What do you think of piracy?

@DreamWindow

Oh I could have gone on and on about the excuses... I guess leaving out the service excuse was short sighted on my part.

Generally I could give a shit about how Users choose to consume their Anime but if one is resorting to piracy they shouldn't pretend it's not theft and don't pretend they aren't just a bunch of leeching scrubs.

Just because one complains about bad service and demand better doesn't mean someone should get it for free.

Don't give me this old man lecture BS either. I remember when Crunchyroll use to be a platform pirating Anime before they actually licensed it. I simply didn't use it because the quality was subpar at best. I am not going to waste my time to watch unlicensed Anime with horrible sound quality and flooded with artifacts and video stutter anytime there is picture motion. I visited Crunchyroll in the late 2000s once and started to play an Anime series then just stopped it after a few minutes once I saw how bad the quality was. I just went online found the same series for sale on DVD and it got to my door step in less then 48 hours.

Without licensing, no Anime would exist to be distributed. This "better" option Users are choosing because of their "Service" complaint amounts to just stealing it since all modern seasonal Anime is basically ripped off Official sites then simply re-uploaded to the web on Illegal streaming platforms re-encoded to reduced it's size, reducing the quality, and leaving a tacky watermark on the side to remind those Users which illegal sites they are pirating their content from. Not to mention they hardcode subtitles constantly obstructing the picture (something that is completely annoying since I understand Japanese so it's irritating to see subtitles constantly on the screen that don't match what is actually being said).

This service argument is BS too. A friend in Real life is an Anime scrub too. He showed me at his house one day all the illegal sites he uses. They were all complete dogshit. Took him over 5 minutes to get even a single Anime episode to start playing because his screen kept constantly getting popups every time he tried to hit play over dozens and dozens of times. Then when he connected his laptop to his 65" HDTV the picture look like a piles and piles of complete dogshit littered with artifacts. If this is the kind of service and quality Users think so highly of they must be blind or have never actually watched Anime on Blu-ray before. I have never had issues like this using Legal streaming platforms either. Those who specifically complain about Crunchyroll's service these days it seems likely more of a buffer issue which is more of a problem with their internet service provider. Those who complain about platforms that don't offer ALL anime are just idealist where there has never been any platform before that offers every Anime ever released. They simply just don't want to pay to consume Anime. Even illegal sites don't offer everything.

Generally, Users just make up excuses to resort to piracy simply to avoid paying for something. Completely feeling entitled to stuff for free simply because it exists.

You act like out of print Anime DVDs and Blu-rays are some how inevitably out of reach for anyone to ever obtain. Most films and series released on physical media were never streamed in the past in the 1st place.

Before internet Piracy, consuming media entertainment was a privilege not some perceived right.

I could go shop online now and search for just about any Anime series that got released on physical media in over the past two decades and find it at extremely affordable prices, especially if they are used.

Even if out of print DVDs and Blu-rays started being streamed legally on platforms, one who would resort to piracy wouldn't likely suddenly just get up and subscribe to a service offering the out of print Anime they want to watch in the 1st place. Further more if someone isn't going to pay a small monthly subscription fee to watch a specific Anime, you really think they would spend 20 to sometimes 60USDs to buy a complete Anime series on physical media?

This seems more like just another lame excuse used to justify piracy.

I will never understand this sense of entitlement fans have with this medium where they feel just because something exists, they should be entitled to it no matter what.

@DreamWindow

Oh I could have gone on and on about the excuses... I guess leaving out the service excuse was short sighted on my part.

Generally I could give a shit about how Users choose to consume their Anime but if one is resorting to piracy they shouldn't pretend it's not theft and don't pretend they aren't just a bunch of leeching scrubs.

Just because one complains about bad service and demand better doesn't mean someone should get it for free.

Don't give me this old man lecture BS either. I remember when Crunchyroll use to be a platform pirating Anime before they actually licensed it. I simply didn't use it because the quality was subpar at best. I am not going to waste my time to watch unlicensed Anime with horrible sound quality and flooded with artifacts and video stutter anytime there is picture motion. I visited Crunchyroll in the late 2000s once and started to play an Anime series then just stopped it after a few minutes once I saw how bad the quality was. I just went online found the same series for sale on DVD and it got to my door step in less then 48 hours.

Without licensing, no Anime would exist to be distributed. This "better" option Users are choosing because of their "Service" complaint amounts to just stealing it since all modern seasonal Anime is basically ripped off Official sites then simply re-uploaded to the web on Illegal streaming platforms re-encoded to reduced it's size, reducing the quality, and leaving a tacky watermark on the side to remind those Users which illegal sites they are pirating their content from. Not to mention they hardcode subtitles constantly obstructing the picture (something that is completely annoying since I understand Japanese so it's irritating to see subtitles constantly on the screen that don't match what is actually being said).

