I'm tired of this Vendetta against Netflix being carried out by Crunchyroll's Privateers.

Netflix has the potential to help the Anime Community grow by making a lot of Anime easily available to lots of people who don't currently usually watch it.  Because half the Country already has Netflix.

So I don't care about the waiting for binge release stuff since I'm not gonna recommend a show to a Normie till I've seen at least a full season already anyway.  And I like that everything they get gets Dubbed pretty quickly.

The only thing that has been keeping Netflix Anime besides Devilman Crybaby from being the potential new entry points they could be, is the people already into Anime not doing their part of that equation.

Kakegurui was talked about by English Language Anime YouTubers when it couldn't be watched legally.  Even though one of them is a pretty Anti-Piracy.  So they expressed whatever opinions on it they wanted to express when only people who knew how could watch it, complaining about Netflix's release policy while doing so.  But then never brought it up again at all when it's Netflix release finally happened last February.

I'm tired of hearing people say Mother's Basement isn't actually on Crunchyroll's Payroll.  A traditional Payroll has never been how how one makes money on the Internet.  The fact remains it's in his interest for Crunchyroll to keep making money.

And his anti-Piracy videos saying the one exception he allows is if they're not legally selling it to you at all, I find rather disingenuous considering how he clearly counts Netflix shows in that.  If I were an anti-Piracy person, I would consider the "not legally selling it you" exception to be totally invalidated if they are promising a legal release in the near future.  If it's selfish to to pirate cause you don't wanna add subscriptions to several different sites to the bills you have to pay, it's equally selfish to pirate because you don't wanna wait a mere six months.

So his making mostly negative reviews of Kakegurui while justifying his piracy of it, while at the same time condemning any piracy of the shows Crunchyroll is selling, makes it clear he is effectively their spokesman, officially or not.

Now Kakegurui may not be the best example of a show that could have been Normie accessible.

But the fact remains, these same YouTubers will also complain about how quickly a show loses relevance, and that people don't talk about old Anime enough.  Maybe instead of being mad at Netflix for not catering to that problem, you should try to help them be a solution to it.

So if you have something to say about a show Netflix picked up, consider waiting till it's Netflix release to make that Video or Blog Post, it'd make the Analysis more informed if it's not rushed out while the show isn't done airing.

And in the meantime talk about shows already on there, both exclusive and non exclusive.  Maybe make some videos dedicated to whichever ones you think would make the best entry points and explaining why.

YouTubers keep complaining about being slaves to what's Trending on YouTube, but if you all worked together you have the ability to decide what's trending also.

I'm a fan of all the YouTubers I was just alluding to, this is a friendly constructive criticism.

The Netflix Death Note Movie

There were things good about the movie, DeFoe as Ryuk was a treat, and at some points it felt like maybe Mia has more agency then any previous woman in a Death Note story.  All the actors did well with what they were given.

The first thing that annoys me is that the point of my defense of Light being White, the reason I still think Light can only be White in any future attempt at another American set Death Note.  Was completely undermined by having him be this obvious potential school shooter.  Light is supposed to be privileged.

I had also already talked about how Death Note should be done as a series, Netfix is specializing in TV serises right now, so that makes it doubly annoying.

The first scene between Light and his Dad just had me thinking "setting it in America shouldn't mean shoehorning in American cliches".

All the characters and dynamics felt different.  Again they made Light too sympathetic.

It bugs me even that they never included a defaulting to death by Heart Attack.  Clearly these people were more interested in the excuse to do Omen/Final Destination style death scenes.

The thing is, I can forgive a lot of liberties if I feel like in some weird way it still captures the spirit or the gist of what Death Note's real appeal was.  I've even said that all things considered the Super Mario Bros movie is a good Mario movie.  It's not by the book faithful, but it's a fun wacky goofy colorful self parody with some heart to it.  That's what the best story driven Mario games are like.

The number one thing that I wanted from Death Note was a battle of wits, I wanted it to feel like two characters constantly trying to out think and out smart each others.  I wanted the tension of Light and L trying to read each other.  This movie was ultimately too rushed to ever pull that off, or seem like it was trying to.

