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…
Fuck #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. https://t.co/eA7BCzUXkH
— Christopher Wehkamp (@ChrisWehkamp) August 15, 2020
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 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.
I’ll support you but I ask you this, I love dubs but I cannot access Funimation due to geoblocking so tell me, how can I support dubs + anime if the source is unavailable in my area? pic.twitter.com/UD66bEfK0E
— Justin Ramos (@JustinRamos30) August 15, 2020
If you can’t support them in the favorite way you want to, there are other ways. Physical copies, for example. “I’m justified to steal honeycrisp apples because the store is out of honeycrisp apples today” isn’t a valid argument.
— Christopher Wehkamp (@ChrisWehkamp) August 15, 2020
How? I’m from the Philippines, this is impossible.
— Justin Ramos (@JustinRamos30) August 15, 2020
You don’t have access to any legally licensed anime
dvd’s ,manga ormerchandise in the Phillipines?— Christopher Wehkamp (@ChrisWehkamp) August 15, 2020
Surprise surprise!! Privileged white American didn’t know the struggles of fans from 3rd world countries. Saaaaaaad. Huhu.
— (@TsukiHashira) August 16, 2020
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”.
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 recommended, but not a 100% reliable option for everyone.
Woke up this morning to see that Kissanime has finally been permanently shut down.
Glad to see 2020 is putting its destructive power to good use for a change. pic.twitter.com/IauabbKnEh
— Clifford Chapin (@CliffordChapin) August 15, 2020
The other out of touch anime voice actor is Clifford Chapin.
Maybe just like Christopher he’s being aggressive because he stands to LOSE
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.
If someone wanted a bike but couldn’t afford it, would you support the idea of someone stealing one from the store or someone else that owns one?
I doubt it. And In this case, the store are the Japanese companies, and the bike owners are Funi/Crunchy/Viz/Sentai/and-so-on.
— Clifford Chapin (@CliffordChapin) August 15, 2020
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 dumb comparison.
I think the issue many had was that you had to sub to too many services for some anime and even then there was either not enough variety or videos didn’t work etc etc. if there was 1/2 MAIN sites that carried a wide variety that illegals did then I feel that more people would 1/2
— claudia le (@ilyclaudiaa) August 15, 2020
a lot of older anime are only available at illegal sites, not even mentioning that they were the ones who made anime popular in the first place, they are mostly a gateway to anime and Japanese culture for younger and poorer people.
— Lucas Gabriel (@lukelucasgs) August 15, 2020
For those in third world countries who do want to support the animes they enjoy directly, unfortunately not everyone has that luxury because of lack of AVAILABILITY. As someone with a Crunchyroll subscription, I can understand those who think piracy is undoubtedly wrong, but
— ♡ | ♡ (@haikyu_simp) August 15, 2020
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
Here’s the truth of “simulcasts”. For the vast majority of Japan, they are “inadvancecasts”. We have to wait upto 2 weeks AFTER you’ve watched an episode before we can see it. So no wonder many turn to piracy. Having an episode spoiled 2 weeks before we can see it is not fun.
— Matt | … | So tired (@bansama) August 16, 2020
And that’s assuming a best-case scenario that we even get a streamed version! The whole distribution model in Japan is designed to limit access to a small audience.
— Matt | … | So tired (@bansama) August 16, 2020
This starts with shows being picked up be regional TV stations that are only broadcast to tiny parts of the country. Some of these might go to cable channels, but those are pricey and don’t guarantee full continued access.
— Matt | … | So tired (@bansama) August 16, 2020
AT-X for example, costs approx. 2500 JPY a month in addition to the Sky Perfect fees and mandatory channel package (which, combined, can set you back another 2000 JPY depending on options).
— Matt | … | So tired (@bansama) August 16, 2020
TV channels are also prone to dropping shows for a variety of reasons. Interspecies Reviewers was dropped because of whiny pissants who think
sexy anime shouldn’t be shown at 3am.— Matt | … | So tired (@bansama) August 16, 2020
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
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.
Recommended:
The Anime Industry Has A SERVICE Problem, Not A Piracy Problem
