Crunchyroll Promises to Get Rid of Fansubs, Signs Deal to Stream Naruto, Gintama...

[Vexx]

Actually, I know that Shugo Chara is a guilty pleasure of some older girls/women - purely anecdotal. Myself, I could only stand about an episode or a half before I had a "Strawberry Shortcake" rejection...

[musume_no_hoshi]

While Shugo Chara is one of my favourite running shows, because I just love the Mahou Shoujo genre, especially the ones that doesn't 'save the world from evil people'. Most likely why I never liked Pretty Cure too much. Shugo Chara is pretty much the new Cardcaptor Sakura I would say. If I was still around 12-14, I would have been crazy about Shugo Chara...except that I am not 12-14 anymore ^_^'' I think it's definately popular with younger female anime/manga fans, although I have no statistics about it. (Except that some week Shugo Chara japanese TV rating was higher then Bleach, I was definately surprised)

CR always had a bad reputation, hence I never really used it. I remember using it once and it had HORRID quality, that was before they had a high quality version. I looked at it recently, the H.264 version looked very nice. If Shugo Chara on there is a legal source, I would watch it there first, and then keep a HD download on my hard drive.

[Vexx]

I'm mixed about CR (never really liked their parasitic nature) .... if they can make a go of this business model though, fantastic. However they have to serve up something I want first. I personally still have the streaming issue ... I operate on a pretty tight transfer cap (satellite is my only option) and since I like to watch an episode several times, meh. I'm obviously not the "typical target" however.

Hope I didn't offend anyone about Shugo Chara though, its charming enough it just destroys my insulin-producing cells. I do have a few mahou shoujo series in my archives though

[KrebMarkt]

@Vexx

If CR service grow big enough, some funny guys will develop browser plug-in to download the streams.

N.B. : Aria banzai !!!

[cyth]

Originally Posted by Vexx

I personally still have the streaming issue ... I operate on a pretty tight transfer cap (satellite is my only option) and since I like to watch an episode several times, meh.

There's a bunch of applications that allow you to simply save streams without recording. The most notable of them all would be a FireFox add-on called DownloadHelper. I use it because Adobe Flash Plugin just has a very slow H.264 decoder, plus the picture looks better in a DirectShow player. So it's basically like downloading a fansub from an HTTP source, albeit CR's video/audio quality isn't that satisfactory. I usually got CR's Xvid versions for a small fee. Their Kurogane no Linebarrels is pretty decent actually, much better than their previous BLASSREITER Xvids.

[Vexx]

Aye, simply because of my "issue with streaming" I know about catching and keeping streams (yeah, Firefox's "helper" is pretty decent). But.... technically that sort of violates most streaming site "Terms of Use". If CR provides a way to get broadcast quality H.264 or Xvid files for a "small fee" that would actually be more to my liking. Soul Eater would come to mind ...

[AceD]

noticed dattebayo are dropping naruto to, doesnt seem to be a joke this time

[solomon]

This is a real fascinating turn of events here. I read on ANN that Dattebayo would end it's fansubbing of Naruto soon, I just thought "that is real standup".

Admittedly the fan in me is a little worried about the Gintama work. It has a METRIC TON of references and meta humor, enough translation notes were used by Rumbel subs to make a whole set of cliffs notes books! I enjoyed this cause it immensely helped with the enjoyment of gags, I wonder if the new people will do the same thing. Still it's nice that they will be able to make money off of Gintama internationally now, cause the thing could NEVER be licenced for US TV.

[Sides]

Any idea how the model actually look like? If they want to make people pay for their service, they have to get the product right. Since they will be receiving their content direct from the source, they cannot offer people videos with low bitrate, both audio and video wise, and charge people at an unreasonable price. It won't be the same as people uploading fansubbed content onto their site, since those are already compressed, before compressed/distorted again to be uploaded onto their page.
Personally i would rather pay the japanese studios directly, rather going through a 3rd party.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Sides

Personally i would rather pay the japanese studios directly, rather going through a 3rd party.

Watch fansubs, buy Japanese DVDs.

[Sides]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Watch fansubs, buy Japanese DVDs.

