i love u marsgirl your a anime godess XD

Glad to see that companies like Funimation and streaming sites like Crunchyroll are providing us some free and legal anime for our convenience. I will admit, my friend and I have torrented anime because of financial issues, so I couldn't afford to buy whole box sets of a series. Good thing that they're going for that approach.

OH, by the way. That picture of the Sasuke bandit (10:25), I was there when that happened at FanimeCon 2006 in San Jose, CA! The guy tried to rob some merchandise from the Dealers Hall, but in his second attempt, he tried to be all sneaky by dressing up as Sasuke, and luckily, the rovers were able to catch the guy, reported to the police and nabbed him. Nobody fucks with FanimeCon security anymore after that incident! HAHA! XD

I admit I rolled my eyes at first when I figured(assumed) this was going to be an anti-sub piece, but I honestly found myself thinking critically and taking points from each side. Overall my stance on the debate is still pretty solid, but it has been better informed on the other viewpoint.

I especially like how optimistic you were on the potential of sites like Crunchyroll. Perhaps we can see a new rise of mature, educated, and dare I say literate anime fans? *crosses fingers*

Well, I think most anime fans are literate, especially considering most of the ones that this video apply to watch videos with subs. Mature is a more appropriate word.

I really love anime, but haven't watched it that much at all. Glad that I didn't get too involved with this, especially since people got their internet shut down. That would suck. Sorry that some people lost some anime they watched, but hopefully this whole thing will be worked out legally, and soon.

Streaming is the future people.

as long as it is legal streaming, and not pirated, than nobody should have a problem with it (after all, the companies who made it, need to make money somehow so they can keep making it)

What I like about this video is that it isn't long winded and straight to the point but not over bearing spanking either side of this debate.

I personally didn't know that such companies have bit the dust so recently (then again I do love anime but I never bother to watch it or buy it as of recent. I do admit that I read some translated fan manga though which in it's own right suffers the same way anime does, right?)

Both sides have their points and it's nice to hear and witness myself that some companies actually stream their own product. Question: What about anime that's been old for ages, I never understood how revenue works even after a product isn't in it's prime time (Macross, Cowboy Bebop, Old Gundam) I don't understand how much money a company gets from old titles that aren't in print anymore. For video games they usually end up super cheap and the local stores just take the money and none of it goes to the actual company that licensed and produced the game, which usually means it was already preplayed. Like much older anime it could be prewatched, so it seems like a loss either way. (If not then it's good.)

That's the hard part - getting ahold of the older stuff easily. I'm happy to see that things like Fist of the North Star and Robotech (even though I'd personally prefer Macross ) are starting to go streaming, but then again those were pretty popular. I do wonder what will happen to all those little gems that fall in between the cracks.

I love that licensing companies are offering their show for free online, but for the most part i hate English dubs. most of the work that subbers do is actually of a higher quality than the legitimate localization. Example: One Piece i never knew how great that show was until i watched the fan translated version, if more companies would forgo the localizing process and supply the original material (which might actually make DVDs cost a lot less) than i would be less inclined to download or stream pirated copies.

Basically when I'm offered a better product for free or a legal, substandard, expensive product, there is no choice.

What's great is that FUNimation offers both subbed and dubbed versions of just about everything they're hosting, and of course the newest stuff that they've jumped on hasn't even been dubbed yet.

i only watch streaming anime because i dont have money. i do buy them when i get a chance. i currently have bought 6 complete anime series.

While I must admit, I would rather have it be legal of course (solely for the convenience), I must agree that it is, in essence a copyright violation. And as such, it should at least be made more difficult. I like how the idea of it "being so easy you forget that it's illegal" sums it up. It's still illegal. However, this particular example can be seen as a pretty black and white scenario, as it deals with the actual fully dubbed (or subbed) episodes of the anime. But what about when the subject matter is a little grayer? For instance, should companies like Toei or FUNimation be able to take down youtube videos that feature mere clips of the anime? Or what about, dare I say it, videos that parody the anime (yes, I'm referring to Abridged Series, here). Do the companies have the same copyright violation right to take down the videos, simply because they use some footage from the anime? Are they allowed to take down ANY video that features ANY amount of footage from ANY of their anime? I'd like to hear other's thoughts on this. Basically, when and where (if ever) do the copyright violation rights for the anime licensing companies begin and end?

