in the name of the pharaoh | by ravegrl

Misc. News: A Message from 4Kids III; YGO: TAS Revver MOVs

Kaiba — definitely not a nameless cubicle office guy.

Another day, another message from the Nameless Cubicle Office Guy on 4Kids’ YouTube channel. Here are the Yu-Gi-Oh!-related announcements that went up on their comments section yesterday:

Hey – THX for the new subs & friends. Please SUBSCRIBE TO US AND ADD US A FRIEND. New episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! DM are coming soon. THX again for all the comments and suggestions! This week we’re going to respond to a few questions that were brought up repeatedly and directly to other topics. Don’t get mad if we don’t respond directly to everyone. Here goes:

1. We will continue to add more Yu-Gi-Oh! DM in both Japanese & US versions as we get them digitized and encoded on an ongoing basis. We have other studio work that takes priority – please be patient and SUBSCRIBE so you know when we do add new stuff. But it is coming soon.

2. WE’D LOVE to release Sonic X (and other titles for that matter) in its original Japanese form with and without English subtitles that are faithfully translated. Whether we can do this will be based on the response here and elsewhere on the interwebs to the 4K channel. Here’s a response verbatim sent to two users this week when they asked what can they do to get SonicX on YT in it’s original form (and applies to other titles as well):

2. Continued “Here’s what it will take:
*Watch what we post – watch it early and often. Then watch it some more. Get your friends to do the same. Repeat.
*Comments and suggestions are nice but not essential.
*Subscribe and friend the channel on YouTube.
*Embed videos, playlist & the channel on your blog or website.
*Write about the channel and shows on message boards, comments sections, etc. Link to the channel, playlists and videos. Do it some more. Repeat.
*Watch at http://www.4KidsTV.com & on the CW on Saturday mornings.”
In short WATCH, SUBSCRIBE, FRIEND US, SPREAD THE WORD!

[…]

6. US only restrictions are unfortunately the only way we could roll with Yu-Gi-Oh! original episodes on YT and other cool stuff we have planned. It is a VERY DIFFICULT SITUATION with all forms of entertainment and the interwebs. If you want to read more about the challenges facing everyone, copy the following link and read: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/business/media/23warner.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=youtube&st=Search

[…]

8. We want to release Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncut versions on YT once they are digitized and encoded. Be patient as the queue is long. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

As you can see, both here and in previous messages, 4Kids is really emphasizing the importance of watching their shows and being actively involved with their YouTube channel. Yes, it’s very likely that the reason for this emphasis is that they want their shows to have viewers so that they can make money.

But, another possible reason is that the future of their Yu-Gi-Oh!-uploading project is dependent on the amount of support that they get from the fans. If many people subscribe to their channel and watch, comment on, discuss, and embed the Japanese videos, there will be a greater incentive for them to continue this project. They may even be able to expand on the project (for example, by adding subtitles to the videos). Greater support from the fans means that the folks working on this uploading project can go to their higher-ups and tell them that the project is successful, that fans want to see more of this, and that it isn’t a waste of time and money to be investing in it.

If there’s no support, this project could end at any time. One viewer, cohenmarioman, wrote this on 4Kids’ channel:

“Don’t worry about SonicX. Just keep on with the Yugioh episodes. And possibly release episodes from season 2, rather than season 1, due to higher intensity of action. THX”

And 4Kids responded with this:

“cohenmarioman: we would like to keep this EXPERIMENT going – see #2 above”

As you can see, 4Kids is calling this uploading project an “experiment.” It’s all the more reason to believe that they may stop doing it if there isn’t any support from the fans. So let’s continue to support them!

Moving to a slightly unrelated topic, for those of you who are wondering what sort of subtitles the Japanese videos would have (if they were to be added), 4Kids has provided us with a possible answer. A comment left by YoukaiRin on 4Kids’ channel asked the following question:

“If these Subtitles do ever materialize, will we be watching the Adventures of Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Tea, or will they be correct subtitles and will we be watching the Adventures of Yugi, Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu?”

4Kids responded with:

YoukaiRin: we don’t know at this time but if they did, we’d push for faithful translations using the original character names

This, of course, is no guarantee, but it at least provides us with some comfort that the folks working on this project are looking out for the fans who want accurate subs. All the more reason we should support them!

Revver causes headaches.

Finally tonight, I’d like to point out that a MOV version of YGO: TAS, episode 36 — “The Man Who Would Be Steve” — is now available hosted on Revver. As usual, you can grab it from my YGO: TAS page.

Little Kuriboh noted in the comments of his YouTube channel that the delay in getting his videos onto the YGO: TAS Revver account has been due to technical problems. “Revver’s having major issues. No videos are going through,” he said. (If you are looking for this comment on his channel, you’ll have to dig deep. It’s two days old. :P) Thanks for the update, LK. We hope to see more videos on Revver soon!