So lawyers don't have a feild day with this thread this is purely a thought exercise to understand why people might pirate anime. Note that fan subs and fan dubs are techically pirated anime, as are some imports, as well as the dodgy 26 episodes on two disks found on ebay.
Can't get it legally, so what choice do l have?
Since the Uk is a anime back water, being well behind other english speaking countries, and lacking the back catalouge of other countries, several titles are unlike to be seen on our shelves for the forseeable future (if ever), so if you want to see them one coyuld be driven to get them from less than legal sources.
l just want to try before l spend £20 on the legal version
As some series run into 8 or more dvd's at £20 for each DVD, buying into an unknown series can be a daunting and expensive experince, so getting a few DVD's before investing seems like a wise idea.
If l could pay l would but l can't
With the whole rip off Britian and the fact that some anime dvd's have barely over an hours runtime why shouldn't you protect your wallet and get some thing from the Fat Cats.
To get stuff the censors took out
Since the stuff we get comes from the States and thier censorship laws are more stringent in some respects to ours and the Japanese ones, they can change a series beyond recognition from the orginal work so to see the orginal work you have to get a pirated copy
l ordered a cheeseburger
Other. From one of my favourite Farside cartoons ( Optimist (1/2 full) Pesimst (1/2 empty) forgetfull ( what was the question again?) and the Moron ( 'l order a cheeseburger'). Please put what you mean by other however.
While you my believe in more than one of the options, pick the one you think most fits

Another nice, controversial topic, I like it

I personally plumped for "l just want to try before l spend £20 on the legal version". Free fansubs are an ideal way of deciding on a show before spending upwards of £100 on the official DVDs, just like the cinema is a decent way of previewing the latest Hollywood movies. The ony viable alternative is renting anime DVDs from Amazon etc, though as far as I'm concerned, this process is way too much hassle.

I should also add I never buy (i.e. put my money into) bootlegs, fansubs or any other form of anime piracy. I don't believe in rewarding such pirate groups with my money when they are essentially taking credit for the hard work of others. Of course, then various other issues come into play, like the lack of R1/R2 releases for certain genres (shoujo is a fine example of a lack of English language coverage).

In the end, these are very complicated (even moral) issues that are far from being resolved.

Erm.... none

I never download fansubs, I would never (knowingly) give money bootleg dvd sellers.

Like Paul, I don't put money into pirate products (way back when I was somewhat more naive I did purchase a number of bootlegs and that is something I still regret), why should some guy in China get money from me for burning a few poor quality discs and sticking them in a 'special import boxset' whilst the actual creators etc get nothing?

As far as try before you buy goes, I do rent from amazon, and it's quite hassle free. The only problem is the six discs a month limit, but given that it's cheaper than Blockbuster's unlimited rentals and I don't have time to watch much more rental material, I'm not complaining too much. Also I'm more willing than most to just take a chance on a series, and actually, for the most part, that's worked out okay for me.

"If l could pay l would but l can't " just seems like a poor justification for theft, I suppose on the one hand you could argue that you wouldn't be buying the discs anyway so it doesn't hurt the industry, but then again neither is anime a 'need' (no matter how much it may feel like it), if you want to watch it then save up, get a job, wait until you have enough money like everyone else has to.

Getting the uncut version is a temptation, especially with something that has been butchered by 4Kids, however I guess the main thing that would move me to download a fansub would be the simple fact that it isn't available any other way. Thus far university rules and general home laziness, coupled with a personal moral standpoint have seen me refrain from downloading fansubs, when I see you guys all posting about Bleach or whatever it is tempting though (help, being corrupted by the darkside).

I dont download fansubs , nor do I knowingly buy pirate DvD's. I suppose closest ive come to piracy of any kind is watching some fansubs of a freinds on rare occasions , and that has only ever been a few episodes from different series.

If a anime was totally unavalible on all legal formats bar Japanese release, I would probably be tempted to buy bootlegs with english subtitles mixed in with some Japanese R2's so I was contributing to the industry still. But thats really the only situation I can see me buying pirate dvds in at all.

i seem to be in a majority here. the only fansub i own (and intend to own) is the first ep of naruto, and even that was emailed to me by a friend of mine just to show me what the show was like. i have every intention of deleting it from my hard drive and buying the official DVD when it comes out in this country, in case anyoine tries suing me out of cash i don't have!

Given that you can order official DVDs from Japan, surely this is rubbish? It's not that easy, and certainly won't be cheap, but that isn't what this answer means...

I wouldn't buy bootleg DVDs intentionally (and I hope I'm smart enough to avoid doing so unintentionally), but I do download fansubs. Partly to get a free preview, but also partly through what I guess is peer pressure, after a fashion; other people are watching them, and I want to be able to talk to them about it.

I chose the one about wanted to preview the serie frist before forking out for it. T hey is so much anime around that i have to see what i like before i want to spend may money on it and fansubing helps me do it. I think if there where no fansubs i would have no anime DVDs at all at the moment and i would not be into anime as much as i am.

