Fansub - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A fansub is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

which has been translated by fans

Fan translation

A fan translation, in video gaming, refers to an unofficial translation of a computer game or video game.The fan translation practice grew with the rise of video game console emulation in the late 1990s. A community of people developed that were interested in replaying and modifying the games they...

and subtitled into a language

Language

Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...

other than that of the original.

History

Fansubs originated during the explosion of anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

production during the 1980s in Japan. Relatively few titles were licensed for distribution outside of Japan. This made it difficult for anime fans to obtain new titles. Some fans, generally those with some Japanese language

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

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.

The first distribution media of fansubbed material was VHS

VHS

The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

and Betamax

Betamax

Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...

tapes. Such copies were notoriously low quality, time consuming to make, expensive to produce (over US$4000 in 1986) 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.

However, with the advent of widespread high-speed Internet access, desktop video editing, DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

and Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...

ripping, and TV capturing, the original process has largely been abandoned in favor of digital fansubbing (digisubbing) and electronic distribution of the resulting digisubs. This has allowed fansubbing to transform from a slow and tedious task that generates a low quality preview of an attractive show to a cheap, easy, and quick way to create a high quality and high availability alternative to official DVD or Blu-ray releases.

Due to the relatively low quality of television broadcasts (when compared with a DVD or Blu-ray release of the same show), fansubs done from television video sources do not have the high quality video of official releases. There are certain "standards" that many fansub groups adhere to, resulting in certain codecs being used and certain target filesizes for encoded fansubs. This results in most fansubs having similar file sizes: 175 MB

Megabyte

The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...

, 233 MB, and 350 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. As the price of Hard disk drives have decreased while their storage capacity has increased, modeling fansub filesizes after optical media constraints has become largely unimportant. Fansubs using HDTV broadcast video sources require a higher bit rate

Bit rate

In telecommunications and computing, bit rate is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time....

to maintain quality, and in combination with varying amounts of motion between episodes (large amounts of motion require high bit rates to maintain quality), file sizes for HD fansub encodes can range from 200MB to 800MB even using the latest H264 codecs. For episodes sourced from Blu-ray discs, filesizes can be several gigabytes. Some anime series which are broadcast in high definition do not go on to be released on Blu-ray. Thus it is often the case that downloading a fansub sourced from HDTV will offer much higher video quality than purchasing an official DVD, due to the difference in resolution.

These advancements in fansubbing quality mean that fansubs are now of such quality and free accessibility that the incentive to upgrade (or in some cases downgrade, as from an HD fansub to an SD DVD) 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. 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, though several Japanese and North American anime studios and distribution companies have pointed to fansubbing as drawing a large amount of profit away from them.

In April, 2008, two Gonzo titles began free, subtitled releases simultaneously with their Japanese TV-airing counterparts on streaming websites YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

, Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...

, and BOST

Bost

-Places:*Alternative name for Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan*Bost Airport, near Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan*Bost, Allier, a commune in central France-People:*John Bost, French Reformed pastor and social pioneer...

. In addition to the streaming video, viewers may pay any price they wish (greater than zero) to download a higher-quality version of the shows. As of October, 2009, a large number of new anime are being distributed using this same model through Crunchyroll. The general reaction from the fansub community has been to not subtitle these shows, though in some cases the streaming video is released days after the Japanese airing and in very low quality, leading fansubs to still be done of such shows. Several "fansub groups" have taken to ripping the subtitles from these Crunchyroll releases, syncing them to HDTV video sources, and then releasing them for free. That said, the apparent increase in support from Japanese animation studios for this new distribution model would suggest that it is working quite well, and the number of fansubbing groups has decreased as many people do not feel a need for fansubs when they can stream these shows legally and for free.

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

Laserdisc

LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...

. 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 (on the Commodore Amiga) and Substation Alpha
SubStation Alpha
SubStation Alpha , abbreviated SSA, is a subtitle file format created by CS Low that allows for more advanced subtitles than the conventional SRT and similar formats. This format can be rendered with VSFilter in conjunction with a DirectShow-aware video player , or MPlayer with the SSA/ASS library...

