I have been an anime fan for a long time, long enough that CrunchyRoll would have been beyond my understanding 20+ years ago.
To illustrate this let me describe how fan subtitles made it to JAFWA then:
- Someone would tape the original off Japanese TV;
- The tape, or possibly a copy, would get mailed to the US;
- Some truly dedicated fans would translate and subtitle a copy of the tape they received;
- Copies of that tape would then start getting physically distributed.
Now, Western Australia was at the wrong end of that chain. So fansubs took at least 6 months, and usually closer to a year, to get to JAFWA. There were occasions when they didn’t arrive at all and we used synopses instead.
So being able to stream standard definition to my main TV/Sound System via the iPad within about 2 – 3 weeks of broadcast is almost unbelievable. I haven’t subscribed as I’m wary of the automatic deductions, so the SD is good enough for me.
I’ll be watching the last episode of Bodacious Space Pirates tomorrow, it is how I watched Hanasaku Iroha, and that alone is enough to make me glad I’m living in the future.
That said however I was flicking through some random shows earlier.
Oh dear.
Can anyone say Sturgeon’s Law? If not, repeat after me: “90% of science fiction, of anything, is crap.”
Fortunately I’m willing to drop a show like a boiling kettle if the first instance of fan service occurs before the first instance of story. I think two of the shows I watched tonight lasted maybe 30 seconds beyond the opening credits, if that long.
And even this is a small complaint: having such prompt access to quality subtitles is just wonderful.
I love living in the future.
But I still want my jetpack (so long as no one else has one, not stupid here). 🙂
Related articles
- Hanasuku Iroha (2011) (piratesobg.wordpress.com)
- Of Fandoms Three (piratesobg.wordpress.com)
Yeah, it is pretty amazing. I wasn’t a big fan around that time (since I was in grade school), but I definitely appreciate how convenient Crunchyroll is and I really appreciate they don’t block out non-USA/North American viewers as most other legal streaming sites do. ;__; I noticed they have Skip Beat up. I’ll definitely be watching that over at Crunchyroll~
Apparently there are some geolocks on CrunchyRoll, but I haven’t hit any yet. Certainly the website warns about them.
I hadn’t considered Skip Beat, I might look at that after Sora no Woto.
I haven’t used them much either, but I’ve had the same experiences, no lock-outs yet. Perhaps it may only pertain to the super popular shows like Naruto (which may be harder to negotiate a worldwide streaming license). I haven’t tried watching it so no idea if it will work for me.
Try it and see. 🙂
I do recommend an iPad/Apple TV combo if you have it – that way you get it on the main system, which is nice. I presume that there are other hardware combinations that will achieve the same effect.