Switchblade Comb

I find the politics behind the American anime industry to be one of the most fascinating areas of entertainment media, mostly because it’s had such a boom over the last few years and the industry, much like the music industry, weren’t prepared for the onslaught of free torrents. In the case of anime, it requires fan-subtitlers nabbing anime as it airs in Japan and translating it themselves.

While this is normally an illegal job I have deep respect for (it takes a lot of time with little payback, in most cases), the alias ‘Otaking’ has put together a 30 minute documentary delving into the drawbacks of the current fansub crop, pointing out the more recent anime fan community’s elitism as a major downfall. Fascinating and funny stuff, if you’re into this kind of thing.

The entire film is up on YouTube, with Part One posted above. Check out Part Two HERE, Part Three HERE, Part Four HERE, and the final part HERE.

(thanks to Japanator for the heads-up)