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Japan Asks America to Stop It
By Ace | October 24, 2007
Source: Japan Asks America to Stop Illegal Net Releases of Anime - ANN
Okay, seriously, are Americans supposed to be scared now? I know the part about anime was only something like 9 lines out of a 50 page document, but they just keep pushing and pushing this point.
I have but this to say. Hurting the industry? Were it not for fansubs, there wouldn’t be an American anime market to begin with. The American anime market started as a result of bootleggers and fansubbers on VHS something like 20-30 years ago. Don’t believe me? Look back in time, all we were getting at the time were badly dubbed kids shows like the English Voltron, Robotech, Astroboy… even leading up into the 90s with Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z (not knocking these shows, its how I got my start, just making a point). Had it not been for the fansubbers, people never would’ve seen what anime truly is, and the industry would still be a very niche market, both in Japan and worldwide.
So they want to get rid of fansubs? So be it. It will be the end of the market as we know it. I personally will not buy a DVD without having seen at least one episode fansubbed, and I’ll admit it. Why? Because I’m a poor college student who can’t afford to drop $25-30 on a DVD of 3 - 5 episodes unless I know that I’m going to enjoy it. The funny thing is, about 50% (or more) of the market is just like me.
Haruhi is a perfect example. There was literally NO hype about this series before it was released in Japan, and outside of the already established market in America (thanks to fansubs) there was nothing more than the viral marketing of the ASOS-Brigade. While I was at AWA, the first thing I did was head to the dealers room to pick up the Special Edition of DVDs 2 and 3 myself. I took note of how many copies each booth had, out of curiosity. I got there at 1:00 PM on Friday (with the con having started at 10:00 AM technically, not entirely sure when the deales’ room opened) and I got the last copy of the 2nd DVD SE, out of 10 booths, each having 10 copies each. The 3rd wasn’t selling as well, as only one booth had it (that I could see) and they had a single copy left on Sunday (after the weekend was over). My point? Were it not for fansubs, this anime would probably have little to no market in America, at least not people willing to pay $45-60 for the SE.
So in the end, I have to ask this. Is this really such a wise idea Japan? I believe you’re about to shoot yourself in the foot and end up blowing your whole leg off.
Of course, given America’s proven track record, I’m not too horribly worried. I just thought this would be something to chew on.
/me puts on a flame-retardant suit.
Edit: Perhaps I should’ve quoted source.
Edit2: Perhaps it would help if I copy-pasta’d the source correctly too, I noob’d it
Popularity: 34% [?]
Topics: Anime in the News |
October 24th, 2007 at 3:16 am
Well if the owner of such anime decided to prevent people from subbing or distrubuting then they can, since its their property.
While it would be hard on the most of us, maybe its time we hit the books and lern some japanese ^^
October 24th, 2007 at 3:30 am
>>Well if the owner of such anime decided to prevent people from subbing or distrubuting then they can, since its their property.
Not saying that its not their right to, just saying that I feel it would be a mistake in the long run. The thing is, learning Japanese wouldn’t do us much good unless we decide to move there, its not necessarily just the fansubs they’re asking to take down, its the raws as well.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:14 am
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