(on MS Windows). 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 play back the raw video through a computer equipped with a genlock

Genlock

Genlock is a common technique where the video output of one source, or a specific reference signal from a signal generator, is used to synchronize other television picture sources together. The aim in video and digital audio applications is to ensure the coincidence of signals in time at a...

in order to generate the subtitles and then overlay them on the raw signal. The hardware of choice was an Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

PC as most professional genlocks were extraordinarily expensive. The final output of this arrangement was then recorded. The master was most often recorded onto S-VHS

S-VHS

S-VHS is an improved version of the VHS standard for consumer-level analog recording videocassettes. It was introduced by JVC in Japan in April 1987 with the HR-S7000 VCR and certain overseas markets soon afterwards...

tape in an attempt to maximize quality, though some fansubbers were forced to use inferior but less expensive VHS or Beta. 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 or Betamax tapes to a fansub distributor, along with a modest payment for shipping expenses. The distributor would then record copies onto the "customer's" blank cassettes, 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 cassettes and shipping.

This style of fansubbing was quite cost-intensive for the fansubber and the distributor. 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.

Various factors made it difficult for fansubbing groups to make releases with good video quality. 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 be 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, though the actual localization and translation were closer to a professional level than those found in modern fansubs.

Modern fansub techniques

Modern fansubs are produced entirely on computers. 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 Winny

Winny

Winny is a Japanese peer-to-peer file-sharing program which claims to be loosely inspired by the design principles behind the Freenet network, which keep user identities untraceable...

, Share

Share (P2P)

is the name for a closed-source P2P application being developed in Japan by an anonymous author. Since the author of Winny was arrested, Share was developed as its successor, also focusing on higher security...

, or Perfect Dark

Perfect Dark (P2P)

is a Japanese peer-to-peer file-sharing application designed for use with Microsoft Windows . It was launched in 2006, its author is known by the pseudonym . Perfect Dark was developed with the intention for it to be the successor to both Winny and Share...

. Some larger fansubbing groups have cappers in Japan that supply them with an MPEG transport stream. 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 video capture

TV tuner card

A TV tuner card is a kind of television tuner that allows television signals to be received by a computer. Most TV tuners also function as video capture cards, allowing them to record television programs onto a hard disk much like the Tivo digital video recorder does.-Variants: The interfaces for...

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

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

can perform all of the manipulation necessary, without the need for expensive and complex devices such as editing decks and a genlock.

Translation is usually done solely by listening to the recording. Mostly, translators are not experienced with fansub technology and only provide a translation. While commercial releases will often have access to the scripts, fansubbers have to translate by ear. This can sometimes lead to mistakes or unclear spellings of names. The latter is most common with shows that use Western names. Because of ambiguities resulting from Japanese pronunciation and transcription of English names, names like Alice can sound or be spelled like "Arisu" - which can be misheard as any number of Alice alternatives. This can lead to different fansubbing groups using different spellings. A famous example is Winry Rockbell

Winry Rockbell

is a fictional character from the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and anime series by Hiromu Arakawa. Winry is mechanic who often spends time with the central characters, brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric , who are childhood friends of hers. Specializing in mechanical repair, specifically prostheses...

from Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist
, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution...

, who was variously spelled as Winry, Winly and Rinry by different groups due to the equivalence of the alveolar approximant and alveolar lateral approximant

Alveolar lateral approximant

The alveolar lateral approximant, also known as clear l, is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral approximants is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is l.As a...

in Japanese

Japanese language

. Many groups have translation checkers to reduce the chances of letting translation errors slip through, and/or to give an alternative wording/meaning of a certain line to aid in editing an ambiguous translation. Translations for most shows are between 200 and 300 lines, though some dialogue-heavy shows may reach over 500 lines.

One alternative to using the raw Japanese file for audio translation is the use of video that has been subtitled in Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

. China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

and Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

have their own fansub groups that also release to the Internet. Several fansubbers are known to translate into English from the Chinese translations of the original Japanese, although this inherently reduces the accuracy of the translation because of the fact it has gone through two translations. To account for this, fansub groups using Chinese subs often have one or more Japanese translation checkers to minimize the loss of original meaning. A recent example of a show that was fansubbed entirely using Chinese subs is My-Otome
My-Otome
is an anime series created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it is a spinoff of My-HiME anime series and as such My-Otome takes place in a new setting with new main characters....