There's a lawyer out there I saw once who wants to argue that things like AMVs should be considered more like Fair Use and not like copyright violation. I'd love to take that side. Unfortunately, if a company wanted to get all butt-hurt over something that's been completely rearranged I fear we couldn't keep them from doing so, and it'll all depend on who's judging the case and how much money the opposing parties have, I'm sure.

As it stands, the law doesn't paint a clear black-and-white picture, and it's as you said, it's in the gray.

MarzGurl, thank you for posting this incredible and informing video here on TGWTG and I do admit that I am one of many who get their Anime fix in a not-so legal sense, but like you said, there's always a legal alternative when it comes to watching Anime.

Anyway, the lawyer you mentioned simply said that AMVs and Abridged series should be considered Fair Use, but what about fanmade English dubs? The reason why I ask this is because I am not only an amateur voice actress, but I am also an aspiring voice director and producer for fandubbing.

Many people turn to fandubs so that they can appreciate fan-generated content by other fans and that there are some who agree that fandubs are superior (however, there is a share of people who can't stand fandubs) because they feel the voice acting and the writing is better than the official dub. Also, there are many people in the amateur voice acting community who are passionate about what they do, and hell, there are even a small number who are now professional voice actors.

What will happen if licensing companies and the animation studios send cease and desist letters to video hosting sites and other places where the amateur voice acting community thrives? What will happen to fan-based production companies after they have strived to make a fandub of an English dubbed Anime that did not have uncut DVDs?

I do a panel just like this at conventions, and it neat to see other try let other know whats going on with the anime industry and such. ^_^

Very informative and although I'm not a big anime fan I get you're point and I should really stop looking for the few anime I watch in illegal sites and thanks for the info on the legal sites also there is something I cannot really do and that is buy anime DVDs since I live in Mexico it really is hard for me to look for DVDs and I don't go to conventions neither do I have credit card to buy online but I might make a few trips to the U.S. to buy some games and while I'm there I might look for anime DVDs and I allready went on for too long and I don't really have a point so I'll stop now...

Man calm down you don't have to get so worked up maybe if we get a poll or gather people and ask the companies some will listen and you're trigun complain all depends on you're point of view and ideology and I like to think that if I were in a situation when I had to decide between taking a life or not regardless of the situation I would choose to forgive his life even at the cost of my own (although I do have some rage issues and I have almost killed someone(which I am really ashamed of) I changed my mind and decided I would let him live even if he was making me go nuts and angry and I couldn't stop punching the wall...) Ok once again I said too much and I should shut up and I think I shouldn't post a comment ever again.............

Huh. This almost sounds like a 4chan copy/pasta, though I've never seen it myself.

I only wonder, if you don't like anime, why did you watch this?

Honestly, yeah, you know why ADV suffered so much? It's 'cause they flooded the market with a bunch of niche fan service crap that only a small amount of people would be willing to watch. So I understand where you're coming from. The original comment just seemed really out of place.

@buried_treasure_yay: Okay, that was such an unnecessary rant, not to mention a poorly thought one as well.

Anime is like any medium it's got its good sides and bad sides, just like American cartoons and comics. So don't act all high and mighty because all you're doing is making yourself look like an ass.

Okay, FIRST OF ALL: Killing or taking human lives is always a bad thing, every single religion has communicated how wrong it is to kill, because every person deserves a chance at life and no person has the authority to kill others, because deciding who gets to live and who gets to die is freaking FASCISM.
SECOND OF ALL: Evangelion's popularity is because of its well thought-out and strongly realized characters, and because of the profound and universal themes it communicates regarding everyone's personal loneliness and everyone's need for approval and love from others. The "artsy" and "symbolic" aspects of the show are just incidental to its overall appeal.
THIRD OF ALL, AND THIS IS THE CLINCHER: you can't just denounce and wish death upon the entire body of animation from a particular country just because of a few bad apples in the bunch. Every medium has its ups and downs, and there are hundreds of genuinely great anime that you can't just disregard.

