4Kids is DEAD. What Does This Mean For Anime Coming to America?

[jkid101094]

Well recently 4Kids was sued (over Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, no less) resulting in the company becoming bankrupt after almost 50 years of activity. 4Kids wasn't always terrible (they were responsible for the first seasons of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! after all) however, it is no secret to the anime fan base that they're recent works were not as great.

So now with 4Kids kicking the bucket the rights to several anime (or, at least they're showing rights in the US) have been divided between several other companies. Does this, however, mean that the shows will be better off?

According to Wikipedia a company called KidsCo aquired the rights to Dragon Ball Z, Sonic X and Cubix. The name KidsCo may not ring any bells at first, which is understandable. In the past, however, KidsCo has obtained the rights to several other shows you may know such as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Sonic Underground, SATam, The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Donkey Kong Country, as well as other well known children's shows such as The Magic Schoolbus and Franklin. What worries me as that the list of shows they've handled before doesn't include any anime whatsoever, mostly concerning American children's shows. While it's true that the shows they've acquired are already dubbed they could still make changes, no? KidsCo also acquired the 4Kids Saturday Morning television block so it's possibe some of the aforementioned shows could make their way back to television.

4K Acquisition Corp acquired the rights to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. Luckily, for those of you who don't know, 4K is part of Konami, the guys who not only make games such as Metal Gear Solid, but the YGO card game as well.

So are things looking up for anime? Or have things just gone from bad to worse?

[Hakudamashi]

Donkey Kong had a cartoon? The f*ck?

[jkid101094]

Donkey Kong had a cartoon? The f*ck?

[Hakudamashi]

I dunno what it is exactly, but something about DK's design bothers me
It's between either the eyes or that he looks kinda scrawny...

[Sonicsdimas]

Donkey kong cartton sucks.

[TheGameNinja]

KidsCo is a division of Saban. They've got Power Rangers and Digimon under their belt, except the seasons of both of those that Disney had... but Saban's got both back now.

[Hakudamashi]

This may be a tad offtopic, but what happened to DiC?

[jkid101094]

KidsCo is a division of Saban. They've got Power Rangers and Digimon under their belt, except the seasons of both of those that Disney had... but Saban's got both back now.

But does that mean KidsCo or Saban will have more control over the anime KidsCo has acquired? Also I've don't have any real memories of the Digimon anime. How close was it to the Japanese version?

[TheGameNinja]

But does that mean KidsCo or Saban will have more control over the anime KidsCo has acquired? Also I've don't have any real memories of the Digimon anime. How close was it to the Japanese version?

I don't know who would have more control. As far as I know, this is the first time Saban's used KidsCo. Maybe it's just a name?

As for Digimon, they mostly stuck to the source material. The first two seasons got a few rewrites, but not so much that it's bad (but a lot of lame jokes inserted). The story was always the same as the Japanese though. I think the only time they screwed with Digimon was with the movie.

[jkid101094]

As for Digimon, they mostly stuck to the source material. The first two seasons got a few rewrites, but not so much that it's bad (but a lot of lame jokes inserted). The story was always the same as the Japanese though. I think the only time they screwed with Digimon was with the movie.

This makes me a bit less skeptic. So long as they don't pull 4Kids' localization act back out things shouldn't go too badly. I'd love to see DBZK and Sonic X redone removing some of 4kids' stupid edits.

[Hakudamashi]

This makes me a bit less skeptic. So long as they don't pull 4Kids' localization act back out things shouldn't go too badly. I'd love to see DBZK and Sonic X redone removing some of 4kids' stupid edits.

That is if they re-edit them at all...

[jkid101094]

This may be a tad offtopic, but what happened to DiC?

"The company was also known as The Incredible World of DiC, DiC. Audiovisuel, DiC Enterprises, DIC Animation City and DIC Productions. In 2008, the studio closed its doors, and was reallocated to Cookie Jar Entertainment."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIC_Entertainment

Cookie Jar is on, though. My sister watches it every Sunday or Saturday, I believe.

That is if they re-edit them at all...

I never said they would, however, 4Kids left marks that don't deserve to stay there.

[TheGameNinja]

This makes me a bit less skeptic. So long as they don't pull 4Kids' localization act back out things shouldn't go too badly. I'd love to see DBZK and Sonic X redone removing some of 4kids' stupid edits.

Nicktoons' edit of Kai is pretty much uncut, less so than DBZ was back in the day. Maybe they'll use that version?

[jkid101094]

Nicktoons' edit of Kai is pretty much uncut, less so than DBZ was back in the day. Maybe they'll use that version?

Do they even have the rights to that version?

[TheGameNinja]

Do they even have the rights to that version?

Huh, hadn't thought of that... I'm sure Funimation would give it to them over the more censored version though.