; Doremi, one of the groups that worked on the show, used two native Chinese speakers for the project, although several translation checkers were on hand to verify against the original Japanese. In a similar way, English-subbed series can be retranslated into other languages, notably Russian.

Another, more recent, alternative with the growing availability and usage of .ts raws is translation from Japanese closed captions. The closed captions can be exported from the .ts raw into various formats, and most fansub groups use a program called C-Cats to accomplish it. This method often results in a fast, yet still fairly accurate translation due to greater ease of translating text to text, rather than audio to text. This method, however, is not as widespread, as it is still not commonplace to have a .ts raw for a show. In addition, not all .ts raws have the closed captions in them, as some raw providers remove the captions, and some Japanese broadcasting stations do not broadcast with closed captions. Groups that use closed captions from a .ts raw use the audio to verify the closed caption translation, as it cannot be guaranteed that the closed captions are flawless.

Timing can take place before or after translation, and currently Aegisub

Aegisub

Aegisub is a free open-source cross-platform subtitle editing program. It is extensively used in fansubbing, the practice of creating or translating unofficial, noncommercial subtitles for visual media by fans...

is the most popular program for this process. Many groups will "pre-time" before the translation is done, then upon completion of the translation, apply the translation to the timed lines, while at the same time doing what is called "fine timing." Fine timing often involves applying "scene timing," which is a process whereby a line's start or end point is made to correspond with a nearby scene change. This prevents "scene bleeds," which occur when every line has the same lead-in or lead-out time, resulting in some lines starting before or after a scene change.

The next process is to typeset both the text or other parts of the video which have been translated (signs, cellphone screens, etc.). Many groups make viewing easier and more organized by utilizing different colors and/or styles for different conditions that the current line is under. In this way, viewers can differentiate between, for example, speech by an on-screen character, speech by an off-screen character, thoughts, announcements (e.g. train boarding notices), or any other conditions which may require differentiation. Many groups use AFX, which is the process of typesetting signs or other on-screen text onto the video such that they blend in seamlessly with or on top of the original Japanese ones. Due to the limitations of softsubs, AFX is usually encoded directly into the video. Many groups who either do not have skilled typesetters or are attempting to release as fast as possible will often just put up another subtitle line (usually at the top of the screen) with the translation of the on-screen text (e.g. "Sign: John's Pub").

Editing

Editing

Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...

takes place any time after the translation has been completed. Most translators are more proficient in Japanese than they are in English, and as such their translations are often ambiguous or grammatically incorrect. It is the editor's job to make the subtitles as easily understandable to a native English speaker as the Japanese audio would be to a native Japanese speaker, while still retaining as much of the original meaning as possible. Different groups have different guidelines for editing. Some insist upon keeping as literal subtitles as possible, thus the editor would merely fix spelling and grammar mistakes, while other groups are more liberal with their editing, in which case the editor often rewrites/rewords lines in their entirety. Many groups have the translator or translation checker view the episode with the edited subtitles to ensure that the editor has not accidentally changed the meaning of a line. Fansub editors on the whole do not require high-level English education, as the dialogue lines are of course not extremely complex.

Quality control, or QC, is one of the final stages of fansubbing. Many groups do what is called a "soft QC", then encode the episode, then do what is called a "hard QC." The goal of quality checking an episode is to catch any typesetting, timing, editing, and, in the case of hard QC, encoding errors. Most groups have multiple QCers, each of whom compiles a report of errors in the episode and submits it, and any errors are then fixed. Quality checkers often are capable of doing other fansub jobs, or have some overall knowledge of the fansubbing process, as well as an eye for spotting various errors.

