In response to recent announcements by Viz Media, TV Tokyo, and Crunchyroll of new episodes of Naruto Shippuden being streamed for free within a week of airing in Japan, the fansubbing group Dattebayo posted a message on their website saying they would be stopping the fansubbing of the show the same time the official streams are available. Animenews.biz managed to track down the member of the notorius fansub group who posted that message, Interactii, and interview him for a more detailed look inside the decision.
Animenews.biz: You recently announced that Dattebayo Fansubs would cease fansubbing Naruto Shippuden when it would be streamed by Viz within an hour after it airs in Japan. Can you describe how the decision was made in the group?
Interactii: Yes, that is correct, we have announced that we are dropping the show effective January 15th. All major decisions in DB are made with a staff vote, and this was no exception. The vote was nearly unanimous to stop subbing it based on Viz and Crunchyroll’s announcement.
Animenews.biz: How long was it discussed, and was it a contentious decision?
Interactii: We had started discussing it last weekend, and we had made the decision by Thursday morning. It was not contentious at all.
Animenews.biz: Was this something that Dattebayo was anticipating, or did it come as a surprise?
Interactii: We were not anticipating it, and we were taken by surprise, but I think it is a good move overall for the industry if they can pull it off.
Animenews.biz: Why do you think they decided to stream Naruto Shippuden simultaneously? Do you think that DB’s fansubbing was a factor in their decision, directly or indirectly?
Interactii: I think that while no one was saying “Let’s do this because of Dattebayo”, that the trend of high quality, near simultaneous releases that we started a while ago has caught on alot, and the industry is finally reacting to that, since they have seen that the old model isn’t working.
Animenews.biz: Do you feel that with this development, you could characterize your group’s fansubbing of Naruto as a “success”? Do you think that this, as well as the announcement by TV Tokyo to stream a number of new shows simultaneously as well, is the start of a trend, or just another experiment by the anime industry?
Interactii: I think the subtitling was a complete success. Our goal was to bring Naruto to fans in the way we wanted to, and I think we did that very well. I think that the decision by TV Tokyo is an experiment to see if this kind of model can do good things for them, and I think alot of that burden is going to fall on the sites that are driving it, like CR. If this goes well, I think we will definitely see a new trend in anime distribution.
Animenews.biz: Crunchyroll has been successful so far by uploading and streaming fansubs without the permission of the original copyright holders. Although they have promised to get rid of all unauthorized content by January, how do you feel about that site being selected as the very first place to see Naruto Shippuden come Jan 8th?
Interactii: I think CR will have to work very hard to make sure they do everything right. They are making a difficult transition come the first of the year, and it has the potential to have lots of problems. They really have to focus on capturing the people who watch fansubs now, plus lots of new people. If they can succeed at that they will do great. CR has really done alot of work trying to change the way we think about anime. And they are moving in the right direction I think.
Animenews.biz: Recently there has been a lot of consolidation in the R1 market, and a lot of new business models being tried by Japanese companies. Blu-rays are starting to be released in Japan and to some limited extent, the US. What is your general mood about the anime industry in the US and Japan, from the perspective of a fansubber?
Interactii: Well I think people have finally realized that blaming pirates and fansubbers for the downturn will not win them any sales. The new techniques and ideas we are seeing are very exciting to me, there are shows I’d love to own on BluRay. I think that over the next year, the Japanese market will see a resurgence in anime. And that that will follow into the US.
Animenews.biz: Many of your viewers seem to believe that this announcement is fake. Considering the past history of DB and posting fake episodes or other jokes, why should people believe you this time?
Interactii: Yes indeed, many people do think this is another troll, and I almost wish it was, because it would be a really good one. But it isn’t. I suppose that people don’t have to believe us, they will see that as of the 15th, we won’t be subtitling it anymore.
Animenews.biz: Would you like to say anything to the many people who will probably be angry at DB for stopping to fansub Naruto?
Interactii: In the words of Hidan, “Eat a dick!” ;D
Animenews.biz: What do you think the future holds for DB, specifically?
Interactii: Well, we are already planning to relax more, and perhaps look at some additional kids shows. Though we won’t be the popular group we are now, it was never really about that anyway, so we will keep doing what we enjoy.