Funimation has recently announced that they have acquired two new Anime series,
Yu Yu Hakusho and
Blue Gender.
Their reputation now hangs in the balance, as Blue Gender is not a
DBZ like show. It is a much more violent, graphic show that aired late on Japanese television, and easily carries a reputation of not hesitating to kill off characters, gruesomely if need be. This show will likely be straight to video (yeah, you get broadcast on
CN and see what happens!), likely both
VHS and
DVD (with
japanese audio, subtitles, and
a WELL MASTERED DISC ie NOT like the current DBZ
TV discs).
It's hoped by many serious anime fans that funimation will not further their
fuckups and will treat these new series with
a more mature attitude, and not
destroy more
anime, as they have done with DBZ.
December 29, 2002
FUNimation, now having moved out into 3 other series (
Yu Yu Hakusho,
Fruits Basket, and Blue Gender), is receiving wide compliments on their handling of all three.
In January they will finish with the 8 disc release of Blue Gender. A two year release schedule has somewhat hindered its reception, but what a treat is in store. Excellent menus, two
subtitle tracks (a true sub track and a
CC track), along with Japanese and English audio), and a low price to offset the now high disc count leaves FUNimation with a killer release.
Fruits Basket, as well, has garnered FUNimation many complements. Following an equally
unorthodox release style, at 6 episodes per disc at $40/disc (though it can easily be found for $30 or less), has gotten the attention of many current players in the industry.
Yu Yu Hakusho, the big TV release in this batch, is currently airing in a dubbed, edited version on
Cartoon Network and is receiving a DVD release similar to that of DBZ. There are two versions of the DVDs, a English only, edited release, and an uncut release with Japanese and English audio. Funimation is also fluctuating episode counts per disc to get each
arc to fit within a certain number of discs, so some come with 4
episodes per disc, some come with 3. Thankfully, like Blue Gender, the series has a low price.
As of the time of this writing, Funimation has announced the Blue Gender movie, which is apparently a recap movie with a different ending, as well as both Blue Gender and Yu Yu Hakusho
boxed sets.
I do believe FUNimation has earned a new reputation in the anime industry, and for that we are all thankful.
Now if only
Manga Entertainment would get a clue...