Anime Industry? [Archive]

peacmaker

11-27-2007, 05:07 AM

VIDTID

11-27-2007, 07:15 AM

I understand this may not be place put this topic, but this issues is going effect fans for long time if anime industry has it way of how we fans view anime.
The anime companies want fans to stop downloading and starting buying up more dvds, I been reading letter on animeondvd.comto fans and the anime industry over how they feel that fansubbers are destroy their way of life. There just several problems fans will kept downloading, because been going on for really long time and fans don't have the money buy up torns of dvds. Also I have feel that anime companies in Japan are depending on U.S markerts make up much need sales not understand that dollar is low, house market is gone, hard good paying jobs now, and bills are going up, up, and up. It very hard for people right, but understand that anime industry needs money and they have their rights get pay like we fans do each at our jobs. However, if the anime industry needs do better job way getting the anime to U.S and how they doing the anime. For example, some fans don't like way english dubs on some anime or don't like way the subtitles are done ever. Here crazy, why not take the fansubs along with companies sub, english dub, anime videos, etc. Make dvds they are worth buying and bring out the anime sooner.

Totally agree dude iv been living in the uk for all my life and not once have i seen a decent anime dvd be released!
They ve only got english dubs versions of the anime which in my opinion suck!!
If the anime companies want us to buy the dvds instead of downloading them they could at least improve the quality of the dvds and add some extras into the bundle!
Nowadays nearly all the anime DVDS only come with the episodes which are good but a little extra wouldnt hurt.
They could also put in optional subs and dubs which would make everyone happy and solve the problem of the crappy dubbing!
Id be happy to give the anime industry money if only they tweek their DVDs upto standard.
Also the graphic novels they release are of excellent quality and if they can bring the DVDs upto standard with them then they would obviously reep the benefits!

KT Samurai

11-27-2007, 09:38 AM

Seems like a pretty worthy topic to me. Just use some paragraphs. That was pretty tough to read.

I buy quite a damn lot of anime, often scooping up entire box sets of anime I've enjoyed in the past in order to make a formal collection. The real problem I have with the current anime situation in my area is that you can't rent the damn stuff in any major center. A few companies like Roger's up here in Canada are carrying an impressive amount of anime these days, but the selection is still limited. It's not like there's a shortage of the stuff to get on the shelves. If I could rent more anime before viewing then I wouldn't need to download it first. Seriously, I'd happily pay money to rent something and support it rather than download if it I could.

Western anime distributors need to get on the ball and get the anime here quicker and at a reasonable price. I don't even need a fancy English dubbing, I just wanna watch the damn thing ASAP. Fansubs ain't dubbed, and they're wickedly popular. There's a lot of potential revenue to be had here and there aren't many people taking advantage of it.

I'm all for supporting the industry but I don't like being dicked around. Get me the stuff I want quicker and be reasonable about it and I would happily throw my money at it to support it.

peacmaker

11-27-2007, 07:34 PM

I will use paragraphs more in in posts and threads.

Thank you guys for reply to my thread and agree with me that anime industry really needs to improve. Some anime companies are slowly getting the message that show videos online so fans can see the anime before buying something they might be worth it. Also if they set up website so fansubbers can upload the anime and charge $1.99 for the downloads. That would make alot fans happy and help get much need profits for the anime companies.

SaberBlade

11-27-2007, 08:50 PM

If the anime Industry wants to take a shot at stopping fansubbers, they are more than welcome to try and fail.

Personally I find it hypocritical that these guys would ***** about it hurting them when it's the popularity of a fansub that draws these companies to a series in the first place.

The simple fact is Western companies can't stop fansubs. Viz (for example) can't stop a show like Bleach or Naruto because there it's continually being made while the manga continues. By the time Viz buy the rights to the current episodes, 100 more unlicensed episodes could already be out and fansubbed.

The only way a fansub can be stopped is if a show will have a set amount of episodes and a company buys up the rights to every episode, but once again, they won't buy the rights unless they know a show is popular and they can only do that by how many people download the fansub or by waiting to find out how popular it is in Japan, and by that point fansubbers have already started doing it. It's a never ending circle.

Just imagine how many animes have been released in the west due to the popularity of fansubs. Legal action can't even be taken because people in the West don't own the rights so they can't sue (until they buy the rights then it's a different story) so it really falls upon Japanese companies to put their foot down on the illegal distribution of their product as it has the advantage of making US companies get into a potential bidding war for popular fansubs.

