Some of you may have already heard about the new Funimation channel that’s popped up on YouTube but it’s news to me so I’m sharing it with you.
As of August 4th they will be showcasing four of their shows on YouTube. Currently in Funimation’s weekly lineup are episodes five through eight of Blue Gender, Kiddy Grade, Peach Girl, and Slayers.
Blue Gender is a spaced-based humans-versus-aliens-to-save-the-planet type of anime. Kiddy Grade is a show about two female detectives… in space/the future. Peach Girl is typical shojo “he-loves-me/he-loves-me-not” type fare. Slayers is an action fantasy in the shonen style.
I give them credit for covering all of their bases as far as genre is concerned but they lose points for giving us this tripe when they’re holding on to the good stuff like Gunslinger Girl, Samurai 7, Trinity Blood and Claymore. I also have to laud them for giving it away for at least a limited time.
Music companies tried and failed to combat internet piracy with traditional and legal means and failed miserably. It’s refreshing to find a company that embraces the very medium that the analysts claim is responsible for the loss in their revenues (might the $30/4 episode price tag have something to do with it as well?).
You can find the Funimation channel at www.youtube.com/funimation. Episodes change on a weekly basis.
Slayers is actually pretty sweet when you watch it in deep enough. There’s actually a plot that’s tied together by the somewhat-disjointed episodes near the beginning.