@Kaba:
may very well be the keystone that keeps the U.S. anime industry together!
I don't understand why this is a good thing.
People have already pretty much killed the offline R1 industry by indulging in sites like CrunchyRoll, which don't do dubs, and the quality of modern dubs is so painfully bad nobody with any taste in voice acting would buy them. Many of the major R1 companies, like CPM, Geneon and ADV are already dead, even if FUNimation becomes the only R1 company, fundamentally it's operating on the same business model as those dead companies. If it survives, it's probably going to only have virtual properties and no longer dish out hard copy DVDs or Blu-Ray.
There isn't really any need for FUNimation to exist anymore, since the original Japanese companies in R2 are more than capable of hiring translators through an intermediate and streaming them. Like with Pokemon USA taking over all Pokemon related operations from 4Kids and Wizards of the Coast, it's only a matter of time before the middle-man is completely sloughed off.
I'm not very upset with this because I can't stand R1 DVDs, with their subdued dub track, pitiful voice overs and updated material from the TV version packed with offensive fanservice. But I can't say I'm not disappointed that people have already demonstrated, in more ways than one, that "quality" - production quality AND video quality - mean little to them and they're willing to settle for garbage like CrunchyRoll.
4Kids, for all its annoying antics, was somewhat submissive when it came to stopping proliferation of its properties. We've had some trouble recently with 5D's, but I got to watch the entire series subbed as late as last August. This could easily have been connected to it, as it's clear TV Tokyo has been taking a more proactive interest in YGO's fate overseas and pressuring 4Kids to comply.
I would rather have 4Kids' system, which formerly permitted subbed OP on YouTube (which people back five years ago oh so stupidly didn't realize was a blessing) rather than FUNimation identifying flagged torrent IPs and suing people for downloading One Piece. There's currently no defense against that kind of technology, so most people are going to either stop watching anime of be forced to swallow CrunchyRoll. I have standards, so I'm of the former - it's not like I have to watch an anime every season, I'm not that insecure. But it is a dang shame, like the cheapening of hardware tools since the 1940's, and even though I'm financially connected to FUNimation, I really would like to see it go away.