From Subtitles to MangaScans

When I was in fifth grade, Sailormoon introduced me to the world of Japanese animation. While admittedly I saw Voltes V first, I had no concept of Japanese animation then, and it didn’t really get me hooked because I didn’t like stories where parents died or went missing. (I still don’t. Heehee.) I loved, loved, loved Sailormoon – I think it was the first show I saw where the heroine was un-graceful, imperfect and just plain LOUD. I used to have my grandfather bring me to the mall every Sunday just so I could buy subtitled videos, cards and other collectibles. I bought music CD’s, even though I didn’t understand a word they were singing. I even developed a huge crush on Tuxedo Mask, Sailormoon’s leading man. (Yes, I know. Now I understand that when you’re being attacked by freakishly large-eyed monsters, and a man in a tuxedo shows up and starts throwing roses to save you, hysterical laughter might actually be the normal reaction to have – not swooning.)

Fast-forward... erm, a lot of years... and I’m in law school. I still love a lot of Japanese anime shows, and regularly go to the mall (now with my siblings in tow) to buy subtitled DVD’s, but with the internet anime has become a less (ahem) expensive hobby. You can now download the various series (and music, if you’re so inclined) or watch the episodes via video streaming. A lot of groups have formed to create “FanSubs” or Fan Subtitles, where they edit the shows to include subtitles. Nowadays, there are also what they call MangaScans. Manga are basically Japanese comics. What fan groups do is scan the comic books, page by page, erase the Japanese text, and replace it with their English translation. Then they upload them for all the fans to read, so more people can appreciate and enjoy them. I suppose that violates a bunch of intellectual property rights right there, but it’s difficult to see the disadvantages when it helps spread your creation to different places and cultures. Not all series are syndicated and dubbed or translated into other languages, after all.

[end blog no. 5; images from deviantart.com, by niwa5 and amayakouryuu, respectively; mangascan from onemanga.com, scanlation by aku-tenshi]