Pretty Cure is Acquired by Saban Worldwide....

[Lord Dalek]

Couldn't Saban have picked a Precure people... you know... like?

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[veemonjosh]

Couldn't Saban have picked a Precure people... you know... like?

That would imply Saban Brands is capable of making good decisions. And man, being part of both the Power Rangers and Digimon fanbases these past few years, I can tell you that hardly ever happens.

 

[MilkTheCouch]

Oh. My. God!
First Yo-Kai Watch gets an American dub, and now this? 2016 is going to be the best year ever!

 

[SpecialColorfull]

I hope this flops just to see the faces to those that think dubbing an anime like this is okay.

 

[Tommy Lawson]

That would imply Saban Brands is capable of making good decisions. And man, being part of both the Power Rangers and Digimon fanbases these past few years, I can tell you that hardly ever happens.

I know the feeling as well. PR had the Legendary Battle production problems that ultimately provided a lucky break for Chip Lynn to return, but aside from that for PR, it's mostly the same thing they've done since 2010. It took years for Digimon to return to the world of video games. At this point, I feel lot of Digimon fans would prefer the Digimon Tri movies go to some other dubbing company than Saban for once, but would Toei Animation actually do that?

 

[Light Lucario]

I know the feeling as well. PR had the Legendary Battle production problems that ultimately provided a lucky break for Chip Lynn to return, but aside from that for PR, it's mostly the same thing they've done since 2010. It took years for Digimon to return to the world of video games. At this point, I feel lot of Digimon fans would prefer the Digimon Tri movies go to some other dubbing company than Saban for once, but would Toei Animation actually do that?

I think that it is possible for Toei Animation to have someone else dub Digimon Adventure Tri. Saban has shown no interest in the movies. Granted, a dub for the first movie won't be even possible for awhile, but all of the promotion has been done by Toei themselves. Plus, I don't think that Digimon has been doing that well for Saban compared to Power Rangers, so that might make them lose interest in the franchise.

As for this particular news, Glitter Force sounds like a pretty generic name and the fact that they've cut out eight episodes right from the start is a pretty big red flag. I could see Saban treating Pretty Cure as something like Power Rangers with a more female demographic, which probably wouldn't work out. I've heard good things about the Pretty Cure franchise in general, but I don't think that this dub would be the best gateway into it. The voices might be good though.

 

[Golden Geek]

Looks like Glitter Force might be a Netflix exclusive!

 

[PokemonTVDub]

I guess we will finally see what this is all about. But considering how long it's taken to release, I don't think Saban has plans to dub anymore episodes anytime soon.

 

[Domayv]

Looks like Glitter Force might be a Netflix exclusive!

looks like I was right that this will air on Netflix, but this does bring me to this question: Was it of any point that Saban had to edit the content of this series (given that it would still be fairly kid-friendly even if unedited & uncut) since it's airing on something like Netflix (which has no censorship or standards & practices to speak of)?

These cut-and-paste (a.k.a. the Macekre) types of dubs need to stop right now because aside from making the company involved garner burning hatred from the fandom (and even moreso if the company outright refuses to show an unedited & uncut (at the very least) subtitled stream), it's also more expensive than just making a normal dub. In the case of Digimon, Saban should have made the dub unedited and uncut from the start (character renames notwithstanding though it would be better to just have the characters use their original names), then just edit it for content when it airs on Nicktoons (that's what Viz did with Naruto when it aired on CN: Make the dub unedited and uncut first, and then edit it to make it appropriate for Cartoon Network, and that worked wonders for them, and it also showed that you don't have to do unnecessary edits (i.e. name and music changes) and "Americanization" of anime titles in order for it to work on a kids' channel. Clearly Saban Brands hasn't gotten that in its head. Even more jarring is that Naruto premiered on CN a decade ago).

Getting back to Smile Pretty Cure/Glitter Force, since they're having this dub be edited, they'll most likely find a way for that show recoup profits aside from streams by having it be merchandise-driven since that's the only way I can see it. Otherwise, there is just absolutely no excuse whatsoever for it being edited from the start.

