The hypocrisy of the otakus must end.

[jdr0884]

Point 1) Anime fans claim they support anime, but in reality 99% of them steal it by downloading it.
Very few people actually buy it legally. The same goes for video games and computer games.
Anime fans are not supporting anime at all, they take advantage of fansubs that float around the net and use them
as a substitute and convince themselves they are actually legal.
Every anime fan in my community I know that has an interest in anime doesn't buy it... they bootleg it.
I buy everything legally: movies, games, anime, music, you name it, but it seems most people, especially otakus, simply
take advantage of America and Japan's dying economy.
At most anime and games should be backed up if you own the TRUE, REAL, ORIGINAL cartridge, DVD, or VHS tape.
Point 2) Fansubs DO NOT PROMOTE ANIME, they simply provide people with a means to steal it and keep it freely. Fansubs
are ILLEGAL, even more illegal than having a bootleg of a non-fantranslated version. Why is this one might ask? Well,
you can't translate without a license now can you?
Point 3) Otakus need to stop their complaining about OFFICIAL DUBS and OFFICIAL TRANSLATIONS by the Commercial Companies.
Seriously folks, what is so great about Japan? Almost all of their ideas stem from Western Cultures. The newer the anime or manga,
the less original it is. Anime no more than a Cartoon made in Japan; that's all. It isn't "sacred" or "blessed".
Point 4) All I hear from otakus in my community is that "America sux, they don't respect other cultures." Well EXCUSE ME,
um take a look at almost every otaku in America. What are you? YOU'RE AMERICANS! You should be proud of being Americans and stop
taking advantage of life and respect life more.
Point 5) Not so long ago I came across a band of Asian-American otakus who were making fun of Jewish people. This was completely
absurd. Otakus claim they respect other cultures? In your wildest dreams. If otakus are so respectable of other cultures,
then why do I hear them being prejudice about African-Americans, Jewish-Americans, etc. etc. etc. etc.
The hypocrisy of the otakus must end.

[Dreddz]

lol, funny enough Im downloading some anime now. Thanks for those kind words :)

[rubah]

You have an interesting point. I wouldn't consider myself an anime fan by any large means, compared to a lot of people, but nearly all I've seen has been bought and paid forxD

[Madonna]

Point 1) Anime fans claim they support anime, but in reality 99% of them steal it by downloading it.
Very few people actually buy it legally. The same goes for video games and computer games.
Anime fans are not supporting anime at all, they take advantage of fansubs that float around the net and use them
as a substitute and convince themselves they are actually legal.
Every anime fan in my community I know that has an interest in anime doesn't buy it... they bootleg it.
I buy everything legally: movies, games, anime, music, you name it, but it seems most people, especially otakus, simply
take advantage of America and Japan's dying economy.
At most anime and games should be backed up if you own the TRUE, REAL, ORIGINAL cartridge, DVD, or VHS tape.You know crappy fans? It really is too much to generalize the anime community in this respect, as there are plenty of people who do not have an interest in anime who download copies of movies, TV shows, music, and like, and there are plenty of people who do have an interest in anime who do not participate in illegally downloading anime.

Point 2) Fansubs DO NOT PROMOTE ANIME, they simply provide people with a means to steal it and keep it freely. Fansubs
are ILLEGAL, even more illegal than having a bootleg of a non-fantranslated version. Why is this one might ask? Well,
you can't translate without a license now can you?You would not know that most fansub groups do not translate and subtitle anime that is licensed in America, would you? While I question the legality of it, I doubt that many of them could continue if it were not. When an anime is licensed locally, the honest fansub groups do drop the project, however displeased they are in doing so. I would consider many fansubs to be a great way to promote anime; if there are fansubs of anime floating around on the internet, you nab it, then it spreads, right? It might generate an interest in you, someone else who found it too, and so on. The more interest there is for a particular anime, the more likely it will be licensed and imported over from Japan.

