Valkyria Chronicles Anime Episode 2

ROFL... streaming illegal fansubs on Kotaku FTW. The quality is pretty good too. I like this. BTW, Alicia is hot. That is all.

You could always use the free advertising argument, and in reality it probably really does help Valkyria sales (anime and game) by showing the anime here more than it hurts them. But then again every pirate makes that argument...

streaming video is kind of an insult to a show IMO, since the quality is always pretty low, even HD sites usually have low bitrates

Kougeru Matsuoka

Woot, piracy on Kotaku. For anime?

Thrillkiller

@akidderz: How about "better safe than sorry?" then? Last I checked even fansub groups (the responsible ones at least) aren't happy when people start throwing streaming video around the web. Showing the first episode was a mistake. Doing it again is just plain irresponsible.

taidan19

@LordCiego:

I'm not really watching since I haven't finished the game yet, but which group is making the best subs?

@Takatski: It's neither legal nor illegal. It's a gray zone, just like playing a rom on an emulator if you have the original game.

Narishma

@LordCiego: *yawn* Already watched this ep.

@Archaotic: It's the only way they know how to heal :(

Speaking as a lawyer and gamer, the legality of this is not as clear cut as many of you think. When someone takes something and changes it (by adding subtitles, translating, changing the music, editing in other clips) they MAY have created something new that can be shared. This is a very hot issue in IP law right now, but it is not a CLEAR issue.

akidderz

How about we stop complaining about the legality of this post and leave that to the lawyers. If it's as illegal as all of you are saying, the lawyers will do their job and contact Kotaku. In some weird twisted way, Sega might actually appreciate that these are being posted. It is keeping the game in the public eye, which is always a good thing. The game needs all the publicity it can get.

Hey kotaku, you need to get off the double standards and asap. So by the logic that you somehow think that it's ok to share anime that is only available in Japan, maybe you should start sharing some ds and psp rom's that are only available in Japan. I don't have any problem with piracy per se, the crime is its own punishment. But don't start bitching to people about piracy if you're doing it yourself.

SanjulaWinecor

@Stompy1: Fansubs are illegal.

Just scroll down to conclusion on this link
[www.animenewsnetwork.com]

Kintama

Anime: Proving time and time again that the best way to close out an episode of your thematic animated recreation of World War 2 is to show a bunch of chibis doing pointless menial tasks.

God damn it, Japan. At least it wasn't dancing this time.

I'm quite happy with how this has turned out so far. I think this is easily the best game to anime adaptation I've seen, and it happened for a really excellent game.

@lwelyk:
And you're proof their doing this is illegal? Distributing over the air televised programs is a huge legal gray area. For example its is entirely legal for me to videotape an over the air broadcast and send the the tape in the mail. Therefore likely emailing a a digital recording would be legal. Now does that mean hosting is illegal? Depends on civil law that is far from settled. In general if the copyright holder doesn't care (the case with the vast majority of Japanese production houses) nothing happens.

endaround

@PaxtonAstypalaea:
Its not licensed anywhere but japan, so I think its legal ^^

@Curse_Lily: See: Episode 4.

I spend 90% of that game fast forwarding through these endless scenes and now they want me to watch it without getting to shoot people when its done?

@scotty: HOW DARE WE CRITICIZE KOTAKU FOR BREAKING THE LAW!

You're right, we're clearly overreacting about Kotaku doing something illegal.

Oh crap! This is illegal! I feel dirty for watching this on my holy sacred Kotaku!

;___; It's not even licensed, but I bet it's illegal! I must express my worry!

:|

scotty

Agree with the guy above me... Those peoples deserve the moneys for making it not Kotaku... And why are they giving children guns!!!!!!! guns are expensive... Cardboard boxes filled with grenades, not so much.

pretty obviously a fansub..

deckstuff

Hey Kotaku, did you know hosting this is illegal?