The subtitles are then encoded using VirtualDub

VirtualDub

VirtualDub is a video capture and video processing utility for Microsoft Windows written by Avery Lee.It is designed to process linear video streams, including filtering and recompression...

or a similar program. There are several methods of subbing currently used. "Hard" subtitles, or hard subs, are encoded into the footage, and thus become hard to remove from the video without losing video quality (this can be done with a VirtualDub Filter). "Soft" subtitles, or soft subs, are subtitles applied at playback time from a subtitle datafile, either muxed directly into the video file (.mkv, .ogm, etc.), or in a separate file (.ssa, .srt, etc.). With the correct media player or an auxiliary program, softsubs are superimposed on the footage and appear indistinguishable from hardsubs. Soft subs can also be rendered at higher resolutions, which can make for easier reading if the viewer is upscaling

Video scaler

A video scaler is a device for converting video signals from one size or resolution to another: usually "upscaling" or "upconverting" a video signal from a low resolution to one of higher resolution A video scaler is a device for converting video signals from one size or resolution to another:...

the file. Hard subs have traditionally been more popular than softsubs, due to a lack of player support and worries over plagiarism, but most fansub groups now release a softsub version of their releases. Since modern video media can contain multiple softsubs, some groups release fansubs with several translations into different languages, or differently styled subtitles to fit different preferences. Some groups have begun to release the opening and ending animations as separate files in order to reduce the size of each individual episode, though this introduces conflicts with player support, thus this method is not yet widespread.

In the case of hard subtitles a video editor (commonly VirtualDub

VirtualDub

VirtualDub is a video capture and video processing utility for Microsoft Windows written by Avery Lee.It is designed to process linear video streams, including filtering and recompression...

) 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. In the case of soft subs, the companion sub data can be supplied as a separate file; however the complete package often now comes in a suitable media container such as Matroska

Matroska

The Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks in one file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows...

. It can be copied to CD or DVD media for physical distribution, but is most often distributed using online file-sharing protocols such as viral video

Viral video

A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...

, DDL

Direct download link

Direct download link , alternatively simply direct download, is a term used within the Internet-based file sharing community. It is used to describe a hyperlink that points to a location within the Internet where the user can download a file...

, BitTorrent and by file-sharing bots on IRC. This distribution is usually handled by a distribution team, or "distro" team, composed of one or more individuals with a server or very high upload speed. This allows modern anime fans to download the finished product at little or no cost to themselves or to distributors, as the distro team usually uses servers that are not dedicated to fansub releases, or that are paid for through donations to their respective fansub group.

The internet allows for highly collaborative fansubbing, and each member of a fansub team may only complete one task. Online fansubbing communities are able to release a fully subtitled episode (including elaborate karaoke

Karaoke

is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...

with translation, kana

Kana

Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...

, and kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

for songs, as well as additional remarks and translations of signs) within 24 hours of an episode's debut in Japan. While this kind of speed is possible, the groups that favor speed in determent of quality are known as "speedsub" groups and tend to release low-quality fansubs (in terms of subtitle accuracy, video quality, and other aspects). "Quality" groups often take several days, weeks, or even months to release each episode after its initial airing. However, with the advent of new techniques and technology, such as softsubs and modern hardware capable of encoding high quality video quickly, combined with larger fansub groups tending to have a large staff capable of performing tasks in parallel, the line between speedsubs and quality subs is gradually becoming blurred.

Distribution and playback

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, fansubs in electronic form were primarily distributed like VHS and Beta tapes: via mailed CD-Rs. Many fans did not have high speed Internet and were unable to download large files. Many of the early electronic fansubs were made from regular tape subs.

In the mid-2000s, most fansubs were distributed through IRC channels, file hosting service

File hosting service

A file hosting service, online file storage provider, or cyberlocker is an Internet hosting service specifically designed to host user files. Typically they allow HTTP and FTP access. Related services are content-displaying hosting services A file hosting service, online file storage provider, or...

s and BitTorrent. In recent years most groups have shifted from using IRC to being primarily BitTorrent. BitTorrent trackers dedicated to anime fansub releases allow fans to easily find the latest releases, and individual fansub groups often use their own websites to inform fans of new releases. Because of an almost complete de-emphasis on CD-R and DVD-R distribution, file size standards are 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 alternate multimedia container formats such as OGM and Matroska

Matroska

. Special decoders need to be acquired for these formats as well. One main benefit of using Ogg or Matroska multimedia containers is the ability to create a single file that has DVD-like features such as chapter support and multiple audio and/or subtitle tracks, as well as support for separate opening/ending animation files. At the same time, these multimedia containers can be easily demuxed into their individual files, the individual files can be altered (for example, fixing a misspelling in the subtitles), and then remuxed

Multiplexer

In electronics, a multiplexer is a device that selects one of several analog or digital input signals and forwards the selected input into a single line. A multiplexer of 2n inputs has n select lines, which are used to select which input line to send to the output...

back together. Many fansub groups recommend using a codec pack, such as CCCP

Combined Community Codec Pack

The Combined Community Codec Pack, more commonly referred to as the CCCP, is a collected archive of codecs packed for Microsoft Windows, designed originally for the playback of anime fansubs. The CCCP is developed and maintained by members of various fansubbing groups...

