4Kids Files for Bankruptcy: American Fans Rejoice

[Spinor]

https://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/4Kids_Entertainment_files_for_bankruptcy

I do feel bad for the potential job loss... but... DAMN, FINALLY! >__>

Anyways, post what your stuff and carry on with your lives.

 

[Kirbychu]

What are we rejoicing for? Pokemon managed to escape 4kids's evil clutches back in 2006. 4kids didn't even do a bad job dubbing, they actually had more interesting dialogue imo.

 

[Xyrin]

What was wrong with 4Kids? I wish Pokemon was still on that channel, I don't have CN. I'm disappointed.

 

[CrystalBeast]

Am I the only one who remembers Pokemon on WB?

 

[Nutella]

I'm pretty deved. I will miss laughing at all of the thrills and spills. Who can forget their monumental contribution to One Piece? How can you forget riceballs = doughnuts? I went to Donut King, and they don't sell triangular, jam-filled doughnuts. With $5 still in hand, I went home a wreck... =(

 

[N Harmonia]

I'm an American Fan. But I won't rejoice, I do dislike 4Kids' job on Pokemon on a degree. But many people will be losing their jobs.

It was filed under Chapter 11. A large amount of you are dancing for joy as I speak, but read Chapter 11. >_>

 

[Nutella]

I'm an American Fan. But I won't rejoice, I do dislike 4Kids' job on Pokemon on a degree. But many people will be losing their jobs.

It was filed under Chapter 11. A large amount of you are dancing for joy as I speak, but read Chapter 11. >_>

Jokes aside, I do agree with you. Chapter 11 is beyond screwed. I do feel sorry for people losing their jobs (especially in the current economic climate), at the risk of sounding cruel, if they did it WELL in the first place, maybe they would have had more success?

If you thought Pokemon's censorship was bad, you should have seen One Piece's! A character called "Smoker" was changed into "Chaser," instead of smoking cigars, he is MISSING TEETH and the smoke comes out through the said holes. Then there's Sanji that now is a heavy lollipop eater as opposed to a smoker.

 

[CrystalBeast]

Jokes aside, I do agree with you. Chapter 11 is beyond screwed. I do feel sorry for people losing their jobs (especially in the current economic climate), at the risk of sounding cruel, if they did it WELL in the first place, maybe they would have had more success?

If you thought Pokemon's censorship was bad, you should have seen One Piece's! A character called "Smoker" was changed into "Chaser," instead of smoking cigars, he is MISSING TEETH and the smoke comes out through the said holes. Then there's Sanji that now is a heavy lollipop eater as opposed to a smoker.

4kids didn't want parents complaining that they're advertising smoking. idk

 

[Spinor]

Ah, well it's not necessarily the Pokemon fandom that rejoices >__> but a lot of other people are. I think a lot of us wanted this to happen after quite a few ridiculous moments with Pokemon, but apparently a little googling shows they tended to screw up so much harder with other shows.

I'm an American Fan. But I won't rejoice, I do dislike 4Kids' job on Pokemon on a degree. But many people will be losing their jobs.

It was filed under Chapter 11. A large amount of you are dancing for joy as I speak, but read Chapter 11. >_>

It's still bankruptcy >__>

 

[Zayin]

They have also changed a match Meowth was holding into a birthday candle in case it would encourage children to play with fire. It's ridiculous.

Oh and what about saying Jessie's mom was serving her snow for lunch, when she didn't even live with her mom anymore at that time?

"[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]Child Jessie: "This is the best snowgasboard a mommy ever made!"[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]...and later...[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]James: "I can't believe what I'm hearing!"[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]Meowth: "You must be joking! You mean your mutta actually made meals outta snow!?"[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]One problem, 4Kids...that woman WASN'T JESSIE'S MOM!! She was most likely a caretaker of Musashi (since, remember, she bounced around from foster home to foster home early in life). Whoever she was, the Japanese version never referred to her as Musashi's mother[/SIZE][/FONT]
"
Taken from there: https://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/comparisons/kanto/ep066.html which is the best website to rage at 4Kids :P.

Stupid dub changes.

 

[Nutella]

4kids didn't want parents complaining that they're advertising smoking. idk

That would be the logical conclusion. Imagine if 4Kids had control over major blockbusters... it would be hilarious, but still, ridiculous.