Far to touch subject as far as i'm conserned (i used to host fan subs myself) but the animes i do download as fan subs i will buy or delete

example being bleach and digi charat

as u know i love bleach and i can guarrentee i'll buy the dvd's where as digi charat i have 2 eps which got deleted in 1 day (hate that show lol)

in the end i feel fan subs are perfectly fine and a good way of promoting anime, IF the people who download more than a few eps buy the dvd's in the end.

As for all this legal stuff, face it, the goverment is fighting a loosing battle

5-6 years ago they closed down napster, that was replaced by kazaa

they tried to close that down. It survived but along came warez too.

In the end the only way u'll ever stop it is by jailing any person that downloads 1 mp3 or 1 video off the net.

Not going to happen lol

So far i have downloaded the fansub of two episodes of Bleach, i'm new to fansubs but because i enjoy Bleach i will probably continue to download the series.
Fansubs are a good way of sampling anime, if i didn't like something i would stop downloading it and delete it from my computer. Where as if i like something i will continue to download it and then buy the dvds when they are available (frankly i dislike having to sit at a uncomfortable desk to watch anime and would choose to watch it in my nice comfy bed any day).
Also i would never pay for a bootleg or fansub as i am not into ruining someone elses buisness and i am not into rewarding people for such criminal activity.

That's why l asked why would you, not why do you. Even if you don't or wouldn't why do you think other people would. This is a thought exercise rather than a addmision of actually doing it


Techinally importing DVD's can be illegal but due to BBFC rules rather than piracy issues (hence the censorship question), it's a bit of a legal grey area. Also you may need a mastery of the Japanese language as they may not come with english subs, credit cards and a trusting nature. Only have one of these (and it involves numbers).

AS for the If l could pay l would but l can't its is a polite way of putting if 'l don't have to pay why should l'. Seems to be a common theme for the music file sharing people. Though l doubt anyone will admit to it even if they do it.
Supirsed no one has but To get stuff the censors took out hasn't got anything yet, especially since all the stuff we get has to come throught the states and the heavily bowdlerize most of what they get thier hands on, or put those awful paint on bikini's.

As for the choice of "controversial topic", just like asking questions that l feel that people in industry should be asking, mainly in the vain hope that they read these boards and take some of what we say on board.

Really, with the UK market thriving like never before and US imports readily available, I don't see the need for fansubs. Personally I'd download a fansub if and only if I was 100% sure it wasn't going to be released in English, for reasons already stated here.

I love the fact that so few people have such different points of view concerning this!
My answer is the try before you buy answer! Although to be completely honest, it's a case of I can so I will

I don't download fansubs purely to try out a series and then prays it will be released so I can buy an official copy! I download anime because I want to! It's fun being able to watch something just a few days after the Japanese can gives me one of the biggest buzzes I have ever had! I feel no qualms at downloading anime but I do draw the line at downloading already licenced anime that some sites continue with!
If it wasn't for fansubs, half the anime that gets licenced wouldn't and the rest would take the usual 2-10 years to get released! and the quicker it's released in the US the quicker it is released here!
There is also the fact that fansubs have increased anime fandom in the UK by astounding figures and as I have said elsewhere here, I WOULD NOT want the UK anime scene to be how it was even 3 years ago, again!

I also have no qualms at buying Asian DVDs! Never have had and never will! I have been buying them for about 3 1/2 years and no one is gonna stop me now! I class these in the same light as fansubs, as I tend to buy Media Factory anime these days on Asian DVD. I have bought many different series on these DVDs in the past and have slowly bought the official releases of things like Fruits Basket, Pretear and Saiyuki. Then again there are series I've never bothered to replace, as they weren't good enough!

I think fansubs are one of the best things since sliced bread and ever since I have been able to download anime (not quite 3 months), my passion for anime has increased even more. It has also opened my eyes to all the hard work the fansub groups put into them, especially when you know Bleach is shown in Japan at 6.30pm on a Tuesday night and then sometimes less than 48 hours later it is ready for people to download. I think that's amazing



Well I know one thing, I whince at having to pay £20 for a region 2 DVD, so I'm certainly not going to paying 25,000-30,000 yen (about £25-£30) for a Japanese DVD with half the episodes on and no subtitles




I rarely watch anime that would have the need for painted in panties

You want people to think

I'm sure I don't know what goes on in others minds!
I know from what I've read elsewhere that a lot of people get a kick from informing others how much anime they have stored on their hard drives!
Many others, like me, just love watching the latest releases from Japan and I also know that many people who download anime support certain fansubbers and will wait for their downloads even if it's weeks after someone elses!
I guess there are people who refuse to pay if they can have it for free, we all like freebies
I do know I get annoyed when people complain about this, that or the other where fansubs are concerned, as they are getting it for free!

I still say part of what I said in my original post goes for a lot of it, I can so I will

Where HK DVDs are concerned, very few people are still under the impression they are getting the real deal, most people, myself included buy them because they're cheap!

I was under the impression that it is legal to import things that haven't been rated by the BBFC, but not legal to sell them. I'm no lawyer, though, so I could well be wrong.


Uh...name some. A DVD release, not a TV broadcast. Cardcaptors and Pokemon spring to mind, but I'm struggling to come up with anything else.