Comment Naruto (Score 1) 523
Naruto, right now, is one of the most popular anime and manga (comic) series in Japan. Over 200 chapters of the comic, and over 150 episodes of the anime have been produced with no end in sight. The plot entails the adventures of Naruto, a young ninja boy, as he uses his mystical powers to get into gigantic episode-spanning battles. The anime has become a huge fan favorite in the US, especially with anime fans who like mindless action, but considered themselves too 'otaku' (geek) to enjoy the thoroughly mainstream Dragon Ball Z (Naruto's creator lists DBZ as one of his influences, and it's quite evident).
For well over 2 years, each new episode would be digitally released with english subtitles almost less then 48 hours after it's airing in Japan. But in mid February of this year, the anime series was licensed in the US by Viz and fansubbers quickly stopped releasing new episodes in respect of Viz's copyright.
One would predict that the Naruto fanbase would be overjoyed that their favorite series would now be available, on DVD, in america. But to the majority of Naruto fans, Viz was the enemy. To them, they had a right to watch Naruto for free. After all, they had 'supported' the series for years. Who is Viz to barge in and charge them $25 per DVD just to see if their favorite character survives another fight?
So the series continues to be fansubbed, openly, and will probably continue to be fansubbed even after the region 1 DVD's actually hits US shores. This different from the fansub community of 10 years ago. 10 years ago, 5th generation VHS copies of analog TV broadcasts with Amiga genlock subs were hoarded like gold. Fans celebrated the licensing of ANY series since ANY new anime was good for the industry.
ADV, another US anime company (which was founded by anime fans), recieved similar backlash when they demanded that licensed but unreleased titles of theirs be removed from a large anime bittorrent site. They were portrayed as enemies of the anime community.
Thankfully, Naruto will also be airing on Cartoon Network, AND Naruto shirts will soon be sold at Hot Topic boutiques nationwide. Eventually, as those people not 'otaku' enough to spend Friday nights at home spamming fansub channels with "Is Naruto 165 out yet" catch onto the series, the anime elites will migrate to something else.
For well over 2 years, each new episode would be digitally released with english subtitles almost less then 48 hours after it's airing in Japan. But in mid February of this year, the anime series was licensed in the US by Viz and fansubbers quickly stopped releasing new episodes in respect of Viz's copyright.
One would predict that the Naruto fanbase would be overjoyed that their favorite series would now be available, on DVD, in america. But to the majority of Naruto fans, Viz was the enemy. To them, they had a right to watch Naruto for free. After all, they had 'supported' the series for years. Who is Viz to barge in and charge them $25 per DVD just to see if their favorite character survives another fight?
So the series continues to be fansubbed, openly, and will probably continue to be fansubbed even after the region 1 DVD's actually hits US shores. This different from the fansub community of 10 years ago. 10 years ago, 5th generation VHS copies of analog TV broadcasts with Amiga genlock subs were hoarded like gold. Fans celebrated the licensing of ANY series since ANY new anime was good for the industry.
ADV, another US anime company (which was founded by anime fans), recieved similar backlash when they demanded that licensed but unreleased titles of theirs be removed from a large anime bittorrent site. They were portrayed as enemies of the anime community.
Thankfully, Naruto will also be airing on Cartoon Network, AND Naruto shirts will soon be sold at Hot Topic boutiques nationwide. Eventually, as those people not 'otaku' enough to spend Friday nights at home spamming fansub channels with "Is Naruto 165 out yet" catch onto the series, the anime elites will migrate to something else.