This service argument is BS too. A friend in Real life is an Anime scrub too. He showed me at his house one day all the illegal sites he uses. They were all complete dogshit. Took him over 5 minutes to get even a single Anime episode to start playing because his screen kept constantly getting popups every time he tried to hit play over dozens and dozens of times. Then when he connected his laptop to his 65" HDTV the picture look like a piles and piles of complete dogshit littered with artifacts. If this is the kind of service and quality Users think so highly of they must be blind or have never actually watched Anime on Blu-ray before. I have never had issues like this using Legal streaming platforms either. Those who specifically complain about Crunchyroll's service these days it seems likely more of a buffer issue which is more of a problem with their internet service provider. Those who complain about platforms that don't offer ALL anime are just idealist where there has never been any platform before that offers every Anime ever released. They simply just don't want to pay to consume Anime. Even illegal sites don't offer everything.

Generally, Users just make up excuses to resort to piracy simply to avoid paying for something. Completely feeling entitled to stuff for free simply because it exists.

@0063873192871 Moreover the prime ideal against piracy is that if users gain access legitimately, the creator will get the benefits. I dunno which capitalistic moron first propounded this utopian fantasy of a thought, but they surely don't understand how the market works. Profits of most creative works are not equally divided to all parties involved, much less with the creators [and it shouldn't get divided equally.. everyone should get their appropriate share]..

If every high sea rider starts subscribing and watching through proper channels, would the companies share the profit with creators? Would the artist get a raise? Hell no.. That will be gobbled up by the company executive and shareholders.. The creator's situation can stay same or worsen, it will never improve.. with or without piracy..

@ColourWheel

So you have never watched anime on a free site? Not even once? Even though you have access to the internet, and the fastest way to find anime is a free site, you just... never thought to do it? I find that hard to believe.

Your whole argument just comes across as a bitter old man who doesn't like it because he didn't have access to it as a kid. You just don't like it because you don't like the "entitled" attitude? Ok, so we can watch anime, and discuss anime, but we can't actually seek out the shows we want to watch when we want to watch them, or else we are entitled? The fuck kind of arbitrary bullshit is this...?

The price is not the issue, the service is. You are making the argument that if you get a bad service, you shouldn't demand better because -tough shit, that's the way you had it growing up. Well that's just bitter, man. Many people just consider it second nature to just look up a show online, and there still has not been a service that can compete with the free sites. Licensing makes it so that the best option is piracy, and so you are arguing that people should not have the best possible option because....? "It would be entitled to do so?!?!" It's entitled to seek out resources that already exists, AND are easier to access? And they should stop because.... just they are entitled? There's not even a logical explanation. You just are mad that people are seeking out easier and better options at consuming their anime. Full stop.

You complain that anime fans are making mountains out of molehills, but after seeing this, I think you are projecting, man. I don't even know what to say, this is just sad. Maybe you want to limit yourself, that's fine, I don't give a shit, but complaining that other people want more and better quality options just because you didn't have it, or don't like them, is just pathetic. The correct amount of anime to watch is more. It's not an issue if people watch more of what they love.

@ColourWheel

First world-ass take. The fact of the matter is that companies are the ones at fault for not allowing their art to be readily accessible. It's not only true for the example of out-of print physical media I used, but also for media that's only available on streaming services unavailable in specific regions. Would I really be wrong for pirating, say, Eminence in Shadow, when it's not legally available at all in my country? HIDIVE isn't available in South Africa, and frankly if people from that country want to watch it, they should be allowed to. It's really stupid to blame anyone but the corporations in situations like these. They created a demand for which they refuse to meaningfully supply.

And the fact of the matter is that the Western anime fandom primarily exists because of piracy. The community was built on fansubs of imported bootlegs, and people tend to forget that the most prominent anime streaming service used to be a piracy site. Frankly, to entirely dismiss or condemn piracy as an anime fan suggests a lack of knowledge about the medium's history and growth. Same applies to film tbh.

I have no idea who is paying you to publicly glaze corporations that earn more money than you'll ever see in your lifetime, but I hope it's worth it.

You literally have anime produced by Sony on your favs.
By buying discs and merch, you are giving money to them.

Saying that while having massive corporations on your favs like Toho and Sony is crazy...

sorry no sorry
but my first time watching anime like an otaku was thru piracy so i can't say that is a bad thing

You literally have Aniplex on your favs

And what's so bad about them? Sony has been present in the anime industry for decades now, in fact, they are the biggest anime company in the world.
And many famous directors, producers, and animators work for Sony, so I really don't understand what's so bad about them...