Even if these are official subs, I'm pretty sure taking that and hosting it yourself is a no-no. Especially since that means no ad revenue for the company. This is like taking the Super Mario World ROM and hosting it on your site.

so, how did the bumpy issue resolve?

kitsuneconundrum

This strikes me as _completely illegal_.

The "Why Not?" still stands. I mean, the only reason for the "Not" I can see is, "Questionably legal".

PaxtonAstypalaea

I'm confused - is this legal? How's this any different from linking directly to allUC or tv-links?

Stompy1

@cornunderscore2x: Agreed, even though the show isn't getting as much viewing as the new Full Metal Alchemist, it is still great. Episode 3 was the best in my opinion, and 4 is quite funny at times. I like the voice-over for Alicia because she covers the character so well.

Since this is gaming related I'm glad to see this here.

@Curse_Lily:

Ups, I failed. :(

This was supposed to be a response to cornunderscore2x.

BarbeQueQ

@LordCiego: They may be late, but I'm all for this. An under appreciated brand like Valkyria Chronicles needs all the exposure it can get. I only hope that Kotaku doesn't get into any trouble for this.

beetnek

So, is this officially lisenced? Or are these fansubs? I've noticed that recently Funimation have taken to Not only quickly lisencing things, But also quickly translating them, AND Digitally ditributing them Online for free (Almost got through Shikabane Hime myself, and also enjoy the weekly new episodes of FMA:Brotherhood). Is this something similar? Or are you just showing off the fansubs?

PaxtonAstypalaea

I will not be please until i see more of Selvaria.

Episode 3 is already aired and fansubed, and 4 has just aired . You are two weeks late :p

@BarbeQueQ: why not?

Why?

BarbeQueQ

This needs to be a regular feature.

@KingRubberDucky:

Correction: Fansubs are indeed illegal. Primarily, they're a form of copyright infringement. However, they're in a position where the corporations turn a blind eye... to an extent. They DO help to get the word out on a show, and all that, after all. However, if the show were licensed in the near future, I'd fully expect FUNimation/Bandai/etc. to come crashing down on these, since the fansub's use is then exhausted at that point, and the licensed release should take the forefront.

Hope this clears things up!

RPGuy

@KingRubberDucky:

No it is not legal PERIOD. The "it's ok if it is not licensed" is just justification by the fans, but from the POV of the law is completely illegal as by copyright law to distribute a translation of a piece of work requires permission by the original authors/creators, which fansubs most certainly does not have (otherwise they would not be "fan"sub).

houkoholic

Why does the video seem to be running at 10 FPS :(

Wow. Awesome stuff Kotaku!

MooglesInMyFace

@BarbeQueQ: I'm assuming out of spite.

@Stompy1:

Most fansubs are illegal but IIRC, fansubbing an anime that is not licensed is fine. So if VC hasn't be licensed yet then it will not be illegal :) If it has......RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

boring anime...
and the pencil/texture style doesnt really works in an anime .. atleast thats what i think..

XVLN

Episode@Valshier: Actually, it has. After seeing the first episode and really enjoying it I watched a couple of video reviews and ordered the game straight away.

I like this anime

Jerpar

@unangbangkay:

I don't know which are the best but i'm following ayako ones.

@unangbangkay: I'd suggest anyone who didn't play the game to watch the Ayako ones because of the game notes at the end of it that gives alot of background detail.

@squirrelking101: Agreed! I'm not a particular purveyor of Anime or Fansubs, but I absolutely love the little darling that is Valkyria Chronicles, and this anime is really good too. I don't care if it's a couple of weeks late, but as long as it keeps happening, I'll be more than happy to continue watching it through Kotaku. I can't wait for an english version though, I hope the voice acting is to the same standards of the game's track.

@RPGuy: ???? WTF? Translation is illegal? Or is it the posting of the vid that is illegal?

Is there any chance Kotaku actually got permission to show this and we just don't know?

akidderz

I get a kick out of the cognitive dissonance here. Back in October, this sort of thing was a big frowny face. But for Valk, it's all cool.

