Why Is Pirating Games Bad But Pirating Anime and Manga Is Ok?
- Thread starter Legion IV
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Um... I don't think pirating anything is really ok, but I guess the answer to your question would be that games are multi-million dollar undertakings, whereas anime probably isn't, therefore game developers need to sell more products than anime producers to make a profit.
I had a neat latin american channel here in my country that was called "Locomotion", I think that the channel itself was from Argentina. I still long for that channel, I have quite fond memories of it. That particular channel aired a lot of the anime I know today, including a couple of movies, either dubbed in spanish (with great translations and great voice actors) or they just left them in their original language and they themselves were responsible for making the subs and translations. And they not only aired anime, they aired a bit of hentai and a couple of western cult classic series, like Aeon Flux, Ren & Stimpy, Alexander (don't know if it counts as western animation), they were even the first channel to air South Park here in Latin America, way before MTV got the rights to air South Park.
Then, suddendly, out of nowhere, the channel was canceled and got replaced by another, seemingly better anime channel, named Animax (or something like that), that channel got aired by just 1 day and I loved it, and then my cable provider just whiped it out of basic cable and making it a premium channel, along the lines of HBO and others.
Then I relied a bit on Cartoon Network, as they did aired a couple of quality animes, including some of my childhood favorites, like Saint Seiya and the entire Dragon Ball series, from 1 to Z to GT, all of them with our own translation and our own (great) voice actors and none of that US version nonsense of changing the entire music and censoring stupid things.
Since then, I don't have the urge to pirate anime as I watched a good portion of it, all the anime I know is quite old, as in more than a decade old, I don't pirate anime and I think that it's just as wrong as to pirate videogames and other media. Also, I'm not the kind of person who wants to keep his favorite series in his computer or in DVDs, I just watch them as they go on TV.
Then, suddendly, out of nowhere, the channel was canceled and got replaced by another, seemingly better anime channel, named Animax (or something like that), that channel got aired by just 1 day and I loved it, and then my cable provider just whiped it out of basic cable and making it a premium channel, along the lines of HBO and others.
Then I relied a bit on Cartoon Network, as they did aired a couple of quality animes, including some of my childhood favorites, like Saint Seiya and the entire Dragon Ball series, from 1 to Z to GT, all of them with our own translation and our own (great) voice actors and none of that US version nonsense of changing the entire music and censoring stupid things.
Since then, I don't have the urge to pirate anime as I watched a good portion of it, all the anime I know is quite old, as in more than a decade old, I don't pirate anime and I think that it's just as wrong as to pirate videogames and other media. Also, I'm not the kind of person who wants to keep his favorite series in his computer or in DVDs, I just watch them as they go on TV.
As it stands, I'm not so sure they'd make any money off that. It's actually kind of a niche market. That's why fansub groups exist in the first place.VanTesla said:
I'm conflicted on this, really. I don't know if I'd support distributors hiring freelance subtitlers. I really don't think it'd make enough money to justify the process at all to the distribution companies. It'd be great if it could, but if it made enough to get subtitles done, it would make even more as a dub, which is more likely to happen in localization.
Hmmm...well lets see. Firstly anime is made in Japan, where people living there can see said anime on television for free. Secondly, the vast, VAST majority of anime produced will never see the light of day outside of Japan. Thirdly, the trickle of anime that actually does make it out of the country actually has to be subbed by volunteers/amateurs. Fourthly, anime (at least in the U.S.) is horrifically overpriced, and as such a fifty episode series will usually cost more than two brand new videogames.
I'm not saying that pirating is okay. I'm saying that that system is broken and nobody (that is, neither the first party, nor the third party) cares.
I'm not saying that pirating is okay. I'm saying that that system is broken and nobody (that is, neither the first party, nor the third party) cares.
Part of the reason seems to be the immense difficulty in getting hold of some of this stuff in a way that you can actually understand.
Most westerners don't understand japanese.
This causes a few odd problems.
While mainstream series certainly get western releases, (they're frequently expensive niche releases even then), many of the 'serious' fans like things which aren't really available in the west.
This leads to an interesting issue
You could import from Japan - This is difficult, expensive, and depending on what you're after, runs the risk of legal trouble getting it through customs. (Even series with western releases may contain stuff in the original that wouldn't be allowed in many western countries).
This has additional problems in that if you don't understand japanese, you're going to have a hard time placing the order, and then have a hard time understanding it when you do get a hold of it.
