FUNimation Entertainment

FUNimation Entertainment (previously known as FUNimation Productions) is an American entertainment company formed by Gen Fukunaga in the early 1990s to produce, merchandise and distribute anime and other entertainment properties in the United States and international markets. On May 11 2005, FUNimation was acquired by Navarre Corporation (nasdaq: NAVR) and is now a subsidiary business unit. FUNimation is headquartered in North Richland Hills, Texas, near Fort Worth, occupying one and a half floors of a four story office building.

FUNimation's first blockbuster property
FUNimation rose to prominence by acquiring the rights to the popular anime title Dragon Ball (licensed early-mid 1990's), Dragon Ball Z (licensed in the early-mid 1990s) and Dragon Ball GT (licensed between 2003-2004). By 1998, they were able to get widespread television exposure via Cartoon Network and the Dragon Ball phenomenon quickly grew in the United States as it had elsewhere. (Two previous attempts by FUNimation to release Dragon Ball to network television had previously been cancelled, before the series and the company found success on Cartoon Network.)

Other properties licensed by FUNimation

 * Aquarion; announced on the website's Kickoff '07
 * Baki the Grappler (Grappler Baki)
 * Beck
 * Blue Gender
 * Basilisk
 * BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad
 * Black Cat
 * Burst Angel (Bakuretsu Tenshi)
 * Case Closed (Detective Conan)
 * Desert Punk (Sunabouzu)
 * Dragon Ball
 * Dragon Ball Z
 * Dragon Ball GT
 * Fruits Basket
 * Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi)
 * Galaxy Railways
 * Glass Fleet
 * Gunslinger Girl
 * ''Haré+Guu (along with Bang Zoom! Entertainment and AN Entertainment)
 * Kiddy Grade
 * Kodocha (Kodomo no Omocha)
 * Lupin III *
 * Mr. Stain on Junk Alley (Ga-Ra-Ku-Ta)
 * Mushishi - announced on the website's Kickoff '07
 * My Santa; announced on the website's Kickoff '07
 * Negima
 * One Piece
 * Origin: Spirits of the Past (Gin Iro no Kami no Agito)
 * Peach Girl
 * Ragnarok The Animation - announced on the website's Kickoff '07
 * Rumbling Hearts (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien)
 * Sakura Taisen
 * Samurai 7
 * School Rumble
 * ''Shin-chan
 * ''Shuffle! - announced on the website's Kickoff '07
 * Slayers (acquired from Software Sculptors)
 * Slayers Next (acquired from Software Sculptors)
 * Slayers Try (acquired from Software Sculptors)
 * Solty Rei
 * SpeedGrapher
 * Spiral
 * Spider Riders
 * Suzuka; - announced on the website's Kickoff '07
 * Tenchi Muyo! GXP *
 * Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki OVA 3 *
 * Trinity Blood
 * Tsubasa Chronicle - announced on the website's Kickoff '07
 * Tsukuyomi - Moon Phase
 * Yu Yu Hakusho **
 * Witchblade

* Geneon has the rights to the other Tenchi Muyo! properties, the Lupin III feature film Mystery of Mamo, and the second Lupin III TV series. FUNimation only has the rights to eight of Lupin TV movies and two of the feature films.

** FUNimation only has the rights to the Yu Yu Hakusho TV series.

Properties distributed by FUNimation
FUNimation provides distribution services for several production companies, including Alliance Atlantis, 4Kids Entertainment and Moonscoop. The following list may not be comprehensive.


 * Beyblade G Revolution
 * Code Lyoko
 * Full Metal Panic!: The Second Raid (licensed by Kadokawa Pictures USA)
 * My Dad The Rock Star
 * Princess Tenko
 * Sonic X
 * Spider Riders
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series)
 * WildC.A.T.s
 * ''Yu-Gi-Oh! (uncut version)
 * Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles
 * Degrassi: The Next Generation
 * Instant Star
 * Shaman King (Uncut Version)
 * Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Sabotage

FUNimaton will also be distributing a number of the TOKYOPOP anime catalog, with Initial D leading the march with the release of the First Stage in March 2007.

Distribution of properties to non-U.S. markets
FUNimation does not directly release its properties in non-U.S. (English-speaking) markets, instead sublicensing to other companies such as Revelation films in the United Kingdom and Madman Entertainment in Australia.

Towards the end of 2005, Fullmetal Alchemist (along with Beez Entertainment's Wolf's Rain) became one of the flagship programs on the relaunch of satellite channel Rapture TV and had only one edit, that of changing the opening to "Ready, Steady, Go!!" (the second opening), instead of the few minor edits the show received for its Adult Swim airings. Yu Yu Hakusho has also been acquired for television broadcast in the UK. However, it has not been announced who has picked it up and who the intended audience is (although present rumors suggest that Toonami UK acquired the series only to not air the show, further hurting its rather damaged relationship with its viewership).

FUNimation Channel
FUNimation has launched the "FUNimation Channel", the second 24 hour anime digital cable network in North America (the first being ADV's The Anime Network). OlympuSAT is the exclusive distributor and the FUNimation Channel is now available to video service providers throughout the United States.

Criticisms
As with most anime localization companies, FUNimation's relationship with fansubbers is often strained. They have been stereotyped as "the company that does DBZ," due to their heavy promotion of Dragon Ball Z. Many fans are still critical of the controversial decisions made regarding that series. This suggests they did listen to much of the criticisms leveled upon, FUNimation has produced several releases in the post-Dragon Ball Z years. In spite of bitterness about the treatment of DBZ, FUNimation has done much to endear themselves to anime fans in the years following.

In 2005, FUNimation's legal department began to pursue a more aggressive approach toward protecting their licensed properties, and started sending "cease and desist" (C&D) letters to sites offering links to fansub torrents of anime they distributed. This move was similar to that taken by ADV Films several years before with several of the major torrent sites. Funimation has also been criticized for sending C&D letters to sites who were selling legitimate imports licensed in the country of origin (since copyright laws grant FUNimation an exclusive distribution right).

FUNimation's legal department served C&D letters for series that had not yet been advertised or announced as licensed, including Tsubasa Chronicle, Black Cat, and Solty Rei, with a few known series also mentioned in the letter. Since fansubbers tend to voluntarily cease distribution once a series has been announced, this move was seen as "impolite and intrusive" and has upset some in the fansub community (even by some who supported FUNimation's intellectual property rights). This is the second time in the history of US anime distribution that a license has been announced first through a C&D letter rather than through a press release or convention announcement, after ADV Films' C&D letter for Gantz in 2004. FUNimation repeated this method of "announcing license via Cease and Desist" letters on 2006-10-06 when it sent letters to torrent sites demanding that distribution of xxxHolic's TV series, Mushishi, Ragnarok the Animation and other series cease.