Point 3) Otakus need to stop their complaining about OFFICIAL DUBS and OFFICIAL TRANSLATIONS by the Commercial Companies.
Seriously folks, what is so great about Japan? Almost all of their ideas stem from Western Cultures. The newer the anime or manga,
the less original it is. Anime no more than a Cartoon made in Japan; that's all. It isn't "sacred" or "blessed".This part stems from a lot of snobbery and questioning of the licensed company's accuracy in translating the plot, dialogue and the like properly and their tendency to "tone down" things or remove them altogether through heavy editing. Both screws things up, causes confusion, and it is rather disgusting. As for the "blessed" and "sacred" things that come out of Japan: that is for them to decide, is it not? That is personal preference. Maybe they dislike the animation style of most American-made cartoons/anime. Maybe they like the stylistic creations of CLAMP, a group not based in the "West". Or, maybe, just maybe, because so much anime is being pumped out by Japan and Korea that more interesting stories and art styles can be found from them than can be found elsewhere.
Point 4) All I hear from otakus in my community is that "America sux, they don't respect other cultures." Well EXCUSE ME,
um take a look at almost every otaku in America. What are you? YOU'RE AMERICANS! You should be proud of being Americans and stop
taking advantage of life and respect life more.
Point 5) Not so long ago I came across a band of Asian-American otakus who were making fun of Jewish people. This was completely
absurd. Otakus claim they respect other cultures? In your wildest dreams. If otakus are so respectable of other cultures,
then why do I hear them being prejudice about African-Americans, Jewish-Americans, etc. etc. etc. etc.
The hypocrisy of the otakus must end.Sounds like you do not respect the anime culture of where you are from. Both of these points blend together in a similar reply to Point 1: anime fans, like any other kind of fan or people, can be very diverse. This diversity extends to personal beliefs, their ideas of respect, their likes, dislikes, etc. I am sorry that one group of otakus tell you one thing about themselves and that another group of otaku did not meet the expectations you drew from generalization.

[The Devil Man]

lol, funny enough Im downloading some anime now. Thanks for those kind words :)

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL :D:D:D:D:D:D

You need your butt kicked :D Funniest post I've read all day!

[Rye]

I didn't feel like reading that, because my eyes are bothering me, but there is hypocrisy in all groups of the world. Though I have to say, Japanophiles (and blind fanboys/fangirls of anything else) really get on my nerves after a while. I won't lie, I love a lot of Japanese music and entertainment (especially Hardu Gay, fooo~), but to say that Japan is a utopia and that it is in no way flawed is just silly and makes me roflstiltzkin. :p

[outerlimit]

Ahem excuuuuuuuse me. I am actively involved in the fansubbing movement which takes place on my private Naruto fanboard and we do not take so lightly to people insulting our ways! What you do not understand is that the JApanese crafters of these fine pieces of art put their heart and soul into them! It is not something that can be easily digested by some... uptight suit-wearing businessman in America who has a Pimsleur Japanese book. It is not abot going against the "Man" or pirating, it is about maintaining the spitir which was intended by the JApanese craftsmen.

[JKTrix]

"Her Majesty" etc put it quite nicely. I believe you may be hanging around some of the Fansub 'newbies', who saw Naruto on Cartoon Network and decided they would go and find it on the internet. This is not the majority of the anime fans who utilize fansubs. Also your overuse of the word 'Otaku' leads me to believe you are not quite sure what that truly means.
While it's true that sometimes if one has the fansubs of a show they won't buy the DVDs, I feel that it's their choice. If it's a show that they really enjoyed while they were downloading the fansubs, they are very likely to buy the DVDs if they can afford it.

Media Factory, a fairly prominent Anime production studio, clamped down on fansubbers back in 2004. I remember this vividly because I was right in the middle of Samurai 7 when it happened. They can threaten legal action against fansub groups--just like American licensed companies can. It's still all in grey area, but in order to keep things amicable it's often best to stop when asked.

I used to call myself an Otaku. After all, I am very passionate and knowledgable about all kinds of anime, and I will in fact be travelling to Japan next month. But I realized--that is not enough. Otaku is truly obsessed, truly dedicated to 'the cause', whatever it may be. They do things beyond what a normal 'fan' would do. I renounced my 'Otaku-dom' the moment I saw this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QeiuWtrqyY
(The song is from an anime called "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", recently licensed by ADV. Check it out! I'll definitely be buying those DVDs)

Edit-- To outerlimit.
Naruto is now licensed, thereby rendering further distribution of the fansubs illegal.
DVD versions of the show will have the Japanese track on them as well. Support anime, buy the DVDs, and keep the fansubbing of licensed shows quiet. And you spelled 'Spirit' wrong. Normally I wouldn't mind, but it's italicized.

