Normally on this column, I would write about something that I hate, to the point where I wish it didn't exist. This week I am going to tell you about something good, something that would have been good, had it panned out.
As you may know, my favorite anime of 2010 was Eden of the East, a fascinating thriller/rom-com combo. I am currently re-watching the show, so I may post a formal review in the near future. Anyway, one of the many things that made Eden of the East so special were its closing credits, a paper-craft animation that showed incredible levels of both imagination and skill from the studio, and the song "Futuristic Imagination" is real good. It can be viewed here. However, I was struck by a rather sterile mood to the opening, a certain unimportant mood that seemed odd to me for a series so emotional. The song, "Michael or Belial", is by no means a bad song, just... it doesn't quite fit. There's a good reason for that.
You see, that isn't the real opener, this is. The song is "Falling Down" by the insanely popular American band Oasis. Isn't that impressive? And one would think this would be great cross-promotion for an english anime distributor like Funimation. Herein lies the problem.
The thing is, theme songs have to be licensed separately by the localizer. This usually is isn't a big problem, but with a big band like Oasis, who are attached to a major US music label, Funimation would have to pay through the nose for the song, and were only able to get it for 2 episodes on DVD, and 0 online. I find this stupid. The band already agreed to put their song in the show, so why does Funimation, who are only localizing an already produced and distributed show, have to pay for the song? It just seems kinda silly to me. It could have been a big thing for anime in America, but poof, gone. I wish that hadn't happened.
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