, to allow for relatively simple playback of these formats.

Legal and ethical issues

In countries subscribing to the Berne Convention

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, is an international agreement governing copyright, which was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland in 1886.- Content :...

, fansubbing is illegal as it constitutes copyright infringement. However, fansubbers have traditionally held themselves to a common code of ethics and do not commonly see themselves as pirates.

Many fansubs contain subtitle text that reads "This is a free fansub: not for sale, rent, or auction" that pops up during eyecatch

Eyecatch

An or internal eyecatch is a scene or illustration used to begin and end a commercial break in a Japanese TV program, especially in anime and tokusatsu shows, similar to how "bumpers" into/out of commercial breaks are used in the United States...

es.

Marketing concerns for distribution companies create a gray operating zone for fansubbers. While on the one hand it is true that products like Fist of the North Star are released and licensed in America, only part of the series is available. A fan willing to buy the whole series would find it impossible. However, the lack of support of these products, which fansubs can play a part in, is often a factor in the decision to not continue releasing a series. The costs of licensing more of the series might not be possible without a successful release of the initial offering.

Supporters of fansubbing point to an alleged positive impact it has 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.

The role fansubs have played in popularizing anime titles received official recognition by at least two major distributors. In the promotional video announcing the American license of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kadokawa Pictures USA

Kadokawa Shoten

is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...

and Bandai Entertainment specifically thanked fansub watchers and asked them to purchase the official release.

A company can successfully dub over 100 episodes in as little as a two year period, a length of time that has confused some fan groups due to the speed that fansubs can provide the same material (considering that the fanbase desires the unaltered Japanese show, simply with their native language subtitles). But companies are starting to address this issue, for example, Funimation is working to release their uncut, unedited episodes of One Piece in multiple formats, releasing earlier season sections alongside boxsets more recent episodes in attempt to meet fan demand. VIZ's boxset format releases for Naruto and Prince of Tennis also attempt to deliver larger chunks of a series to fans in a quick and efficient manner.

Due to 4Kids' heavy editing of their properties and refusal to release untouched versions on DVD, some fansubbing groups continue to subtitle and release popular shows owned by the company such as Tokyo Mew Mew
Tokyo Mew Mew
, also known as Mew Mew Power, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written by Reiko Yoshida and illustrated by Mia Ikumi. It was originally serialized in Nakayoshi from September 2000 to February 2003, and later published in seven tankōbon volumes by Kodansha from February 2001 to April 2003...

, One Piece
One Piece
is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...

, and Yu-Gi-Oh!
Yu-Gi-Oh!
is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has produced a franchise that includes multiple anime shows, a trading card game and numerous video games...

. 4Kids attempted an uncut bilingual release of Shaman King and Yu-Gi-Oh in the mid 2000s, releasing a handful of volumes of each title in the format, but in an interview with ANN Alfred Kahn stated that "The market for them just isn't as large as the one for the cut version," pointing out that their sales might not have met 4Kids' needs or expectations to continue them.

Past market reactions have shown that time might be better spent petitioning 4Kids for a bilingual release, and supporting the uncut release of former 4Kids licenses like One Piece, to show them there is a market for such titles. An older example is Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...

, which was initially licensed by DiC

DIC

- Science :* Differential interference contrast microscopy, an illumination technique in optical microscopy* Diisopropylcarbodiimide, a reagent in organic chemistry* Digital Integrating Computer, a digital implementation of a Differential Analyzer...

. After fan demand showed there was a market for the title, uncut, unedited versions of the show, and Pioneer successfully release the Sailor Moon Movies in a subtitled VHS format in 1999, followed by dubbed versions and bilingual DVDs. This was quickly followed by the release of Sailor Moon S and Sailor Moon Supers, which both received complete unedited releases on VHS and DVD from Geneon

Geneon

is a Japanese music, anime and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Geneon has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime in Japan...