[outerlimit]

Edit-- To outerlimit.
Naruto is now licensed, thereby rendering further distribution of the fansubs illegal.
DVD versions of the show will have the Japanese track on them as well. Support anime, buy the DVDs, and keep the fansubbing of licensed shows quiet. And you spelled 'Spirit' wrong. Normally I wouldn't mind, but it's italicized.
(I am prone to get very passionate during discussion like these so I apologize for any typos I make I just really care about the cause!)

We started our project before the "license" nazis came around. We started our project before it became a staple of cartoon netcrap! I feel it is our solemn duty to yet finish it all the way through the end. The distribution only happens through a very ELITE message board that very few people can get into and has been around distirbuting fansubs for years, be they licensed or not!

*grumble*If only I had the money to move to japan things wouldnt be like this...

[JKTrix]

Naruto's been around for 3 years already. I already know several 'not-so-elite' and quite popular fansub groups that are fansubbing Naruto. I don't download the show myself, I never started because my friends were. And I can't sacrifice the harddrive space for it.

I'm surprised you're still keeping up with it anyway, some smaller groups dropepd it once the filler became unbearable.

[outerlimit]

Oh I know alllllllllllll about those groups *HRUNF* They just lack discipline! And you'd think that they would have learned from the show......

[Zell's Fists of Fury]

I thought this thread was about octupusses. :(

Octupi?

[Alive-Cat]

Just because I might download something doesn't mean I won't buy it at a later date.
There's nothing like actually owning something.

[fallen_angel9000]

im not an otaku, and i dont download or get anime stuff eligaly, but i am a fan of anime. but ppl that r obsessed with something do crazy things, but ya, stealing off the internet is wrong.

[Shoeberto]

I thought this thread was about octupusses. :(

Octupi?
Octopi.

[Yamaneko]

The only TV show I have on DVD is all the good seasons of The Simpsons. Everything else is not worth it.

[Rhinoa]

I've never downloaded anime, i'd rather buy it and actualy have it. although i watched the first episodes of 2 animes if have on the internet that people have uploaded, and if they didn't i wouldn't of known about them ^____^

[I Am Stoner]

Dude, people can do what they want. Anime shows, game companys and so on make so much fucking money as it is. Thier not exactly going to die of starvation if people download anime and games instead of buying them, are they?

[Moon Rabbits]

I watch Sailor Moon for free~ :D

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Point 1) Anime fans claim they support anime, but in reality 99% of them steal it by downloading it.
Very few people actually buy it legally. The same goes for video games and computer games.
Anime fans are not supporting anime at all, they take advantage of fansubs that float around the net and use them
as a substitute and convince themselves they are actually legal.
Every anime fan in my community I know that has an interest in anime doesn't buy it... they bootleg it.
I buy everything legally: movies, games, anime, music, you name it, but it seems most people, especially otakus, simply
take advantage of America and Japan's dying economy.
At most anime and games should be backed up if you own the TRUE, REAL, ORIGINAL cartridge, DVD, or VHS tape.

I love generalizations, don't you?

Case in point, don't use the term "most" until you've met a large number of anime fans, which you obviously have not. 99%? Hardly. That's a gross overexaggeration. Some people do bootleg, yes. That doesn't mean everybody does. I, for example, happen to have several friends who, like myself, will download fansubs and buy the series when it comes out on DVD in America. We have large collections of anime, and they are ever-increasing whenever we have the spare change to get some. Don't make assumptions that you can't fully support.


Point 2) Fansubs DO NOT PROMOTE ANIME, they simply provide people with a means to steal it and keep it freely. Fansubs
are ILLEGAL, even more illegal than having a bootleg of a non-fantranslated version. Why is this one might ask? Well,
you can't translate without a license now can you?

There's probably a reason that fansubs aren't completely shut down in Japan. Fansubbing might be somewhat dubious, but in actuality it works quite well and has been a part of the Japanese anime culture for quite some time.

This is how it works. Fansub groups will take the show as it airs on regular television, subtitle it, and release it in America (this used to be done via the distribution of free video tapes, and has now moved to torrents online).

