Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! - Futile Devices
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LordByronius
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 861 Location: Philippe for America! He is five. |
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i hear this all the time; it gets parroted like it's gospel truth or something. this is, with all due respect, a completely unjustified, unsubstantiated assumption. where's the data? where's the proof that anyone who downloads fansubs or simulcast rips will never, NEVER pay for something, or even watch it legally? people said this about mp3s, that we were raising a whole new generation of consumers who would find it baffling to pay for music. now we have iTunes and Napster subscriptions, Pandora radio, et cetera. music piracy still exists and it's still a problem, sure, but those services exist and they are profitable. on the flipside, where's the data that supports the idea that piracy is okay because "most of the people who download stuff probably wouldn't buy it anyway"? i'm not saying that's probably not the case, i'm just saying that it is IMPOSSIBLE TO PROVE. the sooner we throw out these arguments that have no factual distinction, the closer we can get to actually sorting through this sordid mess that is piracy. |
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Hardgear
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From the little information that is out there, I would guess Funimation was strong armed into the lawsuit by the Japanese companies. From the looks of it they didn't think Funimation was doing enough to combat internet piracy, so they likely doing this as a gesture towards them.
Also, on the topic of spam, I got one in my inbox the other day, title was "Penis Growth Free Trial", and all I could think when I read that was "it would be funny if the contents of that email were just a picture of a naked chick". I then deleted it... we shall never know! |
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Lynx Amali
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Am I the only who found it odd that Funimation sued 1337 people? Seriously? O.o
For License Rescues, I would absolutely love to see Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac re-released and re-dubbed, or heck, a sub-only release. I grew up watching the DIC dub on Cartoon Network and YTV so I've got a lot of found memories of that show. Only ever made it to the beginning (?) of the Sanctuary though. Read up to the Poseidon arc in the manga though. I would also appreciate a Mazinkaiser, Getter Robo: The Last Day on Earth, Gravion/ G. Zwei and Psybuster re-release. I never did manage to pick up those DVDs. I thought the dubs included were pretty well done with the exception of Last Day on Earth's which was god awful. EDIT: Actually, toss Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure in there too. God, I miss that show. Last edited by Lynx Amali on Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dizzon
 Posts: 338 |
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Would the paying customer really be all that upset? I mean if they are paying for the product why would going after pirates rub them the wrong way? If anything it should make the actual consumer feel good. Hypothetically, if I'm(the paying customer) playing by the rules what reason do I have to hold a grudge against Funi for protecting their and my interests? |
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RestLessone
 Posts: 1426 Location: New York |
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Nowadays, I think official companies are trustworthy enough. You'll run across a mediocre translation once in a while, but rarely a horrendous one. Sometimes fans get bent out of shape because they automatically think the fansubs are more true to the original. That's not necessarily correct; some of these people do not know Japanese well or throw in random phrases. Additionally, translating is an art, not a science. A sentence can be translated in a multitude of different ways and still carry the same meaning. This can be especially true for the Japanese language. If one wants to complain about official subs, they better have a better reasoning than "I think that the fansubs are better because they are more true because I think so!".
You've just pointed out one of my biggest pet peeves: using honorifics when it makes no sense to use them. Japan? Sure, bring it. Alternate Japan? It's still some kind of Japan, so yeah. Alternate universe with a significant amount of Japanese names/titles? Fine, no harm. Alternate universe wherein everyone has some European name? No thanks. Europe!? Please stop. It's a problem I've run into a few times, though more with manga than anime (honestly, I'm still seething over TP's Hetalia suffering from this; why should any character but Japan use honorifics?). When I was younger, I was much more into the "let's honorifc everything" train of thought, but as I got older, I began to feel like they were taking away from an original intent. Can we seriously believe we're in America when Americans are saying -san? In that respect, honorifics feel less "authentic" in those situations. To me, there's a level of disconnect and it's distracting. (Okay, I'll end this tangent.) |
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writerpatrick
 Posts: 671 Location: Canada |
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Although companies may have been saying they don't want people downloading fansubs, I really don't recall any proper campaigns against it with things such as banner ads and a really honest effort put forth to try and change public attitudes. Relying upon the law to change things just doesn't work.
Anti-drug campaigns may not eliminate drug use but they may have an influence when done properly. At least the young people know that it's wrong. The same thing needs to be done to change attitudes about fansubs. As it is, many young people don't even realize it's illegal. |
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DTJB
 Posts: 671 Location: Dubuque, IA |
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I wanted to mention CCS, but I was a little too lazy to write a full response. Good thing someone else thought of it as well. I've recently finished watching the series through RentAnime, cheaper and quicker the hunting for them all on eBay.
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Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
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Though note that a lot of (most?) modern series make liberal use of 3D models altered to look 2D. You may not notice it when watching -- they usually do a pretty good job -- but it's a major reason for seeing far less stylization and artistic expression in recent anime than you'd see a couple of decades ago. Actual traditional hand-drawn animation is becoming fairly rare even in Japan  .
