Fansub
A fansub is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program, typically anime or dorama which has been translated by fans and subtitled into a language usually other than that of the original.
Process
The practice of making fansubs is called fansubbing and is done by a fansubber. Fansubbers typically form groups to divide the work. The first distribution media of fansubbed material was VHS and Betamax tapes.Early fansubs were produced using analog video editing equipment. They would copy the anime onto VHS, translate the dialogue, and painstakingly time and format the subtitles for the video. Popular tools for this included JACOsub and Substation Alpha. The next step was to produce one or more masters, a high-quality copy of the finished fansub from which many distribution copies could be made. The fansubber would playback the raw video through a computer equipped with a genlock in order to generate the subtitles and then overlay them on the raw signal. The hardware most often used was an Amiga computer, as most professional genlocks were prohibitively expensive. The final output of the arrangement was then recorded. The master was most often recorded onto S-VHS tape in an attempt to maximize quality, though some fansubbers used the less expensive VHS or Beta. Once it was completed, the master copy was sent to a distributor.
Digisubs
The internet allows for highly collaborative fansubbing, and each member of a fansub team may only complete one task. Online fansubbing communities such as DameDesuYo are able to release a fully subtitled episode within 24 hours of an episode's debut in Japan.The production of a fansub typically begins with obtaining the unsubtitled source video called a "raw" that typically comes from DVDs, VHS tapes, television broadcasts, peer-to-peer networks, and directly from Japanese-based contacts. Then, a translator watches the video and produces a time-stamped text file of the screenplay with any relevant notes. The same series or episode may be subtitled by multiple groups with independent translations of varying quality. Fansub groups sometimes translate other already translated fansubs that are more susceptible to errors. Translated text is assigned with start and end times in a process known as timing to ensure subtitles appear when dialogue is spoken and disappear with the silence. An editor and a translation-checker read over the script to ensure that English is natural and coherent while still retaining the original meaning. A typesetter then appearance for the dialogue, signs, translator notes, etc. Then groups perform quality control to catch any final errors.
Encoders then take the script file and create a single subtitled video file, often aiming for a target file size or video quality. "Hard" subtitles, or hard subs, are encoded into the footage, and thus become hard to remove from the video without losing video quality. "Soft" subtitles, or soft subs, are subtitles applied at playback time from a subtitle datafile, either mixed directly into the video file, or in a separate file. Soft subs can also be rendered at higher resolutions, which can make for easier reading if the viewer is upscaling the file, but also are more difficult to blend into the video. Hard subs have traditionally been more popular than softsubs, due to a lack of player support and worries over plagiarism, but most fansub groups now release a softsub version of their releases.
The resulting fansub is a digital video file and can be distributed via CD, DVD, DDL, P2P software, and by file-sharing bots on IRC and also FTP. The distribution is usually handled by a distribution team, or "distro" team, composed of one or more individuals with a server or very high upload speed.
History
Pre-fansubs (pre–1970s)
The first documented Japanese animation to be distributed in the United States was The Tale of the White Serpent airing on March 15, 1961. Until the late 1970s, Japanese community TV stations' broadcasts were aimed exclusive at very young children. Soon after the release video cassette recorders in November 1975, post-Astro Boy anime began to spread throughout the United States. By March 1976, TV stations in the United States began broadcasting super robot shows such as Getter Robo, and due to the availability of VCRs, fans could record these shows to show to their friends. Fred Patten describes his first exposure to anime at the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society in 1976 when he met up with another fan who was an early adopter of Sony's betamax technology. By May 1977 he and a group of fans founded the first anime club in the United States, the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization.In November 1977, the C/FO began corresponding with other Japanese animation fans across the country and because the distribution of shows across the United States was different based on location, fans began trading tapes of shows they were missing between each other. At the time many LASFS members maintained contact with members around the world, and thus C/FO members began exchanging videos with fans located in Japan, typically US military personnel, who wanted Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. Fortunately, shows from either the United States or Japan could be played in either region as both used the NTSC format for broadcast. These shows were not translated; however, Japanese animations remained simple enough that the average viewer could discern the plot exclusively from the visuals. By 1979, fans and clubs of Japanese animation had begun to separate from the science fiction movement and began to refer to the media they watched as anime.