Yeah, I just don't understand why all the hate they get.
Considering some of the most popular anime of all time were produced by them (including the current no. 1 on MAL)

"Most people know" ok then prove it with sources.
I could literally link you interviews were animators tell people not to pirate.

And by supporting Sony, you are supporting the people who work there, which includes the famous directors and producers, as well as all the artists they have signed, like LiSA for example.
Just because the top executives get some profits, doesn't mean that they get everything I think that should be pretty obvious...

This is regards to everyone on this topic that is simply gaslighting...

To Users who are simply defending piracy as a content delivery problem sometimes have real concerns, though it's overstated to justify the choices Users are simply making to pirate Anime. Yes there are huge profits in Anime, but this is no justification to get it for free. Too many Users ignore the fact that piracy does do lots and lots of damage to the industry despite it's growth in popularity. It's likely the primary reason why we see season after season of degrading quality in production, endless seasonal throwaways with generic themes, and overly re-used ideas.

I also disagree that piracy is somehow standing up for consumers for those who advocate such practices due to service problem complaints. This does not justify limitless entitlement to all and any Anime that exists. The reality is, most of the time Users who resort to Anime piracy for convenience, conveniently disguise their grievances in language to pretend they are somehow fighting against an unfair system all the while denying they are taking and consuming shit without permission that doesn't belong to them. If Users really want to fight the system stop consuming Anime and boycott it. Don't keep advocating against an industry all the while keep consuming the products.



Of course Anime piracy couldn't be partly to blame for this? Before internet piracy these issues weren't a real problem before and the industry was doing quite fine regardless how wide spread it's popularity was globally, at least not a problem to the degree it is today.

That's an industry problem.
The industry continues to grow, and more anime is being made, but to solve the shortage problem, pretty much every single new anime will have overseas people working on them, be Korean studios like DR Movie, or Vietnamese animators doing background art.

Piracy isn't gonna make things better.

@ColourWheel nope the anime industry is doing fine profit wise there is record breaking profit every year base on AJA yearly report

you cannot simply hire more animators because they need talented animators that are rare plus the law of diminishing returns applies

the anime industry is suffering from success

Despite profits, the industry is obviously not doing fine if there is animator shortage crisis going on. This is not a recipe for success when you will eventually not have enough people to keep things running.

@Luchipher-Zen Mostly agree with everything u say.

Interesting to know ur opinion on PIRACY over other themes/topics (not anime), like science, art or music. Will u stand by your arguments still?



Man ur writting is pretty good & awesome.

@Luchipher-Zen



Using piracy as a forced choice is just an excuse and nothing more. Privileged or not, piracy is mainly used to simply take and consume shit without permission simply for free. People can live fine without Anime, it's not like it's a vital necessity to keep consuming to stay alive. If Users can't afford to buy the Anime they consume they are simply trying to live beyond their needs by resorting to piracy.

If Consumers feel services are poor and they are being treated badly due to greed, Boycott Anime because Anime is an industry whether Users like it or not. No excuses justify limitless entitlement to all and any Anime that exists.

A company doesn't need User consent to remove shows off their platforms. I have seen other Users make this kind of complaint before where a company will change their User agreement while Users will not recognizing that they originally agreed to said agreements when they signed up where it's specifically stated almost all the time they are always "subject to change" over time. It's been this way even before internet piracy.

If Users want to maintain the security of actually owning media content, you have no sympathy from me, when physical media exists. You really think someone is going to really be able to constantly keep accessing a large library of media online once said company ever closes down? Think again... That's just Idealism.



This is just an absurd line of argument you are going down here. Even if I agreed with you on the merits of entertainment being a vital for sustenance of a healthy cerebral system, Anime is not the only form of entertainment that exists let alone even a good excuse to simply resort to piracy. There are a multitude of ways for one to be entertained which don't rely on internet piracy.



How is any legitimate business model realistically suppose to compete with an illegitimate one that takes their products and simply just gives them away for free? They can't. That would be like you opening up a business then when you weren't looking I was just taking everything you sold and giving everything you offered away from free. This is not the same as looking for competitive alternatives, they are simply contributing to the continuation of theft.



Resorting to piracy as a way to send a message of protest is only displaying that one cares more about consuming Anime than actually trying to make any kind of statement. It would be like someone trying to boycott a company but still end up constantly using their products every day. It's having your cake and eating it too. Even so, resorting to piracy is not the best alternative for a protest. You want to talk about idealism, consumers can use services that don't treat them unfairly (not like there is simply only one legit streaming service that exists) or simply go back to consuming Anime the way a lot of people use to which was on physical media and carefully make sure one doesn't consume anything coming directly from the company they are trying to boycott.

@MadanielFL Ay just cause I like what they make doesn't mean I support them >:( /hjk but seriously I never spend money (also I don't have Sony on my favs wdym)