Looks like Corran is the only one who isn't really freaking out about this. Sure, a series may cost hundreds of dollars, but why the hell would you buy the whole thing at once having never seen it? They sell the dvds singularly (occasionally VHS as well
), and, as Corran said, you can rent them for a small fee. It's not the end of the world, it's just a crackdown.
Even so, there are probably two reasons
[MOD42: Website name removed.] is falling under attack:
1. They (
[MOD42: Website name removed.]) are extremely popular (less likely). They catalog tons of sites that list even more series, and it becomes easy to get the fansubs. Also, because they broadcast what they do all over the site, search engines like google can pick up the site really quickly. The fanbase for anime is probably a whole lot bigger than any of us realize, and more than likely a lot less ethical.
2. The Japanese companies feel like they are losing money (more likely). These companies produce and release items that cost thousands of dollars to make, and expect to make thousands from licensing.
Forbes Magazine wrote:For exclusive distribution rights to the world outside Japan, ADV pays $1 million to $2.6 million for an anime series and $500,000 to $5 million for a feature film.
However, even though this site appears to be rather ethical and buys the series after viewing the fansubs (as do I: Hellsing, FLCL, Evangelion, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and Full Metal Panic just to name a few), the fact of the matter is we make up a small minority of fans, and we make up a small minority of consumers. There are tons of people that keep the fansubs despite the request of the subbers themselves to drop it. There are tons of sites that list licensed series. The company probably feels it is losing money, or they probably wouldn't reach out to attack some free publicity.
That's just my two cents, I guess.
