Ah My Goddess TV - 07

As should be obvious from the fact that I have a blog - it's practically an underlying assumption of anime blogs - I like digisubs. I don't get why so much effort goes into elaborate karaoke visuals, and it infuriates me when subbing groups "present" a show, or "thank" people at the end of one - as if the work they've done was even a fraction of the work that went into making the show in the first place (I've worked on film sets, and I've subtitled movies. Trust me, there's no comparison.) And I speak enough Japanese - and know enough about video standards - to know that the claim that digisubs are "better" than commercial releases is laughable.

But the ability to see TV anime as it was meant to be seen - a week at a time, integrated into the fabric of my daily life - would be worth it even if the people responsible were ten times as stupid and arrogant. If you were to ask me, I'd tell you that the amount of money a well-designed pay version of the same service could get from me would probably only be limited by my disposable income, and the fact that such services don't exist isn't quite as ridiculous as Fox lamenting that Alias's ratings are dropping because nobody who hasn't watched from the beginning has a bloody clue what's going on, and then nastygramming people who host torrents of the first season - but it's close.

So, then, why is it that every time a show gets licensed, my first thought is "Now I won't be able to get it for free anymore?"

(By the way, it's not free. You pay for Internet access, and you probably pay a fair bit since it's broadband. I've figured my own cost of downloading an anime episode from time to time - it's easier when I'm on a bandwidth-limited system - and it's typically ranged from 10 to 20 cents. And there's a video store a few blocks from where I live that rents anime DVDs for $1 each on Sundays. So, if a series gets a dense release, it actually costs me less to see it legally sometimes. So I'm in a contradiction already - but I don't think that thought is coming from the rational part of my brain.)

Still, I remember when everyone was thrilled when a big-name show was announced. And I haven't even been watching anime that long. Now I worry that my favorite shows will be licensed. And it doesn't help when I go online, and I feel like the few sane voices are crowded out by the previously "responsible" people coming up with bizarre reasons why the show isn't "really" licensed, or they haven't gotten a letter asking them to stop yet, and everyone else crowing about how they'll still be able to get episodes, as if everyone and their dog doesn't know about those sites too...

I don't think this is healthy. Study after study (and common sense) tells us that we make decisions first, and then ignore the arguments that disagree. And these shows create very deep emotional connections with us - they're designed to. I worry that the code of "fansub ethics" - which was created mostly as an excuse to watch anime, after all - won't be able to stand up to the force of "wanting to see more Misuzu."

Not that I care about Ah! My Goddess anymore - I mean ye gods. I was thinking I'd give it 'till Urd and Skuld show up, but one excuse to quit is as good as another.

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