The Tentacle

This one is pretty old but it stands out in my mind. Â It's when you enter that underground grotto in the original Tomb Raider (the PS1 version, not the remake) and come face-to-face with the T-Rex for the first time. Â There was no BGM or cutscene or anything to tip you off. Â You're just walking along and then BAM, there it is standing in front of you. Â Unless you knew there were caves along the wall to hide in it could turn into an "ohcrapohcrapohcrapwtf?!" moment pretty quick.

And I totally understand that piracy will continue to exist so long as humanity itself does. Â Believe me, I know. Â I've been a part of the anime culture for over 20 years now. Â I fondly recall having to scrounge around the "wild feeds" with my family's 30 foot fiberglass satellite dish just to catch the rare episode of Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon. Â I remember having to beg my mom to drive me an hour and a half to the nearest mall that sold anime VHS tapes. Â Yeah, we were all like seething crackheads back in the day and I probably would have been all over just about anything that offered me free and easily obtained anime, regardless of the situation. But that was then and this is now. Â Anime has made its way into popular culture and it's more readily accessible to anyone interested in it. Â In that regard fansubs trump distributors in that they offer their wares at no cost and deliver them quite literally right to your doorstep. Â I can understand the appeal of this but I still choose not to partake of it. Â I'd rather watch a quality product from the comfort of my couch than sit in front of this computer, spazzing out about a slow download and waiting feverishly for it to finish so I can watch a single, poor quality video of a badly translated episode. Â No sir, my days of being a seething anime addict are over. Anyway, Pleiades linked me to [url="http://www.theotaku.com/worlds/fheadarticles/view/39281/"]this article[/url]Â which I'd like to respond to. To my mind it's a long-winded and verbose way of saying "I'm going to watch what I want, when I want and never pay for it." Â The writer is stating that we, as fans, are the heart and soul of the anime culture and licensing companies are made out to be the stereotypical faceless conglomerate that's just out to make money off of us. Â They go on to say that these companies have only themselves to blame for their lack of revenue because they refuse to cater to us by offering us anime that's "hot off the press" and make us wait for ages to get our hands on stuff that's been out in Japan for quite a while. Â And they expect us to PAY for this? Â How dare they! Listen, the licencing companies are doing the best they can and making smart decisions in regard to marketing a foreign product. Â Keep in mind that they're marketing these products to non-Japanese people so you have to give them time to redub the dialogue in their country's native tongue. Â The so-called "purists" probably don't care about this and would rather listen to the audio in the OJ but, again, the companies are marketing their product to a broader fanbase than just them. Â Some of us prefer the dubbed version and including both a dubbed track for us as well as translated subtitles for the purists is sound marketing strategy that should satisfy everyone. Â But dubbing takes time, moreso than subtitling. As far as catering to fans, they're trying. Â I've been buying anime for many years and I can tell you that things are very different now than they were 10 years ago. Â Most series are being collected into a single set for the sake of convenience these days. Â That's a lot less costly than having to shill out twenty bucks every couple of months to collect individual DVDs, especially when a series was spaced out over a half-dozen of them. Â And in even more recent history these same box sets are being offered at a discounted rate as part of the S.A.V.E promotion that Funimation is running. If anything the companies are making less money now than they used to. Â A direct result of competiton from fansubs? Â Probably. Â They ARE still trying to make a profit, as any industry has the right, so I doubt that cutting our costs is not so much a way of helping us out as it is a shrewd business decision. Â But we're the ones who profit in the end so why bother splitting hairs? And then, on to the issue of getting new anime as soon as it's released. Â That's not practical or cost-efficient at all. Â I can recall back in the day when An OVA series on VHS could cost you $25 per tape, totaling around $100 for a 4-part series. Â That's a hundred bucks for about an hour and a half of anime. Â And we were willing to pay that because that's the only way we could get our anime fix, being the anime junkies that we were. Â I doubt that amount could be charged in this day and age for an individual episode but I'd still rather wait a while for them to be collected into a more affordable and convenient package. Â These days DVDs are much more affordable but there's still the issue of receiving them in a timely manner. Â Solution? Â Online streaming. Â This is something that's just begun only recently. Â And it's being done to cater to us as fans. Â It's still a fairly young practice so there's still room for improvement. Â Perhaps online trade is the way of the future. Â Singular episodes could be sold much the same as cell phone games for those who don't want to wait but so long as televisions exists the DVD/Blu Ray versions should not be allowed to die out. So yeah, this whole argument about how the industry needs to take stock of the anime culture and conform to our demands is full of crap. Â That's exactly what they're trying to do. Â If you're paying attention to marketing trends you can plainly see that our wishes are being fulfilled, slowly but surely. Â Is it so wrong to offer the people behind this a little support and gratitude for their services?