Americans will watch the shows, nowadays within a few days of the particular episode's airing on Japanese television. If they like what they see, they start putting pressure on American anime licensing groups to bring it over. The anime is brought over, subtitled and dubbed professionally, and released either to DVD or Television (see: Full Metal Alchemist, Naruto, Pokemon, etc.).

Not every anime fan, as I said, downloads fansubs. Actually, I'd be willing to wager that the percentage of fans that do so is comparatively small to the percentage of fans that do not. The more hardcore fans will probably download anime, but really, hardcore fans are usually something of a rarity as opposed to the more casual fans who will buy a game or DVD every now and again and enjoy what the anime has to offer.


Point 3) Otakus need to stop their complaining about OFFICIAL DUBS and OFFICIAL TRANSLATIONS by the Commercial Companies.
Seriously folks, what is so great about Japan? Almost all of their ideas stem from Western Cultures. The newer the anime or manga,
the less original it is. Anime no more than a Cartoon made in Japan; that's all. It isn't "sacred" or "blessed".

Excuse me? Have you HEARD some of the dubs or seen some of the subs? Even today, anime is not highly regarded in the States. Although several television networks are learning to cash in to the growing anime craze, for the most part the industry is still passed off as the pastime of a few secluded geeks in their respective basements. As such, a good number of anime receives less-than-stellar dubbing and subtitling jobs. For example, in the official DVD release of Full Metal Alchemist, I saw several grammatical errors on the first episode. There were none in the fansub version. "Official" doesn't necessarily mean they did a good job.


Point 4) All I hear from otakus in my community is that "America sux, they don't respect other cultures." Well EXCUSE ME,
um take a look at almost every otaku in America. What are you? YOU'RE AMERICANS! You should be proud of being Americans and stop
taking advantage of life and respect life more.

Sounds to me like you run around with the annoyingly "hardcore otaku"-types. There are those everywhere. Don't judge the community as a whole based on the views of a few extremists. And believe me, those are extremists.


Point 5) Not so long ago I came across a band of Asian-American otakus who were making fun of Jewish people. This was completely
absurd. Otakus claim they respect other cultures? In your wildest dreams. If otakus are so respectable of other cultures,
then why do I hear them being prejudice about African-Americans, Jewish-Americans, etc. etc. etc. etc.
The hypocrisy of the otakus must end.

See above response. Not to mention that many Asian cultures were highly Xenophobic, and racism is hardly dead in this country. You can be racist no matter what you like, and you can also be a hypocrite no matter what you like. The actions of a few hardly encompass the actions of an entire group as a whole.

[Tasura]

Lynx and Void get a <3 and whoever the topic starter is gets a :mad2: so what if I downlaod anime? Most of the anime I download you cant buy here, when it comes out here, there is a high chance that I will buy it, and if ti doesnt come out here, then I keep downloading it.

[starseeker]

I download anime since I live in the UK (where Adult Swim doesn't have the anime), and I have pretty basic cable so I have no choice if I want to watch it. But I do also buy anime when I can afford it.

[black orb]

America and Japan's dying economy.

>>> Lol x 100000...

[Rengori]

America and Japan's dying economy.

>>> Lol x 100000...
That part made me laugh too.

[Mr. Graves]

Point 1) Anime fans claim they support anime, but in reality 99% of them steal it by downloading it.
Very few people actually buy it legally. The same goes for video games and computer games.
Anime fans are not supporting anime at all, they take advantage of fansubs that float around the net and use them
as a substitute and convince themselves they are actually legal.
Every anime fan in my community I know that has an interest in anime doesn't buy it... they bootleg it.
I buy everything legally: movies, games, anime, music, you name it, but it seems most people, especially otakus, simply
take advantage of America and Japan's dying economy.
At most anime and games should be backed up if you own the TRUE, REAL, ORIGINAL cartridge, DVD, or VHS tape.
Point 2) Fansubs DO NOT PROMOTE ANIME, they simply provide people with a means to steal it and keep it freely. Fansubs
are ILLEGAL, even more illegal than having a bootleg of a non-fantranslated version. Why is this one might ask? Well,
you can't translate without a license now can you?
Point 3) Otakus need to stop their complaining about OFFICIAL DUBS and OFFICIAL TRANSLATIONS by the Commercial Companies.
Seriously folks, what is so great about Japan? Almost all of their ideas stem from Western Cultures. The newer the anime or manga,
the less original it is. Anime no more than a Cartoon made in Japan; that's all. It isn't "sacred" or "blessed".
Point 4) All I hear from otakus in my community is that "America sux, they don't respect other cultures." Well EXCUSE ME,
um take a look at almost every otaku in America. What are you? YOU'RE AMERICANS! You should be proud of being Americans and stop
taking advantage of life and respect life more.
Point 5) Not so long ago I came across a band of Asian-American otakus who were making fun of Jewish people. This was completely
absurd. Otakus claim they respect other cultures? In your wildest dreams. If otakus are so respectable of other cultures,
then why do I hear them being prejudice about African-Americans, Jewish-Americans, etc. etc. etc. etc.
The hypocrisy of the otakus must end.

