Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2007-08-10]
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
jvowles
Otakon Representative
 Posts: 219 Location: Maryland |
|
||
|
The disconnect between peoples' demands for quality and their equally urgent demands for immediate satisfaction continues to astound me.
As does the idea that entertainment should be free for the taking, infinitely redistributable and shareable. In the first case -- the only way to get US subs/dubs out fast would be to do more co-productions, and build those things into the equation from the beginning. (Which the purists will then bitch about because they're "not Japanese enough", or complain that they're rushed. ) Most of these complaints are pretty transparent quibbles when the ultimate reason is that they're too damned cheap to buy stuff. I'm not sure who they think SHOULD be paying for their "right" to watch free anime, or download free songs. When it's shown on TV, at least there is revenue being generated that feeds back into the process. But when an increasing number of people have grown up simply downloading whatever they want without consequence, that's a recipe for shrinking the market because it will become increasingly difficult to sell the products at all. Back in the days of VHS, Beta, and Laserdisc, the players and the media were both pricey. Tapes were heavy and cost money to ship, and not dirt cheap either. Later, DVD removed the need to choose your side in the sub/dub war, and left it unmolested for the ultra purists who insist on viewing in the raw. But back in the VHS era, when that was how fansubs (and even raw anime) circulated, there were inherent limits; degradation and cost kept it from being a free-for -all. The totally digital modern era has no such limits, which means that ordinary users are used to a world where bandwidth is cheap, space is cheap, and technology is cheap. Licensed internet downloads (iTunes, etc.) add the convenience factor. But people will continue to download and never pay, for as long as they can get away with it. *DISCLAIMER: I regularly grab Doctor Who the morning after it airs in the UK. But I also buy all the DVDs when they are released. |
|||
|
|||
nightmaregenie
 Posts: 167 Location: Palmy, NZ - student central |
|
||
|
In another section of the forum...
I agree. I'm one of those fans that actually feels quite uncomfortable/guilty watching fansubs...and to be honest I get very frustrated having to spend hours on end (sometimes days) just waiting for a 30-minute episode to finish downloading and most of the time I ended up watching them only once anyway. You can say that I belong to the minority group for which accessibility is a HUGE problem. And no I DON'T have the the credit cards and the money and the courage to brave phishing scams and such to import R1 goods. That said, I'm still quite a DVD purist who'd like to have high quality stuff complete with the extras and opening themes without multiple sets of subtitles. And I too fail to see why people think anime/manga should be free. So I guess the answer to Zac's question, for me personally, would be: I'll stop watching fansubs when countries outside R1 can get the same variety of anime on TV and the same anime/manga products licensed/released at the same time as R1. But that, obviously, ain't possible (although I don't see why releases in R4 just has to lag behind for at least half a year for popular shows and sometimes up to 2 or 3 years or never for more obscure ones) and it is also impossible for any non-English fansubs to be of any use in R4. So... Oh well I buy what I can, when I can...I'm still a hardcore collector even if most of my friends aren't. I considered mailing this to Answerfans but I don't think this would be "passionate" enough  though I'm pretty sure there will be others in the same situation as me.
R1 consumers honestly don't know how good they have it! 
|
|||
|
|||
Hon'ya-chan
 Posts: 973 |
|
||
Here's what I don't get: Companies know already that alot of their material is being pirated online (And any copany that says otherwise is in denial). Heck, it's claimed that Top Gear is the most pirated program on the planet. So why is it they don't capitalize on it as quickly as possible? I mean, okay, I can understand it takes time to translate and whatnot. But in this ever changing world, speed is the key in many cases, and theirs alot of folks that are willing to buy. Trouble is, the companies either don't deliver, deliver a substandard product, or do deliver, albeit late. And this doesn't even begin to address music. |
|||
|
|||
|
nightmaregenie
Posts: 167 Location: Palmy, NZ - student central |
|
||
You're my saint Hon'ya-chan. That's EXACTLY the source of all my pains stated in one paragraph. I understand that the whole licensing and dubbing process might take some time but that still dosen't explain why some popular releases lag way behind their fansub counterparts even in R1. Okay I concede that it's probably resonable to allow six month or so between the initial Japanese and American releases given how the industry has to do everything legally and according to marketing standards and whatnot, but lets take a look at the rate of individual volume releases afterwards. The fastest I've ever seen (correct me if I'm wrong) is one DVD - 'bout 4 episodes - per month (the majority of anime DVD releases, of course, are slower than this), and compare this to fansub groups who regularly churn out 1 or 2 episodes a week, you get the picture. And I mean, the fansubbers usually sub anime as they're being aired and so usually only have 1 or 2 eps to work with per week. If they had more to work with some of the more competent ones are likely to finish an entire series within the month. Personally, I don't see a need to even change the cover and interactive menu designs for 90% of anime DVDs. It'd be ridiculous if that's a factor contributing to slow DVD releases - those designs are usually only altered 1% or so anyway. (And I find it laughable that the companies in my region has to alter the designs yet again for release even though they're keeping all the American subs and dubs intact. If there's a policy on changing cover/menu designs the more the laughable. They COULD just label the region on the covers consumers are not blind.) So what I'm saying is...personally I buy all the legal DVDs that I can but I think with the speed some companies are going it's no wonder they just can't compete with fansubbers when it comes to regular fans. Feel free to point out any mistakes I have made. I'm kinda sick of speculating anyway. |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group