UlasanAnime.com – Beyond the concept of fansubbing for freedom, the question arises: why do individuals dedicate their time to this practice? What motivates them to engage in copyright infringement by producing translated versions of their favorite shows, and then to repeat this process through reproduction and distribution?
While I’m uncertain about the viewership of mainland Chinese TV shows, my impression from watching some CCTV programming at my grandmother’s via satellite is that they are, for the most part, acceptable. It’s true that some segments are overtly produced “with an agenda,” and many Chinese TV stations struggle to fill their schedules with content. However, this doesn’t mean there aren’t interesting shows to be found.
But a Chinese fansub of Lost? That’s a different story. A butchered version of Desperate Housewives certainly wouldn’t resonate with a Chinese audience in its purported ported form.
Looking back, this situation is reminiscent of how anime gained traction in the US. We’d had anime on television for a long time. While I wouldn’t call the anime of that era particularly special, and the art form and industry have evolved significantly in Japan over the decades, we received them in sparse doses. Fast forward to 2006, and you can access relatively recent anime on satellite/cable or even over-the-air with some regularity. Top hits like Cowboy Bebop and Naruto? Even family shows like Shin-chan? These were unimaginable just ten years ago. And HD anime? Simply astonishing.
But has anime as *I* know it truly landed on American shores? In many ways, it has. Consider shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender? Or OEL manga? Events like Otakon and AX? Manga sales in major bookstores? In a sense, it has exploded into the mainstream in the US. This phenomenon is even more pronounced in other countries, such as France, where manga has been integrated into the large print industry like an adopted child from Asia.
Yet, in other ways, it hasn’t fully arrived. In other words, the way anime is perceived in Japan (and, indirectly, the mindset behind its production) has largely remained a Japan-only situation. This is partly what draws me to the internet in the first place. You could discuss Pokemon and Digimon with people in real life, but not Magic Knight Rayearth. Some people knew about Evangelion, but most weren’t particularly interested in discussing it (which is quite amusing). Best Buy might carry some of my favorite titles locally, but no one ever asked me to talk about them, except for once when I worked there.
I suppose what I’m trying to suggest is a new framework for examining the purpose of fansubbing. As an anime fan for some time and a blogger for a shorter period, it struck me that while my interest lies in the meta-discourse surrounding anime, fans still cannot exist without the anime itself. That’s half the reason this blog exists. Therefore, fansubs serve as the fuel for fandom.
Fansubs are food for thought; they represent the carbohydrate culture where fanboy germs are cultivated.
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This is extraordinarily clear when it comes to Simoun. It’s a significant hassle to discuss this show: 1) It’s full of spoilers, so I can only really talk about it with people who have kept up with it as I have. 2) It requires subtitles, as the show itself is rich with expository material and difficult for me, and many others, to understand. 3) It needs extensive subtitling, as the initial episodes don’t delve deeply into the plot but rather serve as an extended, unapologetic introduction. Besides, all the truly engaging content happens later on.
Another example is FLAG. It’s a shorter series than Simoun, and it is highly visual and visceral. However, even if I could follow it raw, people tend not to pay attention to it due to the lack of available subtitles. Regardless, there exists a gap, whether imaginary or real, between untranslated and translated works. I believe it’s fair to say that, at present, FLAG is a show that has fallen through the cracks of the fan network due to its poor fansub availability.
The idea that fansubs fuel fandom is predicated on a rather obvious notion, I hope. If no one talks about a show, there can be no hype. The fan community thrives on word-of-mouth. People want to “participate” in the bandwagoning; the adoration and enthusiastic discussion of a particular franchise. This is partly why people hear about Fate Stay Night and Tsukihime, or even come to like them. We know that hype, well, sells. But more importantly, hype generates MORE hype, especially in the case of something genuinely interesting (and I mean that in both positive and negative ways). It’s what drives fans, both those who flock to it and those who are infuriated by the hype. It’s why people bother discussing that ridiculous Bandai PR stunt concerning Solid State Society.
But I did mention Fate Stay Night, so I will be clear about this: yes, hype can exist in a vacuum without fansubs or anything similar. That is precisely why hype generates more hype—Fate is already hyped, and other fans build upon that. Nevertheless, you need something to initiate it, and fansubs are one of those things. Again, consider Suzumiya Haruhi. (Conversely, hype also drives fansubbing.) And of course, the major argument today regarding the needlessness of fansubs is that the marketing machine is already in full swing, penetrating the online fanbase and the massive crowd of general fans through more traditional outlets (TV, magazines, conventions, store displays, websites offering the first episode for free, etc.). Still, fansubs represent a fairly unique marketing method, and the substitutes don’t go nearly as far. I believe that even today, it remains an important method for generating hype, if not the primary method for titles that I am interested in.