To the points:

#1: I actually support "illegal" downloads on principle, but I have no real comment here. I do that for Japanese stuff, I believe it is legal to download foreign music, although I'm not 100% sure on that. I'm not an expert on international copyright laws by any means.

#2: I don't know about translating illegally. I translate English sentences/phrases into Japanese all the time since I currently trying to learn the language.

#3: Nothing to say here. I've always bought offically released anime from stores (which isn't a lot by any means. Anime DVDs are quite costly. Perhaps that's a big reason so many people "illegally" download it?), although I am thinking of getting some Record of Lodoss War episodes from the 'Net.

#4: Japan has no law prohibiting racist practices against westerners. It seems like America is a bit more respectful in that regard.

#5: People can be morons.

I thought this thread was going to be all about slamming the freaky anime fans who do cosplay and think injecting Japanese words into English sentences is a sign of being hip. This thread might have been a lot more fun that-a-way.

[Germ Hamee]

There is nothing wrong with fansubs. It's great to be able to sample a show before investing a lot of time or money into it, and it's great to be able to keep up with what's going on in Japan. I also don't see anything wrong with downloading a show that's already aired on Cartoon Network, which is a large chunk of what most "otaku" watch. It's already available for free, why not have it on demand?

If these companies were that concerned about people buying shows on DVD, they might want to consider making it a little more affordable. Most anime are released with as little as four, sometimes three episodes a disc, all selling for close to thirty dollars. Collecting entire series can be unreasonable, especially with long running shows such as Naruto, Inu Yasha, or Full Metal Alchemist. I wish more series would be released as Funimation did with Fruit's Basket, a mere four disc set.

Granted, the industry may have changed since my hayday, but I doubt it's much better. Not everyone has Cartoon Network, and not everyone has excess money to blow on overpriced DVDs.

What do you care, anyway? It's clearly not stunting the growth of the culture, and I doubt you work in the business.

And by the way, I own well over two thousand dollars worth of authentic anime DVDs.

[Shoeberto]

If these companies were that concerned about people buying shows on DVD, they might want to consider making it a little more affordable.
When entire seasons (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F8O2QK/sr=8-1/qid=1155599445/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-3065795-6031114?ie=UTF8) of US animation of similar style can be available for less than the price of half a season of anime, yeah, there's something wrong.

[Zeromus_X]

Everything that needed to be said was said by Void, Graves, and HMAU.

I download anime every now and then, but I'm hardly an 'otaku'. I don't even watch too many anime unless they interest me (there are horrible as well as great anime, mind you), so I don't really get that. Whatever. I'll buy DVDS, as well. (Some English voice casts are actually very talented, FMA=<3)


If these companies were that concerned about people buying shows on DVD, they might want to consider making it a little more affordable.


:p

[Captain Maxx Power]

Point 1) Anime fans claim they support anime, but in reality 99% of them steal it by downloading it.


Can't argue with that one. Then again, about 92% of people don't actually live in Japan, where Anime is most prevelant/easiest to get hold of/cheapest.


Point 2) Fansubs DO NOT PROMOTE ANIME, they simply provide people with a means to steal it and keep it freely. Fansubs
are ILLEGAL, even more illegal than having a bootleg of a non-fantranslated version. Why is this one might ask? Well,
you can't translate without a license now can you?

