I believe the situation now lies in the potential viewership and how that translates into a useful base of anime fans rather than an army of leechers that, even if given a good release, will not buy the show because it is “free” elsewhere. It is important to add that anime fandom is not restricted to Japan and the US. There are many countries that have had anime dubbed and broadcasted for far longer than the US has. Part of this relates to a rich history of US animation and creation of content that enabled the airwaves to be filled with its content and did not need foreign content to entertain their people. This continues to our day, where the US produces a majority of broadcasted content worldwide. Many countries and regions (particularly Latin America, Spain, France, Italy and the Middle East) have imported and broadcasted anime widely and for a long time. One example is [b]“Heidi”[/b] as it was mentioned in the chat. It was created and broadcasted in 1974 in Japan and it was dubbed and broadcasted in Mexico since 1978 where it has never left syndication due to its never ending popularity. There are many examples of anime holding such a place in people’s hearts worldwide, but this fact is often overlooked in fansub discussions.

The transition from DVD content from VHS was problematic at first, but it enabled anime to be far more affordable to the mainstream that could not decide whether to buy dubs or subs [i](remember, oh old comrades?)[/i]. Now with new anime being fansubbed in a matter of days rather than months as in the old days, it has permitted fandom to get accustomed to the newer shows and trends in anime, in VERY high quality encodings, some largely surpassing in both video and translation quality than its commercial counterparts. Add to this that the large majority of consumers of media online come from a generation where media and content is not bought as a normal means, but as a “donation” to the artist, where downloads and streaming, be they legal or illegal, become the main means of obtaining entertainment. How can you sell something to a consumer that can get a higher quality item for free (in terms of technical specifications)?

The legal implications of this have also been hotly debated and, in my opinion, can only be somewhat clear when you put in the same table a representative of the Japanese Anime industry, the R1 Anime Industry, a legal expert on international and domestic Trademark and Copyright Law, a fansubber of a current and popular group, a fansubber of [i]“the Old Guard”[/i] which was there to witness the changes of the industry, and a normal young human that watches anime both online and broadcasted. If you have all these people discussing what is right, wrong or the state of anime and fansubs, you could be able to have a very good idea of their points of view, their arguments and their stance on many of the topics where we endlessly debate, yet never understand fully as the other party is never there to provide with a proper response.
People often say that the industry never listens the fans. What Bandai and Crunchyroll did recently is something that reflects how the industry is trying to reach out to the consumer, but I believe their efforts, while impressive as an improvement, are too little, too late and have reflected the slow response to the changing trends of media consumption that not only the anime industry was affected by, but the whole spectrum, such as tv, movies and music.

We definitely live in a far better communicated era since those first raw VHS tapes travelled to this side of the Pacific to an enthusiastic, but small market, but this has also brought changes in the dynamics of its nascent industry, dynamics that were not and continue not to be fully understood and acted upon by its commercial actors. The fandom was responsive, but it is becoming harder to justify fansubbing a show as a legal means to obtain a show that is not legally licensed and has little chance for broadcast here. New shows, which surely makes the great majority of fansubbing, are very likely to make it over here, in no small measure thanks to the massive marketing data that fansubbing and blogging provides. Most shows in the old days were a gamble for both customers and companies, while today there is extensive coverage on most of the shows produced for the current anime seasons and it creates both a fanbase and a huge market sample that tells the companies which shows are more popular, best rated and more suitable for licensing in the domestic R1 market than shooting in the dark or relying on the popularity of a show just in the Japanese market.

Just my two cents here…

After a decade-long wait for one of the most beloved anime series to cross the ocean, we have the new 4th season of Slayers Revolution. Among the fears of us, the long-time fans was that the new generation would not embrace the series fully as it’s charm was very different to the moe and fanservice laden, angst-ridden world of newer anime series. This fear, hopefully, has been dissipated by the renewed interest of some new fans over this wonderful piece of anime and the interest of FUNimation to keep the fields fansub-free.

The way this new season was produced is simply amazing. Instead of doing a new rehash, they chose to continue the story and they kept EVERYTHING that makes the Slayers…..well, the Slayers.

First, all the old seiyuu from the gang are back. You CAN hear a difference in their voices, but it is imperceptible to anyone but the oldest fans who saw it in its original japanese.

Second, humor, plot devices, storyline and timing is pretty much the same as the old series (this sadly includes the typical nonsense filler without redemption, but its still part of the tradition). Third, some of the music from olden days is back, along with our beloved Megu-chan doing the vocals to the OP & ED themes.

Last, but not least, it is the SAME Slayers we know and love. Change is not always better and the way this series caters to its fandom and does not bring any new elements from the new generation, other than improved traditional and cg animation. This, for me, is probably the most important asset of this anime, as it brought characters and setting that were in the original novels as opposed to making an entire new canon.

There has been however a lot of confusion, mainly by newer fans, over all the background information that is needed to understand some of the jokes, plot devices or character traits that are popping up left to right here. We have to remember that the last of the canon TV anime was last seen 11 years ago (yes, long time ago, should be worried….but…eh). There is a new Pokém…Digim….I mean, character that is introduced in this season.

Terriermon....I mean....Pokota chanting up a Dragon Slave

Pokota is a powerful magic user, inventor, etc. with a strong connection, ironically, to the more serious plot of the series. He also pretty much acts as a proxy for the new viewers of the anime, as he lacks much of the same background info as they do in regards to the plot. There is, however, a LOT of background information that not only increases your appreciation of this series, but that is sometimes needed to understand the finer points of it or avoid some “WTF” moments. Now, here is where my backtrack goes into effect. I’ll try to point out some of the background info that is needed to grasp a general understanding of the series or some of its key moments and plot devices. If you want more detailed info on this, there is a wiki called KanzakaDex which holds a vast database on all things Slayers.

The World of Slayers

I could spend hours doing a great summary on this, but few could topple the brief but completely enlightening work of Xellos (aka Andre Germain) and Yuu-chan of Slayers Universe. Therefore, I won’t even try and instead direct you here

Back? Great.

Races

Basically, there are 3 main races in the Slayers World:

Mazoku -Serve the Dark Lords of each world. They feed on negative emotions and are very powerful magic users. They exist mainly in the astral plane and as such, nothing but the strongest spells and magical weapons are effective to them.

Shinzoku -They serve the Gods of each realm. They are the beings of light and are mostly represented by the Dragon Race (golden, ancient) who are highly intelligent and powerful.

Humans – The humans inside the Barrier can cast magic and are adept at it. Humans outside the Barrier have just begun to develop magic. Humans, as beigns of both dark and light are in the middle of the eternal conflict between the Shinzoku and the Mazoku and can use magic that comes from both sources.

Diagram from Slayers TRY Collection #2, page 78. This image was taken from Slayers Universe. Thanks for all the info and work  throughout the years.

Wasn’t that a lot of fun?     Next time around, I’ll get a bit into the Mazoku structure and a general cast on magic.

I know that this has come a bit late in the series, but hopefully it’ll be of some use to anyone.

Over and out.

Disclaimer: All images and information not written by the author of this blog are copyrighted material and belong to their respective owners.