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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#1 Old 3rd May 2015 at 10:35 PM
Default The dual-edged nature of fansubs: a look at the Japanese media industry
For as long as computers had the ability to show videos with subtitles in a decent quality, fansubbing has been a mixed bag of dual-edged issues.

Although demand for various shows in Japan, both anime and live-action, is high online, the inherent problem is that it is piracy, which is basically defined as theft of works involving a firm or company's intellectual property (IP) in a format that the FBI can use against you in court, possibly putting a felony on your criminal record, $5,000,000 is paid to the government, jail time or a combo of two or all stipulations.

I have noted that in the past 10 years, my kleptomania got the better of me, but in the last 5 years, numerous anime dubbing and distribution companies in America had fallen victim to the financial crises America has faced and shuttered their doors permanently, with manga translation and distribution groups following suit. The companies that survived like Funimation and Viz Media, had recently taken on highly requested works like Sailor Moon and absorbed assets bought when certain companies folded in the latter half of ten years.

I had been buying the works as they come. I am proof old habits die hard.

I write this as an eggplant type of article: you may find a benefit or detriment to this issues in your life, but I leave this up to you guys to voice your opinion.

Personal Quote: "I like my men like my sodas: tall boys." (Zevia has both 12 and 16 oz options)

(P.S. I'm about 5' (150cm) in height and easily scared)
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Top Secret Researcher
#2 Old 4th May 2015 at 2:17 AM
Fan-subs and -dubs do help the anime industry, though. If there are a few bilingual fans who aren't allowed to translate it, then all you have is a few fans. If they are allowed to translate, then the work gets more viewers and more fans, who will go on to promote the work in their native language.

Essentially, it gives any given work a wider audience. If the company that produced it is fairly poor and can't afford a translation, fans working out of love may be the only way to expose it to the non-Japanese-speaking world.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#3 Old 4th May 2015 at 5:00 AM
Quote: Originally posted by hugbug993
Fan-subs and -dubs do help the anime industry, though. If there are a few bilingual fans who aren't allowed to translate it, then all you have is a few fans. If they are allowed to translate, then the work gets more viewers and more fans, who will go on to promote the work in their native language.

Essentially, it gives any given work a wider audience. If the company that produced it is fairly poor and can't afford a translation, fans working out of love may be the only way to expose it to the non-Japanese-speaking world.


I wasn't completely demonizing it. I knew that it had a benefit. The defunct companies had financial trouble that was unrelated to the deficiency in profits turned. But because the companies are defunct, certain franchises, such as the Gundam franchise, were discontinued in distribution because the company in North America was an exclusive partner to the studio involved, which means they cannot sign a different company. Sad to say, I was looking forward to Turn A Gundam, which had a steampunk feel and was the 20th anniversary series.

In regards to fansub and fandub communities, I actually study Japan all over, even if anime was the gateway device to my love of Japanese life. I have a rather strong grasp of the language, but it's not strong enough to be fluent as verbal conjugation is shaky for me and my kanji literacy is between 6th and 7th grade. But given the fact I have been regarded as energetic enough to power the entire Snohomish county with my hyperactive bursts of energy, I could be a one-woman operation.

I take some of my hopes in anime distribution with a grain of rock salt. I filed uncut bilingual Pokémon and Digimon episodes under "When Hell freezes over" (Not referring to the Viking concept of Hel, a frozen afterlife for cowards as the analogue to Valhalla) because of numerous factors, one of which in Pokémon's case, is the fact that the Pokémon names are standardized by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.

Personal Quote: "I like my men like my sodas: tall boys." (Zevia has both 12 and 16 oz options)

(P.S. I'm about 5' (150cm) in height and easily scared)
 
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