So... What you tend to find online is a lot of 'fan translations'. This is more than simply piracy, it adds something that makes it more watchable than legally obtainable versions would be.
To some extent this has less in common with piracy in general, and more in common with what is sometimes referred to 'abandonware'.
That's not legal either, but it has extenuating circumstances which make it more understandable.
Of course, the kind of people that pirate something reall mainstream, such as Naruto...
Well, that's a rather different situation.
Most westerners don't understand japanese.
This causes a few odd problems.
While mainstream series certainly get western releases, (they're frequently expensive niche releases even then), many of the 'serious' fans like things which aren't really available in the west.
This leads to an interesting issue
You could import from Japan - This is difficult, expensive, and depending on what you're after, runs the risk of legal trouble getting it through customs. (Even series with western releases may contain stuff in the original that wouldn't be allowed in many western countries).
This has additional problems in that if you don't understand japanese, you're going to have a hard time placing the order, and then have a hard time understanding it when you do get a hold of it.
So... What you tend to find online is a lot of 'fan translations'. This is more than simply piracy, it adds something that makes it more watchable than legally obtainable versions would be.
To some extent this has less in common with piracy in general, and more in common with what is sometimes referred to 'abandonware'.
That's not legal either, but it has extenuating circumstances which make it more understandable.
Of course, the kind of people that pirate something reall mainstream, such as Naruto...
Well, that's a rather different situation.
The reason why a lot of people think piracy is bad in the first place is because they automatically assume that the creator doesn't like their work being pirated, which is something they've come to understand through the propaganda many publishers and creators have put out over the years in which they portray themselves as struggling under the pressure of piracy.
With anime and manga however, you're dealing with publishers and creators who are used to dealing with a domestic market which is very large and very loyal and quite frankly don't what the first thing about America audiences. So when they see that their work is being pirated in the US, they see that as a potential gold mine since from their perspective they now know what is popular in the US, meaning they can provide an actual translation of the work and publish it for reals with ink on paper or DVDs which many fans are willing to buy simply due to the poor quality and storage issues with pirated material from places like Japan.
I mean there are dozens of animation and manga publishers and studios in Japan which are well known in Japan there but rarely heard about here, once in a while however one of their books or shows gets the attention of the western pirates and grow from being obscure to being spread through word of mouth.
Quite simply, the Japanese are not as scared of piracy because it's clearly been more beneficial for them than it has been detrimental. They don't make adverts telling you about how much they suffer from piracy, because they aren't suffering because if it. The exportation of manga and anime have been booming the past couple of years thanks to people that have made scanlations for manga and fansubs for anime.
With anime and manga however, you're dealing with publishers and creators who are used to dealing with a domestic market which is very large and very loyal and quite frankly don't what the first thing about America audiences. So when they see that their work is being pirated in the US, they see that as a potential gold mine since from their perspective they now know what is popular in the US, meaning they can provide an actual translation of the work and publish it for reals with ink on paper or DVDs which many fans are willing to buy simply due to the poor quality and storage issues with pirated material from places like Japan.
I mean there are dozens of animation and manga publishers and studios in Japan which are well known in Japan there but rarely heard about here, once in a while however one of their books or shows gets the attention of the western pirates and grow from being obscure to being spread through word of mouth.
Quite simply, the Japanese are not as scared of piracy because it's clearly been more beneficial for them than it has been detrimental. They don't make adverts telling you about how much they suffer from piracy, because they aren't suffering because if it. The exportation of manga and anime have been booming the past couple of years thanks to people that have made scanlations for manga and fansubs for anime.
Because, back in the day, the fansubbers were helpful to the commercial release.Legion IV said:
Fansubs of Kenishin were released. The show got crazy popular. THEN they released it in the US and tons of people bought it.
Same for a whole lot of very successful early animes. Ranma 1/2, Bubblegum Crisis, Escaflowne, Slayers; the list is pretty long.
Fansubbers basically created a fanbase that the commercial release would market to. Because fansubs tended to wear out (being cheap VHS) people with fansub copies pretty much had to replace them with the commercial releases.
And then came DVDs and digital fansubs. Suddenly... there was no need to replace the fansub. Which is why the industry no longer likes fansubs.
I will point out that many of those online free sights ARE owned by the companies that released the commercial release, and that they DO get add revenues. The American companies that subbed/dubbed them, that is.
Of course, the same can't be said for YouTube.
tl;dr: Because Fansubs used to help the industry, and because the legal streaming sites actually do pay the company that released it in the US.