Don't get me started on Crunchyroll

*sings and waves arms* for united we stand, divided we fall...

i dont really watch anime but this was very informative. great vid as always marzgurl!

Good video, MarzGurl. Some anime fans have such absurd entitlement complexes.

There is absolutely no reason to fansub One Piece to begin with. Funimation and Toei are bending over backwards to get you this show, via streams from Funimation's own site and Anime News Network. So even aside from the illegality of the fansubs themselves, it becomes a real slap in the face to continue to fansub a show that, for all intents and purposes, is already free to watch. Whoever is fansubbing One Piece is horribly disrespectful towards the people who put it together and the folks trying to get it to the fans in as convenient a way as possible.

But some people want everything right away, free, at the highest form possible, without ever having to even acknowledge the work of other people. It's as if the fans feel like they own the shows, and not the people who produced them.

Fansubs have their place in the fandom, sure, and the licensors understand that, which is why they aren't simply tracking down every major fansub group and forcing them to shut down, which they very well could, and have every right to. I think a certain amount of fansubbing is tolerated by the licensors and the studios themselves. Of course, this is partly why so many fans feel entitled, since they feel like something that they're used to should always be there. The companies are then partially to blame, in a way, for being so lenient, but fansubs do help hook a certain percentage of people into the legal product.

The issue becomes, then, in this economy, if that percentage is high enough to continue looking the other way.

Fansubbers and sites like the one you discussed should be satisfied with having been part of that process for as long as they were. It's the licensors that allow them to, in my opinion, and it's silly to complain about it.

I love that Nabeshin clip. Almost makes me want to forgive him for Fujiko's Unlucky Days. Almost.

Pretty indifferent about this, scanning/subbing totally has a place inside the interwebz. Also its funny the people that helped pioneer scanning manga now are the people that Viz/Tokyopop/DarkHorse/DelRay/ w/e other companies hire to do the translating and editing..long live toriyamaworld!

well basically i agree the way to go is the hulu/ad revenue style and when the anime im watching is there ill watch it but when theyre not i really dont feel like laying down 100+ dollars to see something ill watch once, not to say for my favorites i wont buy i own berserk/trigun/cowboy bebop etc. but when the pricetags get ridiculous its not a committment i want to put on my wallet.

same thing goes w/ webhosts like w/ tgwtg i donate to this site because im here all the time but i dont to all the sites i visit i think only other one i would atm is spoony's.

But if it's not worth your time (or that you enjoy it enough to watch it a second time), then don't buy it.
Have a support group of sorts with friends where they buy some and you buy some and you borrow from them. If you like theirs enough to watch it again, buy it

As mind numbingly dull as that was, there at least was some decent info about crunchyroll and funimation's streaming so thanks for that. Quite frankly, they should be looking to streaming for any future revenues, not sales. Like someone mentioned, it doesn't make sense to buy something you'll watch once and maybe a second time in 5-10 years.

The main problem is Piricy is something deeply rootet in Anime Fandom.

In the Past it was something else. Ok it wasen't legen then.

But they werten't Streeming Sites, hell there weren't even many Anime to buy. And perpele actuelly buyed the good stuff.

Today we have a big pile of cheap DVD Boxets, pay an legal streaming websides (heck even Netfilx has many anime series).

Than the digital age with it "we want it now an free" crap. And many yunger fans enter the anime szene and see the wast and old way of downloding Fansubbed anime. That's why they see sutch things as grantet.

Sorry for my English (it's my weak language).

