4Kids Files for Bankruptcy: American Fans Rejoice

[Mario The World Champion]

Can't say I didn't see this coming. Actually, I'm glad. I hope they never dub another Anime that's not intended for kids and ruin it so they can make a quick buck.

 

[Zayin]

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.

I always wondered why they removed the match and riceballs, got all crazy about that black Jynx (it would have never crossed my mind this Pokemon looked like an African, I've always thought it was based on a Viking goddess or something similar), but didn't care about Jessibelle being a sadomasochist and whipping James while asking him if he's ready for their "wedding". How is this possible? There are loads of guns in the US and they banned the safari episode, but they considered Holy Matrimony was decent for a young audience? Honestly, I don't care they kept it (it was actually my favourite episode at 11 years old lol), but it's still doesn't make any sense.

 

[Poliwagged]

Pokemon by 4kids, sans the random useless dub edits, was pretty good up until they got to Hoenn.

Most notably the early Kanto and Johto, season 1 and 3 respectively, episodes.


Then they went on an edit spree.

 

[Palkia]

The 4kids dub for Pokemon was ok, but the real reason why I'm happy they are gone is the god awful dub they did with Sonic X, cutting out some of the best bits.

 

[CliveKoopa]

They also did a terrible job with the Megaman Battle Network anime titled Megaman NT Warior. They changed a lot of the character names, loads of dialogue and most of the later seasons were left undubbed. I've never heard of One Piece nor watched Naruto. However, I am glad that the English dub of Pokemon has lasted so long and that Pokemon was not butchered like Megaman NT Warrior and possibly others.

 

[Nutella]

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

Admittedly, I don't watch a lot of anime anymore. I guess in Japan the selection pool is larger, therefore, it is much more likely to find one best suited to a role. Voice acting isn't nearly as big in the US as it is in Japan, so the quality probably drops when there is a much more limited selection due to a perceived low demand.

Seiyu tend to have formal education/training in the art for about 2~4 years. It's near impossible for them to get a job unless they've undertaken the said training, as they would be up against thousands of others- veterans, practical celebrities, etc.- for the one main role. In the beginning of the boom of VA, companies were auditioning John from Down the Road because there was so little to choose from. So yes, they've come a long way.

Naturally, Japan's standard would be viewed as higher, because of the expenditure within the industry, the much larger difficulty of getting a role, as well as the choices. Of course, the language barriers and censorship can skew one's view on the quality of a dub, but that's another debate altogether.

I should have mentioned the censorship I could empathise with. For example, about Jynx. How many young US viewers would know about the Ganguro fashion in Japan? I didn't mean to seem worked up over the riceball/doughnut thing. I was just poking fun... sorry for any that took offence, or worse, thought that I was actually outraged.

It's the American version of the show for American viewers - not viewers of the original series.

Despite me poking fun at 4Kids, I agree with you. This is an excellent point. As a Japanese person myself, truthfully, I would want children to be exposed to our culture more, but there are just some things that get lost- ridiculously lost- in translation.

 

[Palamon]

All the boring and stupid anime is still there. At least Pokemon was moved to Cartoon Network before this happened... 4kids made anime look really bad with all the editing and cutting out they did. They killed Yu-Gi-Oh and Sonic-X...
I'm going to rejoice in this too...

 

[machomuu]

4Kids screwed up pretty much every anime they touched, I hated 4Kids. But is good of news as this is, it's kind of sad to see them go. The only anime dub of theirs I actually liked was their dub of Pokemon, and maybe I only liked it because I was young, I dunno. But the thing is, I had a lot of good memories associated with seasons 1-5 of Pokemon, and I was pissed when they changed voice actors in season 9 (I still like the old ones more). So I guess it is a little sad, as happy as I am about this.

 

[yossarian]

Despite me poking fun at 4Kids, I agree with you. This is an excellent point. As a Japanese person myself, truthfully, I would want children to be exposed to our culture more, but there are just some things that get lost- ridiculously lost- in translation.

Agreed. There are so many cultural things that work in Japan that won't make sense in the West. You can't translate the Japanese text ad verbatim to English otherwise things would just not make any sense - you have to allow the dubbing company discretion to modify things so that they would work. And that's not even mentioning sorting out the complicated matter of matching lip flap.

 

[Guest123_x1]

4Kids filed Chapter 11 which is merely reorganization, however some assets may be sold off to satisfy creditors. For all of those that hate 4Kids, the real time to rejoice would be if they filed Chapter 7, which is flat-out total liquidation and closure of the company.

Some of the bankruptcy classes under Title 11 of the United States code are:

• Chapter 7 is flat-out, total liquidation-the company is closed and all its assets are sold off to satisfy creditors. Also available to individuals.
• Chapter 9 is debt restructuring for municipalities (cities, villages, towns, townships, counties, school districts, and the like)
• Chapter 11 as stated before is reorganization for businesses (and some individuals). Usually at least some assets are sold off to satisfy creditors.
• Chapter 12 is reorganization for family farmers and fishermen.
• Chapter 13 is individual reorganization.

With this said, the company could eventually liquidate altogether, with or without converting their case to Chapter 7. A few other companies have gone out of business or wound down their operations to basically nothing with Chapter 11 filings, such as Enron and the old General Motors Corporation (the latter of which renamed "Motors Liquidation Company" and transferred its "good" assets to the "new" GM).

