Here is where things get interesting. It’s also a subject that will most likely never be discussed anywhere else for a variety of reasons.
Toriyama.org was a supersite of internet personalities at the time, attempting to cover all things Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama but with a more “official” website design for its day. It was run by Rob “Carddass” D., Sherwin “Wuken” Abesamis, Steven Simmons, and Brian Real. The site skyrocketed into popularity as they hosted an online petition to get the DBZ series released in uncut English on home video. With the many connections and past sites each member of the team worked on, the petition managed to amass a large number of signatures.
The petition was presented to Funimation. Brian Real, the only one of the bunch never to have worked on a separate project, started to call himself the “head of PR” for Toriyama.org. With a fearless attitude, this random fan, still in highschool, started calling Funimation on a regular basis and developed a relationship with the CEO of Funimation, Gen Fukunaga. He further strengthened his relationship by guiding Gen’s actions in regards to the DBZ VHS fansubs that were being passed around online. Brian assisted Gen in locating a number of VHS fansub distribution websites (online stores, essentially) so that Funimation could send out cease and desist orders.
Though the “ratting” out of fansub distributors on the internet was considered controversial at the time, Brian Real was able to open the CEO’s eyes to the rest of Dragon Ball fandom, something Funimation at the time paid absolutely zero attention to. Gen discussed his reluctant plans to continue working under Pioneer while Brian Real told Funimation to cut that shit out. Dragon Ball Z was a hot solid property that wasn’t going anywhere. Screw working with all these worthless companies. You can handle working directly with Cartoon Network yourself. Screw Pioneer Entertainment, you can afford your own DVD pressing plant. You might even be able to sell the DVD remastering back to Japan for their own inevitable domestic release. Screw working with Ocean Productions, make your own dubbing studio in-house. This is an opportunity to build your own company.
This is where the Funimation you know today began was born. What’s amazing is that you try Google searching “Brian Real” along with “Funimation” and almost nothing comes up.
Brian Real was able to convince Funimation to do all of their production work in-house and release an uncut product directly to the VHS market (and later DVD).
Brian Real was responsible for one more notable act. He introduced Steven Simmons, a Japanese major who also worked on Toriyama.org, to Funimation. If Funimation is going to release an uncut product, they need someone who can produce a faithful subtitle translation. What better than someone from fandom itself? He even helped work on some fansubs in the past. Brian Real helped net Steven Simmons his job. Today you’ll still see Steve’s name all over Funimation releases.
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