At the very end we a get the typical "here's how he did it all" sequence.  The Death Note Anime also did that revealing it latter thing, but it still felt consistent with the character we had been following.  I felt the 2015 Light Yagami was being too stupid early on, but at least there was some build up there.

One final little thing.  Does the Death Note Anime exist in this movie's universe???  There are several reasons why it clearly doesn't.  But why else would Light Turner expect Mia to be able to see Ryuk from just touching the Death Note?  There is really no logical reason to assume that, Light in the Anime had not at all suspected that could happen before Ryuk warned him.  That scene is clearly just there to tell the audience "hey we changed this rule, for no plot relevant reason".  This is why I hate the "Show don't tell rule" because we get scenes like this that look stupid and awkward instead of just simple exposition.

I want to make new Anime Fans

And that is why I can't agree with Pedantic Romantic's opinion that Netflix is worse then Amazon.  Netflix's treatment of it's exclusives may not be the most convenient for those of us already into Anime.  But lots of people have Netflix for other reasons, so it can help grow the Anime community when I can just tell someone they already have access to a bunch of Anime.  I don't want to recommend a show to a Normie till it has at least a full season anyway.  And a newbie is going to watch them Dubbed so Digi's complaints about Netflix's subtitles aren't relevant to that either.

Meanwhile Amazon's exclusives are not only stuck behind a double pay wall, but it seems like they don't get Dubbed.  And this season they have at least one show that I think could be a good show to get people into Anime with, (I won't know for sure till it's done).

Now some people might disagree with my desire to bring in new fans.  Digibro has expressed a few times the mentality that it hurts a Niche property for it to become more mainstream, it dilutes the purity of it.  There are lots of things I could say to counter that, like how new fans are needed for something to survive at all.  But mainly the reason I can't see it that way is this.

I was incredibly late in getting into Anime.  I'm about 5 years older then Digibro, but based on when I finally got full time into Anime I might as well be 10 years younger.  That means there are at least 15 years of being an Otaku I missed out on.  Yet lots of things about me show I was an Otaku at heart all along.  I was definitely a Yuri shipper before I knew that word.

Now some Anime I was familiar with during that time.  Pokemon, Sailor Moon and DBZ were part of my childhood to varying degrees.  Then I fell in love with Noir and it's sister serieses, plus Witch Hunter Robin during the period of my life that mostly revolved around waiting for The Dark Knight.  Then after that I randomly got into Code Geass, Gundam 00 and Death Note.  Thing is, those mostly don't reflect well what my current taste in Anime is, half of them I probably only still like because of Nostalgia.  Lucky Star is now my second favorite Anime, yet I didn't watch it till the summer of 2016, when it was nearly a decade old already.

The lack of easy accessibility to Anime is the reason I missed out on it so much.  (Noir is a show I've still never watched streaming online, I found it via Digital Cable's On Demand service, and then bought the DVD.)  So I want to expand the reach of Anime so more people don't miss out like I did.  If someone gives Anime a chance and they don't like it, that's cool.  But I want to get more people to give it a chance.

The one thing Netflix needs to do to help it serve this purpose is increase it's selection.  Though I'd prefer it not make anymore exclusive.  For this season their exclusives aren't the best entry points anyway.  Fate/Apocrypha is for people already into Fate/, (but fortunately they have UFOtable's Fate/Zero and Unlimited Blade Works), and that gambling show is not exactly going to refute negative perceptions of Anime.  Doesn't mean those shows aren't good, they just aren't good places to start.

But Little Witch Academia can work, it's like Harry Potter meets My Little Pony.

Since a lot of what Netflix currently has seems to be Aniplex stuff, I feel like recommending they work with them to dub the Kara no Kyoukai films.  But I haven't seen those yet and so don't know how good of an entry point Anime they would make.

SFdebris is good proof that Madoka can make a good first impression for Anime.  It seems the only people who have a problem with Madoka are old fashioned Magical Girl fans.

For others who want to make new fans.  I'd recommenced trying to stick to legal streaming sites (like HIDIVE) to introduce people to Anime.  People who are entrenched in the community seem to underestimate just how much outsiders are not likely to be comfortable using a technically illegal site.