What could be done is simple. A new show based on a popular manga is being made. a US production company could buy the rights to 10 episodes with the option to buy more and announce it (thus making a fansub illegal).

On the day an episode is due to be aired in Japan, that episode could be sent to the US (via high speed internet) and gets subbed right away once received. When it aired in Japan, the subbed version appears online at the same time or shortly after on Itunes or similar site. It has the advantage of earning money for the company, people will buy it on DVD because Itunes aren't high res and it still keeps the interest for TV results.

The problem with is western companies won't do that. They will wait for a show to be popular instead of taking a risk which means fansubbers need to do their work for them. They will not hurry up releasing it so will spend time doing multiple episodes, releasing them on multiple discs just to make more money before releasing them in cheaper boxsets and they will make people wait months just for all that because TV needs to air it first .

Before they start complaining about fansubs, they should look at themselves and see what a joke they are.

While I do prefer dubbed anime (i'm not a fanboy purist who thinks english is the devils work) I respect the fansubbing community for what it is (even if some involved are an ass) and they provide for free what high and mighty anime companies can't, quality shows with quality work with a release time that's never been a problem. Who can say that about professional work.

Tobi

12-05-2007, 07:53 AM

The Anime Industry is not going to go out of business, they earn enough money, people seem to forget that they get sponsered by huge companies, aka Sony Music, Bandai and others. And Sony Music pay the Anime company to use songs of real artists as their openings and endings to get their sales, plus, Bandai buy the rights to their characters to use in their games.

TV Tokyo pay to put the anime on tv for the ratings. The Anime Industry gets plenty of money, your talking about Western DVD's, you have no proof that no one in Japan are buying their DVD's (Where the main target is) because they don't need subs, only Western people download fansubs because they don't understand Japanese.

Trouse

12-05-2007, 11:06 AM

I live in Europe and as far as I can tell there hasn't been a single decent release of anime series. And by decent I mean not completely ****** up by Dutch/English subs. Why don't they leave the Japanese voice-over in it and put English/Dutch subtitles in it? In my opinion dubbing really wrecks the credibility and ambiance of an anime that it wants to portray. The whole setting seems off, all because of that stupid dubbing. People here still seem to think anime = for kids under 12 years. Which is complete nonsense.

nx6

12-05-2007, 10:44 PM

What an interesting topic.

@SaberBlade:
As great as it is that companies are releasing anime in the West on DVD, but I'm not going to buy it right off the bat. much like I wouldn't buy a movie on DVD if I hadn't seen it first, I wont buy a anime series on DVD I've never seen. Generally, I only pay for DVDs of series I really, really love. When I was asking about FLAG in the other thread, I probably came across as a scurvy pirate not caring that it has been licensed, which isn't really it. The truth is I'm not interested in waiting 6-12 mos while the licensor does a dub and starts releasing, and I want to see the series first anyway. Which is why I'm going to download subs even if they're illegal. I don't always go this route. It's not always about getting it for free. Bandwidth for decent files costs money, too after all. FYI: I'm also starting Serial Experiments Lain this month and I'm going to rent it at the video store.

The problem the anime industry faces is the same the electronics industry does. In a day and age when I can get an item around the would in 24 via FedEx, treating markets as geographic regions is obsolete, especially trying to set different dates for a product to debut in different markets.

What the anime industry needs to do is make new series available simutaneously everywhere, or within a couple days of each other. If fansubbers can get Bleach from RAW to sub in 8 hours, and anime company certainly can. They need to make these animes available as a non-DRM download, like an AVI, preferrably free and at the same quality you get them over TV for free. Becuase that's the big difference in these markets, in Japan the series can be seen for free with ads on TV, and here we're having to look for distributors or importers and buy DVDs, or hoping Adult Swim or Anime Network picks it up. So it's no wonder a series has trouble breaking even overseas without a bunch of marketting.

They don't need to go to the trouble of a dub unless the demand is there based on the popularity of the sub. I don't hate dubs. In fact, many of my favorite animes I prefer the dubs to the subs, like FMA and Cowboy Bebop. But I'd rather be able to get it subbed than not at all.

@Trouse: I don't know what series you were looking at, but all the DVD releases I've seen that are dubs also have the original audio on them, and subs. I don't think they always say so on the packaging, though. This one of those cases asking on Amazon's new forums feature would be a good idea if you're that worried.

