One of things that irks me a lot is when a show I’ve been following is suddenly cut off from me. A simple example is TV during the 90’s. At one time, I was really digging this series called The Pretender [anyone remember that show? It was on TV3 on weeknights]. It was building it really nicely and the plot was about to reach its climax and before I knew it, that slot taken over by something else, some shitty soap opera crap.

And then, I was following NYPD Blue, and it got cut-off towards the end, too. And then there was Ed [as in, Ed Stevens, remember?] and that one got vut off RIGHT AT THE CLIMATIC MOMENT. That was when I decided, dammit, Malaysian TV is damned to rot in the 8th circle of hell, along with all the other shitty TV shows burning there.

When I learnt about anime in AVI and it being available for download via torrents, it was like finding an oasis in the middle of a fucking desert. I’ve been watching so many shows from start to finish, enjoy amazing storylines, wash my eyes with lovely animation [and lovely drawn chicks, to boot] and get myself exposed to amazing music from the Japanese scene.

But lately, some of these shows have been cut-off from me right when the plot is reaching its climaz AGAIN. But this isn’t something I could really get angry about. This is gonna be qquite a long story. But if you’re willing to learn a bit about how subtitled anime comes about, do stay with me ^^

You see, my understanding of Japanese is still less than a crappy 25% so I still need subtitles to actually enjoy anime shows.

This is where the angel-touched and god-blessed people of the fansubbing community step in.

What they do is that they record the shows directly from Japan and add their own subtitles for fans to watch. By adding their own subtitles, I mean translating, timing, encoding and distributing their works. And all their effort is something they do voluntarily, just because it’s fun and because they love anime [of course, some chose to do it for bragging rights].

They are only funded through donations from fans as they’re doing voluntary woks and are not getting paid. Their intentions are non-profit and the money they need is the money to pay for webhosting and that’s it. You gotta love these people.

Alas, since it’s something they do out of love, it’s also something they do when they have time to spare. Apparently, this time of the year, a lot of people are very busy [myself included] and many have not been able to make time to do all that work just to let fans enjoy a particular show.

As a result quite a few shows have been un-subbed and have remained so for quite a while. I’m currently patiently waiting for these series to be subbed by their respective subbers;

• Eureka seveN - Nanashi Fansubs [Complete!]
• Utawarerumono - Yesy Fansubs [Complete!]
• Witchblade - Bakakozou and Conclave Fansubs

But fansubs aside, I’m also currently annoyed at some series which I have been cut-off from. That is, one more episode of Crest of the Stars [which I forgot to copy from YC, D'OH] and Avatar: The Last Airbender - I don’t know why, but the latest episode seems to come up a bit late on torrents.

You see, Avatar isn’t really a Japanese anime, but rather, an anime-influenced Nickelodeon production. Since its in English it doesn’t need any fansubbing work so I usually download it just like that.

Wait, wait. Cartoon on Nick? You mean, it’s American?

Yes, it’s American. But whoa, hold your horses, this is no Totally Spies or Kim Possible kinda tahi. I tell you here and now, Avatar is probably the best American cartoon series since The Thundercats [really!].

At any rate, I still have 3 more shows to watch and burn my own copy during the holidays. I can’t wait for my next Melaka visit. I’ll have to make room in my harddisk for the many stuff I’m going to leech off my ex-housemates :D

Oh and a last note; Yoko Kanno + Maaya Sakamoto = Win.