So for the rest of this post I want to help explain which Anime are better for introducing new people to Anime.  These "rules" aren't universal however, sometimes what I think is the worst Anime to make a first impression with may for some weirdo be exactly what gets them into it.  So keep what you personally know about a person in mind.

Try to avoid ones that engage in Anime Style Fanservice.  Doesn't mean excluding shows that are Sexy, just try to avoid ones that feel creepy.

It's also important to understand that many Americans who aren't in High School anymore don't wanna watch fiction set in High School.  (Though someone who still enjoys Spiderman or Buffy or Smallville may be an exception to that.)  That is part of why Fate/Zero is the best way to introduce someone to Fate/.

Steins;Gate is a good show to recommend to SciFi fans, as is Gundam 00.  For a Fantasy fan have them start with Nausica of The Valley of The Wind.   The original Gundam film trilogy is a good recommendation for people into Space Operas.  I wish I knew more about what Anime to recommend to people into Westerns and Neo-Westerns, the only thing in that category I've seen much of is El Cazador, and I love it but it may not be the best to get someone started with.

Noir is something good to recommend to people who are into Film Noirs, or are in general Francophiles.  Especially the kind of Francophile who buys BlackCoatPress books.  If you happen to know someone specifically into Paul Feval's The Blackcoats (Les Habits Noirs) series, recommend Noir to them and tell them that I have a fan theory that the Bouquets are related to the Bozzo-Corona clan of Corsica.

Related to that, let's talk about Lupin III for a minute.  My first exposure to Lupin III was The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, for most people I don't think that'd be the best impression to lead with, but for the kind of person who loves Noir like me it might be.  In General the two 70s Lupin movies make great introductions. So could some of the TV specials that got dubbed, of which I've seen five.  Blue Jacket, who's Dub is currently airing on Adult Swim can also be a decent enough place to start, though you may have to warn people that some key characters are unique to it.  But absolutely do NOT use any 80s Lupin work as an introduction, the 80s was the worst era for Lupin.

If you know any Pretty Little Liars fans, recommend them good Magical Girl shows like Sailor Moon, Pretty Cure, Madoka and Yuki Yuna.  Or shows like K-On.  If they are specifically a BooRadleyVanCullen type of PLL fan, then you have a potential Yuri Fanatic on your hands.  Meanwhile from what I can tell so far Princess Principal could be a very good show for PLL fans, but unfortunately it's trapped by Amazon.

Any Feminist who hasn't seen Utena yet needs to fix that immediately.

Likewise, anyone who's into Slash and/or Femslash fan fiction, is a potential Yaoi and/or Yuri fan.

Yuri is one genre where I'm not sure where to start, so much Yuri Anime has never been Dubbed. But I know you should NOT ever start with Kannazuki no Miko.  Yaoi actually has a pretty definitive entry point now with Yuri on Ice.

This October I will be a making a Halloween themed recommendations post.

I would not recommend someone start with Sword Art Online.  Which is ironic because it has already been the first for many.  I think the SAO haters wouldn't be nearly so upset by it's rather standard Anime flaws if it hadn't become one of the most mainstream Animes ever.

The thing in general about the really mainstream shows of the last 10 or 15 years, (SAO, Attack on Titan, Death Note and One Punch Man), is they have probably already brought in all the new fans they're going to, so there isn't much point to recommending them now.  If you know someone who's watched those shows and nothing else yet, perhaps you can use their opinions on those to get an idea of what to recommend them next.

Evangelion is not something to recommend to newbies, someone has to be very into Anime already to in 2017 tolerate it's many many many many many flaws.

There are two types of people who won't go to illegal streaming sites.

Digibro only seems to be aware of the smaller type.  The Hardcore Anime fans who are willing to pay for stuff just for the sake of owning it.  And who zealously care about "supporting the industry".

But there are also the potential new fans, who don't watch much Anime yet, who I think could like a lot of it but are held back by how not accessible it can be.  They won't go to the illegal streaming sites maybe partly for the moral reason, but more because they don't know how safe it is.  They don't get that while it's technicality illegal, the Government isn't going to come after the average viewer of the site, only the people running it.