On a side note, what's Saban going to call the previous PreCure series if they get them should this Glitter Force title do well for them, Glitter Force Zero?

If Saban's ever going to gain respect from the anime community in this day and age, then they'll have to make an unedited & uncut dub (most likely this would mean pairing with a known anime distributor like either Funimation, Sentai or Viz). This would especially work with Digimon since the DVD releases of the first five seasons (Adventure 01, Adventure 02, Tamers, Frontier, Data Squad/Savers) have sold like hotcakes so there is significant demand for those series thus justifying an unedited & uncut dub

Spoiler

(given the episode count of each series, Bang Zoom! is left out of the question if Saban collaborates with Viz lest they go with Studiopolis, which would require numerous recasts since the original dubs were union-contracted and the uncut dub would most likely be non-union to save up on money. Funimation's studio would also left out due to the lack of space to handle series of that magnitude since they made Broadcast dubs a priority (whatever remaining space the studio has, it's used for long-runners like Fairly Tail and One Piece), and Sentai's studio wouldn't be able to handle dubbing a series that exceeds 2 cours. NYAV would also be left out of the question since they're pretty much meant for high-reputation movies and certain titles like the new UC-verse installments of Gundam. This ultimately would leave the Vancouver-based Ocean Studios as the most practical studio to use for an uncut Digimon dub since they are reasonably-priced (in particular compared to LA) and have the experience of dubbing series that exceed 2 cours, plus Saban has the familiarity of the Vancouver voice pool since they have used them before when they were Saban Entertainment).

 

[Lord Dalek]

No surprise about Netflix, it would have been incredibly hard to get this on to Nicktoons.

 

[Tommy Lawson]

Looks like Glitter Force might be a Netflix exclusive!

It is 100% confirmed now it is coming to Netflix, on December 18, for a 20 episode run to start, from PR Newswire. I find the news depressing, because Netflix had no problem putting two seasons of a Disney Channel telenovela, in Spanish with English subtitles, Violetta, earlier this year, yet Smile Pretty Cure has to be heavily compressed and edited into 40 episodes from its original run? Wouldn't something similar, the original Japanese voices with English subtitles, work as an option too? Feel free to let people on Netflix and other companies know if you want things to change one day for other anime shows.

 

[Dudley]

When it comes to animated programming targeted toward a young female demographic, Netflix appears to be the best home for it.
I've seen a few episodes of Smile PreCure, and from what I've seen felt a lot like filler so taking 8 episodes won't be that big of a deal. However, removing 28 is pretty bad, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes.
I wonder how much of this is Netflix's doing compared to Saban. I remember how the first three series of Digimon with subtitles was on the service, but got removed a few months ago, yet the dub remained. Maybe the majority of people just aren't interested in watching the subbed version as they grew up with the dub, so they didn't bother renewing the title.
From what I've seen over the years is that for some anime, studios will go the extra mile to appealing to the niche anime fandom by providing a subbed version, and more often than not it's for anime that wouldn't be deemed suitable for kids. Anime targed towards kids are the than not succumb to the "4kids treatment", like toyetic anime, Doraemon, and now Pretty Cure.
I'm not upset about this at all, as I can easily watch the original version, but I don't understand why anyone here would be upset. Just like with Doraemon, I never see anyone talk about the show here, so now out of the woodworks people are getting riled up over a series that's been around for over a decade seems a little silly, but whatever.

 

[Golden Geek]

I hope Saban can get the rights to the first season of Pretty Cure and its English dub (which only aired on Canadian/UK TV) and put it on Netflix. But what would they call it? Glitter Force Redux?

 

[Light Lucario]

I'm not upset about this at all, as I can easily watch the original version, but I don't understand why anyone here would be upset. Just like with Doraemon, I never see anyone talk about the show here, so now out of the woodworks people are getting riled up over a series that's been around for over a decade seems a little silly, but whatever.