Well, not sure if you remember, but Latin American Saint Seiya did have the hilariously narmy intro and outro way back in the 90s, before Cartoon Network put in the proper one, just wanted to respond to that as you made me remember it.Easily Forgotten said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=helM2an64Kk&feature=related
Because most Westerners don't know Japanese and can't get new manga or watch new anime on TV.
Also: a lot of anime never makes it to the west, or takes years to reach.
So yeah, you can't usually get a lot of it legally (unless you want to have it exported to you and you know Japanese)
So, my point is: availability: you can walk go to a store (digital or mortar and brick) and buy a game. You cannot do this with most anime and manga.
Also: a lot of anime never makes it to the west, or takes years to reach.
So yeah, you can't usually get a lot of it legally (unless you want to have it exported to you and you know Japanese)
So, my point is: availability: you can walk go to a store (digital or mortar and brick) and buy a game. You cannot do this with most anime and manga.
Simple: If it has not been translated to english yet, the Japanese publishers wouldn't have any sustainable market on the japanese manga/anime in america yet. If someone else translates it, they don't lose any money at all since there isn't too big a problem with japanese people reading the english translations. Once it is translated officially though, then it is frowned upon.
You will have to decide whats ok and whats not. I personally don't think any sane person would pay full price for a game just find out whether its any good or whether they like it or not. I advise using any means you can to sample a game before paying for it. This can be a slippery slope, just know that if you don't pay for the games you like, pubs won't be likely to make more like them. (which introduces another problem, but you can go a little too deep on this line of reasoning & get into very uncertain grounds)
I don't know how you managed to quote me, but I wasn't the one that said that. You were off by a post.
for me its simple i think both kinds of piracy is bad but the reason as too why i pirate mangas ie read them online is they don't get publised where i live but video games do so it's a matter of convinece mostley but i will say if any of the mangas i read get publisd here in Denmark i will buy them
Here's absurdity: there are currently simulcasts (1 week delay or less) of Bleach, Naruto, Cardfight!! Vanguard, and other currently running anime that are for free and legal on Hulu and Crunchyroll. There are still MULTIPLE fansub groups devoted to subbing them. Granted, ViZ Media is arguably WORSE than the average fansubber...
My "policy" is that I will not watch an anime illegally if the officially subtitled version can be easily obtained legally, and I make it a point not to stray from YouTube because shut up. A year or two ago (and maybe even now), Bandai did not distribute the last few DVDs of Code Geass (and the ones that it did were on the order of $30 for four episodes), and I braved the vast wastes of the Internet in search of Code Geass R2. Even now, Netflix does not have half of R2 available (the first half, intriguingly).
Luckily, there's plenty of stuff that can be watched legally. The only thing that I make a point to watch illegally is Yu-Gi-Oh!, since an officially subtitled version does not exist for any of it - although now subtitled episodes of 5D's are being added to Hulu. Just 95 weeks 'til they have them all...
My "policy" is that I will not watch an anime illegally if the officially subtitled version can be easily obtained legally, and I make it a point not to stray from YouTube because shut up. A year or two ago (and maybe even now), Bandai did not distribute the last few DVDs of Code Geass (and the ones that it did were on the order of $30 for four episodes), and I braved the vast wastes of the Internet in search of Code Geass R2. Even now, Netflix does not have half of R2 available (the first half, intriguingly).
Luckily, there's plenty of stuff that can be watched legally. The only thing that I make a point to watch illegally is Yu-Gi-Oh!, since an officially subtitled version does not exist for any of it - although now subtitled episodes of 5D's are being added to Hulu. Just 95 weeks 'til they have them all...
Pirating is just that, pirating. The internet that has allowed anime and manga to have achieved even this comparatively marginal level of popularity is also what's slowly killing its viability. However, it is not always without an excuse. I am currently watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes, fansubbed on youtube. It's an extraordinary show that's for some reason never been released in America: fansubs are the only way to watch the show, as my Japanese is pretty horrible. If it were ever available on DVD here, I'd almost certainly buy it, but the only way anyone's ever going to bring it over is if it gets enough fans to get someone's attention, and the only way that's happening is by fansubs.
hard for me to get legal translations
it takes ages for my local bookstores and big buisness bookstores like books a million to get translated copies
as for anime
some series i wouldnt even know about
wait are we talking about the sites that share it for free like onemanga used to do?
it takes ages for my local bookstores and big buisness bookstores like books a million to get translated copies
as for anime
some series i wouldnt even know about
wait are we talking about the sites that share it for free like onemanga used to do?