My fansub controversy… WITH A TWIST!
I just can’t win, can I?
You all should remember just how much I got flamed for talking about how I feel that people who download fansubs don’t actually spend money at all to support the industry. I didn’t attack any people in particular because I know that there are some people out there who spend a lot. I was just saying that there wasn’t as much of that as there should be.
So then can you believe my reaction to this comment left on my review of “My Wife is a High School Girl”?
Let me first say I looked up your blog on Technorati and I like much of what I am seeing here. We obviously have very different tastes, but I am not getting into any of that. What is bothering me is your preview of the unlicensed title above. By “unlicensed” I am guessing what you mean is that you downloaded the eps from Kazaa or BitTorrent and watched them in their entirety without paying for them. As the top-ranked ‘anime reviews’ blog on Technorati I hope you don’t condone this sort of behavior. Personally, I am hoping you were on a cruise ship in Japanese waters for six weeks where you watched the eps on TV without the benefit of subtitles, understanding every word spoken with your fluent grasp of the Japanese language. That must have been fun! Tell us more about it will you?
http://animesnobs.blogspot.com/2005/08/bittorrent-and-anime.html
o_O!
And man, if you thought my rant on the subject was bad, you should see what he wrote! But then again, before I got into fansubs, I probably would be the same way. In fact, I guess I still am kinda the same way. There has to be a reason why I pissed off so many people, right?
Anyway, I just really thought I should share this with you all. I find it insulting but ironic at the same time. I wrote my retort to his comment right under that in the review, so feel free to look at that if you want. Either way, I hope this isn’t the last I hear from Mr. Snob. 
Nope, we can never win.
Comment by Token Asian — September 7, 2005 @ 11:24 am
How does he expect you to be able to pay for watching a series that just started in July? I mean, if it were out on DVD, that would be a different story, but c’mon - no matter how much of an anime purist a guy is, even he couldn’t possibly think moving to Japan and paying for television just to watch anime with a clear conscience is a very smart idea.
Comment by chris — September 7, 2005 @ 4:24 pm
For the record, if there was a television service that let me watch subtitled anime straight from Japan at the same time as people in Asia are seeing it on television…
… can you say “skip class forever?” No need for fansubs ever again!
Comment by Token Asian — September 7, 2005 @ 7:40 pm
Just can’t win? Please. Stop whining. Anyway, I think some text from my linked post on this subject will answer your reply the best…
“Now some people like to tell me, “But I keep a lookout for when ADV or whoever buys the rights to the anime I am downloading. I always delete my stuff when that happens.” Ok, this idea only has merit if Japan was some kind of utopia where no one had to work, but here’s a update for all you “conscientious downloaders”. They have MONEY in Japan too! Can you believe it?!? People work hard for the anime that gets produced and when they do, they deserve just compensation as well! AMAZING! Your downloads and inevitable refusals to buy causes the value for each subsequent rights-acquisition to drop. The longer it goes on the worse it gets. So incredibly, your bullshit excuses don’t protect you from being a jackass, or protect the firsthand producers of anime in Asia from your larceny.”
Comment by The AnimeSnob — September 9, 2005 @ 10:09 am
Shut up, AnimeSnob. Nobody cares if you like watching anime illegally and then keeping your fansubs after the show has been licensed because you’re too cheap to buy a fucking DVD. People like you are scum. Go join a forum like AnimeOtaku where the mods are so stupid, they tell members that fansubs are legal and they even sell them on their site. A site like that, although it should be reported, would be perfect for a loser like you.
Also, this is not a message board, this is Scott’s blog, and he doesn’t need morons like you commenting with shit like this.
Comment by Alex — September 10, 2005 @ 11:55 am