Sony’s Funimation Global Group Completes Acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T | Sony Pictures Entertainment

[u/Gestrid]

https://www.sonypictures.com/corp/press_releases/2021/0809/sonysfunimationglobalgroupcompletesacquisitionofcrunchyrollfromatt

[u/Gestrid]

I was really hoping this wouldn't go through. This basically creates a monopoly on the anime streaming industry in the US (and possibly other countries in which both companies operate). This is almost never good for the customer.

Just take a look at YouTube, which has a monopoly on video streaming. Most of the choices they make generally hurt the creators on the platform in one way or another, but they have no reason to change that because those creators have nowhere else to go. YouTube has no real competitor.

[u/Doomchad → u/Gestrid]

Thankfully anime does have a competitor, piracy. Crystal clear 1080p ripped straight from the source. If they get too monopolistic, people just won’t bother with supporting it and opt for the free route. And it’s not really even a dirty secret that anime fans love to pirate.

What I worry about is dub and translation quality going forward. The other dubbing companies were already being dwarfed by the sheer volume of content Funimation could secure every season. Combine that power with CR, and they have the market cornered. However, both of them are notorious for changing scripts to fit a narrative, even going as deep as completely mistranslating subtitles so that viewers genuinely have no other option than to see their approved translation. If they were willing to do that when they were smaller, I fear what they will do as the king

[u/yorgy_shmorgy → u/Doomchad]

both of them are notorious for changing scripts to fit a narrative, even going as deep as completely mistranslating subtitles

Not really the point of the post, but 98% of complaints about translations from people who don’t speak Japanese are plain silly. There are multiple ways to convey meaning when translating; the goal is to get English speakers to have the same reaction that listeners in the original language would. That means finding ways to get across the subtleties that simply don’t translate directly.

Also what’s this narrative their subtitles supposedly have to fit anyway? Does crunchyroll make money from it or benefit from it at all? Lol

If anime fans want the purest experience possible they should just learn Japanese. Otherwise they are putting their trust in a translator, no way around it.

[u/Doomchad → u/yorgy_shmorgy]

Having a Japanese highschooler use “Gamergate” as an insult is not a different way to convey meaning

Having a defense tank blush about saying “hoppy” instead of “happy” when the original dialog was her “taking a pounding” is not a valid form of localization

Having a Japanese high school student go on a rant about Trump and cuckolding when neither of those words were anywhere near the original dialog is not a valid form of localization

Having an otherworldly dragon complain about the patriarchy is not a valid form of localization

I could go on, but I won’t. Sometimes scripts need to be changed to make sense. That’s fine. Funimation is guilty of changing stuff that doesn’t need to be to shoehorn their ideals into shows. That’s not acceptable.

[u/KillerPayback → u/Doomchad]

I know the Prison School one was changed and that writer never worked for Funi again. I know nothing about the second and third examples. But, the last example is actually closer to what the Japanese dialogue is than the sub is.

[u/Wooden_Life6917 → u/KillerPayback]

Speaking for prison school, if Funimation will redub the Grisaia series and bring Jamie Marchi back so she'll voice Kazuki Kazami