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

You need your butt kicked 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.

[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.