Might I also add that as many have pointed out many anime/mangas are fanservice titles. And due to the differences in culture, you're not going to get the same reaction in the West to a series as you would in the country the series was virtually tailored for. ;)

SaberBlade

12-06-2007, 04:14 AM

nx6.

In the other thread, I wasn't trying to make you out as a pirate but to just explain that you'll probably never be able to get it unless you buy it. I myself have had my conflicts with a great fansubbed series being licensed and had to hope that fansubbers would get away with it (which they did, and I watched all of Blood+ fansubbed)

I personally have to agree with you. If I've bought it, then there is a 99% chance i've already seen it. I personally find this a bit inconvenient because i'm wasting good money on a show i've seen, yet that same money could be used for a series i've not seen that I could love.

Me, I love dubs. Always have. I love them so much that I hate these Otakutards that immediately take offense and bad mouth an anime because it's dubbed, despite the fact these people love subbed anime so much they've never learnt the language they love so much to know what's really going on. That's why I buy DVDs. I however won't buy (unless i've got good reason) an anime that i've not seen. In a weird way it's good that I know at least one site that can provide dual audio anime. It's a great way to try out an anime series because even if I love dubs, not all dubs are great (that said, even japanese animes can have have voice actors).

The problem with that is I need to wait for DVDs, and even then I am in the UK. So apart from having to $15 to $20 more than US, I also need to wait longer. I need to wait for America to the air series before DVD's get released, then I need to wait months for the US to be ahead in releases before we start to get a single dvd. Then we need to wait for all the singles to be released just to buy a boxset, which we still pay more for and even if we import, there is still the problem of having to wait for the series to end, all the singles to be released before they will release a boxset.

And to make it all worse, even if I wanted to buy all my dvd's locally, I still need for either new subtitles to be tranlated for all the R2 areas, or for them to be dubbed as well.

Anime is now turning into one of these forms of media that does definitely need to be release everywhere at once. It was something that's been talked about for movies for ages and has finally started to happen (because afterall, people downloading will bankrupt hollywood), TV shows have it as well for the most part with a lot of shows having new episodes aired about a week or two apart (if not a few days) just to help keep ratings high.

Anime is now the next form of media, especially if companies are complaining about fansubbers ruining their business. I'd personally love if they werent just able to sub an episode within a few hours but if they were able to at least dub it within a few days as well, as it would allow them to at least get it on tv asap.

I can understand not wanting DRM, however personally i'd rather go for something along the lines of h264 MP4, nice high def format instead of AVI.

But there is a problem with everywhere at once. It's a legal nightmare. That's why fansubs are a good thing. No need to waste money buying the rights for crap, or shows they think are crap. The moment fansubbers can actually buy the rights to release a showed on dvd, they'd make a fortune (once they spent a fortune for rights).

nx6

12-06-2007, 06:09 AM

nx6.

In the other thread, I was trying to make you out as a pirate but to just explain that you'll probably never be able to get it unless you buy it.
I would welcome a pay-for download option myself. My unwillingness to buy DVDs isn't just a "I want to try-before-I-buy" thing, it's also about being picky. I would have to give a series at least 4.5 out of 5 stars before I'd want to buy it (from what I can tell of my collection so far). Sometimes, a lower quality sub is fine with me. I also don't wish to appear the stereotypical otaku with a shelf full of anime DVDs. I don't mind having a hard drive full of them, though. It takes a lot less space and doesn't creep women out so much. :p

Me, I love dubs. Always have. I love them so much that I hate these Otakutards that immediately take offense and bad mouth an anime because it's dubbed, despite the fact these people love subbed anime so much they've never learnt the language they love so much to know what's really going on.
I can see your point there. But its funny you mention it. Last month my roomate asked why my Japanese wasn't better since I was such an anime fan (she's Japanese and we were having an arguement). She didn't get the fact that my love of anime is not about some undying love of the language and more about the art and stories themselves. I recently dropped a failing attampt to learn Japanese. It was tough, and I intend to try again next year.

In a weird way it's good that I know at least one site that can provide dual audio anime. It's a great way to try out an anime series because even if I love dubs, not all dubs are great (that said, even japanese animes can have have voice actors).
I tried at one point to make dual audio Bleach episodes from DVDs. And I gave up because I realized I liked the fansubbers work better than the actual official subtitles. The fansubbers translate signs, computer displays (even those being scanned over quickly sometimes), they even explain references and jokes a foreign audience might not understand. That's a lot of extra work, and I appreciate it. There's an episode in a series I was watching recently where we got a close up shot of the display on a rice cooker (to show the time on the clock) and they actaully put a little label that said "cook" next to the appliance's cook button (which just had a kanji on it). It was totally uneeded, it was a 3 second shot, nobody pushed the button or anything, but they still did it.

