A lot of people would like nothing more than to turn what they enjoy doing into a paying gig. In the case of anime, a lot of former fans wind up working in the anime industry in one form or another. These fans gone pro, sometimes referred to as "pro-taku", invariably find that the working world is far from a perfect place. As an economist once said, "All business, by definition, is dirty," and the erstwhile fan often finds himself making hard decisions—for better or worse, companies have to generate a profit, and it's a daily challenge to balance one's ideals and love of the medium with the harsh realities of the bottom line.

Even more difficult, however, is having to deal with your fellow fans who fault and criticize your actions at every turn.

The Internet has made it possible for fans of a medium to congregate and openly talk about their favorite hobby, and fandom wouldn't be where it is today without the sense of community made possible by the newsgroups and web boards. But fans, anime or otherwise, are an attention-hungry lot. Some go out of their way to show to others just how important their opinions are. Others engage in an "I am the world" line of thought, and it's their way or the highway. And so the newsgroups and web boards are often filled with posts from people whose comments and arguments often belie their lack of understanding of basic business principles.

As a result, the pro-taku finds himself in the unenviable position of having to defend the company he works for against comments that are more often than not misinformed. It's tempting to breach a confidentiality agreement just to prove a particular loudmouth on a web board wrong, but this often turns into a no-win situation. Sticking with your ethics means you have to choose your words carefully or clam up altogether, and watch helplessly as the rumor mill spins out of control. Supply the proof to counter a false argument, however, and the fan simply turns around and takes that info and posts it to a web site in an attempt to show off just how "in-the-know" he is.

The HTML Swiss Army Knife noticed a recent thread about a popular title that went something like this: "Company B lost against Company A in a bidding war for Title C." Now, some of you may remember the Air Force's YF-22/23 project many years ago. While the YF-22 and YF-23 were considered to be roughly on par in performance—in some regards the YF-23 was considered superior—the project eventually went to the YF-22 because its manufacturer needed the money for its survival far more than its competitor. In the case of the anime title in question, it wasn't that Company B lost the bidding war, but that Company A had put up a significant amount of money for the creation of the title and still had millions of dollars that it needed to recoup. So the license was given to Company A despite the fact that Company B could've done a far better job at the English adaptation and distribution. The decision had little to do with who offered more money or who "won" the bidding war.

Despite the attempt at anonymity, the HTML Knife is sure that people will put two and two together and figure out which companies and which anime title is being discussed here, but that's just a risk he'll just have to take. The point that the HTML-cutting utensil would like to make, is that some of the more vociferous fans are often woefully unaware of the behind-the-scenes factors that influence some of the less-than-ideal outcomes (in the minds of some people anyway) of many domestic anime releases. The HTML Knife doesn't advocate that everyone rush out to get MBAs in business, but working in a professional setting for several years is a real eye-opener, and goes a long way towards better explaining some of the decisions that are made in business.

A lot of decisions involving pricing and translation are forced upon the domestic companies by the licensors in Japan, who often demonstrate a lack of understanding of how to do business in North America, and proving that "I am the world" thinking isn't limited to overzealous fans. Believe it or not, domestic companies try the best they can, and are certainly not "out to get you" by deliberately mishandling anime titles on their own, as some conspirators would have you believe. This isn't to say that companies are completely off the hook, and when customers offer well-reasoned constructive criticism, companies are eager to listen. As the saying goes, however, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, and biting the hands that feed you isn't the best way to bring about positive change. These posters would do better to choose their words more carefully, maybe develop a better understanding of basic economic and business principles, instead of blindly criticizing a company's decisions with their limited knowledge of a situation.

But this is probably falling on deaf ears anyway, and the HTML Knife is sure that some fans will continue to post anything and everything, misinformed or not, in the hopes of gaining their 15 minutes of fame. After all, as one particularly notorious fan once admitted to the HTML Knife, "know a little, fake the rest" seems to be the secret of their success in anime fandom.
 

"Natural Born Otakus - The Internet Made Them Superstars."

Keith Rhee

The HTML Swiss Army Knife

Disclaimer: the words on this page represent only the opinions of the HTML Swiss Army Knife, and not those of EX. Comments about this column, both good and bad, should be directed to foxpaws@earthlink.net.