Backlash over cancellation of KR/Sentai thread

[Greenstalker]

I didn't read the whole thread but apperantly on youtube someone faking as toei was flagging videos and sending C&D emails to content creators. Now I vaguely remember you guys confirmed the authenticity of the email but still timing seems to be a bit too perfect. Here is a video about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0o4ci6S-k

[KinCryos]

I didn't read the whole thread but apperantly on youtube someone faking as toei was flagging videos and sending C&D emails to content creators. Now I vaguely remember you guys confirmed the authenticity of the email but still timing seems to be a bit too perfect. Here is a video about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0o4ci6S-k

likely the result of someone trolling around taking advantage of the chaos

[Mandalori]

Personally, I would be curious to know how TV-Nihon concluded that the email was legit. I'm genuinely interested since it can help unmask frauds.

[SrSachou01]

Update (I have no idea on how to use this platform but here we go btw and seriously, how could I send a pic here?):


Guys check this out!
Link: https://mobile.twitter.com/cron204

What do you guys think?
(Are you still continue subbing Saber and Zenkaiger or you wanna subbing the upcoming 3rd Reiwa Rider?)

[Ashki]

Update (I have no idea on how to use this platform but here we go btw and seriously, how could I send a pic here?):


Guys check this out!
Link: https://mobile.twitter.com/cron204

What do you guys think?
(Are you still continue subbing Saber and Zenkaiger or you wanna subbing the upcoming 3rd Reiwa Rider?)

Shirakura is basically saying precisely what I've been saying. Here are a couple such posts:

白倉伸一郎 Shin-ichiro SHIRAKURA
@cron204
何があったのかはよく知らんけど、fansub 視てるらしき方々に sh"t とか f*ck とか言われると、この方々たちのために頑張ろうと思う気持ちが萎えるのは不思議。

理性的には、どんなファンでもファンなので、何を言われてもファンに尽くすのがプロなんだが。
批判じゃなくて罵倒に聞こえるからかな？
10:36 AM · May 23, 2021·Tweetbot for Mac

Translation: "I don't know what happened, but it's strange that when people who seem to be looking at fansub say sh "t or f*ck, I lose the desire to do my best for them.

Theoretically, any fan is a fan and it is professional to serve them no matter what they say.
Is it because it sounds like abuse, not criticism?"


He later concludes this is just because Japanese people in general aren't used to cussing like those in the West. While this isn't totally relevant, I have to wonder if the amount of language in some stylised fansubs is viewed as an insult by some members of TOEI staff. It seems like he's saying the use of foul language when talking about fansubs or in the subs themselves may be a bit of a PR issue between the fansub community and TOEI. TVN is very sparing on strong language, but I do find it to be something worth future discussion.

I also found this to be very important:

白倉伸一郎 Shin-ichiro SHIRAKURA
@cron204
NO.
If they were important, I'd tweet them in English!
Quote Tweet

it's みげみげ
@itsmigemige
· May 23
Replying to @cron204
These 3 tweets are super important Mr.Shirakura and I believe you should retweet them in English as a lot of ppl need to read it and leave you alone lol
10:43 AM · May 23, 2021·Tweetbot for Mac

So basically he's saying that the only truly important things fans need to listen to are the ones he'll tweet out in English. Anything he says in Japanese is either personal musings or not important to international fans.

That said, I think this post is actually rather important and confirms what we've been saying here about harassing/insulting TOEI staff:

白倉伸一郎 Shin-ichiro SHIRAKURA
@cron204
「凸はやめときな」的な風潮になったっぽいのはありがたいけど、あいかわらず何が起こったのかよく分かってない。
11:43 AM · May 23, 2021·Tweetbot for Mac

Translation: "It's nice to see that the trend seems to be towards "don't bump", but I'm still not sure what happened."

So again, Shirakura has no idea who sent the C&D or if it was even someone from his staff. He's NOT going to give a blatant green light because hardsubs are technically illegal (softsubs ARE legal, but that opens another Pandora's Box of how people are viewing those subs if the raws aren't on TTW where they can be legally downloaded).

Finally, this is the big thing that we DO need to all pay attention to (and he posted this in English. Remember, above he states that the only posts truly important are those said in English.