I sent a KissAnime link for Steins;Gate once to a person I know who is very rebellious, who celebrates April 20th.  But there is this paranoia some people have that you can't get away with anything questionable you do online.  So they were quite iffy about using that link.  And among the Normies I know they were the most likely one to be okay with doing it via a not legal streaming site.

And while that paranoia is unfounded right now, I fear it might not be in the near future.  Especially under our current President.  And the way Congress constantly caves to the corporations over Copyright laws.  And that is part of why I very strongly believe in having all Copyright laws repealed.

So that is one of many reasons I want to support Netflix's Anime ventures on the grounds that it can bring in new fans.  New fans aren't going to watch it Subbed, my parents won't even watch Live Action movies in a foreign language with Subtitles, so they certainly won't for a cartoon.  And I'm not gonna recommend something to a newbie till a full season is complete anyway.

But ideally I want a world where every streaming site could just put all Anime up without needing permission, but still giving a cut to the creators, and the competition between them is in the quality of the service and not any having exclusive content as a safety net.

And I'm also all for the Paetron idea, that can be a part of it.

Netflix doesn't need their exclusives as much as they think they do

Or rather doesn't need them to be exclusive as much as they think.

When I look at the non-exclusive Anime they have, just the ability to actually watch these on my big Flat Screen TV is enough incentive for me to give them $10 a month rather then Crunchyroll.  Especially since Netflix does seem to consistently include the Dubs.

And looking at the non-exclusives they have more options then Amazon does.  Both have Madoka but only Netflix has Yuki Yuna is a Hero.

And it's good they have UFOtable's Fate/Zero and Unlimited Blade Works, the Animes that should be one's entry point for Fate/.  So make sure you tell all your friends with Netflix if they're interested to watch those before Fate/Apocrypha.

I wish they'd add Prisma Illya, it's appeal is very niche, but since they have Fate/ shows and Magical Girl shows, it'd be fitting to include where those two markets come together.

It seems like from what I can read on the What's on Netflix site that they have only Dubs, which may be a downside for some.  But not for me, and not for trying to introduce Anime to new people.  Which is I think the best benefit of Netflix getting in on Anime.  And Netflix waiting till a show's finished is fine in that context too, since I don't really want to fully recommend something till it's finished at least a full season anyway.

Of (non exclusive) shows on Netflix I've seen, the only one with a Dub I'd even call sub par is Girls und Panzer.   Now Glitter Force as offensive as the Americanizing can be, still has exactly the kind of voice acting I'd expect for its genre.  So if you're not a Weeb and just want a fun kid's show for your kids, Glitter Force is fine.  It'd be way better if they hadn't changed a bunch of stuff, but it's still watchable.

The thing about Amazon is it really pisses me off when they get exclusive rights to something that could be a good entry point Anime.

Some Anime are definitely better for potential newcomers then others, something like Haruhi, or Lucky Star or any Fate/ show besides Zero, shouldn't be shown to a Normie, not as their first impression of Anime anyway.  And indeed the two major Netflix exclusives of this season are not ones I'd use as a first impression either.

But Amazon has snatched up Princess Principal and Vatican Miracle Examiner, both shows I think would be of interest to a lot of non Otaku I know, people into Pulp Style stories, or Occult Conspiracy B Movie schlock.  But I doubt they are willing to pay through that double pay wall for only 1 or 2 shows that I'm willing to vouch for.

Looking at Amazon's non exclusive offerings, what's really weird is that they have Clannad After Story but not Clannad???  That makes no sense.  I know everything people remember about that Anime is from After Story (it annoys me I can't find YouTube videos about just season 1), but you still need season 1 to set everything up.

So all things considered I think Amazon is doing more damage then Netflix.  The impatience of those of us who want to make Memes week by week may make us in the short term more mad at Netflix for making us wait.  But for expanding the fanbase I wait till I've seen all of something before recommending it anyway.

So Saban is seriously doing the same thing again with Doki Doki PreCure?

All things considered I kind of enjoyed Glitter Force, mostly cause of the voice actors, they did a great job.  So I was a little disappointed when I heard they weren't gonna do the Smile Pretty Cure movie because Glitter Force didn't do well.

