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You know, we wouldn't even NEED fansubs or fandubs if it weren't for what passes for entertainment from 4Kids.

hooliganj wrote:

I just want to point out that any fansub group that managed to snare 30k in d/ls would be doing a little dance. Hundreds of thousands is pure hyperbole, even for Naruto.

Not really...even some the more obscure series like Canvas 2 pull in around 20,000, and episodes of popular series like Bleach and Naruto are regularly 200,000+, even for the dreaded Naruto filler episodes. (Looks like someone posted this and I didn't notice)

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It does appear that not long after the show was licensed, the average number of downloads jumped from around 35k to 200k+. That does say something interesting about the downloaders, though.

Not necessarily--if you're looking at the same tracker I was, the sudden increase can be explained by the fact that fans were originally downloading from groups that decided to do the "right" thing and drop Naruto upon its licensing. After that, those numbers went to the groups who continued post-license.

As for when downloading became "the thing," I'm not for sure, but I'd guess it was around 2001-2002 when BitTorrent became prevalent. Before that, the digisubbing scene used methods like IRC, ftp, and direct mailing of burned CDRs for distribution--methods that required some amount of time, effort, and technical knowledge to use. The combination of software that any n00b can learn, faster internet connections, larger hard drives, and DVD burners has coalesced into a unique dynamic synergistic condition for mass piracy.

The other big thing between now and the days of VHS fansubs costed money to make the fansubs and you actly h not everyone had the coin for SVHS decks a genlock to add subs,a LD player for your raws. So people tended to sub a show they really loved not just "oh well its currently on tv in japan so we better get it out before craptastic subs beats us to it!".

More for the love of the show then the ego stroke of look 100k people are pulling down our sub!. (I know im speaking in broad terms but just calling it like I see it) Sure people still traded after the show was liscened but atleast eventaly the masters would wear out since the bulk of people who kept distubuting werent the main subber. I think the main problem is the current generation of fans is spoiled. Just such a huge wealth of "free" anime avaible to them nothing like when I was a fledling anime fan. for the record im not anti fansub (well duh if youve seen my posts about some of the shows that are currently fansub only) I also buy alot of merchandise and dvds when I can.
Just get so sick of the damn entitlement complex people get when there show gets liscened its like hey be thankfull more cheap anime.

Goooooooood column!

The response to the fansub question was pretty surprising to me, and I liked it. I'll admit that I'm one of "those fans" that actually prefer the fansubbed versions better than dubs and (some) legit subs (I'm not going to go into the whole "better translation" issue, I just like fansubs because they are prettier and easier to read ;3 ). But a way to get what I want and still support the industry, as Zac has suggested, really excites me.

I've done this with Death Note-- I read the entire series first on scanlations, but have now bought all the American releases, and I plan to collect the entire series in English, Taiwan/HK Chinese (for the nice dust jackets, and so I can read it), and Japanese (for collectors' value). I go overboard, but I can now say that I can sleep well at night for reading the scanlations in the first place.

rocklobster wrote:

You know, we wouldn't even NEED fansubs or fandubs if it weren't for what passes for entertainment from 4Kids.

That makes Zero sense.

That's what I was thinking, 4Kids represents such a minority in the domestic licensing industry with so few titles they are hardly even a factor. Not to mention their shows were available well before 4Kids picked it up or released the first episode. Even if 4Kids did it well, yes that's a big "if", it wouldn't have changed the fact the fansubs and fandubs would still exist.

lightweight wrote:

II liked the question about the Naruto fansubs. The fansubing argument has been brought up a lot and I personally haven't been fully comfortable with what is ok and what isn't. I really like Naruto and, though I have been told I am an exceptionally patient person, have no intention of waiting 3 or more years to find out what happens next. The comparison to bootlegs kinda painted the picture for me so now I don't quite feel like a leech on the entertainment industry.

I hope that means you're buying the DVDs.

Besides that, I am also a huge fan of Naruto, but I do not download the fansubs, so I don't have this "problem" with having to wait three years for what happens next, because in three years, what is happening in the show will be current to me. Can't wait for the uncut DVDs to be released. Based on the preview episode from Shonen Jump, the original Japanese version looks really good (though the dub is also excellent).