Most of the people who would get upset over this are most likely fans of Pretty Cure. I've seen more fans of this franchise on other sites than here, so they didn't just suddenly appear now that this series is getting a dub to complain about it. I believe that there are quite a few series in this franchise and it's been going on for awhile, so it does have its fans. Just because you didn't see them before doesn't mean that they didn't exist beforehand. Besides that, it's pretty understandable why they'd be upset. I'd be upset if a show that I liked got a lousy dub, which most likely is going to be the case given that they edited out eight episodes, renamed the show and it's done by Saban. Even with the show being around for so long, something like this would upset fans, so I don't see why it would be that hard to understand.

 

[GWOtaku]

Most of the people who would get upset over this are probably at least twice the age of the ones the show is explicitly for. I don't see the point in cutting any content at all with a show like this, certainly not with any for-the-children rationale - this is a G-rated franchise. Ideally some R1 company would have grabbed and dubbed this, and released it in its complete form.

However for whatever reasons, after years upon years, that just didn't happen outside of an attempt at the original that came years too late. And so, all things being equal, given the choice I'd rather see it adapted and available worldwide for young girls than have it stay "pure" and within Japan alone. Not to mention that no one knows a thing about the adaptation, not even the names of characters. Who is to say whether this is closer to Rave Master quality (argh) or something modified but mostly on the mark where it counts?

I've seen a few episodes of Smile PreCure, and from what I've seen felt a lot like filler so taking 8 episodes won't be that big of a deal. However, removing 28 is pretty bad, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes.

They're not cutting 28 episodes, it's just that at first Netflix is running a "season 1" of 20 episodes. The rest will presumably come later if it performs. There's also now a confirmed premiere date of December 18.

 

[Hypeathon]

When it comes to animated programming targeted toward a young female demographic, Netflix appears to be the best home for it.

Yeah, I kinda agree with you despite having rarely used Netflix.

I know most fans of the Precure franchise, be it the sakuga folks, the moe fans or anyone else, have more than expressed their beef with the name changing and cutting of content. But given how I'm sort of indifferent to the franchise and don't care much for kids/toyetic anime shows on U.S TV these days due to how they're scheduled and treated by kids cable networks, I kinda kept quiet about the whole Glitter Force thing and shrugged my shoulders thinking it is what it is. With that being said though, I was constantly wondering where on earth Glitter Force would even be shown since it's a magical girl show for well, actual young girls which has not had a market in the U.S since 4Kids had attempted with Magical Doremi 10 years ago back when Fox still had a Saturday morning block.

I honestly did not think of Netflix, but that's probably as good of a means as any to show anything for girls, even anime. I definitely hear more kids say they are getting into shows specifically through Netflix.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Yeah anybody upset over this is...

A. In their 20s.

B. Probably male (I swear to god I have never met a single female Precure fan online, like...ever).

C. HAS ALREADY WATCHED IT FANSUBBED.

and most importantly...

D. doesn't even like this season to begin with.

Let's not fool ourselves here.

 

[Light Lucario]

I'm pretty sure that I've met a few female Precure fans online, although I don't know how popular this season is compared to the other ones.

 

[Golden Geek]

Yeah anybody upset over this is...

A. In their 20s.

B. Probably male (I swear to god I have never met a single female Precure fan online, like...ever).

C. HAS ALREADY WATCHED IT FANSUBBED.

and most importantly...

D. doesn't even like this season to begin with.

Let's not fool ourselves here.

Objection. I've never watched any Pretty Cure, I'm fourteen, still male, but as an animation fan I believe that everyone has the right to a product as the creators intended it. If they were releasing an uncut DVD/stream it would be different. If these were just minor edits it would be different. Eight episodes is a huge amount of content removed.

 

[GWOtaku]

I'm pretty sure that I've met a few female Precure fans online, although I don't know how popular this season is compared to the other ones.

I get the impression that in recent memory superfans really embraced Heartcatch (the 2010 anime) and most definitely the current Go! Princess Pretty Cure for reasons having to do with both animation and characters and so on. That isn't to say I have an impression Smile is disliked, though. If any series is considered below par, by my perception it's probably the music-themed Suite Pretty Cure.

I get why Saban would pick this one, between the general theme (fairy tales) and the five-girl, sentai-type team. Pretty simple appeal for the company of Power Rangers.