Ask John: Is FUNimation’s Acquisition of Kodocha a Good Thing?

Question:
I, for one, was very disturbed by the licensing of Kodomo no Omocha by FUNimation. The company doesn’t exactly have a good reputation for faithful translations (quite the opposite, in fact), and Kodocha is a series that is packed to the gills with Japanese cultural references. I truly find the licensing baffling. Shoujo has traditionally performed poorly in the domestic market, and Kodocha is an especially strange, long, “slow-paced,” and JAPANESE series in particular. Why do you think FUNimation wished to acquire the series?

Answer:
Actually, I find myself defending FUNimation more frequently than I’d like to, and more frequently than I think I should need to. I’ve been a fan of the Kodomo no Omocha anime for about 10 years now, and the only thing that could possibly have made me happier than hearing the announcement that FUNimation had acquired distribution rights to the series would have been an announcement that AN Entertainment had acquired the series. FUNimation has, I believed, somewhat of an undeserved negative opinion among hardcore anime fans; an opinion based on an incomplete view of FUNimation’s localization of Japanese animation.

FUNimation’s bad reputation developed because of the heavy editing, censoring and alteration imposed on Dragonball and Dragonball Z for their American release. The reputation was further solidified by FUNimation’s edits to Yu Yu Hakusho, Dragonball GT, their association with the American release of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, and most recently their announced name changes imposed on Detective Conan. While I can’t defend or condone these alterations, I can understand, explain and even sympathize with them. FUNimation has consistently done whatever was necessary to ensure the biggest possible audience for their anime releases. With American television broadcast, that unfortunately necessitates censorship. However, a fact I think many anime fans overlook is that FUNimation has consistently made every attempt to simultaneously release faithful, respectful translations of the anime they’ve licensed. Dragonball and Yu Yu Hakusho are available on domestic DVD in both Americanized, sanitized versions and accurately translated and unaltered original Japanese versions. FUNimation has also already confirmed that Detective Conan will likewise receive both an “Americanized” release and a “Japanese format” release to satisfy picky hardcore fans. The only titles that FUNimation has not shown this treatment to are titles like Yu-Gi-Oh which are not actually FUNimation licenses, but merely titles that FUNimation distributes on behalf of the American licensor.

Furthermore, FUNimation’s releases of Fruits Basket and Kiddy Grade and Tenchi Muyo GXP have been as worthy of fan support as any respectable domestic anime release. In fact, FUNimation has not, in my estimation, altered any anime they’re released so far any more so than companies like AD Vision and TOKYOPOP have also altered anime releases. Yet significant edits and changes apparent in AD Vision and TOKYOPOP distributed anime titles have not resulted in nearly the same scorn from fans that FUNimation has been victim to. Ironically, and sadly, while AD Vision can impose name changes and extensive dialogue re-writes and video overlays on Orphen and Nadesico and City Hunter and Sorcerer Hunters and Voices of a Distant Star and Saiyuki and Makasete! Iruka (just to name a few), and TOKYOPOP can employ name changes, censorship, and extensive video edits in Initial D, the majority of America’s anime fans will overlook these transgressions while crucifying FUNimation for doing the same things.

Given the fact that FUNimation has a full line of anime titles targeted toward established anime fans, and the fact that they make certain to release uncut and unaltered versions of every anime title they can, and the fact that their Operation Anime program that provides free anime DVDs to anime clubs, I see a great deal of evidence that positions FUNimation as one of the most responsible and considerate and fan supportive distribution companies in the American market. As I’ve said, I won’t defend their alterations to anime for the sake of commercial sales, but I respect their efforts to evenly balance their “Americanization” of anime with ingenuous releases.

Excluding any professional courtesy and speaking purely as an anime fan, I wholeheartedly believe that FUNimation will give American fans a worthwhile and respectable version of Kodomo no Omocha. The very fact that “Kodocha” is such a “strange, long, ‘slow-paced,’ and JAPANESE series” should suggest that FUNimation didn’t acquire the title with the expectation of it being a breakthrough mainstream hit. Kodomo no Omocha is a title licensed in response to fan demand. I think the fact that FUNimation acquired Kodomo no Omocha is a clear sign that the company does acknowledge and care about what American anime fans want.

Now, to expand this particular point a bit, it’s true that shoujo anime has traditionally not sold well in America, but I think that trend may be evolving as the sophistication and tastes of the American market expand and develop. Shoujo and sports anime are among the only two remaining major categories of anime in Japan that have yet to really establish themselves in America, and the licensing of Hajime no Ippo, and shoujo (and shoujo-esque) titles including Kodomo no Omocha, Hana Yori Dango, Wedding Peach, Risky Safety, and Princess Tutu suggest that this trend is beginning to change. I think that the American market for anime has now been exposed to the art form long enough American consumers are tentatively beginning to expand their investigation of anime beyond just giant robots, violence and sex appeal. Perhaps now that the initial novelty of anime has dulled a bit with exposure, American consumers are more interested in honestly discovering the full extent of what anime has to offer. American consumers may now be willing to watch and buy and support quality Japanese animation and storytelling instead of just focusing their interest on sensational novelty value.

The fact that Kodomo no Omocha is finally coming to America, and the fact that it’s been licensed by FUNimation may be a catalyst for American anime fans to re-evaluate their own perceptions of FUNimation and the American market for anime. The FUNimation that licensed Kodocha is not the same company that bastardized Dragonball for American TV broadcast a decade ago. And the market for anime in America itself has evolved from what it was like even just a few short years ago. I think the average American anime fan may not be aware of exactly how quickly the anime industry in America is evolving. And from the perspective of an individual anime fan, that evolution has far more positive characteristics than negative ones.