From what I’ve seen during my years of anime fandom, there are generally two kinds of fans; those who mostly watch their anime by buying the official DVDs and those who mostly watch their anime via fansubs. Putting the limited amount of anime aired on English TV aside, DVDs and fansubs are really the only other sources for watching anime. But I’ve noticed that some fans who are dedicated to buying the official DVDs (and may also have morals which put them against downloading fansubs) have a poor respect and think little of fans who only download fansubs and don’t support the anime market by buying the DVDs. Since I’m one of those fans who watches almost all my anime via fansubs, I want to point out the main reason why I do so and don’t buy the DVDs when they come out; I’d like to buy them, but I simply can’t afford it…
We all know that anime DVDs are more expensive than regular DVDs because of the cost of licensing, dubbing, etc,. Most box sets of 26 episode series could be anywhere from $75 to $100+. Luckily for the anime market, some fans are able to afford spending hundreds of dollars on anime in a relatively short time, and even risk buying DVDs of new series they may not like. But is it right for these fans, or the anime companies who release the DVDs, to belittle those who can’t afford to buy anime DVDs and instead turn to free fansubs? I know there are “bad” fansubbers who have the unrealistic belief that all anime should be free and refuse to spend any money on anime even if they’re able to afford it. But I definitely believe that anime is worth spending money on…if you have the money that is. The people who think downloading fansubs is the wrong, illegal way to get anime probably would not think that if they were unable to afford the official DVDs. Unlike me and a lot of other fansubbers, they have a choice when it comes to how they want to watch their anime, and for someone who can afford it, I very much agree that buying DVDs over downloading fansubs is the right choice. I would do so too if I had the same financial luxury to buy things that I want instead of just things that I need.
The reason I mostly watch fansubs is not because I think anime should be a free hobby nor because I’m only interested in watching the latest, unlicensed shows. I’m interested in all anime, the old and the new, the licensed and the unlicensed. But I watch fansubs (mostly of new series because they’re easily available, but I try to watch older fansubs too) only because I can’t afford to spend $50 to $100 for every series I want to watch in its entirety. I even cringe at spending $25 to $30 on one DVD…and of course, who’s satisfied with just one DVD and not the whole series? I’d love to buy lots of anime DVD box sets and have a big collection, I really would. Every time I go to Best Buy and similar stores, I spend a long time in the anime sections, just looking and wanting. I just saw the recently released DVDs of Air and Mushishi, two series that I watched the fansubs of and loved…but even so, I almost always leave the stores empty handed. As much as I would love to buy the DVDs to replace my fansubs, being able to eat and pay my bills takes priority. I can only imagine that it must be a nice life to be able to afford all your necessities and still have money left over for luxuries without having to worry about going into major debt. So should I just let my passion and yearning to watch anime build up inside of me until I can’t take it anymore? No…that’s why I turn to fansubs, which offer just as much if not more of a variety of anime than what’s on store shelves. Does it make me some kind of bad person for getting anime “illegally” instead of not doing anything and being miserable because I can’t afford to spend money on the thing I love so much? As I said, spending hundreds of dollars on anime DVDs is a luxury for those who can afford it and it’s hard for these people to understand what it’s like to worry about paying your bills and buying food instead of what new limited addition box set to preorder.
I’ve already gone into the big fansubs debate in a previous post, but since I think it also ties in well with this post, here’s what I said about the subject:
“…there’s the ideal reason that fansubs exist – to promote awareness of a new series so fans will eventually buy the DVDs. For the few fans who do this, fansubs help anime companies and hold no threat to them. But of course, the majority of fans who watch fansubs rarely or never buy DVDs. So will wiping all fansubs off the face of the Internet turn these people around and make them buy the DVDs of all the series they’ve downloaded? Possibly, but not likely.