白倉伸一郎 Shin-ichiro SHIRAKURA
@cron204
I appreciate all the Tokusatsu fans worldwide who love our shows, even by whatever way they watch them. "All" means all.
9:52 AM · May 29, 2021·Tweetbot for Mac

So there you have it. As I've said multiple times, Shirakura doesn't hate fansubs. He hinted above he may even watch them himself (I still say I wouldn't be surprised if he or someone else from TOEI lurks this forum). These people aren't our enemy, but they DO have a business to run. So when people make too much noise or sales are affected, there are repercussions by necessity. TTW isn't the best service out there, but they're TRYING to bring tokusatsu (especially more obscure shows) to a worldwide audience and that's the first vital step because it costs them nothing.

Think about that. TOEI's giving us toku for free. They're not paying to post it, we're not paying to watch or even download it from an official source legally. This is why TTW doesn't have full or high quality subs. They get government funds to sub a couple episodes for free and literally ask fans to sub the rest for them. It should have been a win-win until a couple loudmouths spat in TOEI's face for this action.


But yeah, the key thing is what Shirakura said and didn't say. It reminds me of Crown the Empire, a US-based metal band that openly tells you to share, trade, or even pirate their music - so long as it gets out there and gets around. And CtE isn't a small fry by any means. But Shirakura has to stop short of encouraging grey/illegal distribution methods for obvious legal reasons (CtE gets a small percentage of their actual earnings due to being signed to a label, but TOEI has full control over their product and is even bypassing traditional broadcasting contracts with TTW, so every penny lost is noticed).

It's all about mutual respect and finding balance between supporting a business and supporting the demand when the supply is lacking.

[Ashki]

I didn't read the whole thread but apperantly on youtube someone faking as toei was flagging videos and sending C&D emails to content creators. Now I vaguely remember you guys confirmed the authenticity of the email but still timing seems to be a bit too perfect. Here is a video about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0o4ci6S-k

This is both sad and hilarious (in the sense that Google still hasn't figured out how to fix their broken copyright system to require verification prior to making copyright claims/strikes). It makes me glad our group is in the process of moving our family of channels to Odysee.

There's an actual company out there that loves to copyright claim music (including royalty free music), often blaming it on other amateur artists. Eckhart's Ladder (excellent channel for fans of Star Wars and Halo, incidentlally) was hit by them not long ago and had hundreds of videos flagged. The claim was some amateur female artist was claiming his outro music. Eck knew the actual composer and both of them complained to YT about it. The female artist also spoke up and said she had nothing to do with it and was getting threats over it. Eck had his claimed vids restored over several days, but will never recover the profits stolen by the fraudulent company - which has been doing this for over a decade.

Now, the person doing this could be the same one who sent the letter or they could be cashing in. Either way, the glaring problem here is that YT is restoring the vids AFTER people lose parts of their livelihood and NOT taking any actions against the person committing fraud. This is why we stopped posting to YT nearly four years ago and why we've chosen to move to Odysee where this stuff doesnae happen.

[MagusKaiser]

just wanted to point out this post from Shirakura https://twitter.com/cron204/status/1398 ... 47747?s=20

[Kurow]

Good job Toei... GAME OVER!

Thank you for almost 20 years of fansubs guys!

[dualvision1984]

I respect the decision of TV-Nihon for resting with this season of KR and SS.

The two seasons are on hot water at the moment and continuing it again might put them on a more tight and hard legal situation.

For the tweets of Shirakura including the latest one that he is acknowledging ALL tokusatsu fans in the world, I honestly and truly appreciate it as well.

For others who still like to fan the fire, lets stop it already and Shirakura acknowledges our "existence". He and TOEI are trying to make a living and we need to respect it as well.

Once TV-Nihon resumes their subbing probably for the next season, I'm hoping we will become a more respectable and professional adults here who will follow the rules even if it is unwritten (Gentleman's agreement).

Do not blatantly promoting and tagging the main source or owner of the show because it will become "illegal". Be discreet and enjoy watching it.

But still I cannot control the decision of TV-N if they are going to do releases by members basis only. I hope that it is still can be accessed by everyone as for "educational purposes" which in turn can be tagged by TOEI as "free promotion" to their show and products.

I will still stay with TV-Nihon and will wait for your resumption possibly and hopingly in KR Revice.

[Mandalori]

From what I've understood, KR and SS will never come back here. While the letter and the tweet were dominants factors in that decision, some members of TV-Nihon's staff have been pretty sore about recents KR and SS that weren't Gokaiger or Gaim.
The way I see it, it was also an opportunity for them to stop doing something that they didn't enjoy as much as they used to. Can't blame them.