. In 2003, the commercial subtitles of the first two seasons appeared, released by ADV Films under license by DIC, completing the uncut release that many fans never believed would be possible.

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.

During the early days of the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

, 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

Internet security

Internet security is a branch of computer security specifically related to the Internet. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet represents an insecure channel for exchanging information leading to a high risk of intrusion or fraud,...

. Most of the American and UK anime distribution companies were formed during the early 1990s, and had little competition from such amateur groups. Some companies even formed out of fansubbing circles. However, as the internet grew in availability and speed, fansub groups were able to host and distribute fansubs online easily. The advent of BitTorrent as opposed to IRC has been pointed to as a key ingredient in the current fansubbing scene. It has been argued that this prompted fans to ignore official releases altogether, and some websites started charging for easier downloading rates. The development of new software and its newfound availability made it very simple to copy, subtitle, distribute, and play back fansubs, cutting into what DVDs offer, and their sales.

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

Tokusatsu

is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....

fandom due to the fact fansubs are actually being done for Super Sentai

Super Sentai

The is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...

, Kamen Rider

Kamen Rider Series

The is a metaseries of manga and tokusatsu television programs and films created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. The various Kamen Rider media generally feature a motorcycle-riding superhero with an insect motif who fights supervillains often referred to as...

, Ultraman

Ultraman

is Japanese television series that first aired in 1966. Ultraman, the first and best-known of the "Ultra-Crusaders," made his debut in the tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series, , a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q...

, and various Daikaiju Movies which most fans didn't appreciate the dubbing. 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.

Recent legal action

There is a belief among some fans that an "unspoken agreement" exists between the fansubbers and Japanese copyright holders that fansubs help promote a product. Steve Kleckner of Tokyopop

Tokyopop

Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...

noted:

Frankly, I find it kind of flattering, not threatening[...] To be honest, I believe that if the music industry had used downloading and file sharing properly, it would have increased their business, not eaten into it. And, hey, if you get 2,000 fans saying they want a book you've never heard of, well, you gotta go out and get it.
"

This belief was challenged when in December 2004 Media Factory

Media Factory

is a Japanese publisher. It was founded on December 1, 1986, and its headquarters are situated in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is a subsidiary of Recruit Co., Ltd...

(MFI), a Japanese copyright holder, directly requested that their works be removed from download sites, and since then numerous other companies such as Nippon TV have followed suit in the wake of the appearance of fansubs on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

.

On December 7, 2004, a Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

law firm representing Media Factory sent letters and e-mails to the anime BitTorrent directory AnimeSuki

Animesuki

AnimeSuki is a website and "... the largest database of BitTorrent anime shows" that focuses on providing unlicensed anime fansubs using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer system. The website was created by GHDpro on December 26, 2002. Animesuki is not a tracker; instead, it provides links to many...

and fansub groups Lunar Anime and Wannabe Fansubs requesting that they halt the fansubbing and hosting of all current and future fansubbing productions. AnimeSuki and Lunar Anime complied, and shortly after, other fansub groups such as Solar and Shining Fansubs followed suit. Despite the request, Wannabe Fansubs and a handful of other fansubbing groups continued to produce fansubs of MFI anime series. To date, this has been one of the few legal actions taken by a Japanese anime company against fansubbing.

After MFI's request was made public, only Genshiken

Genshiken

is a manga series by Shimoku Kio about a college club for otaku and the lifestyle its members pursue. The title is a shortening of the club's official name, , or "The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture". The series has also been adapted into an anime directed by Tsutomu Mizushima...

, whose fansubs had been completed before the notifications, and Kimi ga Nozomu Eien

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien

, abbreviated as Kimibou or Kiminozo, is a Japanese visual novel adventure game created by âge. It was first released in 2001 for the PC and was later ported to the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 under the title Rumbling Hearts as all-age versions...

were licensed in the US. MFI's other major projects, including Pugyuru and Akane Maniax

Akane Maniax

is an adventure game released for the PC by âge. It is a prequel of sorts to Muv-Luv and side story to Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, and features Suzumiya Akane from Kimi ga Nozomu Eien as its main heroine...