First of all, just from my experience of being an anime fan and talking with other fans, I know for a fact that most fans who only watch fansubs would not buy the DVDs of a series if the fansubs were taken away, either because they’re too cheap and lazy, or for the more positive reason, they simply can’t afford it. It’s the former that gives fansubs their negativity, but for the latter (myself among them) fansubs allow us to experience a more variety of anime that we could not watch otherwise, and thus we become more knowledgeable and open-minded in our passion. Without fansubs, many of us could not watch shows like Kanon and Nana and experience a truly Japanese, non-mainstream series. Also, if we really like a fansubbed series that has or will be licensed, there’s a good chance we’ll use what little money we have to buy it. And because fansubs allow us to become familiar with a much greater variety of anime than we can afford to buy on DVD or are able to watch on TV, we would still be inclined to buy other cheaper products promoting those series besides DVDs. For example, as much as I’d like to, I don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on all the Naruto, Bleach, and Eureka 7 DVDs. So I watch the fansubs, and because the fansubs have gotten me to like these series so much, I buy other products from them such as key chains, plushies, posters, calendars, etc,. Sure, it’s not as profitable as the DVDs, but it’s still something, and without the fansubs I wouldn’t buy anything from these series, especially the DVDs. I’m also very inclined to buy products from unlicensed series…and if it weren’t for fansubs, I wouldn’t even know about these series (take the fansubs away, you really think non-Japanese fans would buy the raw DVDs?)
So to sum up the whole fansub thing, I think they could do some harm to the anime market, but I actually think they do more good. Fansubs allow non-Japanese anime fans from all over the world to become much more educated and fluent in their interest, with the potential to promote all kinds of series from the hard-core to the mainstream. Even if it’s not through DVD sales, the overall awareness and prospective licensing of series is just as important. As I said, I think only a small percentage of fansub-only fans would buy the DVDs if the fansubs weren’t available, so it’s not worth making a big deal about them. Luckily, most anime companies don’t, otherwise sites like Tokyo Toshokan and Box Torrents would’ve been shut down a long time ago…I’ll just say that if it weren’t for fansubs, both of licensed and unlicensed series, I wouldn’t be nearly as passionate an anime fan as I am today.”
Those paragraphs pretty much sum up my opinion about fansubs. To give another example, I recently downloaded fansubs of Elfen Lied, Shakugan no Shana, and Genshiken. These series have been licensed for a while, so was it really horrible of me to download fansubs of licensed series when the DVDs are available? Even if the fansubs of these series didn’t exist, that wouldn’t put money in my pocket to buy the DVDs. So if I want to watch these series and can’t afford the DVDs, that gives me two options; download the fansubs or just do nothing and miss out on these shows. Downloading the fansubs would allow me to watch the shows anyway, which may lead me to buy the DVDs when I can afford to. Or, as mentioned in the above paragraphs, even if I don’t spend hundreds on the DVDs, I may at least buy other products pertaining to the series. So what I’m trying to say is that fansubs are not as terrible for the anime industry as people think and they not only promote anime (even if not through DVD sales) they also make the lives of fans like me, who can rarely afford to spend money on their hobby, a lot better.
Anyway, hopefully one day I’ll have the kind of life where I can spend hundreds of dollars on anime without worry. But until then, the only way I can appease my passion is through fansubs. Even so, I still spend what little extra money I get on anime. Unlike other girls my age, I don’t spend money on things like fancy clothes, shoes, make-up, pedicures, parties, etc., but almost exclusively on anime. I have a few anime box sets that I’ve managed to afford over the years but nothing compared to the amount that’s out there. So there’s no doubt that if there were no fansubs, many well-meaning anime fans like myself would be very miserable and probably very limited in their knowledge of anime since the only other source for them would be the anime that airs on TV (if they have cable, which I didn’t for many years). I’m glad to say that for someone with limited money to spend on anime, I’ve become an extremely passionate and well-seasoned fan that’s interested in and familiar with a variety of anime from all kinds of genres – and I wouldn’t have been able to become the dedicated fan I am today if it weren’t for fansubs.
Wow, very nice article. I love reading these sorts of insightful, interesting articles about anime culture. I totally agree with you about fansubs. Buying a boxset is great, and it feels really good to be able to watch the dub of something, and get cool extras on the disc (such as in Haruhi), but I can’t realistically spend $100 on a boxset, even for a great series. (like Eva, which I still haven’t bought) If American anime companies want to get more DVD sales, they have to figure out a way to put them closer to the price range of an American DVD. And with stuff like Freedom coming out now for $40 an episode on HD-DVD, things look to only be getting worse.
–Vampt Vo–
i think renting is a completely viable option for those that can’t afford to or who are not willing to purchase anime. netflix has a wide variety of anime, and currently airing shows, it seems, are being licensed more so and faster than ever. of course, it’s nice to own and have in your hands your favorite shows, but if you just want to test a show out or like a show but not enough to purchase it, renting is really the best way to go.
for the stuff that really inspires me, i purchase. for stuff that’s not available and often likely never to be available, fansubs are a blessing. for stuff that has been licensed and i’m interested in or unsure of, renting is perfect.
