Fansub
From Free net encyclopedia
Image:School rumble.jpg A fansub (short for fan-subtitled) is a copy of a foreign movie or television show which has been subtitled by fans in their native language. It is most commonly used to refer to fan-translated anime videos that are shared amongst other fans.
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Evolution of the fansub
Fansubs originated during the explosion of anime production during the 1980s in Japan. Relatively few titles were licensed for distribution in foreign countries. This made it difficult for anime fans to obtain new titles. Some fans, generally those with some Japanese language experience, began producing amateur subtitled copies of new anime programs so that they could share them with their fellow fans who did not understand Japanese. In an attempt to avoid ethical and legal problems, fansubbers adopted the practice of distributing their works at zero profit.
- See below for further discussion of fansubbing ethics.
In the earlier days of fansubbing, the distribution media was VHS tapes. Such copies were notoriously low quality, time consuming to make, expensive to produce, and difficult to find. A limited number of copies were made and then mailed out or distributed at local anime clubs. Fans could purchase fansubs at a modest cost or could contact clubs who would record the material on their own blank video cassettes.
That all changed with the introduction of digital fansubbing. With the advent of widespread high-speed Internet access, desktop video editing, and DVD ripping, this practice has largely been abandoned in favor of digitally produced fansubs sometimes called digisubs. This has allowed fansubbing to transform from a slow, tedious, and low quality preview of an attractive show to a cheap, easy, fast, and sometimes high quality alternative to an only-slightly-better quality DVD, although some groups release HD quality fansubs.
However, a large majority of fansubs are encoded at distinctly less than DVD quality, often featuring fewer channels of sound and diminished picture quality since many stem from TV recordings. Even fansubs based on Japanese DVD rips are often of inferior quality. The primary reason is file size: 175 and 233 MB are generally treated as the "standard" sizes for a fansub file because they divide evenly into 700 MB, the size of a typical CD-R. DVD's usually feature data sizes of over a gigabyte, giving them superior compression.
Digisubs are now of such quality and free accessibility that the incentive to upgrade to a legitimate copy once a title is domestically licensed may be severely diminished. However, recent research by the Yale Economic Review has shown that people who download movies are no less likely to buy movies than those who do not, calling this conclusion into serious question. 1 Economic instabilities in both the US and Japan have made it hard to gauge the precise consequences of digisubs on the commercial industry, as well.
Some in the anime community argue that digisubbing has distorted the original fansub culture and transformed it from a respected practice to nothing more than pirating for cheap entertainment, and consider it the anime equivalent of Zero day warez trading. Some fansubs even show up on warez sites - though mainly because there are warez programmers who also happen to be anime fans, leading to a coincidental grouping of the two, much the same that pornography and anime show up together on several sites. Others defend fansubbing as a clear benefit to the anime community as well as a benefit to both the Japanese and domestic anime industries, pointing to several historical examples where fansubs have helped Japanese companies earn publicity and money (see below for these case studies).
Early fansubs
Early or "traditional" fansubs were produced using analog video editing equipment. First, a copy of the original source material, called a raw was obtained. The most common raw source was a commercial laserdisc. However, a commercial VHS tape or even a homemade recording could be used as well, though that would entail a lower quality finished product. A translated script was then made to match the dialog of the raw video. The video script was then timed. Timing is the process of assigning a "start time" (Synch-Point) and "end time" for each line of subtitling; this determines how long a given subtitle would remain on the screen. Timing a script was usually done in conjunction with computer software designed specifically for that purpose. The person performing the timing would watch the source video and would assign the appearance, changing, and removal of the subtitle text using a computer. The two most popular programs used in this process were JacoSub and Substation Alpha. Once the script was prepared and timed, the next step was to produce one or more masters. A master was a high quality copy of the finished fansub from which many distribution copies could be made. The fansubber would playback the raw video through a computer equipped with a genlock in order to generate the subtitles and then overlay them on the raw signal. The hardware of choice was an Amiga PC as most professional genlocks were extraordinarily expensive. The final output of this arrangement was then recorded. The master was most often recorded onto SVHS tape in an attempt to maximize quality, though some fansubbers were forced to use inferior but less expensive VHS. Once completed, the master copy was then sent to a distributor.
Fansub distributors (who delivered videos to fans) were usually separate from fansubbers, who did translations and produced masters. Since most members of the fansub community did not want to profit from their activities, fansubs were usually not "sold". Typically, a fan who wanted copies of a given program would mail blank VHS tapes to a fansub distributor, along with a modest payment for shipping expenses. The distributor would then record copies onto the "customer's" blank casettes, and ship them back. Alternatively, a fansub distributor might sell copied tapes outright, but at a low price which was intended to be exactly enough to cover the cost of blank casettes and shipping.
