Comics are making a resurgence in America, spurred by the tremendous popularity of web comics, manga (a Japanese form of the graphic novel), and Japanese anime (animation). Indeed, with the release of the live action adaptation of the tremendously popular manga Death Note in American theaters, Japanese anime, manga, and web comics are pushing to become mainstream entertainment media in the United States. I recently attended the limited theatrical release showing of Death Note with my teenage son, expecting to be bored to tears. I wasn’t. In fact, I enjoyed the movie. The story line was completely original and thoroughly entertaining. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel. Although the dialogue was dubbed from the original Japanese, I found myself completely engrossed in the story. Unlike many American cartoons, Japanese anime tend to be targeted to a slightly older, more sophisticated audience. I urge you to buy Death Note on DVD.
Is Japanese Anime Available for Free Online Downloads?
Unfortunately for American teens, Japanese anime can be very hard to find on television depending upon your cable company. This has led to widespread fansubbing. Fansubs are translations of the Japanese anime episodes into English by fans of the shows. In the next sections, I mention and provide links to sites that list free online downloads of fansubs for several popular shows. However, I warn you: do not follow the links you find on these sites or download any episodes from them. Distributing or downloading a copyrighted work without the permission of the copyright holder is against the law. The sites at the links I provided do not host actual copyrighted material but provide links to other servers that do have illegal free downloads. I offered these links only so you can see how prevalent Japanese anime fansubs are as a means of illustrating the growing popular demand for Japanese anime in America.
One of the most popular Japanese anime series is called Bleach. Bleach is not only popular in Japan, but is also licensed and produced in English and available on some cable networks in the United States. However, the English episodes of Bleach often trail the Japanese episodes by months. This site has links to various fansub servers which contain entire episodes available for download. The provided link will take you directly to the online index of Bleach anime episodes in both English and Japanese. Authorized English language versions are available on Carton Network through your local cable provider. You can also buy them wherever DVDs are sold.
Soul Eater
Soul Eater is another popular anime series. Bleach is the story of a confrontation with the Soul Reapers as opposed to Soul Eaters, just so you don’t confuse the two. You can find lists of available fansub downloads of Soul Eater at this link .
Naruto
Naruto has been licensed and popularized in the US by the Cartoon Network and is probably one of the most popular Japanese imports of all. However, fansubs still exist as evidenced by this link. Again, to watch the Naruto anime series legally, buy a DVD or ask your cable company how to get cartoon Network.
Aren’t Fansubs Just Free Marketing for Japanese Anime Companies?
At one time, many Japanese anime productions were not available in the US at all. Many people claim that it was the existence of the free fansub downloads that did the advance marketing and made Japanese anime popular in the United States in the absence of any US publishing licenses. These days however, there are many anime series, like Bleach, Death Note, and Naruto that are licensed in the US to American companies who may not be as ready to overlook the illegality of fansubbing as Japanese companies often did in the early days. Even if a particular series is not yet licensed in America, Japanese anime copyright holders are growing more cognizant of the value of protecting their copyrights from free online downloads to preserve the value of eventual licensing. No matter how tempting free online downloads can be, distributing or downloading copyrighted Japanese anime, whether or not they are licensed in the USA, is illegal and those who do it can be subjected to criminal and/or civil penalties.