, were not picked up by American distributors. The lack of buzz that surrounded 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. However, in August, 2006, School Rumble
School Rumble
is a Japanese Shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Jin Kobayashi. First serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from October 22, 2002 to July 23, 2008, all 345 chapters were later collected in 22 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. Shōnen Magazine Special published a sequel, School Rumble Z,...

was finally licensed by Funimation thanks to popularity of the series garnered from its manga release by Del Rey

Del Rey Manga

was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. It was formed as part of a cross-publishing relationship with Japanese publisher Kodansha. Some of the Del Rey titles, such as Tsubasa...

. It took the series over 2 years to be licensed, which is normal for anime licenses around 2002. Since MFI's legal action against fansubbers, their number of licenses secured is below the industry average.

MFI's actions are sometimes used as an example in the fansub debate as a reason why other Japanese companies should not pursue similar injunctions. However, their titles are still being licensed. The anime series based on Emma and Aria
ARIA (manga)
is a utopian science fantasy manga by Kozue Amano. The series was originally titled when it was published by Enix in the magazine Monthly Stencil, being retitled when it moved to Mag Garden's magazine Comic Blade. Aqua was serialized in Stencil from 2001 to 2002 and collected in two tankōbon volumes...

were both licensed in 2008, and Area 88
Area 88
is a Japanese manga series by Kaoru Shintani serialized between 1979 and 1986. The story is about a young pilot named Shin Kazama and his experiences at Area 88, a mercenary air force base secluded in the desert of a war torn country...

, Gankutsuou, Kurau Phantom Memory
KURAU Phantom Memory
is a 2004 science fiction anime series, produced by Bones and Media Factory, which was broadcast in Japan by the anime television networks Animax and TV Asahi. Set primarily in the year 2110, it explores themes such as inter-familial relationships and ethics in science. The series was licensed by...

, Noein
Noein
, also known simply as Noein, is a science fiction anime television series directed by Kazuki Akane and Kenji Yasuda and produced by Satelight...

, Shura no Toki, and UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie
UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie
, aka UFO Princess Valkyrie, is an anime series based on the manga of the same name, which has run for at eleven volumes, and still seems to be continuing...

were all licensed after the legal action in 2004.

Recently, a few titles such as Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...

Generations were prelicensed, meaning that they were released simultaneously in Japan and North America, in an effort to negate the need for fansubs. However, some fansubbing of such titles still occurs, as some people prefer fansubs over commercial releases.

Fansub opposers claim that Japanese licensers have reportedly grown discontent with fansubbers because the ease of access with which their works are obtained has begun to affect foreign licensers' 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. Indeed, Japanese companies have banded together to form JASRAC, a copyright holders rights company, which has frequently taken YouTube to task for providing content which domestic Japanese viewers often use, which includes fansubs, as seen on their official site. A growing anti-fansub stance has been taken by US distributors, as seen in Geneon and ADV's comments at the State of the Industry Panel at Anime Boston, as well as recent comments by Matt Greenfield of ADV Films at Anime Central:

"Answering a fan question on how ADV perceives the threat and challenge presented by fansubbers, Matt answered that while fan subtitling is hurting the industry both in the US and in Japan, 'the industry has to learn and adapt to new technology, and has to find ways to work around it.'"

In Singapore, anime distributor Odex

Odex

Odex Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore-based company that licenses and releases anime for local and regional Southeast Asian consumption. It was registered in 1998 to license, import and release overseas drama and animation into Singapore. It began distribution in 2000...

has been actively tracking down and sending legal threats against internet users in Singapore since 2007. These users have allegedly downloaded fansubbed anime via the BitTorrent protocol. Court orders on ISPs to reveal subscribers' personal information have been ruled in Odex's favour, leading to several downloaders receiving letters of legal threat from Odex and subsequently pursuing out-of-court settlements for at least S$

Singapore dollar

The Singapore dollar or Dollar is the official currency of Singapore. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

3,000 (US$2,000) per person, the youngest person being only 9 years old. These actions were considered controversial by the local anime community and have attracted criticisms towards the company, as they are seen by fans as heavy-handed.