High Guardian Spice - Crunchyroll First original animation

[Allio]

4 magicals in a school. very original.

A trailer that doesn't tell you much about a show, not even the mc's name and motivation. Pretty unique way of getting around it.

[neatoman]

First of all, if you're project is funded, you should wait until you have actual animation to promote the show. Showing off concept art might make sense for a crowdfunded indy project, as those are sort of in a pitch state, but this has already been greenlit. And like Allio said, we know almost nothing about the show from the video, which makes me think the concept might not even be fully hammered out yet. These are all really bad signs.

Aside from that, I've already seen this become a joke. People make fun of how generic the concept is, how Crunchyroll greenlights their own show despite having structural problems with their site, how it blatantly panders to western trends despite most of CR's content being foreign imports, how the crew brags about being diverse despite stating their writers room consists entirely of white women, etc.

The closest to a positive impression is "I'll give it the benefit of the doubt". Which, I'll do that too, it just hasn't given me a reason to excited. I mean seriously, we don't even know if this is for kids or adults, how am I suppossed to judge something when I don't even know who the target audience is?

[CyberCubed]

From the title and pic it seems similar to Powerpuff girls in a school

[Powder]

How very Tumblr.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Powder

How very Tumblr.

Yeah, that's one of the many things I've seen this get criticised for.

[sdp]

Isn't Crunchyroll for anime/japanese fans? Why are they making a show that is not anime?

If they're doing enough money for original content wouldn't making dubs be a more profitable idea and what their fans would want?

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by sdp

Isn't Crunchyroll for anime/japanese fans? Why are they making a show that is not anime?

If they're doing enough money for original content wouldn't making dubs be a more profitable idea and what their fans would want?

These kinds of streaming "Networks" tend to be subject to contract limits, which is why they remove shows and movies after a while. My guess is that original content is a way of having something up in perpetuity.

[sdp]

Originally Posted by neatoman

These kinds of streaming "Networks" tend to be subject to contract limits, which is why they remove shows and movies after a while. My guess is that original content is a way of having something up in perpetuity.

Oh I'm familiar with that but Netflix produces their own anime, this is clearly an american show targeted at the SJW crowd which is the opposite of what you'd expect to be targeted at the anime crowd. Why not fund their own original anime instead of this?

[Allio]

Feel sorry for the creator as he is a transman and he was kicked out of the writing group as it's an "all female" group.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by sdp

Oh I'm familiar with that but Netflix produces their own anime, this is clearly an american show targeted at the SJW crowd which is the opposite of what you'd expect to be targeted at the anime crowd. Why not fund their own original anime instead of this?

Netflix is bigger than Crunchyroll and might have better options when it comes to pitches. When it comes to their original anime, or anime-esque shows, what I think of is Devilman Crybaby and Voltron Legendary Defender.

Devilman is a classic manga, has been adapted multiple times before and the director Yuasa is critically acclaimed, so it's not that weird such a show would be greenlit. Likewise, Voltron, while only really popular in the US and known for bad reboots, is still well known. Even if Voltron might not come with quite the same respect as Devilman, the creative team behind the Avatar shows and Dreamworks as the production house, more than makes up for that.

Some brand new studio banking on social justice pandering, might be the only thing Crunchyroll can afford to fund and/or get pitched. It might also be seen as a way of expanding their niche audience.

But it does make wonder, what kind of a show would make sense for Crunchyroll to pick up? Something from a Japanese studio that can't get domestic traction? An anime-esque reboot of an American cartoon? Or maybe follow in the Japanese tradition of licensing a comic to adapt?

Originally Posted by Allio

Feel sorry for the creator as he is a transman and he was kicked out of the writing group as it's an "all female" group.

The creator is something else I find odd. He's credited as "creator" but that's it. Other people are credited as story editor, supervising director and writers. So in what sense is he the "creator"? What does he actually contribute?

You know how Bob Kane is the official "creator" of Batman, when in reality his involvement barely qualifies as coming up with the concept, and doesn't even go as far as character design? I get the feeling we have something similar (if at least more open) here.