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The Community: Editorials: Popularity
Popularity
written by the unkown soul
Recently, there was been a lot of turmoil in the Dragonball Web Community. More than the usual fare. Sadly, the webmasters of some of the more popular DBZ websites, namely, Planet Namek, DaizenshuuEX, Temple 'O Trunks, and so on. Fans of these once highly revered sites now call the webmasters sell-outs and traitors. The webmasters are left puzzled as to why their former fans feel this way.
Obviously, these sites aren't quite the same as they used to be. Just one year ago, any random visitor on any random day could find their fair share of negativity towards Funimation, our beloved dubbers of Dragonball Z. Nowadays, that negativity is hard to find. The webmasters all have various different reasons as to why they aren't actively participating in Funi-bashing anymore. Yet, as they claim, they haven't sold out, which would lead one to believe that they still view the dub in more or less the same light that they did just a short while ago.
And so now, we have this group called the DBZOA, which is devoted to the principles that most otakus have held since day one of DBZ's dubbing. Yet, if you were to take a look at the list of website members for this group, you won't find any of the aforementioned sites on it. I wonder why that is?
We know that these sites are all for alliances. Well, at least the Anti-Ep Alliance anyway. Ah, this is yet another something that these poor, troubled webmasters have recieved a lot of flack for. And while we could debate the legal issues of full episodes all day long, I'm sure that most of you realize that Anti-Ep had nothing to do with the law, or Funimation's sales.
You have these high profile DB web sites, which have gained their popularity through years of hard work and consistency. You cannot say that they haven't worked hard to get where they are today, that's for sure. However, there was another type of site gaining rapid popularity - the full episode sites. While there were exceptions, for the most part, these sites were rather bland - uninspired designs, lack of content, poor organization. Aside from the full episodes, these sites had nothing going for them. Yet, because of the full eps, they were getting popular, fast. They were getting just as popular as the mainstream sites, if not more than. You have to believe this urked the mainstream webmasters just a little bit. Years of blood, sweat, and tears were being rivaled by a handful of real video files.
So of course, they wanted to put a stop to it. Using the illegal clause of full episodes, they decided to get rid of these so called crap sites, and they did so through Anti-Ep. I don't think anyone can really blame the mainstream webmasters for feeling the way they did, or wanting to get rid of these sites. Most of the bad publicity of the situation comes from trying to make Anti-Ep appear to be something it wasn't - out to get rid of something horribly illegal and immoral, and help out Funimation in the process. Anti-Ep was simply a collaboration, an orcestrated movement to get rid of the shady competition. These mainstream webmasters were looking out for themselves.
And they continue to look out for themselves to this very day. Those who fling the "sell-out" accusation say that these webmasters aren't bashing Funimation nearly as much as they used to. They shouldn't feel threatened by that, because these webmasters are just trying to protect themselves and their sites. We all know that Dragonball Z has a huge following in America - any regular visitor to Planet Namek's main page can tell you that DBZ has consistently been in the Lycos top 3 for a while now. We also all know that most of these fans are rather ignorant to the whole situation. They simply watch the show on the Cartoon Network. They have no idea of the changes that have been made to the very core of the show. They probably never have, and never will see, the Japanese original. With DBZ's American success, so too, these mainstream websites popularities have soared. Mainly from the uninformed, American fans of the show. When these uninformed fans jump on the internet, the last thing they want to see is a website that complains about the show they love. So, in the interest of their websites, it's best to curb the complaining. Just don't say much about it. In fact, make sure to point out all the good that happens, as rare as that may be. Keep those uninformed fans happy - they don't want to hear our whining. And keep your website popular in the process.
To explain to their former otaku friends the reasoning behind this sudden change, it's best to say "I don't care about dubs." or, better yet, "I don't care about Dragonball at all. I've lost interest." Although personally, I find a statement such as that perplexing, coming from someone who runs a popular Dragonball website, which must require a certain amount of time, effort, and committment. Not to mention that that certain someone regularly purchases and reviews the DVD release of Dragonball Z, the series he doesn't care about. And he comes to message boards to defend himself when he is attacked, about his views on the series he no longer cares about. Way to not care!
Although, one might guess that Funimation's surprising presence on the web may also play a small role in the change. It was probably pretty easy to run your mouth about someone when you didn't think they were looking. But, after encounters with the likes of Monika Antonelli, Sean Schemmel, and even Chris Sabat, among others, we now know that Funimation is aware of these mainstream websites, and they are watching. Perhaps the webmasters just don't want to be as harsh, now that their opposition is face to face. It's understandable, really.
So, in short, you shouldn't feel so personally threatened by the new stances of the webmasters of the sites you used to love. It isn't about you. Not at all. No, it's about protecting themselves, and their websites. They're really popular now. They want to remain popular, and constantly bashing Funimation as they used to simply won't cut it. No, the way to appease the uninformed masses is with consistant, mindless Funimation updates - where the CCG is going next, how well DBZ is doing on the Lycos 50, Funimation's VHS release schedule, etcetera. If that's a bit hard to do, then consistent praise of the DVD's should make up for it - although they are recognized to be below the industry average on all factors, and even some of the translations, which are hailed as godly, are questionable.
In the end, it is nothing more than a popularity contest, and you poor otaku have been shafted because of it. These webmasters have reached the limelight, and they're going to live it up the best they can. You otaku are just the uncool friend that the new quarterback or the head cheerleader simply cannot be seen with anymore. Just remember the good times you had, and move on. Because you don't need them, you can do better, and after graduation, no one will remember them anyway.
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