The anime companies need to take that same kind of pride in things.

The problem with that is I need to wait for DVDs, and even then I am in the UK.
[snip]
And to make it all worse, even if I wanted to buy all my dvd's locally, I still need for either new subtitles to be tranlated for all the R2 areas, or for them to be dubbed as well.
If you buy that many DVDs, I'd get a region free player or decrypt them to make non-region coded discs. Oh look, it's another artifical geographic market boundary making life hard for the consumer. :face82:

I can understand not wanting DRM, however personally i'd rather go for something along the lines of h264 MP4, nice high def format instead of AVI. Oh, I certainly can agree. In fact, I recently redownloaded the second half of Ergo Proxy even though I'd had it for months. The main torrent sites stopped carrying Shinsen's subs of it at episode 15, and I assumed Shinsen had dropped the project. I just found out a week ago they had in fact finished it (don't know why the sites changed). So I dug around and found a torrent to get the rest of their subs to replace the Pino no Usagi ones I had. Like I've said, I love Shinsen's work, and one reason is their video quality is a step above others generally. Their EP episodes were on averge 240MB instead of the standard 175, and they had x264 HD files also available (I wasn't interested in those).

I don't know about making hi def downloads available for free. That will kinda defeat the purpose of DVD purchases for many people. That's part of the issue the anime industry needs to work on - how to increase the value in their DVD sets compared to just the series. If someone religiously TiVos the Sopranos, are they going to see much reason to buy the DVD box set from HBO? My point from the last post is that the content should be available more easily in a way that doesn't involve a large amount of cash upfront.

But there is a problem with everywhere at once. It's a legal nightmare.
It doesn't need to be. We just need distribution right to be sold globally, not locally, and more internet distribution.

That's why fansubs are a good thing. No need to waste money buying the rights for crap, or shows they think are crap. The moment fansubbers can actually buy the rights to release a showed on dvd, they'd make a fortune (once they spent a fortune for rights). I think studios should hire fansub groups to do official subs for international distribution. Just have some advertising added to the files in the middle like it would be on TV, and use a quality appropriate for a free download (the standard for fansubbing seems fine). There you go. Instant international releases.

I generally think downloading a fansub is as legal as recording a TV program on my VCR, they both got the content over the airwaves from the same source, just one was then sent over the internet. Its the fact I can't get [insert Japanese network here] that keeps me from recording it myself. And the translation work is the group's freebee. Trying to sell a license to translating one language into another and tell everyone else they can't is just an infringment on free speech rights I feel.

Maybe when I learn Japanese I'll run down the street shouting a translation from a raw of the bleach manga and wait for Viz to come get me. :Haha

SaberBlade

12-06-2007, 07:25 AM

There was a typo in my last post, it was supposed to be "I wasn't trying to make you out as a pirate".

Anyway, in relation to fansubs being as legal as a taped recording you make, that's not true. When a fansubber takes an animated show and sub it, they are supplying that episode via illegally distribution.

Now i'm far from an expert on japanese law, but as far as I can tell it really works down to the Japanese not caring because it's all unlicensed. They aren't making or losing money, and no US company has it licensed therefor they aren't losing money so no one is losing out. Not once have I ever, and I mean ever seen anything to suggest that a fansub was pulled because the japanese threatened legal action. I've seen it with US comapnies who bought the rights (no surprised there) but never the japanese.

I must admit that a 240mb H264 file is very big. I've seen dual audio dvd rips that have been less size that than, but I guess it really depends what resolution Shinsen has these files encoded to.

As for DVDs, usually DVD's will have some sort of seperate subtitle track that will appear just when text is on screen. While I must admit its not as good as fansubbers (who do explain things which makes it easier) it's a start.

The rights however are a nightmare. You need to buy the worldwide rights to an anime, then you need to quickly sub it. But TV stations in countries need to buy the rights to air it from the international distributor, then timeslots need to be set up and all that sort of thing. Then you've got to sort out worldwide systems of selling it (because $1.99 may be great on US Itunes but that's £1 here and Itunes UK could collapse if they sold stuff that cheap). Online would be no real problem if you had different regional sites set up, but tv would be trouble.

nx6

12-06-2007, 08:56 AM

Anyway, in relation to fansubs being as legal as a taped recording you make, that's not true. When a fansubber takes an animated show and sub it, they are supplying that episode via illegally distribution. I know, I just mean as far as the price the end user is paying for a copy is essentially the same.

