Is YouTube Helping or Hurting Anime?
When YouTube was first getting popular, I remember joking with my brother that anything you needed to watch was on YouTube. Whenever someone did something amazing in the world it’s up on YouTube in what seems like a matter of seconds for the whole world to enjoy. The internet has come a long way in being able to provide entertainment and enjoyment instantaneously. When I was younger, I was a big fan of anime and especially of Dragon Ball Z. The show was being released slowly but surely in the US, but the Japanese version of the show had already been completed for some time. My brothers and I could not wait to see the fights that were to come and to see what would happen to our most beloved characters. So we took to the internet to find clips and videos of the show in its original Japanese state.
To our surprise we were able to find some clips, but the problem was that the sites were so unreliable and our internet so slow that it would take forever to try to download the videos to watch, so it often wasn’t even worth it. Now though, it’s as easy as tying ones shoe. You can go on YouTube, or other anime offering sites, , including sites like Solarmovie,and watch anime for free. Not only can you watch it for free, but there are videos that are dedicated to only showing the highlights of the episodes that we all love. So this can’t help but beg the question: Does YouTube hurt anime or is it helping it?
I must say that as a consumer as myself, I find it very helpful that I have instant access to the anime that I love and can watch it anytime. I love the fighting scenes that are offered in many of the anime that I watch and I like that I can go on YouTube and watch only those particular scenes. On the flip side, the company that created the anime might be getting a bit ripped off because they have intended that I watch the whole show and not just the parts I enjoy. Some could argue that it takes away from the storyline and the attachment that one gets to the characters of the show when you just watch it on YouTube. Each side has some pros and cons and I admit that I prefer watching shows in their entirety. Like the argument of music streaming sites out there having potentially hurt the music industry, it can easily be said that being able to watch so anime so easily and for free could have eventual damaging impacts on the anime industry.