It looks like FUNimation may be doing some minor rebranding going into 2016 as one of their cable partners, Frontier, has revealed that at the end of this year the FUNimational Channel is being renamed to TOKU. By all appearances it’s looking to remain the same in a sense as it will feature a lot of anime, but it’s expanding into other areas – thereby diluting the FUNimation anime brand itself.
TOKU is most likely the abbreviated version of the word Tokusatsu, so I’d expect we’ll see some familiar elements of this in the new lineup as it gets underway.
It’s possible that it’s a merging with another entity or just an opportunity to expand the catalog. But as we’ve seen with so many other specific channels, once you break out of the focus, it becomes less of a go-to destination as there isn’t as strong a singular brand. While many anime fans surely enjoy grindhouse material, for example, are they going to look at TOKU for it?
What do you think?
| Thursday, December 31, 2015 | For customers in Washington, Oregon, Indiana and Connecticut,Funimation is changing its name to TOKU. TOKU will continue to deliver Asian anime shows, but will add more variety including highly-rated Asian movies in the Live Action, Grindhouse and Independent genres. Customers in FiOS locations in OR, IN and WA can find TOKU on Channel 252. FrontierTV customers in CT will find TOKU on Channel 1484. |
[Source: WTK]