In my country there are no licensed anime (except for some ghibli movies). That means the fansubs are the ONLY way to watch anime. That also means that until few years ago, when we started getting faster internet, there was almost no anime fans. If licensed anime ever appears here it will have a market only thanks to fansubs.
Should I ever have money like that to spend on anime, I’d buy dvd’s. Untill then it’s fansubs and keychains.
Nice article, very insightfull
Yeah, I agree. I’m just in high school–I can’t even get a frickin’ job for another half a year or somthing.
I am an anime fan, but I really have to turn to manga for my passion. With my measly allowance, I’m able to get one, maybe two manga every couple of weeks…..I love anime, and watch it whenever I can, but manga is cheaper…..Seven to twelve dollars is a big differance. I don’t get acess to YouTube, so it’s either save up my money or turn to manga. Being the freak that I am, I turn to manga….Plus there are some manga out there that havn’t even been lisenced yet.
I’ll just leave it at that….I don’t want to leave a rant comment…. ^^’
Good post…I don’t have a lot of respect for fans who could afford the DVDs, but choose not to buy anything at all because “fansubs are free, so people who buy DVDs are idiots wasting their money.” That “I’m entitled to everything for free” attitude just really grates on me. But I think you raise a very good point, that there are a lot of people watching fansubs who can’t afford to buy the DVDs, or can’t afford to buy *everything* they watch. Personally, I watch 8-10 series a season fansubbed, but I’ll only buy the 1-2 that I think have a lot of rewatch value on DVD. I don’t think that’s any different than what Joe Otaku in Japan can do, watching anime on free broadcast television, and then deciding which of the series they like enough to take the DVD plunge on. It kills me when ADV and the like try to equate every fansub downloaded with a sale lost, because that’s simply not true.
When I was in high school (this was back in the 80s) my allowance was two dollars a week, and while back then I didn’t know what anime was, if I had my budget for anime would have been next to nothing. But all those high school kids who can’t afford it now will grow up, get better jobs, and if even 1 in 5 stay anime fans into adulthood, then when they can afford it they *will* buy DVDs, and it’s that exposure to anime through fansubs that the anime companies can thank.
Anyway, that’s my $0.02 ^_^
Another reason for fansubs:
Licensed series like Shaman King (uncut not the edited version) which have only the first six episodes available on DVD in the US and no others. I’d love to own this show on DVD but they simply aren’t available. So until they are, I’ll keep my fansubs.
You are right, Suguru-san. I will grow up and get a good job someday, but for now, I need to do what I can. I can’t just wait till the futuer!
Um, on another note…..Am I the youngest commenter-ish thing on the site…..? Wow, the eighties….I wasn’t even nearly around back then…..
Like you, I also have to result to fansubs instead of having to buy the DVDs because of the lack of money. Over the years ive managed to obtain some box sets. (theres even times where I got lucky and found my Angelic Layer and Magic Knight Rayearth S1 sets for $30-$40, for a whole series!)
Like Rishi, I also buy alot of manga instead because they are cheaper. In fact, ive now gotten to the point where I would rather prefer buying manga over DVDs anyways. Manga you can take anywhere you go (makes a great way to kill time like at school or waiting at the doctor’s office), but DVDs you’re just limited to your TV or computer to watch them.
But I still just wish these companies would lower the prices of DVDs for those of who who can’t afford them and want to by them (like myselef). I know it costs money to import something, but it doesn’t have to be THAT much!
Most people say this about fansubs:
“They’re legal providing the series isn’t licensed in your country!”
What they actually mean is this:
“They’re legal providing the series isn’t licensed IN AMERICA”
I don’t live in America. I don’t see why I have to go without my fansubs when some series gets licensed for America. I love how the whole goddamn internet is AMERICA.
Not that I have anything against the place. It’s very nice. I just think it’s pig ignorant that people only ever tackle this debate from the point of view of Americans. The rest of us use the same fansub resources as you, you know. Some people would say “But if you leave them up on account of that, Americans could just continue to download them!” So what? There’s nothing to stop a Japanese person hopping on a torrent and downloading something that’s ‘legal because it’s not licensed in America’, even though where THEY are, in Japan, it’s obviously licensed six ways till sunday.
