Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-29917473-20160908195250

Hi everyone, sorry for the wall of text. So Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak has been out for a while, and sweet baby Junko's talking teddy bear is it good! Basically it's the show we've all been waiting for and then some. But as awesome as it is, there's one thing that can't be ignored: FUNimation's scriptwork. Thus, this thread is meant to address just that. Anyone gravitating toward the show from the games may find the stark inconsistencies when compared to NIS America's English localizations jarring, or at least confusing. After doing some sleuthing (and a lot of e-mailing) an employee at FUNimation alleged that the discrepancies are attributed to “different cultural values,” “programming requirements” and “appealing to the widest audience possible." Of course, games such as Danganronpa are made around those tenets, not to mention that when localizing games into the English language both considerations for the ESRB (United States, Canada and Mexico) and PEGI (Europe, Quebec and Israel) are taken into account. Thus, what values are culturally appropriate for a large chunk of the world certainly fits within the limits of “appealing to the widest audience possible.” And to say new fans would not be interested in what clearly are the ingredients of a winning formula is ludicrous. Never mind that at 5:45 in the Despair Arc episode “Hello Again, Hope’s Peak,” the titular institution is indeed referred to as “the Academy” – as it is on Danganronpa: The Animation’s blurb on FUNimation's website – and the blog post “Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope’s Peak…Broadcast Dub Cast Announcement” refers to the antagonists properly as “Ultimate Despair,” indicating FUNimation’s familiarity with the original terms and willingness to implement them. Granted, while the fandom is largely ignoring this, the situation nevertheless addresses another point: as consumers, we both have the right to demand and deserve better – especially if a company espouse "high quality" for its products. It's our money that keeps them afloat, after all. And right now, it seems as if FUNimation is more concerned with rushing out their product to compete with simulcast competitors instead of taking the time to do things right. Even if their work could be better - is flawed or outright wrong - it knows you'll buy its products anyway. It's understandable that FUNimation is concerned with profits - it is a business, after all - but consider this: Discovery/Science Channel’s How It’s Made (Young Artist Award 2014) brought back narrator Brooks T. Moore after uproar over his replacement with Zac Fine; the Blizzard property Overwatch (Metacritic score: 90) altered content due to fan dissatisfaction; and even the cult classic series Firefly wrapped up as the movie Serenity (Hugo Award for Best Presentation – Long Form, Nebula Award for Best Script, Prometheus Special Award) due to continued fan support. Best Buy, Bungie, NASCAR and Valve are but a few more on record as doing the same thing. Whether you agree or disagree with the changes made by those companies, the fact of the matter is that they listened to feedback in interest of their consumers. That extra effort goes a long way. While it's a little late in the game now, what's your take on this? Does FUNimation have an obligation to live up to their claims of "high quality" and "exceptional production values" by making the script the best it can be, or are you just glad the anime is out? Should we bring these discrepancies to their attention, or let them slide? Do you think we deserve to be treated better - have our voices be heard - or are they treating us well enough as is? And most importantly, if you disagree with the quality of the script - the changes to all the titles, names and terms - what should be done to have it corrected, such as for the DVD release? If there's a chance to fix things, we can at least try, right? One of the ADR directors can be found at VoiceofBevins on Twitter, and FUNimation is on nearly all the social media. And with that, sound off below! Or don't, and possibly cause the apocalypse. It's your choice.  