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It all started with illegal anime downloads. As internet technology developed to allow online video sharing, fans of Japanese anime did much the same thing that music fans had done a few years earlier, which was to start sharing videos of anime episodes with each other, or post them on fan sites for others to watch. It just took a few people to buy an anime DVD, and hardly anybody else really had to, because episodes could be posted for anyone to watch online for free. Anime distribution companies began worrying about their bottom line.

Things came to a head over these illegal downloads of anime files early in 2008. Two of the biggest companies, Bandai Entertainment and FUNimation Entertainment announced that they planned to take the same hard, heavy-handed line the music industry had done, suing almost everybody who moved. Many in the industry were uneasy, worrying that by essentially attacking their own fans, the creators and distributors of Japanese animation could cut their own throats. Surely there had to be a more moderate approach.

The first hint of that approach came when GDH/Gonzo, another big anime creator and distributor, began dealing with illegal anime downloads rather differently. They didn’t fight the trend; they joined it by buying a stake in a fan website called Crunchyroll. Gonzo began donating series so that fans could watch anime episodes free. However, the free video streams were of lesser quality than the same episodes in a form that fans could download to own for a small price. In this way, fans could get some of what they had wanted all along, but the anime distributor could also benefit. And this was done without anyone needing to launch law suits against anyone else.

It’s possible that FUNimation had been planning something similar all along, as a partial answer to illegal anime downloads. At any rate, it wasn’t long until this company set up a video portal featuring a huge range of free anime online, also with a download-to-own option. By giving a nod to fans, the majority of whom probably downloaded episodes illegally because they were young and simply couldn’t afford to buy every series out there, it’s possible that the big distributors saved their relations with their own fans but also mitigated a potentially disastrous financial situation. Some kinks are still being worked out in this relationship, but it appears the moderate route was indeed the wisest choice.

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