Kotaku, I loves ya, I truly do, but holy crap.

Just don't get in trouble, 'kay?

MrPsycohed

MOAR!!!

trekie9001

God.....I'm trying so hard not to count the Anime Cliches, i really am but there are just too many.

Tsundere female lead
Perpetual fainting
"Princess" curls
Deus ex Machina weapon
two annoying young kids
Theme of war is BAAAAAAAAAD!

It goes on from there but I found the tropes just to annoying to ignore. The animation however is quite good.

FLYBOY611

Awesome post, I love this game and the anime now=D.

thaswizz

@cornunderscore2x:

Best anime ever. Please keep posting the episodes.

yodaman23

Why is no one talking about how much was changed?

No Martha?
Alicia's got 'tude now.
They retook Bruhl.

Wolfgang Wozniak

@Bricked:

Edit: The court said the passage WAS a public path; typo.

Bricked

@Stompy1:

Typically, as long as it's not licensed in the region it's being fansubbed, the companies usually don't care (of course there are some exceptions). So all legality issues don't mean jack if the company doesn't care enough to sue.

Actualy, the fact the companies don't care enough to sue may set a precedent that leads to fan subs being legal. In the U.S. anyway.

Consider this.
A few years back a bunch of people built their houses along the beach. These houses were so close together that the property lines met. Beach goes didn't care and just walked though people's properties to get to the beach. This went on for years before the homeowners decided to put up a fence to prevent people crossing though, essentially trespassing on the land. The people sued and won. The court basically said that the "passage" was not a public path, as the owners did jack about it. Essentially, either use your rights or lose them.

Now we got here companies turning blind eyes to copyright infringement, which has gone on for so long. Given that premise already set...

Bricked

@Curse_Lily:
I, for one, will not be pleased until we get a spinoff series starring Ted.

@[blip.tv]

@LordCiego: That Kotaku is promoting fansubs at all is incredibly commendable.

Now I just need the time to play this, first...

Ah! I even have it available in my house... no time, no time at all (except for wasting on Kotaku, apparently).

@Stompy1:

They're illegal because people paid money to make sure they're illegal.

If you don't care about those people, feel free to keep downloading and watching, because those laws are never enforced if you pirate as an individual, and laws that aren't enforced aren't laws.

The only real downside to piracy as an individual is that by not giving your money to people making products you enjoy, you screw yourself out of getting more of those products, so if you do enjoy something you pirate, buy it.

@Whyspir:

If I don't have enough money to buy a game is downloading it illegal until I can officially pay for it?

I wonder why they decided to change Welkin's character so much from the game. In the game he was the main character. In the anime they're making Alicia into the main character, and because of that they've turned Welkin into a much weaker character.

I prefer the original.

Only thing that pissed me off is Alicia at the end >__>
I've bumped into so many people in my days and I've never fallen back THAAAT easily. lol.

Also I noticed Alicia's chest looks normal now ^^~~

For the illegal and legal discussions...I look at it this way.

This is a fansub as evident by the sub groups name attatched to it during the OP...which isn't a clear cut case of legal or illegal in most parts of the world. Most companies don't seem to care one way or the other, outside of Japan, about these sort of things. Inside of Japan, the people doing the uploading can get in shit, but not the people subtitling them.

Once they're liscensed in whatever country, the owner usually, and most of the times politely, requests that whatever website takes them down, half of them don't even do that. Bleach, as far as I know, being the biggest point, not asking DB to stop (as far as I know).

Of course, it still is airing someone elses material on the internet which only probably one person has paid for, which is technically 'piracy'. Yet at the same time, other than paying for cable and whatnot in Japan is the only way to watch an episode as it comes out until it hits DVD.

That's the thing with TV show piracy, there's no real clear-cut way to go about it while a show is still constantly airing every week. We can't exactly pay for it, so is downloading it illegal until we can offically pay for it?