*One-Man Standing Ovation*

nice, very informative, I try to get my fix through Hulu, so I generally avoid controversy (yes sitting through ads sucks, but it is better than paying out the ass to watch something I am not sure if I like or not) also I think your focus was a bit off on your camera, you were a bit fuzzy at the end.

While I like to get things for free on the internet, none of what I do/participate in is illegal, I don't use torrents, and I only frequent reputable sites, so as to avoid the legal issues with some of the greyer sites.

I understand the economic impact of file sharing, after all, if it wasn't for pirated movies, maybe movie tickets wouldn't be 10 bucks a pop (8.50 locally, but my town's theater sucks, so to see a good movie, I hafta go to an adjacent city, where ticket prices are higher for some reason)

I think Crunchyroll is the only website on your list that lets people NOT from America watch. I always find it funny that as soon as something is licensed in America everyone is all "OMG BUY IT YOU GUYS!" without thinking that hey! America is not the entire world!

Hell I can't even buy DVDs from America and play them in my country because of region locks. And good luck waiting until it's released here!

So now I just don't watch any anime at all.

Economically, it just makes sense to support the people who provide you with the anime you watch, and if those providers give you FREE access to watch what you want to watch, why go pirated?

Remember, if you want a business to provide you with what you want, support the damn business. It's common sense.

I agree. The solution to the problem is easy and many have figured it out. Just put your property on the internet your self. People are going to watch South Park on the internet regardless of laws, so the creators just put the entire siries up on their own website(southparkstudios.com) and run ads during the videos. Problem solved. Fox and ABC are doing the same thing with Hulu. Why some companies haven't done this yet baffles me.

One thing that really pisses me off is when the people doing abridged series get their videos taken off the web. Nobody got their Dragon Ball Z fix by watching Team Four Star's videos. In fact, the videos don't make any sense unless you have already watched Dragon Ball Z. I myself went out and bought the first season of DBZ because Team Four Star reminded me of how awesome it was and they got me all nostalgic for it. Team Four Star was helping Funimation make cash, but their account was banned anyway.

this is easily youre best video, great job marzgurl, your videos are getting better and better...

PD: i never see you without the red hair.....o.O

Catboy's Wall Of Text

Ah, free anime online... I honestly find little liking to it, in fact, it irritates me. I personally prefer to buy the DVDs (or VHS) instead of watching them online. The main reason is I like to have the actual thing. If you have no internet connection, you can't log on and watch whatever you want, you end up turning your thumbs but if you have the DVD, you can watch it at your own leisure.

What irritates me is that I pay for the DVD yet people gets it for free online, a thing I could profit of as well but I don't see the point to do so... THE DARN THINGS ARE ON SALE, none of them should be free.

HOWEVER, I am not completely against free anime, some anime series are sold for a surprisingly high amount of money such as Shuffle (69.99$ CAD)and I don't even want to get started on hentai DVD (Overall 29.95-39.99$ CAD for a DVD that has 30 minutes of content.)... mangas pointed for older audience suffers from such a thing as well.

There's also the whole crap we get from US companies that cuts episodes from T.V. and such but I admit that I have no idea if the DVD sets are affected by that as well. I'm not really going to get into the quality of american dubs with the exception being that the voices are *sometime* just as bad as from the zelda and mario CD-I games.

There's also animes that are very hard to get and the same goes to mangas with their fansubs, I think its less annoying for them to be shared and the same goes for games. We never got Galaxy Angel (much to my dismay) games and there is very little options to get them and then they're not translated except perhaps by fan subs. Anime fans likes to get content of various medias and its very hard to stop online downloads and other issues when said content isn't released out of Japan.

It is my belief that while I prefer to buy the DVDs and prefer not to watch sites for the anime series, I take profound glee sometime about seeing them for free due to several poor dubs and scenes and episodes cut but I still think that the people who originally worked on it shouldn't suffer for such a thing. Artists works hard on content and companies needs to make profit.

I have great pride in owning a physical copy of the anime I love, personally, so I think I understand what you mean with that.