This style of fansubbing was quite cost intensive for the fansubber and the distriubtor. The raw usually was purchased at a high price; nearly all Anime Laserdiscs (or tapes) cost more than $50, and many cost more than $100. It would not be uncommon for a $50 Laserdisc to contain just 30 minutes of video. Obtaining quality raws for a series of moderate length could cost over $1000. As well, many fansubbing groups paid professional translators in order to generate the script. Then, expensive video equipment was required: Laserdisc player, PC, genlock, and recording deck for producing the master; subsequently two or more video decks were then needed for producing distribution copies. Professional grade video hardware such as players, recorders, and editing decks was extremely expensive; easily into the thousands of dollars.
The video quality of early fansubs was not good. The high cost of equipment forced most fansubbing groups to use less expensive but inferior quality consumer grade electronics. Even when a high quality LD source and professional grade hardware could used, the final fansub was at best a third-generation copy. In reality, most fansubs in circulation were fourth or fifth generation copies, and were not made on professional equipment. Thus, in practice quality was usually very poor.
Modern fansub techniques
Modern fansubs are produced almost entirely on computer. A raw is still required, but unlike the fansubbers who relied on laser discs, most raw sources comes directly from recordings off Japanese TV, which are widely available via Japanese peer-to-peer programs such as Share. While TV recordings are now the primary type of raw used today, rips of region 2 DVDs are also used. For older shows not available on DVD, some modern fansubbers use computers equipped with sophisticated video capture hardware to get digital copies of older analog media (laserdisc or tape) to work with.
Once the video is in the computer it can be edited and subtitles applied with minimal or no loss of quality, compared to the playback-recording cycle required in traditional fansubbing. However, a majority of the encoding formats used generally cause some loss of quality versus the original broadcast or DVD. A relatively inexpensive PC can perform all of the manipulation necessary, without the need for expensive and complex devices such as editing decks and a genlock.
There are several methods of subbing currently used. "Soft" subtitles, or soft subs, are subtitles which appear in their own window below or above the anime being viewed. They're synched to the spoken dialogue and usually are contained in a file separate from the file containing the episode. It is therefore possible to edit the file yourself, if you have a conflicting opinion on a translation, by editing this separate file.
Conversely, "hard" subtitles, or hard subs, appear superimposed over the episode being played, usually on the bottom of the screen. Subtitles are traditionally done hard, but some early-version fansubs do have "soft" subs. The internet allows for highly collaborative fansubbing, and online fansubbing communities are able to release a fully subtitled episode (including karaoke with translation, kana & kanji for songs, additional remarks and translations of signs) in under 24 hours after an episode is debuted in Japan.
In the case of hard subtitles a video editor (commonly VirtualDub) uses an AVISynth script to load the raw video file and the subtitle file (created by the translators) then the video software applies the subtitles on the video and captures video with the subtitles "burned" in.
The resulting fansub is a computer video file, with the companion sub file in the case of soft subs. It can be copied to CD or DVD media for hardcopy distribution, but is most often distributed using online file-sharing protocols such as BitTorrent and IRC. This allows modern anime fans to download the finished product at no cost to themselves or to distributers.
Distribution and playback
In the late 90's and early 2000's, fansubs in electronic form were primarily distributed much liek VHS tapes: via mail on CD-R's. Many fans did not have high speed Internet and were unable to download large files. It was from this practice of mailing on CD-Rs that sizes such as 175 and 233 MB became standard sizes for files. Many of the early electronic fansubs were made from regular VHS subs. In the case of Sailor Moon, the primary fansub in distribution today is based on VHS fansubs made almost a decade ago.
As of 2006, most fansubs are predominately distributed through BitTorrent and IRC channels. Anime fansub news websites such as Envirosphere provides information about fansub releases. The video files are usually encoded in either DiVX or XviD video codec, and one of many audio codecs. Because of a growing de-emphasis on CD-R or DVD-R distribution, the only 175/233 file size standard has become less frequently followed. An appropriate video and audio playback codec needs to be installed on the computer for proper playback. In addition, many of the video files use special multimedia container formats such OGM and Matroska. Special decoders need to be acquired for these formats as well.
