Anime has been around in Singapore for the longest time, even before my birth. However, there weren’t that many TV stations in Singapore. Due to limited air time, we didn’t always get the anime that we wanted to watch. Fans like myself had to rely on bootlegged VHS tapes (when video cassette recorders were the standard video playback platforms) and then VCDs imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
「天使になるもんっ!」 on Singapore TV
Unlike the past, it’s easier now for otakus and anime fans to get their fix. The Internet had been a key enabler. “Raw” (original, un-subtitled footage grabbed off the TV network) and also fan-subbed versions (the religious order of fan-sub circles, who would sacrifice sleep to make the Japanese dialog comprehensible to non-Japanese fans) can be downloaded for free over the Net via p2p distribution systems. If not for these freely available fan-subs, the take-up rate for anime wouldn’t have been so high among Singaporean youths.
Recently, a particular Singaporean company licensed to distribute anime conducted an Inquisition targeting those who download fan-subbed anime off the Internet. Many otakus and anime lovers fear that this would spell doom for the fan community, as their consumer choice would be limited to piss-poor quality VCDs from the Inquisitor.
Is it really the End of Days for Singaporean otakus and anime fans?
I don’t think so.
First of all, there’s always TV.
The Television Option
I wonder how many of you watch TV nowadays. These days, the local TV stations do broadcast anime as part of their regular programming. For subscribers of StarHub Cable TV, there’s several channels that plays rather up-to-date anime series.
ANIMAX
First of all, there’s ANIMAX (Channel 84). This is a channel dedicated solely to anime. It’s a dual-sound channel so you can have the option of watching it in its original Japanese soundtrack or the English-dub. I am not sure if English subs are available, but there’s Chinese sub-titles for “I’M GONNA BE AN ANGEL” 「天使になるもんっ!」 as well as an English-dub soundtrack.
The other channel that screens anime is the Taiwanese J-pop station Jet TV (Channel 57). There’s Cartoon Network (Channel 35) that comes with Toonami (that sometimes screen anime together with higher quality American cartoon that is almost as good as anime).
The DVD Option
There’s also the DVD option to get your anime fix. Nowadays, many of the video retail chains have been expanding their stock of anime DVD/VCD titles.
Licensed Anime DVD
Some of the better video retail chains, such as Laserflair, brings in licensed anime titles from US as well as Hong Kong (from Panorama Entertainment). Even music stores such as HMV, Gramophone and Music Junction also brings in anime DVD. I even spotted anime OST CDs at Music Junction too.
Besides these video retail chains, there’s also shops that specialise in anime DVDs.
Hyper Media
Hyper Media is one of such shops. This ota-shop located on the second level of Chinatown Point stocks licensed DVD from Taiwan. Compared to the Hong Kong licensed versions, the Taiwanese licensed DVDs sports nicer packaging that’s almost like the Japanese original. Some of them come with freebies such as a collector’s case, figures, posters etc. Besides video, this shop also stocks some anime-related merchandise.
There’s a couple more of such shop to my knowledge – there’s one at Queensway Shopping Centre, and another one called Sengang Video located at Rivervale Mall. However, do note that not all the stuff on display are licensed items. It’s a mix of licensed DVDs together with bootlegs, so be sure of what you’re buying.
Use the Source, dude!
But for those who want to watch the latest anime that’s fresh off the Japanese TV channels, there’s the choice of going direct to the source where fan-sub circles obtain the raw footage for sub-titling. However, many otakus who don’t understand Japanese might find it difficult to surmount the language barrier – in terms of using p2p applications with Japanese GUI.
perfect dark
There used to be just Winny and then Share, but now there’s 「perfect dark」. I’m not sure if the still-on-air will fall under the licensing scheme of the Inquisitor, or how difficult would it for its Inquisitors to break the anonymous feature of this application. But I’m sure it will be alot fun getting this p2p application to run.
Oh, and that will be another incentive for you to pick up a Japanese. And you can mention that all this activities are done in the interest of educational purposes. I infer from Andy Ho’s article “Anime downloading: An alternative perspective” in the Straits Times that “Under Singapore’s law, copying is permitted for educational and news reporting purposes (as well as other specified ones). But only an unimaginative reading of the law would conclude anime downloading is clearly illegal.”
There’s no way you can keep the anime genie back in the bottle
Having tasted the fruits from the Tree of the Knowledge of ZOMFG Anime and Teh Sux, its difficult to remain innocent and pretend that there’s no such thing as anime. The threat of lawsuits certainly does look like the flaming sword that stand between anime lovers and their passion, but that should not bar otakus and anime-fans from the Garden of Anime Eden. They just have to be smart enough to look for a bypass. Eventually, the flaming sword might get too hot for the the Cherubim to handle.