Since nobody has answered correctly I'll go ahead and bump the topic so we can move on. Â This is a screencap from [b]Voogie's Angel[/b]. Â Whoever posts next is up.

On the one hand it looks pretty cool, what with the ninjas and all. Â (Ninjas make anything look cool) Â But on the other it doesn't look like it has much to do with Wolverine. Â I have mixed feelings about this one but I'll withhold judgement for now.

Interesting thought there. Â Personally I think if I ever died people would assume I was having connection issues until I faded into obscurity and was forgotten. Â Even without actually dying we're all facing this sort of thing everyday. Â On social forums like this one there are surely people that have come and gone over the years without staying in contact with anyone. Â To me that's like the "death" of their internet persona. Â I can think of a lot of friends from past boards who have gone MIA, leaving me with just memories of what they were like. Â They're alive and well but also passed on from this small world that fits inside of my computer screen. As for my internet persona I'd like to be as confident and outgoing in the real world as I am online. Â I'm pretty sure if people I associate with online actually knew I'd died they would still remember me for both the good and bad I've done over the years. Â Sadly in the offline world only my family would mourn my loss.

That was.....unique. Â But can somebody tell me when the podcast aires and what I need to listen to it?

The fine folk at Sankaku have already brought up the issue of Japanese piracy being the source of a lot of the fansubbers stuff. Â I don't think the matter is going to be settled anytime soon, if ever. Â I do admit that there are some positive aspects to fansubbing. Â As Shin pointed out it's often the only medium through which non-Japanese fans can view a series (usually an OVA set) that's never licensed outside of Japan. Â I myself had to torrent the [b]Kino No Tabi movies[/b] and OVA, so I approve of this aspect of fansubbing at least. And I also agree that viewing a series beforehand is the best way to encourage someone to purchase a series. Â A lot of my older disks such as [b]Tenchi Muyo[/b], [b]Mobile Suit Gundam: Wing[/b] and [b]Martian Successor Nadesico[/b] were only acquired after I'd seen those series on Cartoon Network. Â So even though I don't view anything on legitimate streaming sites like Funimation or Crunchyroll (due to hardware limitations mostly) I have nothing negative to say about them. The problem I have is with the "watch anything you want, anytime you want and never pay for it" mentality that a lot of Internet users have. Â I hate to keep beating a dead horse but that's where the problem lies. Â Pretty much everyone who's posted in this thread have stated they buy officially licensed products even if they've watched the fansubs and that's a big part of the solution. Â But a large number of the people who watch fansubs choose to be a part of the problem rather than the solution.Â

Yeah, there's truth to that too. Â I admit that there are some responsible fansub sites out there who take down their stuff when the series gets licensed. Â But still, there are way too many people who view the fansubs that don't share their attitude. Â A lot of people are content with having seen a series once and won't bother to buy the licensed product or they download them into their personal files for future viewing. Â In that case it's the viewers, not the fansubbers, who are abusing the system. Â Hence the damage is still being done. Â

