Forum - View topicSo, what popular series started as fansubs?
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hentai4me
 Posts: 1313 Location: England. Robin is so Cute! |
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I've never really followed the fansubs scene but I know that alot of titles are picked up by companies because of the wide fansub community following the series makes it a 'hot' property to pick up, so I want to know what series were picked up due to the fansub base?
to stop this being a list thread I suppose you could give reasons as to why you think those properties were picked up over others which might also have a good following. please note, while I am against fansubbing, I dont want this to be a discussion about fansubs whilst ignoring the acual question I asked. |
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Pleroma
 Posts: 443 Location: Eromanga island |
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You would really have to go WAY back since nowadays literally everything gets fansubbed and as a rule of thumb whatever is a hit in japan does well. If anything it could be said Fansubs can reveal some series as utter garbage but again these are not usually shows localizers would want to pick up.
Just looking at the recent couple of seasons the BIGGEST fansub hits have been Mai-HiME/Otome, Shakugan no Shana, Blood+, Fate Stay Night and Rozen Maiden. Half of these were prelicenced and all such big hits in Japan that there is little doubt they will be brought over except perhaps for Rozen Maiden (If we see some announcement soon this may indeed be a fansub-lead show since I doubt most local companies would have thought a show about dolls would be popular with the western crowd.) Karin has also been somewhat of a surprise hit, but I still doubt it ever getting licenced. Considering that some pretty huge fansub hits like Air, KNGE and Shuffle have seen no talk of licencing I'd say localizers are still mostly just playing it safe. |
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outlawwolf
 Posts: 645 |
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I think a better question to ask would be what popular series didn't start out with fansubs.
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Stupidman007
 Posts: 394 |
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Localizers license whatever makes them the most money. It's quite obvious that the largest audience for anime is teenage males. Having said that, Shows like Air, KGNE, Shuffle don't pertain to them as much, and that's why the more popular shows are the action packed. Apparently, the TV showbiz producing business is quite competitive. Distributors can't afford to go with anything that not already established to be huge hits. It's not that they're playing it safe, it's more like that anything less than perfect won't scale up. |
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AceRyonik
 Posts: 145 |
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That's really because their only revenue is in DVDs. A few years ago, licensing companies picked up whatever was a hit, but then the bubble burst and now they're being more cautious.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7594 Location: Wales |
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Given the amount of pre-licensing and funding going on these days, none, which is pretty much the answer I got when I mentioned it to someone on IRC some time ago (I think it was someone working for ADV.. I think my question was actually whether they use fansubs for research when looking for titles to license, but the reply is still relevant to the topic)
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Asuka
 Posts: 118 Location: Burlington, NJ |
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KGNE was licensed by Funimation, it was announced about a month ago.
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Bruce Lee
 Posts: 715 Location: Seattle, Washington |
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I agree with Outlaw Wolf - almost everything these days gets fansubbed - pre-licensed or not, so the question becomes tough to answer.
Mega fansub hits like BLEACH and Naruto didn't' get licensed until fairly late in the game. Eureka7 was pre-licensed and looks to be one of Bandai's biggest shows in a while, but only 1 group is subbing it (as opposed to BLEACH and Naruto with 3-4). Starship Operators was a cool show that was overlooked by the subbers and was still licensed. Because of this, it's very hard to tell the "chicken or the egg" here. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6921 Location: Kazune City |
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How does Shuffle! not appeal to teenaged males? One guy, lots of beautiful women who may or may not like him (from the brash/violent (Sia) to the shy/bashful (Nerine) to the childhood friend (Kaede) to the loli-bait (Primula)) , and a fantasy story line with plenty of fanservice...those elements are also in Maburaho, Girls Bravo, and other series that have been licensed. I can also see Karin getting licensed sometime...it's cute, it's funny, there are pretty girls & fanservice, and it's got vampires. Anyway, to address the topic...I believe Azumanga Daioh caught ADV's attention when it was screened at a con awhile back--previously, everyone had thought it was "too Japanese" or "too weird" to play well over here. Many say that fansubbing isn't really necessary anymore, at least not in the "expose people to anime" role that it played in the VHS days. Series like Bleach, Naruto, and Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid would have been popular no matter what, imo. However, to see a series like KgNE / Rumbling Hearts get licensed, I can't help but think that it was because of all the attention it got from the fansubbing community. If the licensees had seen it as a popular series originally, it wouldn't have taken this long to get licensed. And as mentioned before, it's pretty hard to find series that weren't originally fansubbed before licensing. One would be Desert Punk, which was licensed awhile back and dropped by the fansubbers, or Ghost Stories. There were some fansubs made, but they don't really exist anywhere on the Net and they were never completed afaik, so I think we can give ADV's dub most of the credit for popularizing Ghost Stories. Last edited by Zalis116 on Sun Mar 26, 2006 3:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Stupidman007
Posts: 394 |
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As a teenage male, I completely hated Shuffle!. Also, I know that my friends, who are also teenage males, hate the same type of series. Personally, from my experiences, I feel that Harem type of shows would appeal more to teenage females, and not males. Perhaps it's just that me and my friends are different from the general? maybe? I'm not so sure.... |
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Spotlesseden
Posts: 3514 Location: earth |
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i don't like Shuffle too. i gave up after the first 3eps.
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Kouji
 Posts: 978 |
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Stupidman007
Posts: 394 |
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The deal with Azumanga Daioh interests me. I've never seen it myself, but I know that it has good ratings. To those of you who has seen it, and don't know much about Japanese Culture, is it still understandable? Is it still funny? Is it still good? If it is, then there shouldn't have been too much of a problem of it being licensed. Because, if those who don't understand Japanese culture can understand the series, then it still interests viewers to a high degree.
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I found Azumanga Daioh to be quite hilarious, and I really don't know too much about Japanese culture, only what I've learned from watching anime and reading manga really. While I am sure some jokes are lost because of the cultural difference, most of them aren't too Japanese-centric and can definitely be enjoyed by more than just those who are familiar with the culture. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
Posts: 6921 Location: Kazune City |
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Okay, I confess, I'm not exactly a teenager anymore, so maybe I'm out of touch with what they like. But, these are the kinds of series that are aimed at teenaged males in Japan, and it's the one guy + many hot girls formula (among other things) that makes Shuffle! and similar series popular. I can't imagine girls liking them that much, because the male leads are usually wimpy/not attractive or bishounen, and the plots and situations cater to male fantasies and hormones. |
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