Quote:
|
Originally Posted by AnimeSuki.com
When anime is "licensed" it means a US anime company has bought the rights to put the anime series on DVD or TV in the US (and elsewhere). Please note that it is AnimeSuki's policy not to list licensed anime. Once anime is licensed, we will promptly remove it from the site.
|
I didn't quite understand what the big deal was with licensed anime until after digging around through several references on half a dozen websites. To be perfectly honest, I have mixed feelings about this. Half my skepticism comes from when I had a college roommate that was really into Ghost in the Shell. He bought both the first and 2nd season of the anime on DVD and we use to watch it together when he was free. Unfortunately, the english subbing on it was terrible - incomplete sentences, misspellings, grammatical errors. I'm glad I understand Japanese and Chinese (at least in Chinese, it was more accurate) otherwise I would've been bitter about it the whole two series.
Now that Utawarerumono, the show that pulled me back into anime again, is licensed, I'm expecting a similar happening.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by AnimeSuki.com
The original purpose of fansubs
As recent as about 10 to 15 years ago anime was not easy to get outside of Asia. The few anime companies that existed could only bring out a few titles as they lacked the funds and the market for licensing more shows. To get more anime and also to encourage certain titles to get licensed in the US, some anime fans started to make fansubs: series which were taped of Japanese television with subtitles added. These fansubs were distributed on VHS tape. One of the self imposed rules the fansub groups adapted was that once a series was licensed in the US, distribution of the fansub should stop. After all, the fansub had served it's purpose.
Eventually the popularity of anime grew in the US and with it the market for anime grew, which in turn resulted in more money to be available to license even more shows. It is probably this reason why in the past few years more and more shows are getting licensed. The popularity of fansubs also grew explosively with the introduction of digisubs: digital fansubs which could be easily distributed over the internet.
|
This part made me understand the situation a little more clearly. Companies like Funimation or ADV exist to make anime more commercial to an American audience. The problem, as I see it, is that these companies don't do a very good job and keeping quality in check. Already, I'm hating the new title "Shadow Warrior Chronicles". It is irrelevant and doesn't coinside with the central plot of the series. There are no chronicles, and these warriors certainly aren't followers of the dark side, as that is the impression the title will give to the average joe shmoe. In short, the title already presents a misinterpretation of the series, as I presume ADV and/or Funimation have already done to hundreds of other anime, Ghost in the Shell included.
A couple questions for you avid anime fans: up until this point, wasn't Utawarerumono licensed in Japan to begin with? There must've been a company in Japan that held absolute copyright of the material. What makes fansubs any more illegal now than they were before?
Also, does this mean Utawarerumono is no longer airing in Japan? Is it technically US material now? Or am I getting that point wrong?
Anyone with an ounce of Japanese knowledge knows that Utawarerumono isn't a hard phrase to pronounce. 'Mono' means thing or one. 'Utau' is the verb meaning to sing. Adjust the verb a little and you get 'Utawareru'. Not hard at all. I would be content with the direct translation, "the one being sung", but that's their decision now.
<sigh>