Throughout this period it was considered socially acceptable to screen anime for an audience without the publisher's consent, as few companies had American offices, and the few that did would invariably refuse to grant permission. Japanese companies made it apparent that they knew fans in the United States engaged in unauthorized distribution and screening, but also knew that fans were not profiting. Japanese companies asked fans to help them publicize; for instance, Toei Animation asked the C/FO to aid it with some marketing research at San Diego Comic-Con. Starting in 1978, Japanese companies tried to set up their own American divisions; however, with the exception of the film The Sea Prince and the Fire Child which was licensed to RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video, they realized they were not going to succeed in the American market and the last American anime company branch closed in 1982.
Growth of anime fanclubs (1980s)
After anime companies pulled out of the United States in 1982, there were no longer any legal or moral forces to discourage fans from copying and distributing tapes among themselves. From the late 1970s until the late 1980s, clubs began expanding to have chapters in other cities and grew to become of national and international scales. As the fandom grew, fans begun to experience ideological conflicts such as whether to keep the fandom niche or not. The visual quality of tapes began to degrade as fans made copies of copies; by the early 1980s some C/FO members reported tapes in their 15th to 20th generation that were extremely poor quality. In the mid to late 1980s, fans began to make booklets containing the translated dialogue for entire films and anime-focused magazines.Despite numerous attempts, any efforts to convince US companies to license Japanese animation failed, with the exception of a handful of companies that were intent on "carving up" series to rewrite them into children's cartoons. Sean Leonard states that entertainment executives at the time mistakenly believed that anime were, like Western cartoons, predominantly aimed at young children; furthermore, Japanese animated dramas and such were much too violent and complex in plot for children. Leonard states that the most notorious example was the translation of Warriors of the Wind, released in the US in 1985, which left its creators Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata appalled; Takahata exclaimed that licensing Nausicaä was a huge error and that no further Studio Ghibli produced films would be licensed internationally. These edits however were no worse than most other non-Disney animation films that were available in the US. Fans who obtained the Japanese originals of Nausicaä were inspired to organize an anime tour to Tokyo in 1986 to see Miyazaki's Laputa: Castle in the Sky and landmarks in anime.
Carl Macek played a key role in expanding the North American anime fandom. Macek ran a comic book and movie memorabilia specialty shop. After assisting in marketing and promotion of Heavy Metal and the recent establishment of a nearby C/FO chapter, he began researching Japanese animation and imported Japanese cels, becoming known as a Japanese animation specialist. Harmony Gold, who had acquired international licenses for several series and planned to distribute them in Latin America, Europe, and the US, reached out to Macek and enlisted his help for the US market. After noticing Harmony Gold's selection of Macross and similar science fiction series, Macek obtained Harmony Gold's approval to edit three anime series together into a single unified series named Robotech. Macek went to science fiction conventions to promote the series and discovered a growing cult following among adolescents and young adults, in contrast to his initial assumption that the series could be exclusively targeted toward children. Macek edited Macross, Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA together into Robotech, which became a major commercial success and earned him significant recognition within the fanbase. Leonard describes Robotech as being more faithful to the original series than any other commercially successful North American anime release in its era, noting that Robotech included key elements such as the first love triangle on both Japanese and American animated television.
The C/FO was at its height between 1985 and 1989, with over three dozen chapters throughout the US. John Renault helped lead the C/FO chapter in Japan and played a key role throughout fansub history due to his Japanese fluency, anime industry contacts, and military background. Renault helped exchange raws from Japan, wrote informative articles about production, translated booklets, introduced military techniques to anime distribution, and provided plot synopses that proved invaluable for watching Japan-exclusive anime. Fan distribution through C/FO's efforts, particularly C/FO Rising Sun, sought to keep anime free in order to promote Japanese animation. Bootlegging at the time was economically infeasible; accordingly, access to anime in North America was heavily dependent on one's contacts within anime fan communities, leading to a growing divide in fandom between the "haves" and "have-nots". In 1989 members began to accuse Patten of disloyalty for writing articles for general magazines rather than the perpetually behind-schedule C/FO fanzine. However, Patten felt that, by writing for popular magazines, he was furthering their cause to proselytize and promote anime. After Patten stepped down with no clear successor, the C/FO began to break apart, and eventually ceased to exist as a conglomerate in July 1989.