The Old School Otaku Lounge

I figured this might be the best forum for this. I haven't seen the service, Daisuki.net, get a whole lot of coverage yet but I was wondering if anyone else might be checking them out? Their library has a diverse selection of older and newer stuff, so this audience might be one of the better places to discuss.

The site: https://www.daisuki.net/
Interview from ANNCast with a member of their International Business Development team: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/anncast/2013-05-17

The scoop

Daisuki.net is an online streaming site that acts in partnership with content providers (current list: Toei, Sunrise, Aniplex, TMS and NAS) to provide Japanese streaming anime outside of Japan. Unlike a service like Cruncyroll based in the US which can (or has, I supposed) negotiate licenses for the US and must block other contents, Daisuki is based in Japan and apparently does not block content on a country-scale approach. What else makes them different from any number of legal or illegal streaming sites? Not only do they act as a service provider to content creators and have some advertising on their site (none during video play, as I can recall) but they also link to official merch that you can purchase.

The rub

All in all, the product and presentation are great. However, instances of their selection have left some questions and areas of desire. My biggest complaint so far is the mixed bag of content available. Content comes directly from providers, so whatever the providers give them gets streamed. I suppose it was bound to happen and hopefully Daisuki can correct it in the future. For instance, Toei is one of the founding partners and they are streaming both One Piece (currently on episode 23) and Dragonball Z (also at 23). For nostalgia value, I've checked out a couple of the Dragonaball Z episodes. Fully uncut, broadcast quality product. Japanese themes, title cards, good subs. Awesome, everything I wanted that FUNimation took a decade to bring me! So, I decided to check out something else - TMS has Lupin TV 2 on there! So I queue that up and start watching and I see the old Geneon title card tossed in there. Weird. And the episode title card is the old Geneon one. Show ends up being dubbed in English only and it's that wacky dub they ran on Adult Swim with all of the (at the time) current joke replacements. Huh. Ok. Move on to Sunrise's page - oh look, Zeta Gundam. Fearing the worst, it came out as not bad. Episodes are JP dialog with English subs but all of the issues reported with Bandai's DVD releases - namely no original OP or ED themes - are present on the stream. Gundam ZZ is also up now and it doesn't seem to have anything immediately wrong with it. Any of the new simulcasts, like Kill La Kill, probably aren't going to have these issues because they're too new for a foreign adaptation but I've also not checked into comparing one stream to another.

So, I know every license is different and everything needs its own contract but I am wondering if the anime studios are shooting themselves in the foot with content like this - to me, serving up an unedited Lupin III or Zeta Gundam would put my eyeballs on a page and in the store, rather than going onto eBay and buying second hand LDs. Maybe the old license contracts are in force still and these companies have to serve up this content as opposed to the other content? Either way, I hope that Daisuki will eventually be able to move away from this content in favor of a more unedited model working directly with content studios.

Anyone else have any thoughts/opinions? Anyone besides me watching anything on Daisuki.net? Any store experiences? I've looked through all of the merchandise and only a couple figures interest me - and it's pretty much only figures; would like to see them diversify a bit if they could.

I imagine it must be blocked here in Japan. I'll give it a look, though. Seeing Lupin dubbed must be disappointing, but ZZ Gundam subbed is pretty great! So does Zeta Gundam have the original theme song, or does it feature the orchestral introduction that the domestic DVDs had?

To be honest I haven't watched anything on Daisuki. Of all the streaming sites, it has the least interesting titles imo. But another problem is that my computer isn't strong enough to stream the shows on it either.

I tried the website, but all I got was some company information in Japanese and a couple of Acrobat documents to view. That must be all that's available here in Japan.

I like Daisuki but it does have some problems...the biggest one being the site's overall design and navigation could use some work. I'm pretty sure that someone in Japan was probably in charge of it, because it feels a lot like Nico Nico Douga in some ways--but NND isn't a popular website outside of Japan, so it can seem muddled and/or confusing at times. (Not to mention pretty plain and boring...not to say sites like Crunchyroll are amazing from a design standpoint, but they make a little more sense, at least.)