Most of the time, American DVDs go straight to uncut after it's aired on TV. That's not always the case, of course, for example in the cases of Poke'mon, Blue Dragon, and Yu-GI-Oh!, but if the anime wasn't originally inteded for the super-young, it usually gets pretty decent DVD treatment.

Interesting and informative. Hmm, nice!

Also, am I crazy, or did I see a still-shot of Angry German Kid in there?

it sucks where i live we almost dont have any anime at all the only animes i saw where yugioh gx with the horrible romanian dub and sonic x with the same horrible romanian dub if more anime dvds would come to romania i would go buy it and importing thats way too much for me it would come out 2-3 time more than the original price so im fucked to stay with the fansubs ( i really would like to support by buyng dvds but my parent wont let me import (

I Saw FMA WIth The CRAPPY Voice Acting Here On Mexico... MY GOD... Or ONE PIECE WIth All The Censor.... GOD... Buying DVD's Are Ok But It Only Have 4 or 6 Chapters... COME ON!... Thats Just Bad

Ok I Guess All The People Who Download Free Anime Chapters Or Manga Or Whatever... Are Wrong... But... Here In Mexico And Other Parts Of The World The Companies Like Funimation Or Cartoon Network, Disney Etc... They Don't Bring Us The New Relases... Like The New Evangelion Movies, I Don't See The First One On TV Because The Dub Company Has A Lot Of Troubles, Like Makin Dubs Horrible And With Un-pro Voice Actors, And The Companies Don't Wanna Lose Their Time With Bad Products...
Here On My Case The New Evangelion Movie I Feel Just Bad... Why? Because I Saw The Trailer On A TV Show About The Relases On Movie Theaters, But When Funimation Say... Upss Sorry In Mexico?? Ja.. I Feel Just Raped...

It's Bad Download The Anime Free, But Here... We Don't Have Any Options... ANIMAX Is "BS" And 4Kids... OMG... Maybe Disney With The License Of Naruto But Is Just Only Naruto... What About FMA Shinetsu, The Original HISTORY!... It's A Problem With Two Points Of View... So... We Will See...

(Sorry For My Bad English... XD)

This argument is cool, however there is a few issues.

1) ADV haven't such folded such as split up into those six companies, held by ADV CEO John Ledford.

2) Toei are assholes, being British, I'm barred from watching One Piece simulcast, I get the 4kids version at 9pm on CN instead. Also, I would love nothing more than to see Shinkenger and Kamen Rider W ether a) On Shelves or b) on TV, but that's not going to happen any time soon, is it?

3) About 70% of the content available in the US VOD is not available in the UK. This is unacceptable in my honest opinion. I want to watch black jack. Damn. I would buy Black Jack TV if the chance was there. But no, says the Sony, it belongs to America.

I feel no remorse about downloading a fan sub of shows that are region blocked for no good reason.

And that Includes:
One Piece - Region Blocked, no chance for a UK release
Dragonball Kai - No presence, No sign of a UK release (Or a release of the Previous box sets)
Black Jack - Region Blocked, No UK Presence
Digimon Zero two - ...kinda sucks but it's the principle of the matter
Fist of the North Star - Region Blocked, no UK release.

All I am saying is I have money and I want to spend it.

All Companies have to do is stop being anal about regions and allow me to buy it.

I WANT TO BUY YOUR STUFF, DON'T IGNORE ME BECAUSE I'M IN THE UK!!!

I admit to knowing that the 5 companies ADV sold their titles to were basically just signifying a 5-party split of their content. But that ADV "brand" simply isn't there anymore. Especially if you go to advfilms.com, only to be greeted with a single page with nothing but a wall of text announcing their September 1st press release of the sale of their intellectual properties.

You, good sir, have every right to bitch. Americans have NO right to do so. We're spoiled in comparison, I'd say. So I don't have a clue why we complain as much as we do. The UK doesn't nearly get the amount of stuff we do.

It's what we do, every other nation is always coming down on America, well we do what we do because we want to do it.

