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American Anime Voice Actors Are Too Entitled To Understand Why PIRACY Is Necessary

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Posted on by Theo J Ellis

Since KissAnime was sent out the front door and shutdown forever, the conversation of piracy is at an all time high.

KissAnime was trending at the time and that’s why the conversation has become so BIG.

One of the most noticeable conversations was a few US anime voice actors being smug about the whole situation. And more importantly – calling everyone who uses pirate sites “scum bags”.

Like this Tweet….

His tweet says:

“F*ck #kissanime and the pirates who have supported them. Sign up for a Funimation or Crunchyroll subscription and support the thing you love so damn much, instead of stealing from creators. If you’re actively stealing from anime creators you’re not a fan, you’re a scumbag.” – Christopher Wehkamp

If you can read in between the lines, it’s obvious why his take is so aggressive.

  • He’s an anime voice actor
  • He gets paid by both Funimation and Crunchyroll
  • And it’s to his benefit

By that point of view he’s right. And I agree. I’m all for it.

But the reality is Christopher is so entitled and ignorant that he’s out of touch with the reality of piracy. And why people pirate in the first place.

Read through the above Tweets and you’ll see just how tunnel visioned this voice actor is.

I’m astonished someone can be an anime voice actor and NOT understand something so elementary as this.

As the person from the Philippines pointed out:

“Surprise surprise!! Privileged white American didn’t know the struggles of fans from 3rd world countries. Saaaaaaad. Huhu.”

This is what I mean when I say people think “the world shines out their ass”.

VRV not available in your region anime

Region blocks outside the USA and Japan are more common than the average American will ever know.

Even right here in the UK you can’t watch all the anime you want. And Crunchyroll’s catalogue of 1000+ anime titles doesn’t apply if you’re from the UK.

Same with Funimation, and both companies are aware of it.

Now imagine what that looks like for fans in:

  • Parts of Europe
  • Africa
  • Asia

And other parts of the world that DON’T include Japan or the USA.

Anime isn’t big business like it is in the USA or Japan and so region blocks and availability are big issues.

THAT is why anime piracy is necessary. Even though going legal is obviously a recommended, but not a 100% reliable option for everyone.

The other out of touch anime voice actor is Clifford Chapin.

Maybe just like Christopher he’s being aggressive because he stands to LOSE money by people pirating.

And he also works for Crunchyroll or Funimation so that being his source of income he has every right to say what he said.

But that doesn’t change the message in his Tweets.

Take this set of Tweets for example.

While both Tweets from him and the other person aren’t the best arguments, on Clifford’s side of it he tries equating “stealing a bike” to piracy.

That’s nothing but false equivalence and he must be smart enough to know that’s a nonsense comparison.

And as the responses here show, the motivation behind piracy runs deep.

  • Availability
  • Region locks
  • Licensing

All these issues are real when talking about anywhere OUTSIDE the USA. I’ve said it so many times I feel tired.

Opinion is one thing, but when you’re acting like the world mirrors the US or Japan, it’s hard to take it seriously.

The reality doesn’t work that way and screaming on Twitter doesn’t change it.

 

In fact – even Japan has its own issues with anime

As explained by someone living in Japan, even they have trouble watching anime and the availability of it.

If that doesn’t speak volumes I don’t know what does.

I’m all for legal streaming services, but let’s not act like it’s the be all and end all for everyone.

I’ll end the post with an important quote:

“We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem.

If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate’s service is more valuable.” – Gabe Newell

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News source: Twitter.

 

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