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Answerman and Ms. Answerman

Okay, this week we've got the return of Ms. Answerman, who's been on a long sabbatical. Having two people answering these questions is a lot easier than doing it all myself. Alright, let's get down to business.



Dear Answerman,

Why does the Hellsing leader is titled "SIR" Integra Wingate Hellsing, eventhough she is female ?

dino, Huntville,
TX.

In England, females can be knighted. When they're knighted, they become “Dame” whatever. There's a gender distinction built in, so when females do something to get knighted, they get the “Dame” title. I'm not sure what Integral did to get knighted, or why she was given the title "Sir". Perhaps the queen was as confused as I was the first time I saw the character and accidentally knighted her as a male. Maybe she was the “most androgynous female” in England or something and Queen Mum decided it was worthy of knightship.

Thanks to all who wrote in and corrected this answer.

Considering how much effort her and her family has put into killing freaks and other monsters in the name of the Queen, it's not surprising that she's been knighted. Plus, calling her Ma'am Integra Hellsing wouldn't fit...she's supposed to be a masculine character.



My friends have only been watching anime for, I'd say, 1 year. They download fansubs and already licensed anime off of mIRC and Kazaa and whatnot. They sell burned cds to unsuspecting kids. They make fun of me for buying all my dvds. Subsequently, I dont let them borrow anything. And they call me selfish. AM I WRONG?!?! TELL ME "ANSWERMAN"!!! AM I WRONG?!?! ok, enough about that. My question is, what are the laws against fansubs. I mean, isn't there a law that says you can only have it for educational purposes and should be deleted after 24 hours?

Your friends are idiots and thieves, to boot. Downloading fansubs is fine, so long as the title hasn't been licensed and you delete them once the title's been picked up. Doing anything other than giving them away for free is highly illegal and getting money for someone else's hard work. It's despicable. They're being children if they chastise you for buying DVDs and not loaning them to a bunch of sickening pirates. Fight the good fight.

Cookie took a shot at the concept of Fair Use:

Before I say anything else, let me say that I AM NOT A LAWYER, nor will I ever be one. However, I've looked at the issues surrounding fair use a bit, and think that I can contribute a little bit to the issue...

As for your final question, yes, there is a provision, called “Fair Use”, that allows for *portions* of video, music, and other works to be used for educational purposes. The law is intentionally vague, so that the burden of proof lies on the copyright holder, not the infringer.. However, it is solid enough that should any Japanese company wish to claim infringement, fansub distributors would have a difficult time justifying their actions.

Even under the best circumstances, educational "Fair Use" of fansubbed anime would almost certainly cover less than even one episode. The US Code specifically mentions "the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole" as a defining measure of what is fair use. If each episode is considered a unique multimedia work, then subtitling an entire episode would make it much more difficult to justify. If the series is considered a single work, then perhaps a few episodes could be subtitled and distributed under "Fair Use". Universities are usually the targets of infringement, simply because there is such difficulty distinguishing between intentional infringement, and educational fair use. A quick glance at various governmental, commercial, and other organizations reveals that there's a LOT to discuss on the matter.

At any rate, I do not believe US laws currently allow a 24-hour period of time wherein any potentially infringing action is permissible. As near as I can tell, it was originally established by warez sites as a legal definition of an ethical argument. By deleting something after 24 hours, you will not continue to use it, and thus your impact on the market is minimal at most. However, that 24-hour period is not a legal definition, as far as I can tell. I also find it hard to believe that watching a drama based in a MMORPG is "educational" (for instance, .hack//SIGN).. but that's not for me to judge.


I think you need to get a new set of friends if they're going to be so petty...they're the selfish ones. You should NEVER make a profit off of selling fansubs...and only trade them until they're licenced. Tell them that if they want what you bought, they have to stop selling bootlegs.



Hey could you plz answer me this answerman, when does gravitation the tv series come out? i have been searching on-line but cant find the info. i need. thx a bunch!

Gravitation literally just now got announced by Right Stuf, International. Since it takes them forever to release something (witness Kare Kano), I wouldn't expect it to be released until sometime next year. The manga hasn't been licensed either, as far as I know, so you'll have to wait a bit longer to get your fix of shounen ai.

Gravitation is a great shounen ai show, and even if you don't like shounen ai you should watch it just for the wonderful cast of voice actors they have. It really is a great show, and the manga is beautiful and out in its original japanese.



will The Candidate for Goddess manga ever be released in the U.S.?

Well, it hasn't been licensed yet, but I hope it does. The manga series is a thousand times better than the overinflated, melodramatic, fairly ridiculous TV series, and I hear the manga has a proper ending. Pretty much anything they show on Cartoon Network gets worshipped by hundreds of thousands, though, so I can't imagine the manga not seeing a release eventually.

If anything, I've bought some of the manga for Candidate for Goddess...it's worth buying in Japanese just to enjoy the art. There are also a number of sites online that offer translations to manga that hasn't been translated, so one of them might have it.



I saw that FFU was supposed to be 52 eps but they are shortening it to 26 and are putting out a book for the rest of it known as FFU After. Is this true? I really like the series despite its campy and sometimes corny vibe. If it is true then do they plan on releasing the TV series here and the book at any point? Is there any FFU manga and does anyone plan to release it in English if so? Sorry to take up your time, but I am very curious and have few other places to look. Thanks!

The show was a complete failure in Japan. It didn't click with fans of Final Fantasy because it had very little to do with the game; they threw in a few elements of the games (Chocobos, the victory fanfare, etcetera) but the storyline was repetitive, rather dull, and just didn't catch on. The character designs didn't match with any previous Final Fantasy games, and the music was a complete letdown. The ratings dropped through the floor and they canned it before it could finish its planned 52 episode run. Square's attempts at bringing Final Fantasy to any screen aside from one that's plugged into a console (the feature film comes to mind..) have been failures. I think they're sticking to games from here on in. I've heard about the book, it's supposedly due for release after the show finishes. As for a US release, I think it's inevitable. It'll be a cheap license and they'll sell plenty of the first DVD to unsuspecting Final Fantasy fans who haven't seen the fansubs yet. The book… well, I wouldn't hold my breath. In fact, I can pretty much tell you that it won't ever be released here.

For someone who's never played Final Fantasy before I saw the anime, it was still a bit dull. Someone will likely buy the rights to it over here considering how popular Final Fantasy is over here...



Dear Answerman,

I just heard about a possible Trigun movie, called Trigun Maximum. However, I also heard that this was just the name of the second manga. Are they making a Trigun movie? Thank you o wise Answerman!

Trigun Maximum is the name of the second Trigun manga series. As far as I know, Trigun is a pretty dead anime property in Japan and won't be resurrected any time really soon. The anime finishes the story off pretty well and the manga is released very, very slowly in Japan, so I'd imagine they don't have a whole lot of material to work from in the first place, and the property's popularity has died down somewhat there. Even in the US, Trigun is old news. The whole Vash craze is basically over.

It's still worth buying the manga anyways, but normally if shows aren't releasing new stuff quickly, it drops out of sight.

Alright, that's it for today. See y'all on Friday.

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