I'm not saying use of cell-shaded CG is a bad thing in itself -- the full-CG Berserk clips mostly looked good to me, for example. But genuine hand-drawn art has its own unique advantages, and it's sad to see so little of it now. |
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GWOtaku
 Posts: 678 |
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I have to strongly disagree. I don't think that there are no converts left to be won. I simply take a serious look at the One Piece situation, and this is what I see. I see a deal that, quite frankly, doesn't get better than this outside of even better video quality. Most episodes of this series that are available on DVD get put online. They are showing new episodes within an hour of the Japanese broadcast! This is free to any American with an internet connection. And yet people steal it. You're asking me where the data is, to prove the unprovable? You should be asking what more could possibly be done by FUNimation and Toei to entice these people to give actual support to an anime, let alone an anime that is well-loved and has given a whole lot of people countless hours of entertainment. It's usually at this point that someone would point out U.S. exclusivity. But furthermore, in response to another one of your points I would submit that Crunchyroll is basically analogous to Napster in this situation. You know what they offer, it was described thoroughly in the column. They simulcast a lot of anime, episodes are free a week after broadcast and the simulcast is available for a free. They usually manage 720p, HD video for new programming. They often either manage worldwide streaming outside Japan or streaming to a whole lot of countries. And yet there are people who rip their video and put it on a torrent for others to download, and there are others perfectly willing to download it. Since the column cites "tons of legal options, many of which are either free or cost a pittance", I presume you won't refut that and claim that this is because Crunchyroll isn't offering a sufficient service. If so, well, we are left only with the assertion I've made. Crunchyroll stealers alone should be enough to convince you that I did not make a "completely unjustified" claim. With every passing season, to me we get just a bit closer to the future that Justin Sevakis once advocated for in 2007; we have been since Crunchyroll went legit in 2009. Dozens upon dozens of anime are available digitally for free now and simulcasting is growing. You've acknowledged this. There is a lot of progress left to make, but it's sure not 2007 anymore. It is long past time to stop defaulting to pointing the finger at the industry. Sometimes the industry doesn't do enough, sometimes it really screws up. But it's also doing a lot right. When a lot of people are deliberately subverting it even in the latter scenario, that should be a wake up call. Last edited by GWOtaku on Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:27 am; edited 9 times in total |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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Saint Seiya actually had 2 releases when it was on CN/YTV- there was an edited dub produced by DIC using a Canadian cast that aired on TV, and a seperate, unedited dub released on bilingual DVD by ADV Films, who sublicensed the series from DIC. ADV issued up until episode 60 [which is where I'm guessing DIC's dub also ended], across 12 dvd's, which they rereleased as thinpack boxsets, and in 2009, as two brick boxsets [ie- a multi-disc case like most of Bandai's boxsets]. You can find them pretty easily online at sites like RightStuf, with the 2 most recent boxsets probably still available from regular retailers too. If you want the KoftheZ dub, ADV issues about 8 or so dvd's of it, w/4 eps each [so it only got to around ep 32 or so? I think] Getter Robo Armageddon's pretty awesome. Surprised ADV never reissued it outside of the brick boxset given the re-releases they normally did. Mazinkaiser got reissued a little before ADV's transformation to Sentai, as did the Gravion series, so you might want to check online, as those are still available from what I recall [likewise Psybuster] |
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toyNN
 Posts: 252 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Oh that made me laugh. Vexille has some great BoomBoom Satelites music and lots of interesting pieces but boy did they sure mess it all up when they tried to put it together, incomprehensible and not compelling story. A number of those rescue-titles mentioned seem to these can still be purchased, RightStuf still has all Tenchi and Oh My Goddess!, Dai Guard, Kino's Journey. Might be less incentive to pick up these titles if the old stock doesn't sell. One I was thinking of was Ranma 1/2 but maybe not the interest to re-release it. |
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shoddyworksucks
 Posts: 21 Location: San Diego, CA |
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The issue is that when corporations come down on pirates, they run the risk of looking like bullies sticking it to teenagers. I'm not excusing their actions, or saying that Funimation doesn't have the right to proceed with legal action if they believe it to be the most effective avenue for dealing with the issue. But the column also brought up the issue of the RIAA lawsuits against pirates in 2005. Sure, those people pirated music; in essence, they stole it. But the media coverage of those lawsuits were a litany of horror stories about greedy corporations trying to milk teenage kids, and often their parents, for undue damages. When a multi-million dollar company (Funimation isn't as big as the RIAA, but it is the biggest anime distributor in this country) goes after the so-called little guy, it paints the company in a bad light. Let me reiterate though: I am not condoning fansubs or refuting Funimation's right to sue. I'm just saying that they have to tread lightly to avoid being seen as the "bad guy" in this situation. |
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CatoriStar
 Posts: 53 Location: Tennessee |
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I don't know how Answerman-Brian is going to deal with this cake question. Just hearing about 1 cake is enough to make me think "must.have.cake." but hearing about bunches and bunches of not only "cake" but "Super Awesome the Best Cake I Ever Ate" cakes.... I don't want to think about it - it's a scary place.
*end cake trance* |
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dizzon
Posts: 338 |
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I understand the comparison you've made and am not trying to suggest you have a particular bias, I just don't follow the idea of paying customers feeling threatened by a company going after their opposite. Yes, there are horror stories of teens getting bullied by "Big Music", but those teens weren't paying for it and the paying consumers reaction you previously brought up is what I was specifically commenting on. Maybe some people who do actually buy the product will be turned off by this, I'm just not sure why they would be. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11354 |
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License rescues I'd like to see are mainly all the series VIZ has relegated to limbo, like Monster and Hikaru no Go.
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