Well, actually you can. Translating/Trascribing a script isn't illegal at all, and neither is making it public domain. I could quite happily type out by hand the entirety of the dialogue for Thunderball and pass it around as I saw fit. What is illegal is the use of said scripts for commerical gain, be it selling to others or attempting to pass off a script as your own (plagerisation).


Point 3) Otakus need to stop their complaining about OFFICIAL DUBS and OFFICIAL TRANSLATIONS by the Commercial Companies.
Seriously folks, what is so great about Japan? Almost all of their ideas stem from Western Cultures. The newer the anime or manga,
the less original it is. Anime no more than a Cartoon made in Japan; that's all. It isn't "sacred" or "blessed".

True enough, but then again we've stolen back in equal term from the japanese. It's a two-way symbiosis that discourages creativity, but at least keeps things in flux...to a point. Plus yes, they're all cartoons, but then again Star Wars is only a film, and look how sacred that's become.


Point 4) All I hear from otakus in my community is that "America sux, hey don't respect other cultures." Well EXCUSE ME,
um take a look at almost every otaku in America. What are you? YOU'RE AMERICANS! You should be proud of being Americans and stop
taking advantage of life and respect life more.

Mindless fanboy based anti-semitism isn't the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. Don't worry they'll either grow out of it or move to Japan. Either way everyone's happy.


Point 5) Not so long ago I came across a band of Asian-American otakus who were making fun of Jewish people. This was completely
absurd. Otakus claim they respect other cultures? In your wildest dreams. If otakus are so respectable of other cultures,
then why do I hear them being prejudice about African-Americans, Jewish-Americans, etc. etc. etc. etc.
The hypocrisy of the otakus must end.

See, there's this thing about humanity. It's kind of true no matter where you go in the world. People generally like to be in groups. Anyone outside of their own group is considered wrong and thusly is ripe for parody/ridicule. This would be an example of it. I guess you could get all these "otakusi" and drop them head first into a pit of molten lava with lava Tiger/Sharks until they promise to be tolerant of all other cultures besides their own. Apart from that it's more a case of put up and shut up.

[Vyk]

Such ignorance. Hopefully one day you'll open your eyes. And then maybe type in complete and comprehensible sentences x_x; I haven't downloaded anime in a while. But the last ton or so I downloaded wasn't released in America

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

The fact that anime DVDs are packaged and priced the way they are sort of proves that there are enough people who are more than willing to put forth dollars to acquire it.

[LunarWeaver]

Well, pretty much all I was gonna say has been said. All I can add is that I personally watch tons of anime but that doesn't make me any of the things you stereotyped me as. I like something or I don't, whether it comes from Japan, American, or Emporer Xenu, it doesn't matter to me. I don't put labels and limitations on everything =}

And what Behold the Void pointed out is actually very true. When something gets fansubbed and explodes in internet popularity it almost always gets dragged to the states. Naruto became a huge dealio and before long we had a licensed version of it. Bleach has risen out of the underground and become a cult-thing, and lo' and behold Adult Swim has it scheduled to air soon.

You say these otakus run around loving all things from Japan and loving only things from Japan, but that's not a whole lot better than hating on it all either =o...

[auhin]

Point 1) Anime fans claim they support anime, but in reality 99% of them steal it by downloading it.
Very few people actually buy it legally. The same goes for video games and computer games.
Anime fans are not supporting anime at all, they take advantage of fansubs that float around the net and use them
as a substitute and convince themselves they are actually legal.
Every anime fan in my community I know that has an interest in anime doesn't buy it... they bootleg it.
I buy everything legally: movies, games, anime, music, you name it, but it seems most people, especially otakus, simply
take advantage of America and Japan's dying economy.
At most anime and games should be backed up if you own the TRUE, REAL, ORIGINAL cartridge, DVD, or VHS tape.
Point 2) Fansubs DO NOT PROMOTE ANIME, they simply provide people with a means to steal it and keep it freely. Fansubs
are ILLEGAL, even more illegal than having a bootleg of a non-fantranslated version. Why is this one might ask? Well,
you can't translate without a license now can you?
Point 3) Otakus need to stop their complaining about OFFICIAL DUBS and OFFICIAL TRANSLATIONS by the Commercial Companies.
Seriously folks, what is so great about Japan? Almost all of their ideas stem from Western Cultures. The newer the anime or manga,
the less original it is. Anime no more than a Cartoon made in Japan; that's all. It isn't "sacred" or "blessed".
Point 4) All I hear from otakus in my community is that "America sux, they don't respect other cultures." Well EXCUSE ME,
um take a look at almost every otaku in America. What are you? YOU'RE AMERICANS! You should be proud of being Americans and stop
taking advantage of life and respect life more.
Point 5) Not so long ago I came across a band of Asian-American otakus who were making fun of Jewish people. This was completely
absurd. Otakus claim they respect other cultures? In your wildest dreams. If otakus are so respectable of other cultures,
then why do I hear them being prejudice about African-Americans, Jewish-Americans, etc. etc. etc. etc.
The hypocrisy of the otakus must end.
I agree 100%. I too am fed up with the America-hating otakus.

