FUNimation (And Pretty Much Everywhere Else) Quits Interspecies Reviewers

[RDG]

Now even Tokyo MX has stopped airing the series Interspecies Reviewers Anime's Japanese Tokyo MX Airing Canceled

 

[Mostezli]

Only in NZ & AU.

 

[PicardMan]

Also, second highest rated anime on MyAnimeList.

Better than Bebop? My gosh, MAL has different tastes than me. Of course, my top 100 list would have been filled with gen Y stuff like Bebop, Evangelion, Kenshin. Of course, modern shows like HunterXHunter, JoJo, Attack on Titan, MHA and the like are also somewhere. I just doubt this show is better than any of those shows.

 

[LinusFan303]

some of that ranking is from people flooding the site and up voting it.


I think Amazon had to drop it since they might have been sourcing it from Funimation , including the simuldub, since I don't think Amazon dubs anime. Otherwise, it'd kind of weird for a company where you can buy anything including very very risque stuff would drop this show.

 

[Mostezli]

Better than Bebop? My gosh, MAL has different tastes than me. Of course, my top 100 list would have been filled with gen Y stuff like Bebop, Evangelion, Kenshin. Of course, modern shows like HunterXHunter, JoJo, Attack on Titan, MHA and the like are also somewhere. I just doubt this show is better than any of those shows.

I wouldn't proclaim better either on account of scope difference. It's a surprisingly good show, especially in how they build the lore of the species and underscore the unique psychology of the characters' attraction based on circumstance/scenario. Very unusually unlike any I've seen before except maybe Space Dandy.

 

[PicardMan]

I wouldn't proclaim better either on account of scope difference. It's a surprisingly good show, especially in how they build the lore of the species and underscore the unique psychology of the characters' attraction based on circumstance/scenario. Very unusually unlike any I've seen before except maybe Space Dandy.

Okay, I'm a little naughty and enjoy a few ecchi (High School DxD is a guilty pleasure of mine), but second best anime of all time seems ridiculous as there are so many great anime out there. Like LinusFan303 said, it's probably people spamming 10s so it could get attention. It would probably be short lived as the second best scoring anime. The fact that the show is no longer legally accessible anywhere in the US adds an air of mystique to it.

 

[Space Cadet]

Is Media Blasters still around? This sounds like something they would license back in the day.

 

[Mostezli]

Okay, I'm a little naughty and enjoy a few ecchi (High School DxD is a guilty pleasure of mine), but second best anime of all time seems ridiculous as there are so many great anime out there. Like LinusFan303 said, it's probably people spamming 10s so it could get attention. It would probably be short lived as the second best scoring anime. The fact that the show is no longer legally accessible anywhere in the US adds an air of mystique to it.

They should rename it Star Trecchi. It's that revolutionary, especially for comedies.
Every other season, you'd have the controversial show the anime community was ironically hyping, but this is definitely the first for it to be cancelled to this degree as well as the first for the following to not be masochistic.

Is Media Blasters still around? This sounds like something they would license back in the day.

Still around, but their most recent series is apparently from 2017.

 

[doomrider7]

Okay, I'm a little naughty and enjoy a few ecchi (High School DxD is a guilty pleasure of mine), but second best anime of all time seems ridiculous as there are so many great anime out there. Like LinusFan303 said, it's probably people spamming 10s so it could get attention. It would probably be short lived as the second best scoring anime. The fact that the show is no longer legally accessible anywhere in the US adds an air of mystique to it.

MAL scores are notoriously easy to game in favor or against ANY show. This is being propped up for "LULZ, TROLLED!!!" reasons and other nonsense of that nature so yeah, don't take it seriously.

 

[Terror of Death]

A couple of things:

An anime series isn't considered Hentai unless it depicts genitalia. Funimation licensed and dubbed like half of the super ecchi/borderline hentai anime that came out the past decade so the sex scenes in this series shouldn't really be an issue for them since they were okay with countless others.

The third episode contained a hyena character so some may consider the scene with her to be bestiality. Usually monsters and animals in ecchi shows have some human features but this was one of the rare occasions where the creature was simply bipedal with some clothing similar to disney cartoon characters.

The show depicts a positive portrayal of prostitution and the red light district. In most shows it's depicted as illegal and mostly visited and controlled by criminals or protagonists of questionable morality.

Sony Pictures Television bought a majority stake in Funimation around two years ago. They may have stricter guidelines on what is and isn't acceptable in their acquisitions.

When Sony moved its Playstation headquarters to America around 3 years ago changes were made to the type of content allowed in their games. Lots of anime games had scenes censored, content removed and one game was banned outright a few months before release. Sony's video game and tv divisions are different but a lot of American based companies have a clear bias towards Japanese depictions of violent and sexual content.

The only major times Funimation was a bit squeamish about the content in their shows was with OniAi and Dance in the Vampire Bund. OniAi was the first Funimation title released without a dub and Vampire Bund was going to be edited at first but backlash from fans caused them to release it completely uncut.

