Everything we really wanted to say about the fansub debate…

November 26, 2007 | by Mike | 0 comments

…is in Anime Diet Radio, episodes 13 and the mailbag sections of 14 and 15. Justin Sevakis’s editorial said a lot of the things that I think we would have said: the companies, especially Japanese ones, must find a way to distribute electronically soon after Japanese broadcast and directly compete with the convenience of fansubs.

Justin’s piece is well-written, reasoned, and eloquent, and in a very influential forum to boot. I hope the industry listens. Give it a read, if you haven’t already.

I don’t feel like I have anything else to add, really; I’m a little tired of the topic. Personally, I think the difficulty is in large part simply because anime is a foreign entertainment product to the world outside Japan, and foreign work is never going to make enough money from DVD sales alone because it will always be a niche market. Plus, for the most part, it’s TV. Pretty much every argument can be boiled down to that in many ways.

About the Author

Michael lives in the Los Angeles area, and has been into anime since he saw Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1999. Some of his favorite shows include Full Metal Alchemist, Honey and Clover, and Welcome to the NHK!. Since 2003 he has gone to at least one anime convention every year. A public radio junkie, which naturally led to podcasting, he now holds a seminary degree and is looking to become Dr. Rev. Otaku Bible Man any day now. Michael can be reached at mike.huang@animediet.net. You can also find his Twitter account at @gendomike.