I must admit that a 240mb H264 file is very big. No, that was the XviD versions I was collecting. The H264 files were around 350MB each. XD

I've seen dual audio dvd rips that have been less size that than, but I guess it really depends what resolution Shinsen has these files encoded to.
The only dual audio files I've ever downloaded were around 360MB each. I still have the files even though it was a series I actually bought on DVD later.

As for DVDs, usually DVD's will have some sort of seperate subtitle track that will appear just when text is on screen. While I must admit its not as good as fansubbers (who do explain things which makes it easier) it's a start. That OVA series I bought on DVD (the one I just mentioned) had the option of playing the episodes and showing the individual storyboard frames that corresponded to each scene in the lower right corner of the screen. After playing around for a little while I've realized this was actually done as a subtitle track on the disc, even though it was displaying pictures. But yeah, I understand the limitations they have for subtitles, which is why I actually prefer hard subs. The sub group has control over the font and size of subs and the ability to do the extra lines at the top or text on screen at angles, ect.

If anime companies want to release subbed versions for download, they don't have to do soft subs, they could go to the same lengths the fansub groups do for fun essentially.

Online would be no real problem if you had different regional sites set up, but tv would be trouble. That's why I think it would be a better solution. Anime may be gainng popularity, but its still a niche form of entertainment for many countries, so it has to compete with all sort of stuff that will be able to attract an audience better for timeslots. Online that doesn't happen. The usage is as heavy as the demand, there's room for everyone to be available at the same time. They could even use torrenting for a distrbution method like how WoW patches get spread. People could subscribe to shows and get then automatically downloaded like podcasts.

SaberBlade

12-06-2007, 10:53 PM

It doesn't surprise me that an HD encode would be 350mb. Typically any HD encode is usually doubt the size of the standard (in this case, an xvid avi at 175mb).

However, 240mb for xvid is way too big. There is an unoffical size list for things like that and 240mb is very large for the generally accepted 175mb for 20+ minute shows. I've seen OGM DVDrips with dual audio that have been about 230/240mb. Even h264 MKV's are usually around that size if dvdrips and contain dual audio.

I think that some sort of subscription service would be the best idea. TV Tokyo does a lot of good shows, so you go to them and say that we'd like to buy the rights to your shows, translate them when they are aired then make them available to subscribers. This way shows like Bleach and Naruto are available, yet because of a monthly subscription fee people from around the work would be able to get them and more importantly, all their other shows would still be made available.

No need for regions, no need for people to buy individual episodes and the money being generated would be good enough to make other shows available because they don't need to worry about subbing some new show and no one buying it because the fees could cover that.

Sushi

12-13-2007, 01:33 AM

The anime industry is getting less and less popular as time moves on.

There is a kind of "taboo" around anime that prevents and pushes people away from watching the shows. It is the stereotype that only "wierd, gothic, emo, and stupid" people watch anime. When I forst got into anime a few years back, my family was appalled that I would like such a thing, because they had only heard the false stereotype surrounding it.

Because of this and many other reasons, popularity in Japan and around the world is dwindling, thus making it a waste of money to produce DVD and other media of the show, so they don't do it. If the show isn't popular in Japan, it's not going to be subtitled or dubbed in any other languages and will eventually just "die out". The problem with this is that people in America and around the world become impatient waiting for the DVD's, subbed, and dubbed versions to come out. When they don't, fans become upset and create their own crappy versions of the shows that they make readily available online.

This doesn't help the industry, it hurts it, and is a catalyst for good anime's to not be broadcasted anywhere but Japan, simply because the industry doesn't have enough money to produce the show anywhere else. Thus allowing the cycle to continue.

