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[Aressa]

Hi everyone. I don't really know where to start and I've never been great at explaining things but I'll try.

I wanted to watch Demon Slayer. Simple enough right? Common sense tells you to go to the best anime platform in the region which is obviously Crunchyroll. I check availability and see that Demon Slayer is there. Subscribe. Great. Then I hit play on the first episode and immediately realize this isn't the start of the series. What's going on Turns out netflix has the rights to season 1 in my region. Seriously? So now the first season is on netflix and the rest is on Crunchyroll. Is it the end of the world? No. I already have Netflix anyway because of my wife. But would I prefer to keep all my anime in one place and organized? Absolutely. Is it easy? No.

And don't even get me started on Detective Conan (Case Closed). That's a whole other nightmare. Good luck watching that show fully legitimately. I still remember when the early episodes were localized and sold on VHS here. First it was 3 episodes per tape then 2 then it disappeared entirely.

Growing up I always thought one day I'll properly catch up on this show. Recently I did exactly that with One Piece and had zero issues watching it fully which is why this contrast is so frustrating.

To be clear I'm not talking about using a VPN or torrents or shady sites. What I am talking about is the fact that there are other sites that somehow have full archives available instantly and they just ..work? No hoops and no missing seasons. How are they still running I honestly have no idea. Can you access them easily and stream without issues? Absolutely.

So that brings me to the real question: how are we supposed to approach this morally Isn't it ridiculous that a show's first season simply isn't available in your region? Or that you subscribe based on availability while abroad and come back home and suddenly half the content is gone? This isn't a thread about sharing or promoting unofficial sites so please don't post links. I'm genuinely interested in discussing this situation and the morality of it because the whole thing feels like a mess.

 

[IAmRei]

I kind of understand with this issue, it might be hard to watch what we want in one go, by design every platform wants their pieces and this make us hard to want all in one place. It's also like games, way before multiplatform. If you want all platform in one go not official, it is not to hard to find nowadays, but again not finding one that shady might be harder.

Maybe doing by PM could do? As I don't know much for posting link rules here.

 

[RagnarokIV]

Anime is a pain the ass.
I still watch Dragon Ball and Z with my Toonami tape rips because the original broadcast dubs aren't available anywhere.

 

[Tams]

I understand your moral concern, but fuck 'em.

If you want to support an anime, then buy some merchandise.

 

[AJUMP23]

I guess if the series is on disk or something you could buy it. Or if there is platform like prime that lets you purchase it do it there.

 

[Aressa]

I guess if the series is on disk or something you could buy it. Or if there is platform like prime that lets you purchase it do it there.

I tried. No way to watch Detective Conan in the region officially. I tried really hard.

 

[Tertullian]

I can confirm it is immoral to watch anime.

 

[Aressa]

I can confirm it is immoral to watch anime.

Not that kind tho.

 

[Miles708]

Bruh this is the internet, and on top of that those are already wildly successful products. Use a VPN, go to shady sites, torrent them all. How is that even a problem? What the hell did these companies do to the average internet user and mentality?

 

[Aressa]

Bruh this is the internet, and on top of that those are already wildly successful products. Use a VPN, go to shady sites, torrent them all. How is that even a problem? What the hell did these companies do to the average internet user and mentality?

I don't even need to use VPN. The site is easily accessible and has all of Detective Conan episode TO DATE. Which is insane because if I understand correctly, in the region the Detective Conan license deals are all over the place. But still. It feels…wrong.

 

[Miles708]

I don't even need to use VPN. The site is easily accessible and has all of Detective Conan episode TO DATE. Which is insane because if I understand correctly, in the region the Detective Conan license deals are all over the place. But still. It feels…wrong.

Yeah there's no way to get most of what I like, and at some point I've realized I have better things to do with my time other than finding ways to tiptoe around licence agreements between corporations.

 

[MayauMiao]

I don't have any moral obligations towards corporations practicing unfriendly consumer service.

If they fail to deliver me the entertainment I paid for, screw them and I'll go elsewhere.

 

[BlackTron]

Anime is a pain the ass.
I still watch Dragon Ball and Z with my Toonami tape rips because the original broadcast dubs aren't available anywhere.

