Some Gripes From An Anime Fan

Being a fan of anime isn't easy.  You will never find a perfect hobby.  Just give up the thought.  You may love a hobby a lot, but it will never be 100% satisfied with it.  There will always be at least one thing wrong, be it the community, source of the hobby, or financial barriers.  Anime is no different than other forms, like video games or stamp collecting.  I dare you to find a stamp collector that is completely and absolutely satisfied with their hobby.

That being said, for the most part, I am satisfied with my hobby of choice, but that doesn't mean I am oblivious to problems out there. 
Let's start with a common anime war that baffles me.  Dubs vs. subs.  Today's entry will not be a breakdown of the topic, but almost every time someone mentions a dub, some sub enthusiast will undoubtedly say "The sub is soooooo much better."  Every time.  Then a series gets released sub-only, and dub enthusiasts (myself included...a couple times...) will complain about not receiving a dub period.  Seriously?  Why do subbed people attack dub people?  Why is it hard for someone to be a dub enthusiast?  This is one of the many reasons I distance myself from fandom.

I just put this pic here, just because.

As much as I hate to admit it, I have some grievances with certain companies out there.  Now I am not naming names, but maybe I can send you some brain waves and you will instantly know what company I specifically have had problems with recently.  It is a company based in Japan, that has an American counterpart that deals with some anime.  Popular ones like the one about the girl who is like a god, giant robots in space, and girls in a musical club.  We don't know anyone like that, right?

My totally real friend is a big fan of the series that is similar, but not quite this.

Again, without mentioning a specific series or anything, let's say this hypothetical company said they would release a certain series dubbed.  I am very good friends with a very intelligent and good looking guy, and he was looking forward to watching this unnamed series with a dub it so richly deserved.  He is a dub enthusiast, but doesn't mind watching the occasional sub.  When the unnamed series started to be released by the hypothetical company, they released it sub-only with only a small handful of episodes that cost as much as a typical release from another megaton North American anime company that shall also remain nameless.  This caused the unnamed series to be put into a 8 disc set that costs over $250.  $250 for a subbed-only series with no limited edition or special extras.  No frills.  52 episodes at a overly premium price.

Thankfully we are just talking about a hypothetical company and not one that actually exists, and an anime that may or may not exist.  Thankfully that was also for my friend and not myself.

Money isn't as bad as it used to be.  I have no problem paying up to $100 for a 26-episode series as long as the release is done right.  Look at NIS.  I don't have a huge problem with how they released Toradora even if it was subbed only.  Or the way Squid Girl is being released by Media Blasters.  No complaints there either.  I generally have little complaints about how a series is released here, but there are a few mostly all from the same hypothetical company that...

I AM IN DESPAIR of this series being in limbo over here!

One other gripe I have is the ambiguity of the release state of some series being released in the States.  Let's take the one pictured above for example.  Tell me, when is this getting released?  Originally it was scheduled around late 2009.  Then it got pushed back to early 2010.  Then it got delayed due to the licensor moving to a new facility.  Finally, it was getting a proper release early 2011.  Here we are in September 2011.  Where is it?  Where is Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei?  Why is it being constantly delayed if the license was already procured?  It was supposed to be subbed-only, so what is the hold up?

Why did I include this?  Well, just because I could.

I know this isn't the only series in limbo, how about another nameless Japanese company holding up licenses of various series that it gave to a megaton North American distributor?  Why does releasing anime have to be so difficult?  Seemingly, most companies jump at the chance for their shows to be shown overseas.  I mean it's more exposure and money, right?  I heard through ANNCast that the nameless Japanese company used to have an American branch, but essentially left it out in the cold and really didn't help it out so much.  So all indications at this time seem to point at one source.  J'accuse nameless anime company.  J'accuse!

These are not the only gripes I have with the industry, I just wanted to show that I'm not a complete fanboy when it comes to this hobby and I even have some issues with the industry and realm of anime.  I also know that this blog currently gets little to no exposure and I am essentially complaining to a wall.  Maybe if this blog becomes popular enough far off in the future, these things will cease to be problems.  If that is the case, then you can just use this post as the ramblings from a mad mind.

Do you have any issues with the things I posted above?  How about in general?  No one will judge you here, at least I hope so!