To stop it, the anime industry needs to broadcast quicker and more efficiently to the U.S. Fans will become impatient and give up on a show if it takes too long to come out. Take the "break" that bleach is taking right now on it's American broadcast. Bleach has lost tons of fans this way and it will be near to impossible to gain them back now. When a show is highly recieved in Japan, it should start it's english-speaking countries broadcast soon after, not waiting for 50 or 60 episodes before considering translating it.

dawin45

01-20-2008, 03:09 PM

my solution to the tv anime movie piracy that is going around here is to broadcast the same show all around the world subtitled and the tv companies would be happy because let's face it 99% of anime/movie/ tv piracy is because they don't get the stuff in the same time in everyh country all around the world(why some of us watch bleach sub, because we don't want to wait for the stuff to be dubbed) , the second excuse is that they don't have money to buy the ticket to the movies and it's plausible for all low economy contries...This will not stop anime but it will at least bring a small smille to those lowsy bosses that make billions and billions of dolars some of them do...and why not add a donate button and a free distrubution system for all countryes to watch the same tv show(unsubbed of course)(with donating button included)(this is implemented esspecially for indie movie that use p2p to promote theire indy films...)

Dreams

01-25-2008, 08:43 AM

Well... Here in Belgium, they don't have really Anime shops. They have, but they are like hiddin somewhere.

Anyway, if the companies want an advies, SUB the animes and bring them to europe and I think the most anime freaks will buy them! I would do it for sure. If they just bring it out here, I will buy them.

toxxin

04-08-2008, 12:45 AM

Interestingly enough, I've read somewhere that its the American market that cracks down a lot harder and more often on fan subbers than the japanese market. I suppose this makes sense, since in Japan their stuff is already aired once for free, where as in America most stuff is solely available on DVD.

However, this will not stop my rein of free downloading ;)

miko1411

04-11-2008, 08:58 AM

I live in Singapore which is somewhere in Asia, the anime here are extremely expensive and they are very slow. thgey charg outrageous amounts of money for just 4-5 episodes, example-- $29. The only place where i can get anime is in malaysia, but the subs are.. very.. weird?.. so its like if they want people to stop downloading, maybe they should make buying the anime more easier?

Sirius

05-03-2008, 06:59 AM

Being somewhat of an anime guru I can say first hand that most dubs have horrible voice acting compared to their Japanese counterparts. Even when many dubs are free I find myself hunting and searching for subtitles.

Did you all hear what they did to the voices of some of the bleach characters in the dub? *shudders*

YouTube - Bleach dub vs sub

In addition to horrible voice actors subbers also have the advantage of quick releases. Dubbing takes time and money while subbing is inexpensive, quick, and more enjoyable to watch IMO.

The anime industry needs to release subs first, then work on dubs later, by focusing on dubs they become their own worst enemy because dubs take too much time. The industry provides us a very small percent of the anime made in Japan at a very slow rate because of this.

Sub groups become the logical choice for those who aren't content with the speed the industry releases anime at.

shanyetta

05-03-2008, 09:51 PM

I agree that it will never stop. I honestly started downloading etc... because it takes ages to get any good anime/mangas even released here in the states and then the releases are not as good as the fan subs. I've bought quite a few series and I would prefer to watch them on my TV and not my computer but unfortunately I just can't find decent (or any) releases of the ones I want.

Gray Fox

05-04-2008, 05:28 AM

The anime industry in the U.S. is definitely something that will continue to boom over the coming years. The demand for it will always be there, I'm sure companies in the U.S. are well aware of this by now. But they can only do so much to get the material out as fast as possible, mainly due to negotiating rights and the translation process that takes place afterwards and what not. I personally feel that they at least deserve credit for going through all that trouble to legally gain the rights to the material to be able to distribute it legally for the fans out there who asked for them in the first place. The ironic thing is, they can go through all that trouble and some fans out there may not always bother showing any appreciation or gratitude by purchasing the material they longed and asked for, because they may have already found a alternative solution to gain the material by then, which can indeed be a real shame.

As far as fansubbs go, fansubbers can normally do a tolerable job, but they are not always great. And when it comes to dubs and their original JP counter-parts, I'm open to both worlds. There are probably very few dubs out there I don't like. I can appreciate a good dub, I can tolerate a decent one. I don't normally always expect a dub to be perfect. But as much as I like and enjoy anime, I don't feel that it's something that needs to be a mandatory part of my life.

sinkinswimmer

05-12-2008, 10:19 PM

Reyin

05-13-2008, 12:28 AM

I'll be pretty blunt here, I probably wouldn't have bought ANYTHING if I hadn't been able to watch it first by downloading it. I'll buy a few DVDs yea, but they're ones that I liked enough to actually buy. I'm not poor, but I'm not going to go buy random stuff just because I've never seen it--I'm not that wealthy =o Really, the same goes for music too, I wouldn't have bought much of any of the music I have if I hadn't been able to listen to it first by downloading.