First BEST COLUMN EVER! Next I was a bit miffed last week when I read your somewhat harsh answer to the Naruto fan last week. (The stealing the show comment not the calling the studio stuff) But your answer today I do very much agree with. I admit I am guilty of downloading it post-license, but I don't think anime should be free and I don't condone as a general rule bootlegging. I feel somewhat morally obligated to buy the uncut DVD's (already preordered) and I watch it on CN just as a nice look back at the old episodes. Supporting the show helps more anime get licensed. However I do feel that when it comes to buying DVD's it is incredibly unrealistic for anime companies to expect us to buy before we see. The DVD market in the US is vast and successful but I seriously doubt Americans go out and buy box sets of TV shows like LOST or 4400 without having seen them first. To me anime is very similar. For all the waxing poetic about it in the end it's TV shows and movies. We in the US don't get to watch the anime on TV, decide we like it and then go buy it. What the current market asks is that we read a blurb on the back of the disc and decide to take a chance on it. That's just not something I am willing to do when DVD's currently run $20+ bucks a pop. This is why I say it's unrealistic in the US market to say fansubs are bad. I don't know about anyone else but I own a lot of DVD's and I can't think of one I bought that I hadn't already seen. This includes my anime. I own several box sets of shows I love but some aren't even open because I had seen all the episodes before I bought it. My point is that I really think fansubs help the industry more then hurt it, because if it wasn't for fansubs and Netflix I never would have bought an anime I hadn't seen first on US TV. Which FYI was the situation with the first anime box set I ever bought -Sailor Moon, which at the time was on TV in the US.

Excellent column all around. Funny and informative. I agree with his stance on fansubs - I have personally no problems with people watching fansubs as long as they end up spending money on the series. It's the people who watch fansubs and don't pay up that annoy me.

If you want to get an anime made you really have 3 basic options:

Option #1 - Become so rich that you can afford to pay off an anime studio to make your anime.

Option #2 - If you're exceptionally talented, you can be like the guy behind Voices of a Distant Star and do an anime by yourself. Then people see your talent and the offers start coming in.

Option #3 - Pick a form of expression that can be done by yourself like writing a novel or drawing a comic. With the right combination of hard work, talent, and luck, your original work will become very popular and it'll be much more realistic to try to get it turned into an anime, movie, TV series, videogame, what-have-you.

Personally, I would love to be a lead designer at a big videogame company. However, I know there are millions of people who who love such a job so what can I do to distinguish myself from all the wannabes? It's very simple: I can make games right now. If I can show that I can make entertaining and original games by my own effort, I think it would be much easier to convince a game company that I would be able to make awesome games for them if they gave me a team to work with. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Even if I never get my dream job, that just means that I end up spending many hours doing something I enjoy to create something that other people can enjoy and don't make any money through my hobby. Fine by me.

This has too have been Answerman's best column, since well, the first one I read! And at that time, I only thought that one was the best because the column was fresh too me. So this might be my new favorite one!

Anyway, your response to the downloading rant/question probably covered more ground than the Watching Anime Legal or Illegal way! forum! And that is at over 200 posts as of now. Great job!

What strikes me as odd about is that these fans, write their UNBEILIEVABLY ORIGINAL QUESTION (which you probably get a billion of a week) of "how to get in the industry". I mean these people obviously read your column to know how to write to you. They see the negative feedback and whatnot... actually these are probably the type of people who skim through everything!

Another superb column Zac (may I call you Zac? Anime smile

). Since you dropped most of the "can I get into the industry?" and "when will so-and-so anime be licensed?" emails, the column has been much more interesting, informative and above all entertaining to read.

