I started thinking about the Resurrection F screening recently. Aside from the film, the interesting moments came before it started. There was the red carpet roll out for Sean Schemmel and Chris Sabat. You had the people all gathered around them. And then there were Saiyans. Lots of Saiyans. It’s safe to say that cosplaying on a Monday night is a very big deal, and Dragon Ball Z has been a very big deal to a lot of people.
That’s why, as we reach the halfway point of the Summer anime season, the worst anime related news happens to be Dragon Ball Super, and the fact that it’s not actually streaming on FUNimation.
Yes, FUNimation has some issues, especially with this weird subscriber lock method they’re using for their shows (which I had ignored until the Spring season), but there’s no denying that DBZ is their iconic series. They’re literally going to ride that one, if they have not already, until the day anime somehow ends (unlikely).
So, knowing all of this, exactly why aren’t they streaming it? I’ve only come up with a few reasons:
- They are trying to pull a “Netflix”: What I mean by that is they’ll skip the summer season, but have not only have the sub version up of DBS, but the dub as well. The fact that there’s no set end time for the anime makes you wonder, but all in all, it is what it is.
- Toei’s just being a jerk. Toei has been strangely jerky for the past few years now. They pissed off Sailor Moon fans by bringing Crystal to everyone worldwide, getting two weeks to work on the anime, and then produced some of the worst animation in general during that span. After all the hype that got, and with it not even managing to eclipse the original Sailor Moon, Toei’s just being stubborn, and that’s generally screwing over FUNimation. At some point, they’ll get it done. It would be really difficult to believe the relationship would end just like that.
- FUNimation’s waiting for it to be “clean”. As in, nothing like this. That is bad. Very bad. Literally reminded me of the Gintama arc where every character was fighting for their rank, and at one point, MSPaint was the only animation that could be used to animate the characters. Sure, anime budgets aren’t high, and no doubt production ain’t easy. It’s unacceptable to showcase a bad product when week in, and week out. So, maybe they’re holding out for finished episodes.
But I think it’s clear this has been kind of a failure, first for Toei, and second for FUNi. FUNi basically has fans right where they want them with Resurrection F being a success, but they can’t direct people’s attention to Dragon Ball Super, because they can’t make it available to them.
And the fact that DBS can’t be streamed legally at a time where we have all sorts of shows streaming nowadays?
Needless to say, this is a pretty big mess. I would encourage those still waiting to keep attempting to hold out by watching other summer anime this season.
Maybe Toei will finally learn to let go at some point.
