Forum - View topicGainax controversial stance on the industry and fansubs.
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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I think it's a very odd stance when people work form the assumption that in some universe, anime is selling better than in our own. Like they think that if fansubbers weren't watching fansubs then they'd be buying more DVDs. I think this is a bit unlikely. They'd just be watching less anime. They'd probably be buying even less anime than they do, since they wouldn't be exposed to series that they might otherwise enjoy and wish to support.
I don't know where the idea that anime DVDs should be selling better comes from. They sell pretty well in the grand scheme of things. I mean, anime fans can barely maintain the ratings on shows on Adult Swin that Tim and Eric can pull in, so clearly there aren't THAT many of them out there, and if you factor in that out of the total TV viewership of a series only a tiny fraction of them are willing to go that extra step and actually buy the DVD for the series, so really, anime's DVD sales are pretty damned good. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6883 Location: Kazune City |
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Labbes
 Posts: 890 |
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I can't say I hate fansubs when there are groups like Live-Evil around, who bring us some old anime I would consider classic. In some kind of way, fansubs might be substitutes for licensors, at least for old shows few people would buy. In Germany, there is a company releasing old titles for very little money, but I can't see that currently happening in the US, so "somebody" does it.
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GATSU
Posts: 15386 |
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Well, they can't be against fansubs anyway, since their legacy was built on copyright infringement [*cough* Daicon *cough*], and they'd look hypocritical condemning it now. I do think they have a point in the case of a niche title like Mind Game, which Arias claims wasn't licensed, because it was Youtubed, even though there probably wouldn't be any more of a demand for it than there would be for TK. But fansubs of other more "mainstream" shows like Case Closed and Kodocha weren't exactly indicators of successful runs here, either. So I think fansubs work when you can pin down the demo watching it. [That doesn't necessarily mean revealing identities, just asking for general statistics like age, gender, etc.]
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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I bought Captain Harlock Outside Legend sight-unseen simply because I had seen Live-eviL's fansubs of the original Captain Harlock series. Also that, and it was selling for 5 bucks a disc... |
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Igneous42
Posts: 2 |
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I think fansubs are fine as a means to get into an anime. I agree with his comments. Honestly most of my favorite anime I would have never known about or liked if not for fansubs. Gurren Lagann , Darker than Black, Baccano, Soul Eater and many more. Of course I think that when they do come out you should buy them, and I plan on buying every one of those series as they come out in America. (just waitin on the dub box sets for gurren lagann, not that I'll ever watch them dubbed though...)
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braves
 Posts: 2309 Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas) |
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I'm pretty sure that you would have heard of every single one of those, even if you hadn't watched fansubs. And they probably would have gotten favorable reviews too (GL has so far). |
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MrAnimeSpecialist
 Posts: 124 |
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Ladies and gentlemen, there is a grim truth that I have to accept that most people have been aware of by now;
We may not be able to get ALL anime titles in R1. This is the main reason why fansubbers do what they do, especially the fans of old-school. However, the way I see it, they seem to be doing it for the benefit of the fans that have never heard of certain series and are hesitant to try them. Granted, some of them are El Cheapos that want them to pay before viewing. However, the rest allow the fans to view them for free. They are even some that integrate a karaoke mode in the OP and ED song subtitles! Of course, those ones may either do it to make the songs easier for the viewers to sing-along to or do it for the art. With the advent of video sites like Youtube and Veoh, fansubs have become easier to find than ever. In fact, I managed to find fansubbed episodes of the 1970s Devil Man TV series, of all things, on Veoh! Like it or not, fansubs are clearly here to stay. 
Besides, name me ONE active company aside Animeigo that focuses on old-school titles. The reason why Animeigo stayed on the market as long as it did was by catering to the old-school fanbase, which all their competitors don't seem to have (although I may be wrong). With the production values of anime series increasing, it's become more and more riskier to license and release retro titles in this day and age. Speaking of which, there have been no further developments on the whole issue of bringing over Gundam X, Victory Gundam and Turn A Gundam. It's uncertain that they will come to these shores, but we'll see if the universal popularity of Gundam may be the only thing that will ensure their arrival here. At any rate, I will patiently wait as long as I have to for official retro anime releases and hope for the best. |
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2093 |
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No kidding. Besides, all of them (besides Soul Eater, which is kinda guaranteed a license) are licensed, and it's generally kinda hard to not hear about those (Gurren Lagann merely being licensed got tons of buzz and it's on TV to boot, Darker than Black has a lot of people talking on forums, and Baccano is being heavily discussed in the Funimation podcasts). There are tons of ways (and better ways, since fansubs don't actually tell you if the anime is licensed or not) of finding out about licensed anime. This site, the animeondvd forums, anime magazines, etc. |
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walw6pK4Alo
Posts: 9322 |
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Sure, we may have heard of them if we were constantly lurking every single anime blog site, but reviews will still only give you so much as to what it's about. And unless the preview is a 2 minute long one in the old Toonami style, it too will tell me nothing. |
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doctordoom85
Posts: 2093 |
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Yet this doesn't stop people from buying video games, movies, etc. |
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Ishmoo
 Posts: 413 Location: Fredericksburg, VA |
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I can honestly say that I would definitely not be an anime fanatic if it weren't for fansubs. It just wouldn't be on my radar. I accidentally stumbled upon a fansub of Inuyasha on Youtube one day and it all spiraled out of control from there. I'd watched some shows back in the day and really enjoyed them, but only ones friends had lent me or I watched on TV. Now I spend a ridiculous amount of money on DVD box sets, because I can never just buy one episode. It has to be the entire dang series. The industry wouldn't be getting this small mountain of cash from my paycheck if it weren't for those evil fansubs. I can't be the only one enticed to the medium this way.
I don't think the two can really be compared that way. I NEVER buy a DVD made in the US without having rented it first and certainly would not buy an entire series sight unseen. The same goes for games. These days you can go into a Blockbuster and rent anything made in the US before buying. The same is not true of many Japanese shows. I've already tapped out the anime sections at my local Hollywood Video and Blockbuster. They just don't have that big a selection, certainly not for the kind of thing I like. They have Bleach, Naruto, and DBZ in spades but they never have shows like Death Note, Baccano, Honey and Clover, Monster, DTB, Ergo Proxy, etc... The list goes on. |
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MorwenLaicoriel
 Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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I feel you, because I'm exactly the same way. The only time I buy series sight-unseen is when Rightstuf has their really really cheap sales. That being said, that's why I got a Netflix account. They have the sort of stuff I can't normally find when I go into a brick-and-mortar store: Bollywood, all sorts of anime, that documentary that was mentioned in Buried Treasure recently, independant films, old classics, etc. It's hard to find something they don't have. I'd imagine RentAnime would be even better, since it's more anime focused. |
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doctordoom85
Posts: 2093 |
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I was going to mention NetFlix, but MorwenLaicoriel beat me to it.
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Ishmoo
Posts: 413 Location: Fredericksburg, VA |
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Thanks Much for the tip. My husband keeps talking about NetFlix, but all I really want is anime so if you think RentAnime is better I'll look into that instead! |
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