As for people who think that DVD-ONLY IS THE WAY TO GO, I’m sorry, but no. Back when my little island only had VHS releases from ADV and Pioneer available, people were happy to buy into the idea that anime took a long time to translate and release. The speed of fansubs these days has proved that this is a load of garbage. Popular series have subs appearing within 1 or 2 days of the episode airing in Japan. Now, obviously anime publishing companies have the legal red tape to deal with, but once they’ve LICENSED a series, why do they take so goddamn long releasing it? I’m sorry, but if I watched up to episode 19 of a 26 episode series with the magic of fansubs and then the series gets licensed, I’m not going to sit around waiting for the company who licensed it to release episode 20 on DVD, AND THEN IMPORT IT FROM AMERICA.
So now we have national borders and delays as issues. Two more. Next comes selection. Now, I’m aware that recently, anime studios have been asking more and more in license fees for popular series, leading to excellent shows sitting on the shelf for a while before a US company manages to cough up enough cash for it. This isn’t the US market’s fault, I appreciate the economic situation here. From an end-user perspective, however, it means we have to deal with a selection of shows which is, for the most part, trash. I wouldn’t doubt that this is partially due to people in US companies having awful taste, but as I said, I appreciate the financial reasoning.
Last but certainly not least comes pricing, the subject of this article. The article states that:
“We all know that anime DVDs are more expensive than regular DVDs because of the cost of licensing, dubbing, etc,.”
I would like to say that I don’t think this is the case at all. As we’ve said, licensing is an issue. And you’re right, dubbing is an issue too. But consider how much money it takes to make an American feature film, and then consider how cheap the DVDs are. Now, the reason for this is obvious: A metric ton of people are going to want to buy the movie, but not many people are going to want to buy the anime. US anime companies seem to have responded to this by making the prices higher overall, so that they have to sell fewer copies to make a profit.
Is this really working, though? I suspect that there are many, many people in the same situation as the person who wrote this article. Hell, I’m one of them, even if you discount my “I’m not in America” problem. We already know that massive amounts of English-speaking anime fans simply get all their anime through fansubs, and we also know that part of the reason is “I’m not paying that for that!” Anyone who’s ever sold a product with any semblance of competence or sense can tell you that lowering the price often generates more profit. Look at supermarkets. In an attempt to snatch business from other chains, they consistently lower food prices to attract customers. Now, anime isn’t quite the same, as inter-company competition isn’t an issue – since only one company can hold a license at any given time. But the same principle applies to fansubs vs. dvds – sure, we’re not talking necessities like food, but I bet if anime dvds were as cheap as regular dvds, we’d all turn our heads at them a lot more when walking through a store.
In short, cheaper product = more customers = more profit despite cheaper product. This would also give US anime companies the money required to license decent series in a timely fashion. Couple this with them GETTING THEIR ACT TOGETHER WITH RELEASING QUICKLY, and actually bothering to invest in foreign English-speaking markets, and the whole state of the English-speaking anime community could be improved tenfold and made entirely more profitable.
Unfortunately, this will probably not happen. Expect to see such “high quality” titles as Night Wizard on sale soon, with the last volume being released sometime in 2009. IN AMERICA.
I’d love to buy anime DVDs, but in my country only a few famous anime movies like Ghost in the Shell got licensed. There were also other titles that got licensed but are on VCD format instead (VCD sucks!) I bought a complete VCD set of ToHeart and it was dubbed!!! I like my anime in its original voice with subtitles, so I felt like I wasted a lot of money there (My country’s dubbing sucks ass) and since it’s a freakin’ VCD there’s no japanese audio track or english subtitles to switch to…
I would really like to buy anime DVDs from online stores but the shipping cost would kill me. Shipping cost is around 15-20 USD!! I WON’T FREAKIN’ PAY THAT KIND OF AMOUNT JUST FOR SHIPPING!!
I would love to support the anime DVDs but the english subtitles is very bad in my country. That is why most anime lovers here prefer fansub than originals or they will just take up a japanese language course to understand japanese and watch RAW instead. In my country, the DVDs stated there is ”Originals” but I doubted as the quality and the subtitles is totally crap. I bought 4 animes DVD and it is all the same… low quality video… bad subtitles. It is kinda dissapointing to waste money on something that is not worth it.
Also, buying DVDs online is costing me a fortune… for a poor student like me >_> So i can only dream on…. @.@