[taimoorh]

I don't know if anyone has written this before (17 pages are a bit too much to go through) but has anyone considered this: that Anime and Manga have such a mainstream presence now (outside of Japan) because of rampant piracy?

Do companies honestly think that the huge audience they now cater to would have existed if they continued with their pathetic (often non-existant) advertisement? That cult series would've had such an impact (thus translating into direct DVD/ Manga sales) had word of mouth not preached the Western audiences?

This is a two edged sword. People will always argue about the morals of downloading animes illegally and the companies suffering, but these same companies have also gained a lot by buying out the rights to potentially hit series because the community was already buzzing about it when that anime aired in Japan.

Adapt to the changing market or die out, Netflix and iTunes are living proof of this. The movie & tv industry didn't vanish because people started recording on VCRs. Neither did the music industry when Napster hit.

Kudos to Crunchyroll and studio execs who're actually making significant strides by providing quality content with easy access.