Apparently Bandai USA had an uphill battle trying to convince Sunrise that having characters named Quattro Vagina and Jamitov Hymen in the Zeta Gundam subs might not go down too well. I think Sunrise are among the worst out there for that sort of asshatery.

Incidentally I really wanted to watch this to see whether ADV’s work is actually worth it, but apparently ADV’s map of the internet involves North America and then a big black area marked ‘here be dragons’. They’re clearly not serious about the whole setup as a model for future distribution either, since it’ll only be the first three episodes that they stream. It’s just promotional grandstanding using ANN’s recent soapboxing as a springboard.

A Brit who doesn’t like TEA?? Blasphemy!!

Also, I believe one of the justifications often provided is that as long as there is an English release “somewhere” out there, English-speaking fans in other countries can just import it.

Pretty flimsy, but then of course the entire concept of “stop distribution once the series is licensed” is essentially just a tacit compromise between fansubbers and U.S.-based licensees to look the other way.

@ TP

I definitely agree that this is only a first step. With the continually growing and changing internet driving the distribution model, companies in this arena will have to learn to be continually on their toes, innovating to keep pace with the rapid changes in the market.

@ Calawain

Those last couple paragraphs were with tongue firmly planted in cheek; don’t take it too seriously.

@ Sixten

Ahh, thanks for the clarification on “Gunmen”. Certainly the romanization still comes across as being a bit odd, but at least it wasn’t something ADV cooked up on their own.

That also explains the romanization of “Gulaparl” that I’ve seen used for the successors to the Gunmen.

That raises the entirely separate issue of the Japanese companies wanting to retain control over their product even where it might not make the best sense for a different language market -i.e. “Wirhelmina” or “Nymphet”. While it’s perfectly understandable from a business standpoint, it’s also highly aggravating from a consumer point of view.

I think this is one of the ways the industry can move forward, and harness the power of the Internet to reach out better. It’s a small step, but let’s not stop it there if there are more things that can be improved on.

This kind of exclusion raises the question of whether USA licenses should count for all English-speaking countries. Why should non-NA residents delete their fansubs if we’re blocked from viewing them legitimately like this? Obviously, this relies on the supposition that having fansubs in the first place is ‘okay’ when a show isn’t licensed, which I’ve never been convinced by, but still. Not much of an incentive to go legit.

As for LOLHURAHILOL, I’m glad they buggered it up. It’s yet another dent in Haruhi’s credibility and another reason to mock its shitliness.

Any Hoo-RAH-hiists out there?