Okay, this is likely a volatile topic so before I even begin this discussion I'll ask that everyone keep things civil and respect one another's opinions. Â Debate is to be expected but no flamewars please. Now then, onto the subject of fansubbing. Â This has always been an issue with certain people but a recent argument between the denizens of [b]2ch[/b] and [b]Sankaku Complex[/b] has stirred my interest in the debate. Â What do the rest of you think about it and where do you stand? Rather than link to either site (due to offensive content) I'll sum up the argument. Â 2ch claims that foreign (mostly American) piracy is harming the industry by stealing profits from the various anime studios, thus making it more difficult for legitimate consumers of their products to acquire them. Â Sankaku counters by stating that they are supporting the industry by creating interest and demand in anime series that have yet to be released overseas. ~ As for me I have to side with 2ch. Â I've never supported fansubbers, preferring to buy officially licensed DVDs. Â Firstly there's a quality issue. Â Subtitles translated into English are usually rewritten to make them more entertaining whereas a lot of fansubs are direct translations that lack the punch of dialogue that's been written by a professional. Â Plus I prefer the English dubbed audio track that you can only get from an anime studio. Â That option, along with all the extras you get with a DVD are well worth the cost of actually paying for my anime. Â It's also worth the wait. Â I don't mind holding out until a series I'm interested in is released. Â I'll admit I'm tempted to check out a fansub "to tide me over" sometimes but unless the industry completely collapses I'll stick to my guns. Secondly there's the principle of the thing. Â I don't believe that fansubbing is supporting the industry at all. Â If someone were subbing and distributing trailers for a show that'd be one thing. Â That would stir up interest in the series, thus creating a demand for it. Â But translating an entire series and then making it available for free viewing does nothing but harm the industry. Â An overwhelming number of people would rather watch a cheap fansub at no cost than buy the DVDs from a legitimate seller. Â And that's what's harming the industry. Â If an anime studio is losing business because nobody is buying their products what incentive do they have to continue distributing anime? Â In the end it's people like me who buy their products who are suffering. ~ Well, that's my two cents worth on the subject. Â I'll apologize in advance if what I've said steps on anyones' toes but this is a pretty big issue in the anime/manga world and one I feel is worth discussing. Â I'd like to know where the rest of you stand on it.

I'm wrapping up my [b]My-HiME / My-Otome[/b] marathon just in time to watch the third installment of [b]Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood[/b]. Â I recently finished the [b]Dirty Pair[/b] collection but the dubbing on the DVD version of Project Eden was so lame I had to track down and order a VHS copy that was released by Streamline back in the day. Â Seriously, the subs had missing lines and the BGM actually muted out a lot of the sound effects and dialogue in places. Â I'd expect that sort of shoddy quality from an amateur fansub but not from ADV Films.

Nope, sorry. Â I figured this one would be a little obscure. Â If no one guesses it in a couple more days then I'll give the answer and we can move on.

Bringing back a couple of old discussions.  The fact that they're mine is entirely coincidental.  [b]Elfen Lied [/b]- From the name alone you might expect some sort of comedy/fantasy show about elves.  Lying may or may be involved by elves sure sound like a shoe-in right?  Wrong.  There were no elves to be had in Elfen Lied.  Nor was it a comedy by any stretch of the imagination.  The only fantasy I could think of was the miracle that allowed this guro bloodbath with a side order of pedophilia to ever be released in the first place. [b]Pumpkin Scissors[/b] - No, I get it.  I really do.  The lead character explained why her unit (and the show itself) were named the Pumpkin Scissors.  What I don't get is WHY she named it thus.  She stated that her unit's job was to, and I quote; "face the threat of corrupt people who protect themselves behind lies, power, and money like the rind of a pumpkin, and Section III must act like a pair of scissors cutting through those layers and delivering justice for the people."  Okay, now go back and read that again.  wtf?  When I think about the invisible lines that protect corrupt or evil people I would associate that more with a wall or a shroud or something.  But a pumpkin?  And WHO uses a pair of scissors to cut a pumpkin anyway?  Someone without a KNIFE I'd wager.  Personally I'd have come up with a more inspiring name that made sense.  Something like The Red-Tape Cutters or Captain Fatass and the Rad Squad.  But Pumpkin Scissors?  No.

Sweet! Â Okay, this is a tough one. Â [img]http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/4746/lulzbusted.jpg[/img]

Is it [b]Mobile Fighter G Gundam[/b]?

[b]What is it?[/b] I nominate [b]CaNz[/b] for the OBs Member of the Year. [b]Why is he nifty?[/b] CaNz just stands out in my mind as the friendliest and most outgoing guy on the board. Â He's always quick to welcome new members and make them feel welcome or chat up everyone else to keep the conversations flowing. Â I think that he deserves some sort of recognition for that.

Either spelling would have been accepted. Â That is indeed Mai Otome so you're up!

Okay, this one's a little tricky. Â This character actually appears in TWO different animes but only one is correct here. Â If you need a hint just look at how she's dressed. [img]http://diefanboys.files.wordpress.com/2006/03/Harukas-antics.jpg[/img]

That's from Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water I believe.