Taking all that in consideration the most likely scenario seems to be someone at Sony Pictures headquarters caught wind of the the type of material in the the show after the third episode aired. They freaked out and got the wild idea it would make Funimation and by association, Sony, look like they were pro besitality and or prositution. They immediately called up Gen Fukunaga or someone else at Funimation HQ and told them to axe the show. Funimation not really having a say in the matter simply obliged and released a canned and hypocritical statement about the show not meeting their standards.

I haven't seen the show myself so I can't judge the quality but I heard it's one of those don't judge a book by its cover type of of fanservice anime. Lots of positive messages about sexuality, self image, acceptance etc. I can understand why fans are mad since there's no longer any legal way to watch it in most countries. There's also a possibility it may never see a dvd/blu-ray release outside of Japan and the studio may be unwilling to make deals for their other shows in the future.

If the show does get license rescued in the future I would assume it would be by Sentai Filmworks. Like Funimation they licensed about half of the super fanservice anime released in the last decade. Monster Musume was one of their biggest hits so I would image they would love to release a show that takes the concept a step further. They could promote the series as being "too hot for tv" or "what other companies were too afraid to show" similar to their School Days home releases. Media Blasters also wouldn't hesitate to license it but they don't really have the funds to acquire modern anime anymore.

 

[TheVileOne]

That still doesn't explain why Funimation licensed this series without doing their due diligence here. Where was the failure?

 

[PicardMan]

It appears Youtuber Nux Taku was instrumental in MAL review bombing. It's down to 8.99 now.

 

[Light Lucario]

I usually read some updates from Funimation's YouTube page, like updates on Fruits Basket or Blue Exorcist coming to their website. Most of the comments tend to be either asking if a certain series fits their standards or demanding for the series to come back. It boggles my mind because I really didn't expect this series to have a noticeable following. Admittedly, I don't hear about every new anime series coming out each season, but I usually hear about really big or popular series. The only noticeable things about this one is basically just that Funimation dropped it after realizing that they were in over their heads.

 

[Mostezli]

Most of the comments tend to be either asking if a certain series fits their standards...

Is that in reference to other shows?
The difference I see is that this isn't another Funime dealing with incest, rape, or my superpower is falls-on-a-rake groping.

 

[PicardMan]

It boggles my mind because I really didn't expect this series to have a noticeable following.

The show being impossible to see legally causes the forbidden fruit effect. Funimation should start banning shows and then put them back as a form of publicity, I guess (and put the words "banned" in big, bold type at the top of the Blu Ray box).

 

[Light Lucario]

Is that in reference to other shows?
The difference I see is that this isn't another Funime dealing with incest, rape, or my superpower is falls-on-a-rake groping.

I think it's a reference to their announcement for dropping this series since they said that it doesn't fit their standards. That pretty much led to people asking if shows like Fruits Basket and Blue Exorcist fit their standards.

The show being impossible to see legally causes the forbidden fruit effect. Funimation should start banning shows and then put them back as a form of publicity, I guess (and put the words "banned" in big, bold type at the top of the Blu Ray box).

I guess that makes sense, but it just so strange to me when this series doesn't look or sound that appealing to me. Granted, I'm not really into regular fanservice heavy series, so something like Interspecies Reviewer would definitely not be my cup of tea to begin with, but I think I would understand more of the forbidden fruit effect if this show had a lot of hype going for it before Funimation dropped it.

 

[Mostezli]

I think I would understand more of the forbidden fruit effect if this show had a lot of hype going for it before Funimation dropped it.

Must depend on what sites you've frequented before both this and the review-bombing.
I can guarantee most viewers caught wind after the first airing, but the key was those same folks talked about this in the usual ways people hype shows, particularly comedies...which is undoubtedly vastly different from the trendy Shonen Jump series. I could've sworn the reception was still relatively high for those anime calendars and databases.

 

[Light Lucario]

Must depend on what sites you've frequented before both this and the review-bombing.
I can guarantee most viewers caught wind after the first airing, but the key was those same folks talked about this in the usual ways people hype shows, particularly comedies...which is undoubtedly vastly different from the trendy Shonen Jump series. I could've sworn the reception was still relatively high for those anime calendars and databases.

That might be a reason why I never heard of it before. I hear about some of the new comedy series, but usually not as much as whatever new Shonen Jump series is out or possibly some of the slice of life series. Unless it's from a noticeable franchise or series, I sometimes don't hear much about a new comedy series until after it completes its run.

 

[homeofthebadguys]

My take is that Funimation cancelled Interspecies Reviewers at the behest of Sony Pictures Television, as SPT doesn't want Funimation to cause the ruin of Sony's business relationship with Disney.
After all, knowing how that rat-house seems to care about public image, there's a risk that Interspecies Reviewers being produced under the watch of Sony Pictures Television could cause Iger's bean-counters to cut ties with Sony Pictures, which could cause Sony to be regularly overlooked for Disneyland promotions (You know of those "Disneyland trip" prizes on Wheel of Fortune that are occasionally handed out? This is why those happen) or be in a less favorable position when renewing the rights to make the Spider-Man films.

 

[TheCartoonRailfan]

I could somewhat understand why Funimation removed Interspecies Romance; it was probably because of the high amount of sexual content which is acceptable in Japan but not so much in the U.S. Again, I'm surprised Funimation left other series such as High School DXD alone. Maybe it's because the viewers want other genres of anime.