Last year, 4Kids was delisted from the NYSE, upon posting a $3.5M loss in Q1-2010. In that same time frame, an unnamed party was mentioned as interested in acquiring 4Kids.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-04-06/4kids-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy

Point is, 4Kids has been controversial ever since they started dubbing anime. Among those they did besides Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and One Piece are Sonic X, Kirby Right Back At Ya!, and Mew Mew Power (Tokyo Mew Mew).

(Most) Anime is not intended for kids, and 4Kids and other companies like it "dumb down" and "sanitize" the shows they license to make it more appropriate for younger audiences. If they did little in the localization process, those shows probably would never be broadcast, instead released on DVD. Because Japanese decency standards are way different from American standards, a lot of anime contain material that cannot be broadcast over-the-air in America if direct translations were done, due to FCC regulations. (If they did broadcast such material, stations and networks could get fined big time. Just ask CBS, who got fined millions for the Janet Jackson incident in Super Bowl XXXVIII.)

 

[The Mega Champion]

Good riddance.

Maybe now companies won't give them anymore anime to RAPE EDIT they did/are still doing to their current anime.

*leaves*

 

[Tox]

I actually liked the 4Kids dub of Pokémon. I think it was easier to watch and more believable than the PUSA one even with the ridiculous amount of dub edits. Rejoycing is a little harsh, imo. I'm sad for the people who'll be losing their jobs. I can't say I didn't see this coming though.

 

[yossarian]

Good riddance.

Maybe now companies won't give them anymore anime to RAPE EDIT they did/are still doing to their current anime.

*leaves*

Talk about an extreme Hyperbole.


The thing is that if these dubbing companies didn't make edits to broaden the appeal of the show, the ratings would be so low and there would be no dub at all. I bet you all would be complaining then as well.

You have to understand the majority of people who watch the episodes don't watch the Japanese version and so arn't aware when there are edits hence they don't care.

 

[Starlite]

Not surprising, really. All I can say is "They had it coming."

 

[Nutella]

The thing is that if these dubbing companies didn't make edits to broaden the appeal of the show, the ratings would be so low and there would be no dub at all. I bet you all would be complaining then as well.

You have to understand the majority of people who watch the episodes don't watch the Japanese version and so arn't aware when there are edits hence they don't care.

Dude, I don't think they're listening, despite you being completely right. Lost in translation, people~, get it right. Some people (not necessarily here, mind you) have to take off their weaboo goggles, get off their "I WATCH THE SUBS SO I'M A REAL FAN!!!" high horse and look at this from a marketer's point of view...

In Japan, censorship isn't very strong. I've watched TV there, and I can tell you, they're cool with 8-year-olds being exposed to cross-dressers, paedophilic undertones and such. In the U.S., that kind of thing would warrant censorship or a late-night slot. They'd get way more viewers at 5pm rather than like 12am, so censorship it is!

Can't keep everyone happy.

Not surprising, really. All I can say is "They had it coming."

What did they ever do to you, dahling? You have a lot of venom!

 

[PearlShipper4Life]

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... =(

I want to forget what they did to One Piece bleh. The only good thing 4Kids was able to do was make Pokemon pretty decent, had good voice actors and made it funny. So I admit I'm kind of glad they are getting this after what they did to One Piece, thank goodness its in Funimation hands now, people who know how to do it right.

 

[Baconkillszombies]

Am I the only one who remembers Pokemon on WB?

Fraid not, Kids Wb was part of my childhood. :(

 

[Azure Revolver]

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

You have censorship to blame, not 4kids.

 

[WriteThemWrong]

Even as a kid I didn't really like the dialog. I always thought it was because of the writing but now I know it's all the dubbers' fault.

 

[Nutella]

You have censorship to blame, not 4kids.

THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE, HURR~ 4KIDS IS AGAINST POKEMANZ!!! >=( (BTW I agree with you about Glaceon! He was my token Dragon owner in D/P)

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?

They changed it for American children, bro. Not just children in general.

The "controversial" themes are not something the Japanese society find as much of a big deal. Sure, they're conservative about talking about these things, but if it comes on TV, it doesn't offend. At least, when I was there it didn't. Also, themes of those natures aren't viewed in Japan as it is in the western world.

You may or may not have heard of Kureyon Shin-chan (Crayon Shin-chan), that's aimed for all ages. The show's main character is a 5-year-old boy that... let's say, "explores the puppetry potential of his weenie", nuzzles himself in beautiful women's boobs, insults his parents very unlike a 'normal' child of his age and moons people for kicks. That would be unthinkable in the US, let alone the western society, but in Japan, it's one of the most popular kids' manga/anime.

What Japan considers 'fine' for children clearly is different from what the U.S. thinks. I'm Australian, so maybe I may be out of line by drawing assumptions. Anyway, 4Kids had to play God in some places and in my view, correctly smote things that western (parents, mostly, I would imagine) would not appreciate.

Even as a kid I didn't really like the dialog. I always thought it was because of the writing but now I know it's all the dubbers' fault.

Me too, but maybe because I watched it all in Japanese first, and as a result, was used to the Japanese voices. For the most part, translations were accurate. I think 4Kids didn't do badly at all. I find the censorships something to poke fun at; not as something that is an outrage. I can understand their decisions.

However, some things were out of the dubbers' hands. I'm sure they did the best they could. Like I have previously mentioned, some things get lost in translation, or more so, can't really be translated in a 'sound' way.