So Glitter Force was enough of a failure that it effected their decision making.  But they're repeating the same Americanize everything approach with Doki Doki Pretty Cure?  The Hell???

Do they just think it's Smile Pretty Cure's fault?  Well there are reasons that wasn't the best show to introduce PreCure to the west with.  Frankly I think one's introduction to PreCure should always be a season about a duo, like the original, or Suite Pretty Cure (and HeartCatch was the entry point for a lot of PreCure fans it seems, though I didn't like the art style of that one).  So Doki Doki doesn't really solve that problem, though it may be a bit more difficult to accuse it of directly copying Sailor Moon.  But regardless Smile Pretty Cure has inspired some of the best Doujins I've read, so no it's not Smile's fault.

Like I said before, the audience that might need a complete Americanization to get into it, aren't going to find it via Netflix, since kids shows isn't what Netflix is known for.  The people who care enough to pay to even be able to watch it are Weebs who are only going to be turned off by your attempts to take all the Nippon out of it.

Look Saban, Power Rangers works because it's Live Action and so the American parts of that adaptation of Sentai were filmed from the ground up with new Actors, the Japanese footage just cuts down the SFX budget.  And also in Live Action we notice when some Asian actors part of the American cast.  But it also works because it's a Nostalgic carry over from the 90s that wouldn't go over so well if it began now.  Same thing with Pokemon Dubs renaming Satoshi as Ash.

At this point it has to be partly the fault of the people who own Pretty Cure in Japan.  They continue to refuse to let us legally watch even the current show Subbed. Yet they keep letting their Dubs get butchered.  The Canadian dub of the original Futari wa Pretty Cure at least only changed the names and still seemed mostly like it was the same show as it was in Japan.

Maybe they think the existing Western Pretty Cure fans are all pirates and so the only people who'd pay for it are people who only watch American shows.  Well that is wrong, Western PreCure fans want to support the franchise legally, you just have to give us the opportunity.

Thing is I'm all for seeing the Pretty Cure formula adapted to a setting outside of Japan.  But that should be with a story and a team that's new from the ground up.  One that can be in continuity with all the Japanese Pretty Cure teams and so added to future Allstar movies.

I have a pitch in my head for a Live Action Pretty Cure show set in America or Canada.  It'd be a duo because again I think the formula works best as a duo.  One girl would be African American and the other of South Korean ancestry.  I originally imagined pitching it to ABC Family, but that's Freeform now.

Update Correction: Apparently Saban isn't doing Doki Doki Glitter Force.  That's weird.

I miss how Hulu used to be

With all the debate I'm seeing in the Anime community right now between Crunchyroll's model and the new additions of Netflix and Amazon's Anime Strike service. I just find myself remembering how much I loved Hulu not that long ago.

The majority of time I have spent streaming Anime online legally was on Hulu from 2014 to a certain point in 2016.  They ran smoothly, I could watch and even comment (via Facebook) on the video without needing an account, but was also able to make a free account so I could have a Queue and favorites.  And the ads were placed in the designed commercial break spots.  I might have complained about some small things at the time, but now I really appreciate what I no longer have.  The only real improvement they needed was even more shows to choose from.  Plus they included the Dubs just as Free as the Subs for almost everything that had Dubs, Sailor Moon and Attack on the Titan were the only exceptions there.

From when I first watched Noir till sometime in 2014 I was not an Otaku, not knowingly, I was just a Nerd who happened to have seen a few more Anime then the average American nerd.  Finding TVTropes in 2012 started increasing my Anime curiosity (since due to the Alphabet the Anime and Manga examples were first on almost every Trope's page), but I wasn't feeling too compelled to jump into all that just yet.

The hype around Sailor Moon's comeback is what first lead me to Hulu.  And from there It was on Hulu I first watched Madoka, and Utena (including the Utena movie) and The Rose of Versailles.  (A few others Animes I watched at that time I don't recall if Hulu or Funimation's website is where I watched them.)  And I re-watched Death Note and El Cazador there, I noted that they had Noir and Fujiko Mine but those I had on DVD so I didn't need Hulu for them.  And they had lots of other options.

Doing all of that mostly on Hulu was how I first got really into Anime.  Eventually to the point where I almost felt like I didn't need anything else.  How easy and convenient it was is what made it possible.

