Funimation Archives – Bent Corner

Animegate is even dumber than all the other ‘gate’ movements

First came Gamergate. Then came Comicsgate. Now there’s Animegate. What exactly is Animegate? It sprung up when sexual harassment allegations surfaced against voice actor Vic Mignogna. He’s known for his English voice-over work of Japanese anime shows that were dubbed for English-speaking viewers.

People who are pro-Animegate contend there’s no evidence Mignogna sexually harassed anyone. They created the #animegate and #istandwithvic hashtags.

I strongly disagree with Animegate. I think Vic Mignogna is a creep.

These photos are from Anime News Network and they feature Mignogna posing with a 14-year-old girl at a 2014 convention:

Animegate is even dumber than all the other 'gate' movements - Bent Corner — Notice the right hand under the girl’s jacket. Creepy.

Funimation conducted an internal investigation concerning Mignogna’s behavior and announced they would no longer work with the voice actor. Rooster Teeth did the same. How could they not? All they had to do is look at the three above photos posted by Anime News Network. Why would any company want to work with Mignogna? Generally, reputable businesses don’t want to work with creeps like him.

Ordinarily, I try to see both sides to a controversy before making up my mind. Before I was against Comicsgate, I was for it. I thought comics were too expensive and the books were delving too much into identity politics. Eventually, I could not ignore the underlying base of hatred and bigotry the hashtag movement attracted and fostered. In retrospect, I wish I had noticed it sooner.

Animegate is one hundred percent wrong

I’m having a hard time seeing both sides when it comes to Animegate. This is about as cut and dry as you can get. People who are supporting Mignogna must not have looked at the photo evidence. That, or they don’t see a problem with a 51-year-old man putting his hands and lips on a 16-year-old girl.

In conclusion, I think anyone supporting Vic Mignogna needs to reassess their position. In this case, the sooner the better.

I signed up for DirecTv Now

I signed up for DirecTv Now, the online streaming service from AT&T. I got the “Go Big” plan for the promotional price of $35 a month. It will eventually convert to $60 a month, but my subscription is locked in for $35 a month as long as I keep it. I also added HBO for another $5 a month.

It has a lot of channels I cannot get through conventional cord cutting means. Most of the network channels on the Roku require you to log into your cable or satellite TV provider to prove that you are authorized to have access to this content. Being that I don’t have a cable or satellite TV account, this can be problematic. It means you have to find someone who does have a cable or satellite TV account but doesn’t partake in streaming. It’s not too difficult, but it can be a pain in the ass.

With DirecTv Now, I will no longer need to borrow anyone’s streaming rights. I’ll have my own.

The only problem, so far, is that I can only watch TV on my computer. We have three TVs, two with Roku and one with built-in streaming apps. DirecTv Now is not compatible with Roku. They say they will be sometime in 2017.

The good news is that they offer a free fourth generation Apple TV device is you pay for three months up front. Apple TV is compatible with DirecTv Now. The problem with that is according to an email sent to me after I signed up, I can expect to receive the Apple TV in two to three weeks. That’s a long time not to be able to stream content to your TV.

I signed up for DirecTv Now - Bent Corner — The $39.99 Amazon Fire Stick.

To make up for the delay in getting my Apple TV, I went to Amazon and purchased a Fire Stick. They’re only $39.99, and unlike anything made by Roku, they’re compatible with DirecTv Now. I’ll need one anyhow for the second TV if I want to watch DirecTv Now on it.

I have an Amazon Prime account. One of the features of such an account is that they ship my purchases to me with two-day shipping for free. That said, I ordered it yesterday, and I will not be receiving it until December 28.

I’m assuming Jesus’ birthday has thrown a monkey wrench into the finely tuned gears of the Amazon’s shipping system. Of course, the man known as Jesus born over 2,000 years ago in Roman occupied Palestine wasn’t born on December 25th. Why let the facts get in the way of religion?

I’m happy to get away from Roku. Not only are they not fully compatible with Funimation, but I also hate how they’re constantly changing my background screen. They most recently overrode my settings to show a Christmas theme. I don’t want to see Christmas on my TV. I hate Christmas. If and when there is truly a war on Christmas, I’ll be one of the first volunteers to enlist and request to be sent to the front lines.

Funimation Roku app will not allow streaming of TV-MA programming

The Funimation Roku app, FunimationNow (version 1.0 build 110) will not allow me to stream TV-MA rated content. I can watch such content on my computer or on my Xbox One, but not on any of my Roku devices.

When I try to watch a show that’s rated TV-MA, I see a blue screen with the words, “Sorry! This video contains mature content.”

I contacted Funimation support because that is what it said to do in their online FAQ when presented with this error. The person from Funimation emailed me back asking what device I was using to stream programming to my TV. When I told them I was using the Roku, this was the response:

Hello Rick,

Thank you for contacting Funimation Support.

We apologize that your premium subscription isn’t allowing you to view TV-MA content through our new app.

We are aware of some issues with our newest apps and we’re working with our Development Team to get this fixed as quickly as possible. We have escalated your account to our Development team for review, and we’ll contact you as soon as we hear any updates.

In the meantime, you can still enjoy your full Funimation subscription on our website or through one of our current/legacy apps. We appreciate your patience as we work to get this resolved and we apologize again for the inconvenience.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

Thank you!
Michael
Funimation Support

So there seems to be a problem with the Roku app. That would have been nice to know sooner. Before this email, it didn’t even occur to me to try watching streaming content on my computer or my Xbox One.

This is beyond annoying considering that I’m paying for a Funimation premium account, and because their app for the Roku isn’t working correctly, I can’t use their service the way I want to. I want to watch anime on the TV, not the computer. One of our TVs has an Xbox One, but I despise the interface on the Xbox One. It’s overly complicated and using the controller as a remote control leaves a lot to be desired. It times out after so many minutes.

Funimation Roku app will not allow streaming of TV-MA programing - Bent Corner — The Funimation app on Roku will not allow me to watch Attack on Titan because it’s rated TV-MA.

FunimationNow is the only app on Roku, so Michael’s advice on using a current/legacy app is not very helpful. I don’t even know what that means, current/legacy. Aren’t they the opposite of each other?

I just want to watch anime in English on my TV like a civilized person. I’m more than willing to pay for the privilege. Is that asking too much? I think not. Granted, my life-long appreciation of Japanese culture should have prompted me to learn the Japanese language, making Funimation and it’s extensive English dubbed library an unnecessary thing to have access to. In my defense, I’m incredibly lazy, and I’m not even as fluent in the English language as I really ought to be. I still don’t quite understand when to properly use the words who or whom. Not really.