If I had to explain why, it’s because the historical development of the anime fan scene has evolved in a way that is dependent on fansubs. Think of it as bonsai. See the next section for an alternative perspective on the effects of fansubbing on anime fandom.
While it’s not conclusive or a solid indicator, you can gauge the popularity of currently airing shows by how widely available they are as fansubs. Take Aria the Natural for instance (which is lagging in being subbed), and compare it with Zero no Tsukaima (which is right on top).
From another perspective, this role fansubs play is merely an extension of their original purpose: to promote awareness of something entirely unavailable in a specific demographic. However, the fact that fansubbing is still alive and well today indicates that, from some viewpoints, the mission is not yet complete. Anime has yet to fully land on American soil. The commercial infrastructure may be in place, but it simply hasn’t materialized yet. Alternatively, what are fans to do when faced with this artificial divide between the Japanese scene and their local scene? News travels just as quickly as these copyrightable “food for fans,” and even setting aside monetary concerns, a fan will do what a fan must do.
As fuel, fansubs sustain the internet fan infrastructure, and fans wear this badge in honor of the internet’s nature as a massive, unstoppable copyright infringement machine.
In essence, this is a description of fansubbing’s role in the meta-narrative. Just as a natural ecosystem arranges organisms in a food chain, the entire enterprise of fansubbing—from raw hunting to production, distribution, consumption, and even discussion of fansubs—affects how some fans perceive anime. In fact, given that anime companies outside of Japan are often run by individuals who were once fans of the works due to fansubs or similar means, fansubbing may have historically left a mark on how people view anime as a business.
The reality, however, is that fansubbing is hard work. People undertake it because they enjoy the material, the process, and/or the outcome. The flow of content from providers to consumers creates an imbalance. There is little appreciation for the fans (who complain about fansubs and don’t purchase local releases) and little accountability for fansubbers (who engage in activities that fansubbers shouldn’t).
And that’s not all. The sheer amount of time fans spend discussing and arguing about fansubs as if it were of paramount importance is astonishing :-). The legally ambiguous nature of fansubs only adds more fuel to the fire. Fans cherish what nourishes them, after all, so a defensive stance is natural. It represents a paradigm shift, especially from a fan’s perspective, when stepping into corporate shoes.
The historical basis is undeniable. Much like how we have workshops on fansubbing at conventions and the now-defunct elaborate fansub trading networks of the 80s and early 90s, it was integral to being a fan for many back then. It was the actual activity one engaged in beyond discussing it with friends or on Usenet. This shaped how fansubbing has firmly embedded itself in the heart of fandom, even if today’s fans and fansubbers are a different breed than those of ten years ago.
More seriously, I suppose what I’m getting at is that unless one subscribes to a hardcore variant of the free culture ideology, fansubbing and English-language anime fandom are primarily related on a historical basis. This situation will persist until the gap between domestic commercial anime services and Japan’s level of service closes to the extent that it becomes easier for individuals like myself to rely on domestic labor (and compensate them appropriately) to satisfy the inner fanboy.
One caveat I should raise is that while my premises are based on a generalization, in reality, no single entity holds the license to distribute anime in the US or any other country. Instead, there are numerous licenses to distribute specific shows in very particular capacities. Therefore, while one person might fairly claim that fansubs are unneeded or needed today, this is only true for the titles on their radar. It’s likely that there are still shows out there that could benefit from the magical powers fansubs demonstrated in the earlier days of English-language anime fandom. That said, it’s an entirely different question whether that magic still works for those titles that are off our radars.
On the same basis, one should realize that fansubbing is a divisive topic, and even different R1 distributors hold varying opinions on the matter if you delve deep enough. Ultimately, it’s a decision that individual copyright holders and licensees must make independently to pursue whatever course of action they deem best. I won’t speculate on what those actions might be, but please understand that these courses of action can differ.
Lastly, I thank DarkMirage for their brief commentary criticizing individuals complaining about Bandai’s threatening PR; and double thanks to calagie for the NYT article link.
