AGP#003 – Fansubbing Panel w. Greg Ayres

What’s this? An episode of the podcast that comes out less than
three months after the last one? BLASPHEMY I say! This particular
episode contains voice actor Greg Ayres’ AnimeNEXT 2008 panel,
“Fansubbing.”


It’s all about the negative effect of fansubs on the American
anime industry, and Greg really gets his point across well.
Listen. You owe it to yourself. Also, I sat down next to Scott
from AnimeAlmanac for the duration of the panel. He had just
finished his interview with Ayres, which you can read about in
the show links. Show notes (really really long this time) and
supplementary links after the break.


Direct Download – RSS Feed – Email: podcast@anigamers.com


[0:00:00] Opening song: “R.O.D. Theme” by Taku Iwasaki (I’m
thinking of using this opener/closer combination for all future
episodes)[0:00:23] I get with the awkward introductions as
always. It’s a panel hosted by voice actor Greg Ayres, who has
been in Air Gear, Beck, Full Metal Panic, Gravion, Negima,
Spiral, and Welcome to the NHK. He talks about his stance on
fansubs, so listen up. Unfortunately, I missed the first half
hour of the panel, so you’ll have to live with that.

[0:01:41] “The anime industry only makes up 1% of the
entertainment industry… Do you think that ‘millions’ is a
number that anime distributors ever hear?”


[0:03:04] “How many of you were around when the subtitle vs.
dub VHS’s were released?…The dub costs more money to make, so
why was the dub cheaper?”


[0:04:03] Name-drops The Humanoid.


[0:04:57] “One of our biggest allies was Suncoast…One of the
only companies that had to sell at ‘maufacturer’s sugested
retail price.'” Best Buy takes a loss on one item (anime) and
jacks up prices of others (keyboards, etc.) Greg lavishes
praise on Suncoast.


[0:07:00] “How cheap is anime in Japan?…NOT CHEAP.” $60USD for
2 episodes a disc!


[0:08:30] “The saddest thing is, guess who put more extras in
their boxsets than anyone around?… Geneon. Guess who doesn’t
exist…”


[0:10:52] Greg’s awesome rant. “I refuse to call it anything
but stealing.” He talks about Zac Bertschy’s definition of
“fan.” This part is the highlight of the panel. “You’re not a
fan, you’re putting fleas on an already flea-ridden dog.”
Incredible stuff.


[0:13:33] “To say that anime is not popular is false too,
because every convention I go to every year, their attendance
grows.”


[0:16:36] “Companies are trying to reinvent DVD sales.”
Thinpacks, whole-season releases, 2-DVD-at-a-time releases,
etc.


[0:17:51] Things are doing better, but anime companies can’t
just reinvent themselves without revenue to survive with.


[0:20:25] My point: “Entertainment is a luxury, and in a time
of recession, luxuries are the first to go.” I forget where I
heard this, but it was probably Anime World Order.


[0:21:46] Mackenzie report about how many people download vs.
buy anime.


[0:23:34] “Who can think of ways to watch anime legally for
free or cheap?” The audience lists off a bunch of places, many
of which are actually illegal. Veoh? BleachExile? Hurf durf,
guys.


[0:25:11] I bring up CrunchyRoll, and Greg discusses its
questionable legality. “CrunchyRoll is a place where maybe we
will get to see anime for free.” Greg thinks GONZO is the most
forward thinking anime company out there. Let’s just ignore the
fact that Welcome to the NHK is one of the only
shows they’ve made that hasn’t sucked.


[0:29:52] A college student gives her touching anecdote about a
school library that helped pay for her anime club’s manga
collection. Pretty cool story.


[0:39:10] “Newtype USA, they’re gone. The only thing left is
their horrible, imposter little brother, which is not a
replacement for Newtype, unfortunately.” Some AWO/Otaku USA
fanboy yells out “Daryl Surat would like to have a word with
you!” Idiot. Greg shuts him down, and covers Newtype USA with
oodles of praise. I don’t agree with his opinion of Otaku USA,
which is a fantastic magazine, but he makes good points
supporting Newtype. Also, “here’s one thing I can say good
about Otaku USA: they’re still striving to bring DVDs in every
issue.”


[0:41:52] The biggest issue: fansubbing because something isn’t
licensed. Shows like Legend of the Galactic
Heroes, Macross: Do You Remember Love. He
discusses the separate licenses that are sold off in parts,
making old shows hard to relicense. Also, ways to
legally/ethically watch old, unlicensed shows.


[0:51:30] Talking about Beck licensing issues,
including the real Beck’s support for the show, and the crazy
problem with the Lucille guitar. He also tangentially mentions
the “real reason” why Detective Conan was renamed
Case Closed, and some points about merchandise and
TV rights.


[0:59:10] “Censorship and editing is always a big hot button
issue with anime fans.” Adult Swim censored Trinity
Blood and Fullmetal Alchemist, not
FUNimation. “The man’s f***ing head explodes!” Classic. 4Kids
has the blessing of the Japanese in everything they do. Wow,
surprising, huh?


[1:04:51] “Adult Swim is not our friend.” He tells us a story
about when he visited Adult Swim headquarters, and saw a shirt
that said “because anime is teh suck.” Yes, he’s not lying.


[1:08:49] Hilarious autograph line stories about people who ask
for autographs without knowing what shows the actors are in.
“If you don’t know who I am, why are you waiting in line for my
autograph?”


[1:11:02] Yoshitoshi ABe didn’t understand why Serial
Experiments Lain was so popular in America, because the
show is a slam on American culture. Most fansub groups missed
this, and Geneon intentionally ignored it.


[1:12:53] “All the fansubs my friends have start with: Now, my
Japanese isn’t so good, so if you find any corrections, send
them to idiot@yahoo.com.” A couple minutes about translation,
both on the fansub and the official dub side.


[1:15:50] I mention this series of videos to Greg. Also, he
likes his toilet paper under.


[1:17:43] He pimps YouTube recordings of his panel, especially
the one right after Geneon collapsed. (“You can see panic on
everyone’s faces.”)


[1:18:55] Translation notes, cultural notes, and extras.
According to Greg, there are restrictions in the DVD format
that cannot include some of these things (or make it hard to
include them).


[1:20:23] Instead of asking, “What can the industry do for us,”
as he usually does, Greg asks “What can we do for the
industry?” He namedrops SaveOurAnime.com, too.


[1:22:03] Closing comments. Greg provides some really nice,
inspirational speeches about why anime fans are good people,
and how the anime industry still has hope. It’s a little
cheesy, but this is a nice ending for the panel.


[1:23:55] Closing song: “H.T.” (Trigun OP) by Tsuneo Imahori


[1:24:24] Generic footer. Check us out on iTunes (finally)!
SRSLY! Also, I’m trying my best to get us on Digg, but for some
reason that site doesn’t think we’re actually a podcast… Go
figure.


Links:
AnimeNEXT
GregAyres.com
Greg Ayres and the Fight Against Fansubs (Scott’s piece)
The History of Fansubs (video: very critical of modern
fansubs)
SaveOurAnime