Doing that for years, watching fansubs and buying jpn imports ^^

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by Sides

Doing that for years, watching fansubs and buying jpn imports ^^

You actually buy full sets of Japanese R2 DVD's? At 5000-8000 yen a pop? With UK's restrictive import tax laws?

Personally, I only buy R1 DVD's because I would only pay for a product in my language and designed to be playable in my region, and to make the Japanese companies realize my unique demographical buying power and needs as a foreign fan.

[Vexx]

I'll buy R2 once in a great while, but yeah -- R1s are my usual ticket as long as they provide the original japanese track with an option for english subs. I just hope the industry continues to design their anime directly for japanese audiences.... any trends towards "designing for American audiences" would be disappointing to me precisely because I'm rarely interested in them guessing what "American fans might want". Seen it, don't care for it.... I can flip on the tv and watch Knight Rider if I want :P

[Ryusiangel]

i still hope some fansubbers still do some fansub sometime i like to downlaod to watch and maybe rewatch in a month or 2 thats what i mostly do, at least til dvds come if these aren't on dvd if there is no downloads by then then i'm going to be angry >: ( i hope that even though its stream at least we get dvds in the future to own T^T

[Vexx]

I suspect there will be a useful niche for fansubbers for a long, long time unless the "official channels" expand out of the "top 20" zone of anime.

[cyth]

There's gonna be a need for fansubs for a long time. Even Japanese companies don't always go for the same broadcaster, so that leaves out a part of their established audiences. Even if CR got most of the industry on board, I'm sure they will have omit some shows occasionally.

[Sides]

Originally Posted by einhorn303

You actually buy full sets of Japanese R2 DVD's? At 5000-8000 yen a pop? With UK's restrictive import tax laws?

It is pretty common, i'm definitely not the only one. Import customs and tax/vat isn't really that big, it is the exchange rate atm that is the bigger issue. I've never been taxed for importing DVDs, games and eletronics, well that is different.
However that doesn't mean i buy every anime series, unlike anime movies and i don't buy limited editions or such.
Honestly buying R1 and R2 pal has nothing to do with the japanese industry, their aim is primarily their domestic market. Most series that are set for being released overseas, during the initial planning stage, are quite different to those who are not.
Ok, just read the news article. It is not really an issue, removing fansub from their own pages, since most of them shouldn't have been uploaded there in the first place. However i do see that they have illegal asian drama series on their site, according to their definition, so even if they get rid off anime fansub works off their page, unless they remove all copyrighted stuff in general, that webpage is still operating in questionable manner, generating money from content they don't own.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Sides

It is pretty common, i'm definitely not the only one. Import customs and tax/vat isn't really that big, it is the exchange rate atm that is the bigger issue. I've never been taxed for importing DVDs, games and eletronics, well that is different.
However that doesn't mean i buy every anime series, unlike anime movies and i don't buy limited editions or such.
Honestly buying R1 and R2 pal has nothing to do with the japanese industry, their aim is primarily their domestic market. Most series that are set for being released overseas, during the initial planning stage, are quite different to those who are not.
Ok, just read the news article. It is not really an issue, removing fansub from their own pages, since most of them shouldn't have been uploaded there in the first place. However i do see that they have illegal asian drama series on their site, according to their definition, so even if they get rid off anime fansub works off their page, unless they remove all copyrighted stuff in general, that webpage is still operating in questionable manner, generating money from content they don't own.

Well they said they'd remove all user uploaded content, which would include all the asian drama stuff.

[Slice of Life]

BTW, Quarkboy. Are you involved as a translator in this thing?

[musume_no_hoshi]

My... talking about exchange rate...the british pound worths so little now...and everything I was planning to get (like figmas and artbooks) prices all gone up...without the store raising the price. T^T

Eventually CR is going to remove all user uploaded content? I have a feeling that's going to take years. I'm just hoping the subs they're providing are all in good quality (I don't really mind about flashy effects, but I would like a well translated and timed subbed, also if they could, have the translation notes next to the video would be nice). Anyway I'm watching Shugo Chara in raw anyway ^_^''

Originally Posted by Vexx

Hope I didn't offend anyone about Shugo Chara though, its charming enough it just destroys my insulin-producing cells. I do have a few mahou shoujo series in my archives though

No, you haven't offended any fans, at least not me. I understand not everyone can stand the sugar and candies in mahou shoujo.