They have also changed a match Meowth was holding into a birthday candle in case it would encourage children to play with fire. It's ridiculous.

I think I remember that! o_O That is beyond silly. I mean, amusing, of course. Of course. Totally plausible. I wonder if a character is seen lighting up a smoke, they would change it to a birtheday candle lighting up a lollipop? That would be so cool, and my avatar FOREVER.

I think most of the dub voices are crap (not just in Pokemon). Perhaps it's because I'm used to listening to the Japanese, which have a much higher standard in the art. There's a good example where I think it's reversed- like in Tales of Symphonia.

 

[yossarian]

What are we rejoicing for? Pokemon managed to escape 4kids's evil clutches back in 2006. 4kids didn't even do a bad job dubbing, they actually had more interesting dialogue imo.

Agree completely. It's a shame to see people celebrating this. First not even talking about the devastation that this is going to cause to many families from parents/spouses losing their jobs at a time where unemployment is high and families are already struggling but IMHO 4kids were a reasonable company and it's quite disgusting to see how much abuse they get over stupid things.

Fact of the matter is that if it wasn't for 4Kids a lot of us wouldn't have the deep rooted interest in pokemon that we currently do and it certainly would never have achieved as large a fanbase as it did. They were one of the pioneers of introducing Japanese anime to the American audience at a time when the internet wasn't really fully developed and the only way to find out about these shows was by watching TV. Pokemon could have been a massive flop in the West but they took a risk and it paid off.

And for people blaming them for stupid things like changing riceballs into doughnuts, cigarettes being removed etc etc, don't blame them, blame the conservative consumer sueing culture of the average American viewer. If they hadn't made those changes there would have been conservative based organisations organising protests and lawsuits. They took the necessary actions to cater for as large an audience as possible which is the ultimate aim for a Children's show. Besides it's such a trivial thing to get worked up over - I don't understand why there are literally people fuming about those decisions.

I also agree completely with regards to the dialogue being significantly better back then. I've made many posts about this in the past and I don't really want to repeat myself again but there were a lot of aspects of the dubbing process that 4Kids were simply much superior at.

Unfortunately with all anime shows including pokemon there exists a large portion of what I call Japanese Anime Snobs. You know the people who worship the Japanese version of the show and think it's sacrilege that a company is attempting to produce a dub to cater for another audience and broaden it's global appeal and use that as an excuse to constantly whine about every single aspect of the dub. There is no way of satisfying these people regardless of what the dub company does.

 

[Darthbane2007]

Agree completely. It's a shame to see people celebrating this. First not even talking about the devastation that this is going to cause to many families from parents/spouses losing their jobs at a time where unemployment is high and families are already struggling but IMHO 4kids were a reasonable company and it's quite disgusting to see how much abuse they get over stupid things.

Fact of the matter is that if it wasn't for 4Kids a lot of us wouldn't have the deep rooted interest in pokemon that we currently do and it certainly would never have achieved as large a fanbase as it did. They were one of the pioneers of introducing Japanese anime to the American audience at a time when the internet wasn't really fully developed and the only way to find out about these shows was by watching TV. Pokemon could have been a massive flop in the West but they took a risk and it paid off.

And for people blaming them for stupid things like changing riceballs into doughnuts, cigarettes being removed etc etc, don't blame them, blame the conservative consumer sueing culture of the average American viewer. If they hadn't made those changes there would have been conservative based organisations organising protests and lawsuits. They took the necessary actions to cater for as large an audience as possible which is the ultimate aim for a Children's show. Besides it's such a trivial thing to get worked up over - I don't understand why there are literally people fuming about those decisions.

I also agree completely with regards to the dialogue being significantly better back then. I've made many posts about this in the past and I don't really want to repeat myself again but there were a lot of aspects of the dubbing process that 4Kids were simply much superior at.

Unfortunately with all anime shows including pokemon there exists a large portion of what I call Japanese Anime Snobs. You know the people who worship the Japanese version of the show and think it's sacrilege that a company is attempting to produce a dub to cater for another audience and broaden it's global appeal and use that as an excuse to constantly whine about every single aspect of the dub. There is no way of satisfying these people regardless of what the dub company.

