11 Responses to “Gonzo’s Free International Stream”

1. Cortharis Posted: Mar 25th, 2008 at 9:34 am

   1 I would say this is awesome… but some fansub groups will go above and beyond and not just translate, but give background information and facts, both culturally to japan or to the show. I very much doubt that this will happen with studio subs, which will probably be disappointing. As well, localization of studio subs tends to sound too direct and bland.

2. chopa Posted: Mar 25th, 2008 at 2:02 pm

   2 this would be more interesting if it wasn’t stuff from gonzo

3. Kindless Posted: Mar 25th, 2008 at 2:41 pm

   3 I was gonna start off with a comment about the actual streaming, but this time a comment got me more interested… What the fuck is exactly wrong with Gonzo? Their animation skills are far beyond that of any other given animation studio. Yes, some of their titles suck, but contrary to popular beliefs, not everything Gainax touches turns to gold. As for the streaming.. This is fucking awesome. I have no qualms so long as I am not charged. Also: dubs don’t have cultural or show facts either, yet they’re still watched. I’m sure you can survive without them while enjoying a good show.

4. Cowhat Ninja Posted: Mar 25th, 2008 at 5:52 pm

   4 The future is here! THIS is the way to combat illegal downloading. I fully endorse this, and I think more studios should be doing it.

5. Aegis Posted: Mar 25th, 2008 at 8:03 pm

   5 I will miss the fansubs’ efforts at emulating japanese accents through bad spelling.. but damn me if this isn’t some of the coolest news of the year - next to a certain Robotech giveway hosted by AZM of course ;P

6. Rafa Posted: Mar 26th, 2008 at 4:31 am

   6 This is certainly a step in the right direction. There’s no question that torrenting has ripped the anime industry a new one over the past 3 years. They need to embrace this new method of distribution or die. Got to agree with Jami when he says all the other studios will follow suit shortly… it’ll probably lead to a high quality pay service of some kind so that they can recoup the massive amounts of doe they’ve lost. It will work, too, as long as they keep the prices reasonable and deliver content before the fansub groups. I myself have never downloaded anime, or indeed anything, this way because I don’t have the bandwidth. But I am very interested in the wider implications if this new initiative takes off…

7. scrantinax Posted: Mar 26th, 2008 at 5:34 am

   7 Sounds good in theory, but could go horribly wrong in the end, with poor translations, poor quality subs (ie unreadable), or just poor quality feeds. Will be interesting to see how it all goes.

8. Tiver Posted: Mar 26th, 2008 at 10:50 am

   8 It’s a nice start for them to actually try to compete with fansubs on the one thing they can compete on, speed. It’s too bad that the video quality will be lower than fansubs. Of the 3 sites, BOST will likely be the best quality with “near DVD”. BOST will cost money though, and the other 2 sites don’t have very good quality. Most new shows though get fansubs made from 720p broadcasts, meaning they’ll have higher quality than all 3 of these. The BOST method is only a rental too. If the studios could manage to simultaneously release in video, audio, and subtitle quailty on par with fansubs, then they could have a superior offering people would go for because they can always release before the fansub groups have time to put together their translations. I’d gladly use such a legal alternative, no matter whether it was ad supported, pay per episode, or subscription based. It’s just sad that they continue to deliver an inferior product as compared to hobbyists.

9. Cowhat Ninja Posted: Mar 26th, 2008 at 11:00 am

   9 I don’t think we need to worry about the quality of the videos. I mean, if you want higher quality, than you buy the DVD, right? Oh, and they shouldn’t forget to put extra stuff in with the DVD, like pencil boards and keychains and ribbons that look like the one that that one character in the show wears. Except that it looks like a piece of crap. I mean, I could make something better-looking than that thing. But, at least they’re trying. In any case, you can get decent-quality videos off of YouTube. The important thing is that you’re able to read the subtitles. And yeah, I wouldn’t mind paying a small fee for a series I end up liking. They should have at least the first episode be free. though.

10. Chirri Posted: Mar 26th, 2008 at 7:31 pm

    10 I think this is good news for the anime industry (I got into a discussion about something similar to this/slightly involved in the same subject recently). I mentioned that my biggest concern when purchasing anime these days was the price to TRY an anime title - usually $20-$30 just to find out whether it was something I had any interest in. A single preview episode was NEVER enough to learn about the story, story telling, and characters (often the first episode was a fluff episode used to fling the characters at you haphazardly, with a lot of jiggling or panty shots; or it was a very dark, mysterious introduction to “you knew not what” because you only got the episode that threw your brain into a blender and set the blender to puree). Even after purchasing the first DVD I’d find myself disappointed in the quality of subbing - typos regularly, stiff and literal dialog, and little to no explanation if they actually left in a cultural reference. Fansubs tend to blow corporate translations out of the water in terms of explaining the small, fun stuff (well, some of them do… we know who they are, and we love their hard work and attention to detail). I wouldn’t mind paying a few bucks to watch, either, depending on the quality. No shipping, no packaging, no middlemen. I’m interested in how this is going to play out.

11. Cowhat Ninja Posted: Mar 27th, 2008 at 5:50 pm

    11 Well, that’s the other thing. Stuff like this filters out the middle man. Which mean that people like me will have to find new jobs. I know that I’m not going to work retail forever, but at the current rate things are going in the future you’ll be able to purchase pretty much anything you need online. It’s hard to imagine things like grocery stores going out of business this way, but it’s bad for privately-owned comic shops like the one I work at. It’s difficult to compete with such low prices that you can find on the internet. With this trend something else is being lost. That personal interaction you get when you go to a store, for one thing. I know at some places people won’t grieve the loss of Customer Service, but retailers are people too. Retail is an important business; it provides a lot of jobs for a lot of people. Support your local comic book stores!