UlasanAnime.com – If my Christian leanings haven’t been made clear to you yet, I probably won’t be clarifying them in this post.
I’m here to express gratitude and appreciation to the various individuals and entities that have held this blog, this network of blogs, and all its readers and contributors together as a loosely connected community. Believe it or not, this community has significantly impacted my life over the past year, especially for those who endure my lengthy sentences. Thank you.
However, I’m not particularly adept at simply thanking thankless fansubbers. Dwelling on that would likely lead to friendly banter and mockery, to our mutual detriment. Instead, I’ll be exploring this topic, with assistance from and thanks to Henry Jenkins, referencing a brief article published in Reason Magazine.
Essentially, Jenkins’ article presents arguments that fans have likely encountered before. It reiterates the points I’ve vaguely acknowledged during debates about copyright and piracy’s empirical effects. Yet, it also serves as a celebration, concisely illustrating through historical examples how dedicated fans paved the way for the current phenomenon where many anime blogs are focusing on the disappearance and reappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi. The reasons behind the “sell-out” of sites like sos-dan.com, ANN, and Anime on DVD remain unclear, but their success is undeniably a result of the foundation laid by fansubbers.
Whether actions are legal, illegal, ethical, or unethical is beside the point. It’s unrealistic to expect universal agreement on the intricate details of this issue. Copyright law itself is complex and ambiguous, even for legal professionals. Without significant study and self-education, it’s challenging to grasp its nuances. This lack of understanding is part of the problem, leading to the current predicament.
As manufactured culture expands through industrial media and technology into daily life, it’s a consequence of people living safer, healthier, wealthier, and more leisurely lives. A society less burdened by the drudgery of a nine-to-five workday is a society liberated from the necessity that once stifled creativity. This society, I argue, more freely appreciates what it has been given. While this newfound freedom might seem unsettling, America has experienced this cultural revolution for at least 40 years. Japan, along with much of East Asia, the Middle East, and parts of South America, is still grappling with it. Places like China and India are only a decade or two behind. What is concerning about this revolution is its meta-level impact; it’s not just about what people do or say, but about the underlying framework, mass-market behaviors, trends, and how businesses operate for profit. Ultimately, how people think and react to stimuli has fundamentally changed, and will continue to do so. This isn’t merely a new school of thought or subject matter; it’s a dismantling of entire perspectives and a challenge to our fundamental ways of thinking. From Superstring Theory to understanding the valuation of YouTube, these are all revolutionary in varying degrees.
Copyright law is one of the major battlegrounds in this evolving society. For the first time, fans can import foreign cultures through distributed subtitling efforts (excluding those who do their fansubbing entirely on their own) and promote information goods to a wide audience. We are no longer in the era of SVHS, even though that information model was conceptualized during a nostalgic period of my life. Affordable broadband, anime clubs, conventions, and engaging websites have made access significantly easier, arguably even for a young girl in Palestine.
Perhaps “revolution” and “battlefield” are strong words. However, if you have ten minutes after reading Jenkins’ article, I encourage you to explore the concerns of Open Source advocates regarding the future of our culture. While the content is dated and geared towards the Open Source community, it effectively characterizes the stakes involved.
Alternatively, you can attribute my alarm to my personal experiences over the past six months. I’ve delved deeply into this topic, perhaps more than is healthy. Lessig and his fellow copyleft advocates present a variety of compelling arguments. Yet, much like the internet, it’s difficult to see how these translate into our daily lives. Nevertheless, I am certain that whoever can bridge this gap will profit significantly, benefiting society as a whole. This realization is a source of melancholy.
Anime exists because it was made accessible. We are fortunate, and it is only natural to extend this fortune to those who are still struggling. This extends even to a humorous nod towards Japan’s doujin culture. Thank you for participating in this subconscious act of civil disobedience, whether as a fan, a subber, or simply someone seeking attention. Regardless of your intentions, we are all in this for the long haul.
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