Legal and ethical issues
Fansubbers have traditionally held themselves to a common code of ethics. Historically, the key points have been:
- Fansubs are made for fans, by fans, and not for commercial purposes. Therefore, fansubs should never be sold for a profit. They are either given away or sold for exactly the cost required to make them (usually, the cost of a blank cassette plus shipping expenses). Many fansubs contain subtitle text that reads "free fansub: not for sale or rent" that pops up during the video, in order to discourage bootleggers from violating this rule.
- Most fansubbers only work with material that has not been licensed for domestic release in their country of distribution. If a domestic company licences a given title then fansub production and distribution of that title stops. An exception, for some, is made when the licensor intends to heavily edit the content without releasing an uncut version, as is the case with 4Kids Entertainment (see below).
- There is an expectation that if a given fan enjoys a show, then he or she should buy the official domestic release if and when it becomes available.
It is true that many fansubbers abide by this somewhat relativistic code of ethics when deciding what shows to bring over. Indeed, it can be justified as the free distribution of something that no one has claimed the right to sell (in a particular region and/or country). This is true for all unlicensed anime, but most predominently for anime that has not been recently released. Legend of the Galactic Heroes is one such anime and an enormously popular show in Japan. Originally airing in 1989, this show went on to have a 110 episode main series, a 53 episode OVA series, and three movies. Even still, the potential market for such an 'old and outdated' anime is understandably small. Many fans of anime are attracted by the bright flashy animation, smooth character design, modern themes, and current popular trends. Thereby, many fansubbers justify their distribution of several popular, but older and unlicensed titles by saying that they are not, and probably will never be, sold in the United States for a profit. Likewise, some fansubbers work with niche titles that are also unlikely to see a domestic release.
Supporters of fansubbing point to the demonstrable positive impact it's had on the anime industry through its function as publicity. There have been several shows that were at first overlooked for US distribution, only to be picked up later when fansubs helped create a buzz about the franchise. One example of this was Azumanga Daioh, now released by ADV Films. At A-Kon 15 in the summer of 2005, an ADV founder admitted that they thought Azumanga Daioh would not be initally popular in America. ADV decided to license this title after witnessing its popularity in the fansub community. Other shows that were made popular through fansubs include Flame of Recca, Kodomo no Omocha, and Bobobo, all of which went unlicensed for several years before attracting the attention of US companies due to the series' fanbase.
Detractors of fansubbers counter by pointing to an alleged "dark side" of fansubbing. While many fansubbing groups stop outright illegal distribution of anime, some still continue subtitling shows long after they have been bought by US companies. Shows licensed by 4Kids, for example, are considered by some to be "not truely licensed," due to the company's refusal to release unedited versions of their properties. Fansubbers have been the lone source of subtitled versions of several 4Kids shows, including Tokyo Mew Mew, One Piece, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. An older example is Sailor Moon, which was initially licensed by DiC. No uncut or subtitled version was ever released by DiC, prompting some fansubbers to distribute their own. It wasn't until 2003 that commercial subtitles of the first two seasons appeared; no commercial release of the fifth season has ever been made. However, all of Sailor Moon has recently lapsed into being unlicensed, making fansubs the only available source of the show for fans.
Extraordinarily long productions like One Piece, Naruto and InuYasha are also known to be distributed by fansubbers even after a license is announced. Even after the official licensing of Naruto that came around the release of episode 124, fansubbing groups still distributed the show. Cartoon Network is now airing the first few episodes while fansub groups release up to episode 174 and beyond. While it is still true that native language dubs of shows are usually more popular, especially for anime geared at younger audiences like Naruto, up to 250,000 people download the current Japanese episode every week online.
Other shows like Sailor Moon and Fist of the North Star (a.k.a. Hokuto no Ken) have only been partially released in the United States. As mentioned above, 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Sailor Stars', the final series in Sailor Moon, has never been released in the United States because of ambiguous sexual overtones that distributors fear would be 'offensive' to parents. Fist of the North Star saw an initial short release of its long series, stopping production at episode 36, but failed to release the other 73 episodes in the primary series, or even start the 43 episode sequel. These marketing concerns for distribution companies create a grey operating zone for fansubbers. While on the one hand it is true that Fist of the North Star are released and licensed products in America, only part of the series is even available. Even if a fan was willing to spend the money to buy the whole thing, it would be impossible, and assuming such, many fans opt out of supporting companies that do not fully back their own products.
