this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
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I'd imagine this is a non-starter from a corporate standpoint. I know if I were in charge I'd be terrified of the idea of just trusting community-submitted subtitles to not have random slurs or something inserted. That said I still think it would be super cool if they'd let people source and use their own subtitle files; I now it's possible because I have a tampermonkey script that lets me do just that.
That’s the core of the issue, crunchy roll has sat its self as a corporate middleman, buying the rights to distribute shows and then charging consumers a subscription for access.
But they can’t be bothered to do the only actual damn work their position would realistically demand, beyond renting server space; providing translations for the foreign media they’re distributing.
That’s without even discussing the fact that not a single penny users give them will end up in the hands of any of the exploited artists who actually made the shows, since the industry doesn’t work on residuals or any other kind of profit sharing, the licensing fees crunchy roll pays essentially going straight to financiers.
That's quite the assertion. How exactly do you suggest they're buying the rights to distribute the shows then?
They’re buying them from production committees and other such organizations. Most anime is made on essentially “commission” basis, where a studio is payed a fixed upfront amount by a group of financiers and other interests, who then distribute the show, sell the merch, and license it internationally. Essentially studios and those who work there are payed no residuals or other profit sharing scheme like is common in the American film and television industry.
There is actually a bit of a cartel in that regard, with the third parties that purchase shows from studios having collaborated to suppress the cost of seasons for nearly 2 decades, leading to stagnant wages and rampant overworking of artists as the quality and quantity of work expected increases while the budget stays the same. Increasingly artists at the companies have had to fall back on gig work beyond their standard hours to make ends meet, getting payed by frame in their off hours to make a little extra money, effectively working 16 hour days through this additional work. There is some movement to change this as of late, but, this is still essentially the norm.
Yes, but do you think they'd buy the shows from those production committees and other organizations if people weren't interested in paying subscriptions to watch them? That's like saying Bandai doesn't get money when I buy gunpla from a store like usagunplastore just because usagunplastore already bought the gunpla from Bandai months ago and Bandai isn't getting more money from that particular purchase.
Animators being horribly underpaid is a different topic entirely.
The people who actually made the show, animators, voice actors, and writers do not get money based on your crunchy rolls subscription, and those production committees that do get money, didn’t make the shows, they just initially financed them.
Assuming the show is based on a manga or light novel, the original artist/writer might if they were lucky enough to negotiate shares in the production committee, but most are not in a position to do so.
For me, what matters, is that the people who made the art get compensated fairly, that they are able to live a good life. That people are encouraged to make art by my consumption of it, and the current system doesn’t do that. It’s a horrific exploitative machine where purchase reward further exploitation of the people who actually put work and effort in to make the art.
I don't think there's an industry on earth where it's normal for the low-level workers to be paid directly when the customer buys something. It being filtered through a bunch of business stuff is the norm everywhere I'm afraid.
Residuals are standard in the American film/TV industry. They are paid a percent of ongoing profits of previous projects they’ve worked on.
Another fairly common practice is ESOPs where over time workers at a company receive shares in the company, and thus dividends.
You left out the part of the sentence where they actually answer your question.
So pirate the shit and use whatever subtitles you want.