've seen between Funi and AoA is Sword Art Online: Alicization streaming on FuniNow, which is similar to what Manga UK are already doing? It's worth noting though, that Manga UK have existing working relationships with Madman and Aniplex of America that they could perhaps leverage in combination with having the same ancestor.

(But give it a few years and Disney'll own all of them).
 
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Speaking of Aniplex, I'm glad it wasn't them who bought a UK distributor. One of our saving graces is not having io pay Qniplex prices. I
 
The UK industry is missing so many big recent titles at this point any will be good. Free, Maid Dragon, Promised Neverland( yes I know it’s AoA), Yamato, IBO so yeah If funi can improve even 5% it’s bettee than what we got rn. Though the single effect this had AL removing all those titles did **** a lot up... bye bye AssClass and Hyouka UK releases
 
Jaysgba said:
I expect they'll stream on Funi Now and release a bare minimum to home media through Manga.
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The way things are going over here, focussing on streaming rather than physical product is likely far safer for a company. For a consistent monthly fee people receive an entire library of shows and movies to watch. No packaging design, back and forth with retailers, etc.

Granted customer is stuffed if you pull something they like off the service but you're still getting a monthly payment from them with only really having to worry producing the show.
 
Oldmario said:
it's probably down to the Americans sharing the same Blu-ray region as Japan which causes their prices to skyrocket
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Well no AUS’/madman model is still diffenrt from Aniplex’s. They don’t always use the JP encodes and don’t give as nice packaging as AoA does. Madman main focus is cheap and cheerful anime sets.
 
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