In the end, there is no clear ethical resolution on the matter. Whether fansubs are now beginning to hurt the market cannot be judged for certain, though their past role as advertisement cannot be questioned. Based on the MFI example (see below), it is clear that series without fansubs do tend to be ignored more by western markets, suggesting that fansubs are still important to generate anticipation for new Japanese releases in the US and Europe. On the other hand, growing resentment among fansubbers towards the professional community does threaten to imperil the once-comfortable gray area that fansubs occupied. As DVD rippers become more common, more and more US distributors are becoming decreasingly tolerant towards the fansub community.
While unlicensed distribution of movies and television programs is a clear violation of international copyright law, prosecutions are seldom. The reasons for this are two fold; firstly that there is no absolute legal precedence for such a case, and secondly because most distributors fear being riduculed by fans and losing the 'free advertising' they get as a result of fansubbing. Foreign licenses are a lucrative prospect for many Japanese anime companies, especially as the industry has grown increasingly short on revenue due to economic woes, so jeopardizing the sale of their products overseas is not seen by anime executives to be a smart financial move.
Technically, downloading illegal anime episodes is no more or less illegal than ripping the DVD or copying the VHS, however prosecution requires jurisdiction. The United States, Japan, and Europe all abide by commonly understood international copyright laws. This is in contrast, however, to countries like China and certain Middle Eastern nations that openly do not abide by international copyright. Situations such as this are so rampant that more than 90% of all media and software in China and Hong Kong is speculated to have been obtained illegally. This system is put in place to protect intellectual and entertainment property but problems arise when foreign countries try to prosecute and intervene in domestic affairs. In order to not cause an international scandal most governments take a stance of apathy and non-intervention. Therefore most anime that is fansubbed gets distributed illegally but in a manner which is practically untouchable by Japan.
Another issue at the heart of fansubbing ethics is the content. Many anime fans complain of poor quality in translations done by professional companies compared to fansubs. Many also have grown used to the Japanese voice actors and find their localized dub to be offputting or of poor quality. A final argument in favor of fansubs is that they are unedited. Many in favor of fansubbing argue that it offers a different product than that provided by the company that licensed it; one that can differ quite a bit in content and translation from that of the official localization. If that holds true, then these viewers would not have purchased the localized version anyway and thus are not a loss in sales. These points are further expanded upon below.
Dynamics of fansubbing
Although executives of domestic anime distributors have been vocal about their objection to fansubs, most do not want to gain an image as being hostile to their fans. Of special note, many in the anime industry started as VHS fansubbers themselves, although fansubbing as they knew it then has become profoundly different from fansubbing as it is known today. This is due to the shift from traditional fansubbing using VHS tape to modern digisubs that are circulated on the internet.
Before the internet was considered the "end all be all" source for information, it was difficult for fansubbing groups to get the attention of their target audience. Even during the early to mid 1990s, groups still had to charge a nominal fee (usually $5 to $10 at most) for a VHS and shipping charges to get the anime to its destination. Many people in the general public were not willing to trust relatively unknown internet businesses, especially during the primitive days of internet security. Most of the American and U.K. anime distribution companies were formed during the early 1990s, and had little competition from such amateur groups. However, as the internet grew in availability and speed, fansub groups were able to host and distribute fansubs online easily. The development of new software and its newfound availability made it very simple to copy, subtitle, distribute, and play back fansubs.
Along with the change-over from VHS physical distribution to electronic distribution came a shift in mentality. The notion of internet anonymity became a primary motivation for many clients to start downloading the anime that they long wished they had. Without a physical paper trail or mailing addresses to track, many more people felt comfortable "committing the crime." It also eliminated the costly trial and error process that would be necessary for viewers to undergo if they were purchasing VHS copies. Many fans who previosuly did not obtain fansubs due to the expense or effort required now found themselves in a position where they needed no money and very little effort: now the options are as simple as "download and delete."
Fansubs are now the primary means anime fans come to experience anime programs for the first time. Many anime shows make their debut outside of Japan's shores in electronic format, and it is rare that a popular anime will go without fansubs. Recently, this has also applied to the tokusatsu fandom due to the fact fansubs are actually being done for Super Sentai (the source for Power Rangers), Kamen Rider (which is appealing to many fans; especially after what happened to Kamen Rider Black RX in 1995), Ultraman, and various Daikaiju Movies which were badly dubbed over the decades. In addition, J-Horror and J-Drama, as well as other Asian Shows have been fansubbed as many people are becoming more and more curious about Asian Cinema and breaking away from the Kung Fu, Samurai, Giant Monsters films that so many people were familiar with prior to fansubbing.
