but it sure is time for YAM009 =D
is the cover kowaii??? [scary??] I would love to hear your opinion on fansubbing, as well as distribution, which are two topics I always bring up one way or the other.
You are also welcomed to comment on reviews and give suggestions.
With no further ado, go over here for download.
I rely on fansubs to watch Japanese dramas, and while technically it’s illegal I’ve managed to rationalise things by telling myself I’m “stealing†something I can’t buy in the first place, so who’s losing out? I’ve stopped downloading music because I can see the damage it’s doing, but I see no difference between me watching a TV show for free on my television and watching it for free on the internet.
Sites like Viikii and Crunchyroll are probably the way of the future, streaming for free and paid downloads (from Crunchyroll, at least), which I’m fine with as long as the price is right.
At the moment, fansubbers are offering a better service than the official sources (over a year after it won an Oscar, I’m still waiting for a PAL release of Departures, for goodness sake!) and the only long term way to stop that trend is for TV and film companies to offer a better service themselves.
Departures! Well, you are still better off. There are very few Latin America releases of Asian content… so I rely on HK releases and/or American.
I think everyone relies on fansubs to watch… especially Asian dramas overall. Technically, however, you can buy it… even if it’s not in a language you understand. Disregarding now DVD regions[ with free region players and new blu-ray regions], the only thing really stopping most from getting official releases are subtitles. Not even subtitles on extras… but on the film or episodes themselves.
Places like ViiKii and Crunchy… just like Hulu or Sling or the many other American TV streamers (including those from each network or cable channel like ABC, FOX or Showtime) should be the future, but as of now they stand in the barrier of “content by region” which to me, beats the purpose of online content. I get it in places like Hulu, which provides material from different channels. However, if Showtime owns its programming (which it mostly does), shouldn’t they be able to decide whether or not to stream it worldwide.
Mind you, Sho is probably concerned it will lose license money if other channels around the world don’t want to pay because most people would have already seen the episodes, but there are still people who need subtitled programs, let THEM wait. I don’t have an issue when waiting for subtitles of Japanese content… xD
As long as there are countries that can’t stream content, there will always be alternatives…
This is why distribution and subtitles are so important for official content xD