[Sonicguy001]

From what I've understood, KR and SS will never come back here. While the letter and the tweet were dominants factors in that decision, some members of TV-Nihon's staff have been pretty sore about recents KR and SS that weren't Gokaiger or Gaim.
The way I see it, it was also an opportunity for them to stop doing something that they didn't enjoy as much as they used to. Can't blame them.

i was thinking of leaving KR behind after Saber myself, so i can relate. but this statement bring me in two minds about my opinion. on one hand: I'm a firm believer that your happiness in regards to work should be a top priority. if you're unhappy about your work then you would be allowed to do something about it. if there really are members who weren't happy about subbing a series they don't like then they have every right to either leave the project or leave TV-Nihon and not be criticized about it.

but on the other hand: if it does turn out that it is the case of them using this whole situation to end subbing a series they don't like, then I can't help but feel a little angry about how petty that sounds.

but then again, I don't really work for these guys, nor do i know any of them (either in a personal matter or by this forum and discord), so I can't really say or pretend to know about what goes on behind the scenes. nor should anyone else. what happens there should rightfully be their own business.

[Ashki]

From what I've understood, KR and SS will never come back here. While the letter and the tweet were dominants factors in that decision, some members of TV-Nihon's staff have been pretty sore about recents KR and SS that weren't Gokaiger or Gaim.
The way I see it, it was also an opportunity for them to stop doing something that they didn't enjoy as much as they used to. Can't blame them.

TVN has two official translators and a couple that occasionally work on specific shows or lend a hand from other groups. The recent Ultraman series were done as a passion project by another translator, for example. When you have a limited amount of spare time to work on your hobby, it's only natural to prioritise the shows you enjoy.

I can understand them dropping Saber with the show's low quality being a factor. Luna's expressed before about how draining it is to work on a terrible series, and while Saber's better than Ghost (I still feel so bad for the actors on that show), it's pretty low on the rankings. Not to mention the discussion threads are often full of complaints about the show. Zenkaiger, though, has a lot of fans (myself included). It's not the greatest SS out there, but the callbacks and general fun make it one of the better series out there. Had it aired before Kiramager instead of after, I think it would be a lot more popular. But when you set the bar that high, the next show is almost always going to miss the mark.

As for this being the end of KR/SS for good just because a specific series isn't appealing, that's rather overkill. It's like saying you will never eat pizza again because the one you're eating now is undercooked. They might be taking a break for this season, or maybe a couple seasons. But at some point KR and SS WILL be back. We just have to let the dust settle and wounds heal over the letter and attacks on Shirakura/TOEI that both preceded and followed it. The team deserve a bit of a break anyway after doing the same two franchises for almost two decades nonstop. And this is a perfect oppourtunity for them to work on other projects they've not had time for.

[Qayyim]

Sorry to ask after Tv Nihon cancel subs of Saber & Zenkaiger can Tv Nihon upload all Kamen Riders & Super Sentai torrents including old & new into a secret/private/invisible torrent website I want to download it I previously have downloaded all Kamen Riders episodes,movies & specials from Heisei-Reiwa from Kuuga-Zero One onwards but my HDD is damaged on last April & I changed it to SSD & lost all my downloaded Kamen Riders I ask because you says that you still keep all your works & subs on HDD backup computer

[Ashki]

Sorry to ask after Tv Nihon cancel subs of Saber & Zenkaiger can Tv Nihon upload all Kamen Riders & Super Sentai torrents including old & new into a secret/private/invisible torrent website I want to download it I previously have downloaded all Kamen Riders episodes,movies & specials from Heisei-Reiwa from Kuuga-Zero One onwards but my HDD is damaged on last April & I changed it to SSD & lost all my downloaded Kamen Riders I ask because you says that you still keep all your works & subs on HDD backup computer

The torrents still exist on a lot of sites (BT4G, for example), but the big problem right now is seeders. This is generally the biggest issue whenever a key tracker goes offline or a torrent has been around for a while.

[MagusKaiser]

I kinda doubt it but if and when Tv Nihon can get back to subbing that they finish saber and zenkaiger for those who like the series, I can understand that some of the translators don't like working on them and that working on something you dislike can be draining but I hope they know that their efforts are appreciated