There is a persistent belief that there is an unspoken agreement between the fansubbers and Japanese copyright holders that fansubs help promote a product. However, this belief was challenged when in December of 2004 a Japanese copyright holder directly requested their works be removed from download sites.
Recent lawsuits
A Tokyo law firm representing Media Factory Inc., a Japanese animation company, sent letters and e-mails to the anime BitTorrent directory AnimeSuki and the fansub group Lunar Anime requesting that they halt the fansubbing and hosting of all current and future MFI anime productions. AnimeSuki and Lunar Anime complied, and shortly several other fansub groups distributing MFI series followed suit. Wannabe Fansubs and a handful of other fansubbing groups, however, continue to produce fansubs of MFI anime series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> To date, this has been the only legal action taken by a Japanese anime company against the fansubbing community.
After MFI's request was made public, only Genshiken, whose fansubs had been completed before the notifications, and Kimi ga Nozomu Eien have been licensed in the US. MFI's other major projects, including School Rumble, Pugyuru, and Akane Maniax, have all been overlooked by American distributors. The lack of buzz surrounding these titles has been linked by fansub supporters to MFI's suppression of fan distribution. They argue that by cutting off this means of "free advertisement," MFI has alienated fans who would normally buy their products after they were licensed and kept the shows from being as widely exposed as they might otherwise be. The end result, say fansub supporters, is a reduced interest from American anime companies and a loss of revenue for the studio.
MFI's actions are currently used as an example in the fansub debate as a reason why other Japanese companies should not pursue similar injunctions. This argument is echoed by critics of the Recording Industry Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America, whose recent legal battles with pirates have caused many consumers to cease buying their products, costing them more revenue than they had been losing to the pirates originally. To date, no other Japanese anime company has made any similar request, making MFI's actions an interesting anomaly to the current relations of fansubbers and copyright holders.
Fansub detractors claim that Japanese licensors have reportedly grown discontent with fansubbers because the ease of access with which their works are obtained has begun to affect a foreign licensor's willingness to license a series, as evidenced by the Western market's sharp drop in new acquisitions in 2005. They also suggest that anime fans in Japan have reportedly begun to turn to English fansubs which often appear days after a show's release, affecting sales in their home market. However, this decline can better be attributed to the declining economy of both nations. A recession is a known causal agent for retarding the growth of entertainment sales. Also, these claims of discontent are entirely uncorraborated by members within Japanese industry, who have yet to make any official comments on fansubs one way or another.
Fansubbers and their supporters feel their actions are justified due to the fact that many series never get licensed by Western distributors or are significantly modified to satisfy strict censorship requirements. While the latter argument is true of some, but not all, anime found on Western broadcast television, the majority of such shows are also generally available unaltered on DVD. A notable exception is 4Kids, mentioned above.
Additionally, fansubbers further justify their actions by stating that a fan obtaining a fansub does not necessarily equal a lost sale as it cannot be known whether that person would have purchased a copy of the show anyway. While this may be true, the legal counter to this argument is that neither instance entitles one to an unpaid copy even if one never intended to purchase a copy since that would nullify the consequence of not purchasing (that being the inability to enjoy the content), and especially if the person originally intended to purchase since the lost sale obviously results in lost revenue.
However, it is the norm among anime fans (thanks to polling data and the previously mentioned scientific research by the Yale Economic Review) that if a fansub is downloaded and the show enjoyed, a fan will buy the DVD release, the same as a person who downloads a movie is as likely to buy the DVD as someone who does not.
Other considerations
Translation quality
Another argument of fansub supporters is that fansubs tend to be a more literal (and theoretically more faithful) translation of the original Japanese. While it is true that some fans (especially those with some knowledge of the language) might prefer strictly literal translations, this argument is not completely valid.
In the early days of domestic anime releases--even into the early 1990s--it was common for titles to be sold in edited form. Scenes were cut out and dialogue was rewritten not just for reasons of censorship but also whenever the editors determined that something "wouldn't make sense to a foreign audience". This offended many fans, especially those who could understand cultural references or those who wanted to enjoy a title in its original, unedited, format. For these fans, unedited and "literally correct" fansubs were much more desirable than edited and domesticated commercial releases.
However, Japanese is not a language that can be understood literally due to the large number of cultural nuances that must be carefully considered in a translation. While there have been instances of negligent professional translations in the earlier days of anime's domestic release, stricter standards among the industry and extensive script checking by native Japanese speakers and formal review by original Japanese licensors have widely made such instances rare in recent times. Most fans agree that more recent domestic releases lack the translation issues that plagued earlier titles. However, the argument popped up again. Prime examples are 4Kids Entertainment's handling of properties like Ojamajo Doremi, One Piece, Tokyo Mew Mew, and Yu-Gi-Oh!.