I lost all my old toonami tapes long ago. Had the VCR programmed to record the Midnight Run. I would kill to find all those old DBZ broadcasts, they aren't easy to track down.

I have this 2 hour cut of Gohan vs. Cell I've held on to for several decades, and that's my occasional dose of DBZ. The soundtrack as well...if it's not this version, I don't want it.

 

[Fbh]

IMO if there's an easy way to pay to watch the content, even if it's annoying like needing different subscription services for different seasons, I think you should pay for it.
But if the publishers just aren't making the content available in your region even though you are willing to pay for it then fuck them, just download it.

It's pretty much the same way I feel about gaming.
Want to play FFIX?
Just buy it since it's available basically worldwide on Steam, GOG and modern consoles. I think Square is even printing the Ps1 discs still.
Want to play Panzer Dragoon Saga?
Since Sega seemingly isn't interested in porting it or offering some straightforward way to buy it from them, just download a ROM.

 

[Lambogenie]

Listen, if a car was the same as anime, yes I would "steal" it too. I buy enough of their merch anyway.

 

[newtypepilot]

you wouldn't steal a baby!
or else the FBI would be onto you!!

 

[Sakura]

It's not even really an anime thing. They do this with western shows too.
I've heard in America they won't even let you watch basketball games or whatever of your local team (like they expect you to go see it in person).

I'm not really sure what you mean by morality though. How do you think people watched anime before stuff like Crunchyroll was a thing?

 

[March Climber]

So that brings me to the real question: how are we supposed to approach this morally Isn't it ridiculous that a show's first season simply isn't available in your region? Or that you subscribe based on availability while abroad and come back home and suddenly half the content is gone? This isn't a thread about sharing or promoting unofficial sites so please don't post links. I'm genuinely interested in discussing this situation and the morality of it because the whole thing feels like a mess.

As someone who has a decent amount of subscription services because I like to do things legally, unfortunately quite a bit of anime still falls within that same gray area that a lot of dead-but-revived online videogames fall into.

There will simply be shows that are released sporadically or dropped completely and not on any streaming service at all, that you'll have to either find a blu-ray for, purchase a VOD on Prime Video, or just stream it on a legally gray site that carries it. I almost had to do it with a recent show "The Super Cube" because it went viral last year but no one could find it on anything. Turns out I had found it on some streaming service called iQiyi, which I did a free trial for just to binge it, but I don't blame others for not doing the same because that was an annoying research process to find it.

Another show, Super Dragonball Heroes, never released in America, was never translated officially, and ran for 6 whole years with it's own storyline for 56 episodes. To this day the literal only way to watch that show is to watch it on a legally gray website.

One of the issues is that it simply took far too long for Japan to accept streaming services as the next path, as they were still clinging onto broadcast TV for as long as possible while the rest of the modern world moved on. Because of this, once some trendsetters in Japan started to make deals with Hulu, Netflix, Crunchyroll, etc. you started to see a fragmentation of anime and sometimes seasons of anime. Another issue is that if something isn't popular enough, it will simply not be sponsored nor be picked up by anyone. That's a rare case, but it ends up in a situation where fans have to translate and release to the west, themselves.

The dub handling is 2x worse (as I've complained about so many times on this forum) but anime fans don't seem to care enough to make an uproar since they look down their nose at the entire dubbing industry anyway.

It's all currently a licensing mess that I hope is worked on and ironed out within the next decade. I think the first thing to improve is simply what you are talking about, which is 'who has this show' and not 'who has this season'.

 

[March Climber]

It's not even really an anime thing. They do this with western shows too.
I've heard in America they won't even let you watch basketball games or whatever of your local team (like they expect you to go see it in person).

I'm not really sure what you mean by morality though. How do you think people watched anime before stuff like Crunchyroll was a thing?

For quite a few people, including myself, Toonami, Adult Swim, and Rental Stores were the primary way to watch high quality anime.

Of course the internet was technically an option, but the experience was nowhere near as smooth as it is today, especially not as smooth as walking down the street to rent something, going back home, and putting a blockbuster DVD into your PS2.