In theory everything I loved about Hulu should apply to Crunchyroll's current model.  But for me it just hasn't ran as smoothly the few times I've tried to use it.  Maybe that can be blamed on my cheap Laptop, but I used the same Laptop for Hulu.  Plus Crunchyroll frequently doesn't include Dubs, at least not for free.

But then Hulu changed.

Two things happened.  They dropped most of their Anime, the most notable thing they still have is the exclusive streaming rights to the original Sailor Moon and it's official Viz Subs (and some of the Viz Dub).  

But even worse is that a lot less, possibly nothing by now, became possible to view without a paying subscription.  I first noticed this with non Anime stuff, a few non Anime shows I'd watched there, and I had wanted to use it for Pretty Little Liars last half season so I could just not need my TV at all anymore, but then found it wouldn't be view-able for free.

Now even Sailor Moon can't be viewed without a subscription anymore.  (And I inherently don't trust Free 30 day trails, my family has gotten billed for things we canceled before.)

Some of the few shows they do have I might feel inclined to try right now, after all I should maybe look at Vampire Knight for the Halloween Recommendations post I'm working on for October.  But I don't have the ability to pay for it.

Amazon's double pay wall is people's main annoyance with it.  What bugs me though is how none of the stuff Amazon gets seem to get Dubbed, unless I've missed something, I haven't really checked all of them, but they had Vivid Strike which ain't getting Dubbed.  I'm still unclear how all the licensing stuff works.  As someone who prefers Dubs, knowing every Netflix show will get Dubbed is a major relief.

Amazon most annoys me when it gets what I feel could be a good entry point Anime.  Princess Principal could be a great Anime for the people I know who are into New Pulp stuff. But I can't expect them to pay all that money just to checkout one show.

What's funny about Netflix is how for Western Television their Binge watching model is being viewed as the wave of the future, people think the success of the Marvel Defenders shows is making this the eventual new standard. 

But for Western Anime fans it's basically the opposite, since we used to mostly not hear about shows till they were complete in Japan.  The ability to now watch shows relatively close to when they first aired, especially doing so legally, is a new experience, so going back to waiting till we have a full season to binge feels like an attempt to turn the clock backwards.

Of course that wouldn't happen if the shows weren't airing on the normal weekly model in Japan.  If the shows got made for the Binge model release to start with like Marvel's shows are, there would be no difference in how this practice is viewed for Anime and how it is for Western TV.  What annoys Western Fans is being forced to wait for something others aren't.  For centuries that was the unavoidable norm with imported media, but one of the benefits of the Internet is supposed to be tearing those walls down.

Thing is even for Western Television I think the Netflix model will turn out to be a fad. While I do want to see every show become Streamable once each episode airs.  The experience of knowing that at a certain time many other fans are watching at the exact same time you are, and being able to live tweet and post on forums and groups about it as it airs and right after.  And then spend a week speculating about what will happen next together.  Is as fun for fans of Western TV as it is for Anime fans.  I know this as someone who just finished spending 7 years as a PLL fan, and before that did TVD and Smallville.  And so in time I think the novelty of what Netflix is doing will die out.

But in the meantime I wish Netflix would focus on giving Dubs for older shows that simply didn't get Dubbed.  They tried that with "Glitter Force" but dropped the ball by Americanizing it.  This time drop Saban and try another PreCure series, like maybe Suite, and do it properly this time.  I'd also like to see Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Rose of Versailles, and La Seine No Hoshi.  And there is sure as heck a market out there for Legends of the Galactic Heroes.  Also some of the Gundam series that fell thought the dubbing cracks like Turn A Gundam.

And/or get into the business of doing New Dubs for shows where the old one is flawed, or generally hated.  Like Utena, or Higurashi, or their own failure with Smile Pretty Cure.  Also really old stuff like Space Battleship Yamato, and a number of Mecha shows.  For languages other then English, it sounds from what I hear like France deserves a do over on it's Rose of Versailles dub.

That leads me to thinking, perhaps in general the compromise should be giving us the Subbed version right away but then hyping the drop it all at once gimmick for the Dub.