Modern fansubs sometimes compensate for the culture gap by including blocks of text (which the viewer might have to pause at to read) explaining Japanese cultural references in the anime.
Also, many fansub teams use editing features that are not technically possible on the commercial releases (such as using specific subtitle colors for each character), resulting in a better-looking video.
Voice work
Some argue that while the scripts are accurate in commercial dubs, the English voice work is often subpar when compared to the Japanese. This is arguably because the Japanese archetypes associated with many characters in the original format are lost when filtered through foreign tongues, especially in terms of intonation and inflection. Japanese seiyū perform their voice acting together under supervision of the anime director, but in contrast few North American companies do this.
It is interesting to note that anime series with recognizable western influences tend to be received very warmly in dub format, possibly because the familiar cultural aspects allow for easier transitioning into English. Prime examples of this pattern are series by Shinichiro Watanabe such as Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, both of which rely heavily on American musical genres to set their respective moods, and both of which are generally lauded by fans as having very respectable English voiceovers. While decent dubbing is often attributed to consistent work by a single production studio, Watanabe's series were handled by two completely different American companies, lending credence to the theory that the more western-themed an anime is, the easier of a time English voice actors will have in adapting it to an American audience.
Notable Fansubbers
These are a few of the more wel-known or historical fansubbers who have made significant contributions to fansubbing development as a whole.
Arctic Fansubs
An old VHS fansub group from the 80's, they are known for subbing several notable series, including Ranma 1/2 and Maison Ikkoku.
VKLL
Based in Canada, VKLL was a single person who began operating in the mid-1990's as a VHS fansubber. His most signficiant work was the fansubbing of the last three seasons of Sailor Moon (S, Super S, and Stars), as well as the movies and OVAs during the period of DiC's ownership of the first two seasons. After the movies, season 3, and 4 were licensed for release in North America, VKLL ceased distributing the titles, but continued to distro Stars and the OVAs until he ended his fansub hobby in Spring 2006. His production of the Stars series is still available online for download and considered by many Sailor Moon fans to be the best English translation of the series to date.
VKLL is also known for his work subbing the End of Evangelion and Saint Tail.
Kodocha
Made of a team who released fansubs via VHS during the late 90's, Kodocha took its name from Kodomo no Omocha, its first major fansubbed series, though it did not complete the series. Kodocha's other major release was Flame of Recca; all 42 episodes were subbed and release. Kodocha was the first to fansub both of theses series and their translations are largely responsible for the popularity of both series among anime fans. Both of these shows were eventually licensed and released in North America.
Lunar Anime
Lunar Anime is an American-based fansubbing group that focuses on the translation of anime into English. They release a large number of episodes every week which can be downloaded via bittorrent (a P2P program). Lunar Anime asserts that this is completely legal, and subs current anime series that have not been licensed for distribution in the United States.
Lunar is known for translating Japanese terms that other fansubs prefer to leave in Japanese. <ref name="TranslationOfTerms">Lunar Forums - example thread</ref> As a result, it has become a favourite among the non-otaku crowd, who is unfamiliar or unwilling to become familiar with anime terminology.
They were well-known for releasing quality, but delayed fansubs of the BLEACH anime. However, releases were discontinued when BLEACH was licensed by VIZ Media on March 15, 2006. As of March 2006, some of their most popular series include Suzuka, Air, Ai Shiteru Ze, Canvas 2, Gunbuster 2, Kakyūsei 2, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch and Uta-Kata.
Dattebayo
Dattebayo is an American-based fansubbing group that focuses on the translation of anime from Japanese to English. They are noted for fast fansubbing, referred to as "speedsubs." They are currently known for subbing Naruto and Bleach. They do this as neither anime has been licensed in Australia, where one of their staff member is currently deployed. The group is also notable for their alleged connection with the GNAA.
References
See also
External links
Fansub news sites containing information about the latest fansub releases.
Super Sentai Fansub in spanish / en español:
An excellent documentary on the evolution of tape trading/fansubbing can be found for free on the Independent Film Channel's website. Go to IFC's "Samurai 7" webpage[1], scroll down, and click on the link for "Anime in the USA." When the player opens, click on "Tapes from the Underground."ca:Fansub de:Fansub es:Fansub fr:Fansub it:Fansub ja:ファンサブ pl:Fansub pt:Fansub ru:Фэнсаб