Comments on: The Tragedy of Cheap Localization http://omonomono.com/2012/08/18/the-tragedy-of-cheap-localization/ The Yard Sale Wed, 22 May 2013 05:19:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: omo http://omonomono.com/2012/08/18/the-tragedy-of-cheap-localization/#comment-10014 omo Thu, 23 Aug 2012 13:58:58 +0000 http://omonomono.com/?p=4542#comment-10014 Japanese comic media’s popularity in the US is largely not-commercial? I guess for starter that statement is probably false however you look at it–touhou manga is not at all popular. Touhou is more like homestuck, except it’s based on a bunch of memes and video games. No part of it has to do with manga. But that’s only when we make the concession that it is “non-commercial.” Truth is touhou is as commercial as anything else–it’s not given away for free without advertisement. Just because it is doujin doesn’t mean there isn’t an assload of money being exchanged in the process.

Vocaloids…are as commercial as Hello Kitty.

Fansubbing’s impact and viewership regarding what makes of anime’s popularity worldwide is tricky to describe, but I am pretty sure in America it is at best a secondary factor. Pretty much everyone these days got into anime because they saw it on broadcast TV first. By the time you could say “CLANNAD is my favorite anime” you probably have already made it past the gateway of “becoming an anime fan.” To that extent most casual viewers would list titles like Sailor Moon, FLCL and Cowboy Bebop as their favorites, because that’s what’s on TV.

]]> By: math4origami http://omonomono.com/2012/08/18/the-tragedy-of-cheap-localization/#comment-10012 math4origami Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:36:33 +0000 http://omonomono.com/?p=4542#comment-10012 “First, we need to internalize is that today’s popular media is largely commercial.”
The issue is, Japanese comic media’s popularity in the US is largely not-commercial. That’s why fansubs/dubs exist in the first place. I think the popularity of touhou shows how much the fanbase has been built up due to their own self-initiative. Same with Vocaloid. To reach to these potential customers, I think localizations companies need to do less localization, and more importation.

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