Sticking purely to the anime debate, and the legality, you can't say it's okay for people to pirate if it wasn't released in their country, and not okay to watch it if you live in America.

We get the popular titles, because we have money, and were willing to spend it ON anime, if these people want lisens then they should buy more anime!

You are a hypocrite to say "oh yeah it's only bad if theirs a licensed company in America for Americans to watch it."

That's B.S. if that's the case then AMERICAN companies lose money and in turn their directly screwing with America's economy. That's the problem all the dang other races watching our anime. ((I'm kidding, I'm kidding.))

But seriously, that's why I only pirate the Japanese versions, not the American ones, not only that of course the American dubs also make my ears bleed, but to quote a popular anime abridged series, "Screw the rules, we have money in America!"

The only Anime i watch online is One Piece(not the 4kids one) and Bleach because you never get them over here!

Its so annoying we only have like up to season 3 of Bleach and the movie and i'd gladly buy them all if they actually bothered to bring them over here

Bleach is released in the Uk. I have the season 1 box set and Season 2 has been released. Bought mine from HMV.

Conan, I feel your Pain.

I would Dearly love to get a full set of FotNS Anime, and the '84 Movie with Both endings and Original Japanese Language, plus Gatchaman the ADV Dub, Classic Mazinger Z/Great Mazinger. Hell, There's a whole mess of titles I'd blow hundreds of pounds on, If it was available on UK R2.

But it ain't.

Maybe we need our own UK licencers (Licence-ers? Licensors?), like Manga used to be. I have dreams of being a voice actor meself. And how awesome would it be to hear Gurren Lagann's Kamina speak with a Brummie Accent?

"When they spake o'the layder o' Taem Gurr'n, They'm talkin' about me! The moighty Kammy-na!"

I mean c'mon, just see my nick, I'm from Colombia and here and Latin America the anime industry has grown pretty damn fast since dragon ball first arrived here, so a long time ago. I am an anime fan myself, I mean, I wouldn't cosplay on a convention but I'd watch a fair share of anime per week, BUT, the industry has just forgotten that we exist leaving us no other option than to search the net for fansubs. I would be more than happy spending my money on a One piece DVD. We got like 40 episodes and the dubbing of the series just stopped, leaving animax as the only reliable source of anime but as I found out, our industry depends on the US release because the dubbing and product releasing isn't produces here, US companies send the material here so taht we can dub it and this can take a lot of time to happen, we're still waiting for naruto to end so that shippuden can start.

BTW Black Jack is shown here so what the hell's that about, we got black jack and you guy's don't. Weird.

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE BEING IGNORED? I AM COLOMBIAN!!!

I agree with you. I live in the UK also and pissy that my favorite anime and Manga, One Piece, is unavaliable to me unless I import. I wanted it so much I bought a multi-region DVD player and import the DVDs.

I shouldn't have to do that. And I still can't believe they haven't released Dragonball Z here yet. It's not like it isn't popular here.

Good points Marzgurl, but a bit of additional commentary is necessary, at least concerning Geneon.
Dentsu (Geneon's owner) decided to try saving money by using ADV for their distribution, even going so far as to shut down their own American distribution through Geneon...but the deal fell apart. Whether that's because Ledford was afraid of ADV somehow getting swallowed up by the Media Mega-Merger of which Dentsu is a part...or because ADV has been leaning toward family-friendly (with rare exceptions) while Geneon has been leaning toward ecchi and gore...I couldn't say.
But when ADV turned down the deal, Geneon was left without an American distributor, and Dentsu decided that it was more cost-effective to shut down Geneon than to sign new distribution contracts, especially given the state of the American economy.

Sad too, but I'm still hopeful for a Serial Experiments: Lain revival--or even a prequel down the road.
SEL>Miazaki! So sayeth the Cult of Lain!

You're right, I was simply concerned that diving more deeply into why Geneon and ADV went into their financial crisis' would lead me incredibly off-topic and make the whole thing far too long. But all of what you've said is indeed correct.