 

[YCoCg]

Look, I'm not saying it's the most legal sound advice, but for me, I subscribe to all the usuals (Netflix, Prime, Disney+, Crunchyroll), if your shit isn't on there AND I can't buy it, ...I'm just streaming that shit using Stremio, I've legit tried at that point.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

So that brings me to the real question: how are we supposed to approach this morally Isn't it ridiculous that a show's first season simply isn't available in your region? Or that you subscribe based on availability while abroad and come back home and suddenly half the content is gone? This isn't a thread about sharing or promoting unofficial sites so please don't post links. I'm genuinely interested in discussing this situation and the morality of it because the whole thing feels like a mess.

If you check last year was the first year in a long time when online piracy has increased, and that is directly related to fragmentation because of many streaming services - as 15 years ago when people pirated because they couldn't legally watch a show in their country they pirate right now not to deal with BS streaming exclusive deals.

 

[MayauMiao]

Listen, if a car was the same as anime, yes I would "steal" it too. I buy enough of their merch anyway.

The infamous BWM heated car seat subscription. Stupidly dumb decision.

 

[TheUnicornGuy]

I have subs for crunchyroll and hidive, if an anime I want to watch isn't on either of them then I'll use animepulse or similar to watch it instead.

 

[Aressa]

It's not even really an anime thing. They do this with western shows too.
I've heard in America they won't even let you watch basketball games or whatever of your local team (like they expect you to go see it in person).

I'm not really sure what you mean by morality though. How do you think people watched anime before stuff like Crunchyroll was a thing?

That's my point. Before Crunchyroll those sites were the only option. After Crunchyroll the industry sorta promised a green and complete alternative. When that option is fragmented or missing seasons by region then you're back in a gray pre-Crunchyroll situation while still being told a real alternative exists.

 

[Aressa]

I have subs for crunchyroll and hidive, if an anime I want to watch isn't on either of them then I'll use animepulse or similar to watch it instead.

Hidive isn't available in my region. Crunchyroll is basically the only real anime option aside from Netflix and other platforms that are mainly focused on TV and movies. So if I want anything close to a complete collection I'd have to subscribe to an absurd number of services. And for Detective Conan there's still no legal way whatsoever to watch the latest episodes here. This isn't some obscure niche show either.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

It's not even really an anime thing. They do this with western shows too.

There was a great video on How Money Works channel:



This is also the reason movie studios are fucked - either they risk piracy and sticking to their proprietary platform, or they give their catalog to Netflix, but then they will just me strengthening their competitor.

 

[Sakura]

That's my point. Before Crunchyroll those sites were the only option. After Crunchyroll the industry sorta promised a green and complete alternative. When that option is fragmented or missing seasons by region then you're back in a gray pre-Crunchyroll situation while still being told a real alternative exists.

You could always buy the series on DVD/Bluray if you want to take the "moral" route though. That's what I meant by before crunchyroll. I own a number of series that way.
Of course not everything is going to be available in your country, but not everything is going to be available on crunchyroll either. Just like how back in the day not every manga or show got translated. It is what it is.
99% of anime haven't been running for 30 years with 1000 episodes like Conan, though. Most series with official English versions are available.
If you don't want to subscribe to multiple streaming services or buy expensive DVDs/BDs, then don't. Just get your anime the immoral way like everybody else does.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

Until every single show and movie is on one service, sailing the seven seas it is.

 

[Toots]

Growing up I always thought one day

That is your problem, thinking instead of mindlessly consuming whatever is available in front of you.
Now you have a choice.
Renounce your freedom and consume whatever is in front of you, or be brave and sail the high seas searching for fame, fortune, and torrents for complete series of your favorite animes.

 

[LordCBH]

If an anime is legally available to watch, then I think that's how you should. But let's also be real here:

Paying Crunchyroll for streaming anime gives basically nothing to the studios who actually made the show. The best way to do that is to buy a blu ray, buy some merch.

Now when a company takes away the show? Puts the BD out of print and no longer has the license to stream the show? It is morally just to pirate the show if you want to watch it. If the studio doesn't give a fuck enough to make it available for consumption, then you shouldn't give a fuck if you pirate it.