Higurashi

[Foggle]

I tried to hard to buy the set when I could, but never had enough spare money to purchase it. Now it's too late, and I feel bad about it.

Something tells me it was doomed from the start, anyway. It's been apparent for awhile that Funimation doesn't care very much about their acquisitions from Geneon and much of what I've seen of the Higurashi fanbase online doesn't make them seem like the sort to buy DVDs.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

"A member of Funimation's acquisitions team, posted on Funimation's forums on Thursday that poor sales of When They Cry - Higurashi (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) ... led to the company's decision to not renew the [license] or acquire the sequel projects.

The post noted that Funimation never acquired the rights to the When They Cry sequel series, such as Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai or the related Umineko no Naku Koro ni nor would it seek out series "that bears even a minor resemblance.""

Fuck Funimation.

To be honest, I don't blame FUNimation for their decision at all. I mean Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a superb series, but poor sales means poor sales, and if you want to blame it on anyone blame it on Geneon for giving it a shit dub and mistreating the series in general. It was actually pretty nice that FUNimation even rescued the first season in the first place, so at least we got to see it get released on DVD. But FUNi is a business. I don't think its too fair to fault them for just making a practical business decision. After all, they can't just afford to hang onto an anime license or license sequels if it costs them more to produce and distribute it than what they get back in profit.

In my honest opinion, FUNimation is by far the best North American company that deals with the licensing and distribution of anime and its the reason that they are still going fairly strong in business while most other companies are dropping out. While I also feel that its a huge bummer that they had to drop Higurashi, I can't really say that they didn't give the series a chance, so I can't be too mad at them for how things turned out.

More importantly, fuck anime fans for not buying the shit they watch/like.

This is a more practical complaint, since it really is the fault of anime fans for not buying such property that FUNimation had to pass on renewing their license. Of course, I am guilty of this as well since I can't really afford to buy almost anything these days in my current position, but really that's all it comes down to. If more people bought the DVDs, we'd still be getting new releases of Higurashi later on. But, at least we still got the first season, so I'm grateful for that much, personally.

[Foggle]

Well, it's not really the fault of Funimation or people who couldn't buy the series... it's the folks who could have and chose not to because "lol who pays for anime, amirite guys?". Funi is certainly far better than Viz when it comes to DVDs and with both ADV and Geneon gone I must agree that they're the best localization company out there now.

[Angus]

D'oh I even bought the series when Funimation had it on sale long before the discounted price. Does that mean series 2 goes back to the unlicensed pile?

[Angus]

The prices shot up on Amazon already. 

http://www.amazon.com/When-They-Cry-Complete-Collection/dp/B00358MG7O/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1309067762&sr=1-1

[Foggle]

Does that mean series 2 goes back to the unlicensed pile?

It was never actually licensed, apparently.

The prices shot up on Amazon already. 

http://www.amazon.com/When-They-Cry-Complete-Collection/dp/B00358MG7O/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1309067762&sr=1-1

The one I have is even more expensive.

The packaging for this one is terrible. Two discs loosely shoved in each thin-pak. They fall out constantly and get scratched up.

[Spark Of Spirit]

They could have not fucked up the dub for one. Two, they could have had it more widely available. Three, they could have advertised this as this show NEEDS it to get it across. A little would have went a long way for this show.

On the plus side Umineko rots in Japan.

Edit: Yeah, I know most of that was Geneon's fault, but Funi should have picked the slack up here if they wanted it to succeed.

[Foggle]

The dubbing being shit isn't such a big deal (though it would have saved them buckets of cash if they did a sub only release). Fans of imported material (be it anime or otherwise) are usually pretty cautious when it comes to dubs and would have had no problem switching over to the Japanese version had they seen how terrible it was.

I completely agree with your second and third points, though. The fact that the first box set they released completely sold out everywhere, prompting them to re-release it not even a year later, while Funi claims that it still sold poorly, basically indicates a limited run in which they didn't even give the series a chance. That, and I don't remember seeing a single advertisement for Higurashi period during any of its release periods; no DVD ads, website ads, or TV ads. Nothing.

[Foggle]

The promotional poster makes it look like this season will be based on "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica". A new threat to Hinamizawa has appeared in the form of a mysterious organization named "Tokyo Magica". Rika will transform into "Oyashiro Rika" in order to fight them. Also, Rika's, Hanyuu's, and Satoko's seiyuus will be singing this arc's theme song, titled "100% Magical Star".

The fact that the first episode is basically more Rei was bad enough, but this... I just threw up in my mouth.

The manga and PS2 version of the visual novel have so many awesome side-stories they could have animated... so why THIS?

[Dr. Insomniac]

Probably since Madoka did gangbusters when it came to sales, the staff at DEEN thought the best way to make money was to mimic the competition.

DEEN, I watched Madoka, I liked Madoka, Madoka was a favorite of mine last season. DEEN, you're no SHAFT. Now fuck off.

[Foggle]

I just don't get why Deen is so keen on raping everything related to this franchise. The Umineko VN isn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not the incomprehensible vomit Deen dared to call an adaptation. Kira is a legitimate insult... they don't give a shit about Higurashi's 10th anniversary, they just want to make bank off the ideas of other people with as little effort as possible. I love this series' characters and would have gladly watched four comedy episodes had they hired a better writer or at least toned down the fanservice. Instead, we get another half-assed attempt to run this cash cow into the ground; this time not even attempting to retain the tone or feel of what came before it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Missing the point and once again forgetting what people liked about the original show.



Higurashi wasn't good because of the fanservice, it wasn't good because of the violence, and it wasn't good because of the "cute girls doing uncute things" or whatever idiocy the pseudo-weaboos call it.

It was good because it was a suspense thriller that hinged entirely on an engaging plot and characters that went beyond the cliche into shaping the plot around them that was grounded in the reality of the universe it set up. There were no random space aliens that beamed down to deus ex the plot, there were no random character turns to make a plot point work, and there were no characters introduced who weren't integral to the plot in at least some form. It's legitimately well written story done in a highly interesting way that would probably engage even non-anime fans if given the chance.

Why can't they see that? Why do they keep highlighting aspects of it that were not even close to the reason people liked it in the first place? Why are they contributing to more of the shit that is currently ruining the anime industry and lowering the quality bar instead of delivering material that should raise the bar and inspire more creativity?

This franchise is hopeless, and it totally shouldn't be.

[Foggle]

Unfortunately, that's the current state of anime. They could have let Higurashi end on a high note with Kai or at least have let it die a relatively peaceful death with Rei, but I guess there was just too much money to be made ripping off Shaft and KyoAni.

If they really wanted to please fans on Higurashi's 10th anniversary, they could have done an adaptation of this or this. Not only would that have actually been cool, it would have been legitimate fanservice of the best kind.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Should I be worried that we'll eventually see something akin to what happened post-Evangelion and get a slew of third-rate grimdark magical girl shows?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Or how Tenchi lead to that harem onslaught. Same with Love Hina.

... Those stories would make a great anime season. Why aren't we getting that, Japan? :/