[StarlightAngel]

Gee, don't stereotype anime fans or anything :rolleyes2

Not all of us hate America. We don't all worship anything Japanese. Not all of us only get the fansubs.

Some people don't dislike American dubs because they're American. Some people dislike American dubs because in their opinion, the voice actor that the Japanese version had did a better job.

And why the heck are all otakus suddenly prejudice? I hate prejudice. When it comes to that, it really only depends on the person you're talking about.

And by the way, I don't claim to be an otaku. Sure I like (and am obsessed with) anime and stuff, but I'm not as hardcore as otaku are.

[Raven Nox]

HMAU and Void said everything perfectly, so I don't really have anything to add. =/

Personally, most of the anime I download isn't yet on the US market, so I can't buy it yet. But once it comes out, I do tend to buy it. I'm already planning on getting a some series that I've already seen thanks to fansubs. Downloading isn't always bad anyway. True, many people pirate media, but some people also use it to see if they like it before they drop the cash on it, which I find alright. You should try talk to more anime fans before making a generalization on them as a whole, just because most of the ones you know act like that, doesn't always mean the true majority of them do.

I also find it alright to download anime and keep it if it's never released over here, because otherwise, you'd have to buy a bootleg copy or the japanese DVD. Going bootleg is almost the same as downloading, yet you're paying for it, and buying the Japanese copy means you'd have to have a region coded DVD, pay nifty import taxes, and then know japanese, because it doesn't come with subtitles.

And another show that fansubbing helped get released in America was Azumanga Daioh! <3

[Shiny]

Very few people actually buy it legally. The same goes for video games and computer games.You're telling me most people don't buy video-games? You've got to be kidding me... But anyway I don't refer to myself as an "otaku", but I do watch anime ocassionaly. I don't download it or purchase it, but I watch it if I happen to catch it on television. I think that is what most people do who can not afford the import prices of some animes. And as for downloading, there will always be people who will pirate things. That can not be stopped so long as the internet remains in existence. However, I think music pirating is much bigger than anime.

[TheBrent]

You're being a hypocrite yourself in my opinion. You're complaining that Otaku aren't tolerant of other people, but here you are being intolerant of Otaku. Almost all of my friends, including me, are Otaku. I download fansubs, big deal. You have no idea how hard it is to get anime DVDs when you live in some little town in southern Indiana. They just don't sell them. And even if they DID, I wouldn't have the money. No one in my town will hire a 16 year old. The closest place I can work is the next town over, but I'm not allowed to get my license. But even if I DID have a license, I couldn't afford a car, or even gas. I simply don't have the ability to buy it legally, if I did, I would.

Also, you say that you saw some Otaku ripping on some Jews. That's not because they're Otaku, it's because they're racist none of the Otaku I know are racist, but quite a few of the people I know that aren't Otaku are racist.

You're stereotyping Otaku, which is no different than being racist. Saying that all Otaku are intollerant is the same that all black people steal cars, and that all Mexican's steal our jobs.

[-N-]

Otacon helped bring down Metal Gear! He won't stand for your carping!

[aquatius]

Well in the UK you'd be hardpressed to find places to easily buy anime, you either have to order it online scruntinously or illegally download it.

[JKTrix]

www.rightstuf.com

Great place to buy DVDs and such for a pretty decent discount. They have specials every now and then. Recently they had a 40% off all DVDs from Geneon, which I used to buy the entire set of Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. They ship internationally, so it should be just as easy to get something in the UK as it would in my middle-of-nowhere country Bermuda.