QFT.

No matter what people think, people are still losing jobs. This isn't something to rejoice over...

 

[donavannj]

I think most of the dub voices are crap (not just in Pokemon). Perhaps it's because I'm used to listening to the Japanese, which have a much higher standard in the art. There's a good example where I think it's reversed- like in Tales of Symphonia.

You, ma'am, haven't watched enough anime if you think it's held to any higher a standard in Japan.

4Kids wasn't that bad, considering they were dubbing shows with the intention of targeting children with those shows. They really had to make all the changes they did to avoid legal troubles and such and keep ratings high.

 

[Kirbychu]

I'm sorry, but how does changing a riceball into a doughnut/sandwich/cracker prevent legal trouble? The only edits I find understandable are the ones out of sensitivity to 911, Jynx's controversy, James's "enhancements" and that Safari Zone episode with the ridiculous amount of guns.

 

[donavannj]

I'm sorry, but how does changing a riceball into a doughnut/sandwich/cracker prevent legal trouble? The only edits I find understandable are the ones out of sensitivity to 911, Jynx's controversy, James's "enhancements" and that Safari Zone episode with the ridiculous amount of guns.

Okay, I forgot about the riceball changes, but that's a cultural thing that probably 85% of American children wouldn't understand because they wouldn't know what a rice ball is. Then again, a jelly doughnut doesn't really make much sense, either.

And I wasn't just talking about the changes in Pokemon, I was talking about the changes made to series like Naruto and One Piece.

 

[yossarian]

I'm sorry, but how does changing a riceball into a doughnut/sandwich/cracker prevent legal trouble? The only edits I find understandable are the ones out of sensitivity to 911, Jynx's controversy, James's "enhancements" and that Safari Zone episode with the ridiculous amount of guns.

As he's mentioned it's to cater for the target audience to ensure high ratings. 90% of American nine year olds don't know what riceballs are. It's the American version of the show for American viewers - not viewers of the original series. Most people watch the dub with no knowledge of the Japanese version; they aren't fanatics who have already seen the Japanese version. This is why I get really pissed off with people who say things like "oh but that's not in the original version" - jeez the silent majority really couldn't give a <censor bypass> whether it's different.

Besides this all goes back to my earlier point, why do people get so worked up whether they call a riceball a doughnut? It's so insignificant in the grand scheme of things and really doesn't detract from the quality of the dub.

There are actually more important aspects of the dub which determine the production quality such as

• The voice actors used and whether they have ability to convey the right emotions and moods through their voices.
• The replacement dialogue. Is it smooth and does it flow well?
• Are the able to generate the same humour at the right places?
• The choice of replacement background music
• How long it takes for the episode to get released
• etc etc etc

 

[Spinor]

Here's a major problem with 4Kids: The original anime is clearly not intended to aim at such a low age demographics, so what is the point of going through the trouble of toning it down from the Japanese version? Pokemon didn't have too much to tone down, but I swear if you take a little peek down Google lane you'll find a lot of pissed fans of other anime series.

Here are the facts: 4Kids did not respect a Yugioh license agreement. 4Kids allegedly owes millions of dollars. 4Kids files for a bankruptcy that helps them dodge that temporarily. The fact that they cannot respect a license agreement implies the horrible decision-making skills the higher-ups have. It may or may not imply greediness on their part as well, depending on whether the bankruptcy could have been considered before the Yugioh lawsuit or after.

And as more Google shows, with Yugioh gone, 4Kids is gonna get bombed anyways >__>

 

[Kirbychu]

And I wasn't just talking about the changes in Pokemon, I was talking about the changes made to series like Naruto and One Piece.

Naruto was never dubbed by 4kids. -_-;

But yeah, One Piece was just terrible. The idea of marketing it to American kids was just an awful idea. It would have been way more popular if it was done by Funimation during its whole run.

 

[donavannj]

Naruto was never dubbed by 4kids. -_-;

But yeah, One Piece was just terrible. The idea of marketing it to American kids was just an awful idea. It would have been way more popular if it was done by Funimation during its whole run.

I was never interested in Naruto anyways so I honestly had no clue who it was dubbed by. :x