When it comes to the general anime and manga fandom in the West, I’ve noticed that there are many who not only embrace piracy but hold it up on a pedestal, criticising those who point out the problems with their practises by claiming that true anime and manga fans pirate, that they can’t afford it, that anime and manga take too long to be translated officially etc. Today, I thought I might take a look at the history of anime and manga piracy, the flaws in the arguments in favour of piracy and why I have both a complete and total opposition to the practise.
First, we should take a look at the history of anime and manga piracy and why the modern implementation of it is completely different to the historical. Around the 1980s, anime clubs began to be established in numerous cities within the United States. These clubs access to anime was restricted as anime was rarely licensed in America and, when it was, tended to be butchered from its original form. In order to show anime at these clubs, VHS copies of anime in their original format with fan made subtitles known as “Fansubs” began to be produced so that fans could watch these shows. However, while technically illegal in that a copyrighted work was being distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder, the scale was so limited and controlled, due to the fact you needed to have a physical VHS in hand, that they were often ignored. In contrast, modern fansubs are produced for and distributed via the internet, a platform that is notoriously difficult to control content on and the scale is no longer a few thousand people but millions upon millions.
With regards to my personal history with piracy, I’m proud to say that I’ve little to none. Having always been more fond of physical releases over digital, my early years with the medium of both anime and manga, when I was most at risk of pirating due to ignorance and a lack of education, were spent collecting DVDs, Blu-Rays and manga volumes rather than using the internet to experience anime and manga. Within a few years of becoming a fan of anime and manga, I began seeking out more information about them from professionals and eventually began following articles written by industry experts and listening to podcasts such as ANNCast and the Manga Podcast from Manga Entertainment. As I learned about the economics of anime and manga, I quickly realised how damaging piracy was to both industries.
It wasn’t until I entered college and joined its anime society that I began to realise how widespread piracy was. Hardly any of the members ever purchased their anime or manga and, as far as I’m aware, I was the only person there to actively oppose piracy. I was quite upset by this and made it an effort to correct any misinterpretations they might’ve had on piracy and its effects. The result was quite mixed with many of the members acknowledging me as one of the more knowledgeable members of the society but conveniently ignoring many of the points I made that would necessitate a change to their actions. Many of the anime that they showed were pirated as well and I initially sat and watched these shows with them in an effort to ingratiate myself and hopefully have them become more receptive of my explanations. However, I was eventually wracked with guilt, concerned I was setting a bad example, and eventually decided that I would not sit and watch any anime that was pirated, instead waiting outside and reading a book or playing a Dragon Quest game on my Nintendo DS. It was around this time that I established my YouTube channel in an effort to both promote the anime and manga that I liked and to educate people on various aspects of the industry.
When it comes to the arguments that proponents of piracy offer, it’s very easy to counter them. The idea that true anime and manga fans pirate is complete nonsense. The only way I can interpret this argument is that those arguing this feel threatened by those who purchase their anime and manga legally and attempt to reassure themselves by creating the delusional idea that pirating somehow makes them superior. I’m always quite amused when I see people attempt to push this idea onto industry professionals via social media and receive a decisive curb stomp in return. The argument that certain fans can’t afford to experience anime and manga legally is more understandable but still flawed. It’s true that, just like most hobbies, watching anime and reading manga legally can be expensive sometimes. However, there are many ways to reduce the cost of anime and manga by utilising streaming services, digital manga services, as well as sales, offers and clever spending when it comes to collecting anime and manga physically. With regards to the argument that anime and manga take too long to translate officially, I would again direct you to both anime streaming services and digital manga services that offer simulpubs. However, I do acknowledge that not all anime and manga gets released via these platforms and, in those cases, I would contact anime and manga distributors on social media and make your voice heard. Anime and manga distributors are always keeping an eye on what people are asking for and enough voices asking for a particular series will make it much more likely to be licensed and released.
Ultimately, piracy is an unfortunate reality when it comes to modern entertainment industries and anime and manga are no exception. However, that doesn’t stop me from making a concerted effort to explain to people my complete and total opposition to piracy, educating them on the economics of both the anime and manga industries and telling them how they can contribute healthily to mediums that they clearly love and care about. While I suspect that the fight against piracy will never end, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to suddenly say “Hey, it’s ok” and I can only hope that, if you pirate content or you know someone who pirates, you think a little bit about the impact you’re having and whether you can contribute meaningfully to the industries that feed your hobbies. Let me know your thoughts on my complete and total opposition to piracy, whether you also have a complete and total opposition to piracy, if and how you realised how damaging piracy can be and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!