Love this series just light hearted enough to be the bright spot of my otherwise murky Tuesday. I look forward to the Next episode. If you have any pull with the company in charge of the game please tell them to get some damn trophies so the other half of the world will play it. Good game, Good Show, Good times~!

@Archaotic: If this wasn't based on a PS3 niche hit, not only would nobody care, but everybody would be hating on this middling show to no end.

robbo_the_hood

To all those people spewing illegalities, if the owners of the media have not already sent Kotaku an SnD from the FIRST episode it hosted/posted, I doubt that they care enough about the SECOND episode, so cut the illegal crap.

Motto No.212: It's only illegal/rule/law if you get caught.

@Narishma:
I'm pretty sure that's, also legal..

@cornunderscore2x: I agree, it's great seeing this especially after winning an art book from a giveaway Sega is holding with another site.

Kotaku are pirates too? Damn.

Keep posting these please amazing game and I actually enjoy this cuddly war torn anime.

@Laho: This isn't like gaming piracy where the only outcome is loss of possible income from the developers.

The only reason anime got a foot in US was because of fansubs. Look at Haruhi, the show never aired here but DVDs sold more in US than Japan once it got localized because of fansub exposure. Companies are not going to localize non-mainstream anime like Valkyria Chronicles without any reasonable fanbase built up, and the only way that will happen is with fansubs.

Saabu

Luke! This is totally illegal and you're a commercial website you guys shouldn't have this posted. According to stand copyright laws since this product is copyrighted in japan the fansubers have no legal right to distribute, and neither does kotaku. This kind of stuff is exactly why the domestic anime licensing and distributing isn't making the kind of money it should. You guys are totally in the wrong for doing this.

With that said.. I'm going to watch this illegal content right now

Kounji

@Narishma: No... its illegal. Its always illegal. There is no gray zone. However, no one is actually going to go after them for legal issues.

Are we going to start this drama every time?

This is an argument that has been going on for over 20 years and is not worth it any more. Don't waste your breath.

@Laho:

Consider this...
Satelite isn't releasing Macross Frontier in NA. So NA based fansub groups go and make an English sub. Not only does Satelite get their ratings in Japan, but they get an audience in NA with no cost to them. Merchandise like model kits come out, people in Japan buy them, but then they get the additional customers in NA buying them too. In the end they get MORE consumers since they're getting an additional NA audience on top of the domestic audience, an additional audience that they paid not a penny in marketing for, and because they never intended to release in NA anyway, they're not losing money because of it.

So really, if the show in question was never released outside Japan, is anyone really getting screwed over by fan subbers?

Bricked

Seriously, how are Kotaku legally posting this? If they have a distribution agreement with Aniplex, I'd certainly be interested in hearing more about it. If they're posting it illegally, color me shocked that a C&D letter hasn't materialized yet.

Mike Toole

@Laho: The difference in those cases is one of availability.
While you can't afford the game, it is available to you for consumption.
In the case with anime, people outside of Japan will most like not get access to Japanese domestic TV and as such will not be able to watch it as it is being aired.
Also, until an anime have been licensed, there is the possibility that it will never be released outside of Japan.

... So we can sleep at night, let's just call it "Questionably Legal", that way we just suffer a few light nightmares. Also, let's hope whoever does license it, have it to stream online to watch for free, like Funimation likes to do these days. Hey Kotaku, ever considered licensing the Anime outside of Japan, to make this fully legal? Go on.... (and yes, I know Kotaku almost certainly can't afford to do that, it was a half joke. Since, if they did, that would be awesome, and I would Buy every episode too, as well as watching it online.)

PaxtonAstypalaea

This episode was too emotional but still pretty good. Most of the characters look very similar to the game....except Larkin...why? Also why does Alicia have huge boobs and a mini skirt it kept feeling like this was the start of a hentai tv show. Perhaps only horny teenagers watch anime in japan unlike older people in the USA.

@cornunderscore2x:

X2

:-D

Resev