I used to be guilty of being one of those fansub-only anime fans and rarely spent money on anime merchandise (DVD's etc). Occasionally, I would purchase a few Gundam models when I visit Hong Kong. I could blame it on the fact that I was living in Dubai (Middle East) and I didn't exactly have a regular income but now that I'm living, studying and working part-time in the UK I can usually afford to purchase and support my favourite shows. So far I've stuck to buying anime movies and OVA's, the reason being that I can get the whole movie/OVA (usually) for the price of one DVD as opposed to purchasing several volumes of an anime series for an average of about 100 English pounds (approx. USD$200) for an entire series, which is well over my budget. I hope to build up an insane collection of all my fav shows once I graduate Anime smile

I reckon that all the recent "I wanna get into the anime industry, please help!!" emails are just to annoy you. It's like a long-running joke on the Hey, Answerman! column and it's always interesting to see what scathing sarcastic remark you'll come up with next.

btw: I have a question that may have been answered a long time ago... When a US distributor licenses an anime title, is the license a one-off payment or does the company that owns the japanese rights get royalties for each DVD/relevent merchandise sold as well?

You know, I was thinking how terrible these Naruto fansubbers sound retarded for downloading the manga and anime. Then I realized I basically do the same with some series, namely Berserk. Though I've got the anime bought on DVD (in the old box set even) and have had my local shop sell me every new volume Dark Horse releases. Yet I still can't help read relatively far ahead in the manga. (I actually hear things just started to pick up again in the chapters I feel behind on recently.)

There is this odd time split that just kills fans who follow the series. Following online is the only way to keep up with what the author actually releases. Manga isn't meant to be released every so many months in colelcted format. They are supposed to come out in phonebook sized books with new chapters from various series every week to month. Yet only Shonen Jump is doing that in America and even they are years behind Japan, right? Actually, I think Viz recently got a shojo anthology too, right?

Though again, as Answerman points out, if fans do support the US release

Interesting notes, I'm tempted to nab new chapters of Hellsing and Trigun because of where the story is and Dark Horse is taking forever. Ok, they're not really, but it rather feels that way! Also, a friend of mine has been downloading Tenjo Tenge because US compnay CMX censored the US release. He has also been buying the Japanese edition in protest as a local comic store started to order them after fan reponse.

Though I hav eto also say that I really am kinda feeling a distance growing between me and my friends who watch anime. These people read manga and watch anime for hours and hours. They follow a good deal of the new fansubs as they show up. Then they might buy a fration of those. Or they might complain that a show was just mediocre. Why continue downloading a series if it's not something you'd buy? Why waste the time.

Me? I barely keep up with finishing the series and watching the movies that I buy on DVD. Though I wonder if that's attention span problems. Though i tend to keep yp fairly well with manga more than sitting down for a TV series.

Basroil wrote:

Quote:

Me and one of my friends are writing a anime script and we were wondering how do we send it to get produced. we know a few sponsors like anime works,adv films, bandai,ect... but what we was wondering is do we just send it to them or is there some procedure.

These idiots can't even use the english language properly and they think someone would be interested in their script!? If it were me reading it the lack of proper grammer and punctuation would have me tossing that script in the trash before I finished the first paragraph.

That's why they should just mail the script to Williams Street.

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Additionally, what's so "seriously wrong" about 13-year-old girls watching Boku no Sexual Harassment? No one's ever surprised to hear about a 13-year-old boy catching a few pornos online— even lesbian pornos.

And isn't that a little sad? How little supervision kids seem to have these days? (Especially when your average kid knows more about computers then their parents do, and can probably cover their tracks pretty easily.)

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Yaoi is another outlet to let them experiment with their sexual identities without them actually having to go out and have sex, which I would say isn't a bad thing.

I'd like someone to elaborate on this.

Zac wrote:

Haze wrote:

It's kind of a shame that the kitten photos and "caption this" features have been gone.

They're not gone, they're just on the bench for this quarter.

I cry every week a kitten doesn't show up.

Please, Zac, at least tell me how you get the pictures?

Is it google image search, or a website ya use?

In regards to this week's column, I disagree with one thing stated in the Rant.

Young, over eager girls are not the reason Get Backers got liscensed. I'm a 20 year old male, and I love the show. The action and plot are amazing. The "Slashable" theme in regards to it comes the teenage girl portion that watches it and believes Ban and Ginji should be a couple. Even though Ban clearly has a thing going on with Himiko.

I think the idea for the slash came from the Kazuki character. I can kinda see where that'd come from, though. He does look rather feminine.

Such high moral grounds you people have. It's positively hideous.

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