Another problem is that when Daisuki was first announced, they claimed everything on it would be available world-wide, to anyone in any country. Obviously, that didn't really happen. Probably too much red-tape with contracts and all, which is understandable, but they shouldn't have made claims like that if they couldn't back it up 100%. :/ I know some titles ARE available to many countries, but others aren't, so it's kinda weird.

And my final issue is that the stream of Gundam Seed HD is...not streamed in HD. Not that I'd watch that, ever, but c'mon guys. Don't call it HD if you can't stream it in HD. (I know there are probably animation differences between the original and this one so they're probably obligated to call it as such, but still...the fact that it isn't in HD still amuses and frustrates.)

Other than that, I'm grateful it exists! The fact that I can watch the new ep of Kill la Kill right away without having to wait for episodes to drop to "free" status on Crunchyroll is pretty great. And the fact that they have Gundam ZZ is awesome, though I haven't started watching it yet. (And yes--if I recall, the theme for Zeta Gundam is the instrumental, like on the DVDs.) I've mentioned this on the Anime Nostalgia blog, but they also have a Youtube account: http://www.youtube.com/user/DAISUKI with some of their titles in playlists for easy viewing options. So if you prefer YT, that's a nice option.

greg wrote: I tried the website, but all I got was some company information in Japanese and a couple of Acrobat documents to view. That must be all that's available here in Japan.

Yeah - I can't say that I am surprised that you can't reach it in Japan, as I believe it is intended as a way for foreign audiences to get access to anime straight from Japan. When I heard the interview with Zac on ANNCast, I guess I automatically assumed when I heard "everything available world-wide", I figured they meant (except Japan).

Care to post some screenshots? I am afraid that I'm too lazy to search for a VPN service that allows me to select countries upon connection so I could see what's up.

usamimi wrote: Another problem is that when Daisuki was first announced, they claimed everything on it would be available world-wide, to anyone in any country. Obviously, that didn't really happen. Probably too much red-tape with contracts and all, which is understandable, but they shouldn't have made claims like that if they couldn't back it up 100%. :/ I know some titles ARE available to many countries, but others aren't, so it's kinda weird.

It's unfortunate that when it comes to media content everything turns into a pissing contest about who gets what and what needs licenses and all that jazz. I'd think I have an idea how to get past a lot of that and try to get content providers on board but I'd still like to get a POC and file that patent first

But, as stupid as it is, when it comes to streaming media content over the Internet, we're still at all of the content provider's mercy (and I guess all of the "pirates" on YouTube).

greg wrote:So does Zeta Gundam have the original theme song, or does it feature the orchestral introduction that the domestic DVDs had?

Yes - OP and ED themes for Zeta are the orchestral versions from the DVDs. Sequences are also the same with all of the original text, save for the title, wiped and replaced with English. The music issue was really my only qualms with the DVDs (and I completely understand because it's a contractual issue between Sunrise/Bandai and Neil Fucking Sedaka) but I guess I was a little more vague because a lot of the weeb audience at the time had problems with the subtitling, claiming the show was 'dubtitled'.

I will admit that legit streams of ZZ are kinda hot. Can't wait until they get later in the series when the show stops being Mobile Suit Scooby Doo and more of the UC I know and love.

I think D or somebody recommended a good VPN to use. I haven't gotten around to creating an account. Actually, last night I signed up for cable TV here in Japan. Since I moved back here nearly 2 years ago, we've just been watching DVDs. I will soon have both Animax and Kid's Station! Kid's station just shows stuff like Hello Kitty and Anpanman during the day, but then in the evening they'll show stuff like UY and later at night they'll show stuff like LOGH, GS Mikami, or Dirty Pair. Can't wait!

Drew_Sutton wrote:I will admit that legit streams of ZZ are kinda hot. Can't wait until they get later in the series when the show stops being Mobile Suit Scooby Doo and more of the UC I know and love.

Ha! I know what you mean. ZZ is nothing but wacky hijinks (except for the part when that crazy SOB Titan guy kills everyone's friend who was a bridge crew on the Argama) for the first 18 episodes or so until a mobile suit crash lands on Judau's sister. Then it's a straight Gundam show, through and through! I haven't seen it since '06 or so, but my wife and I still sometimes sing "Anime janai! Anime janai! Honto no koto sa!" to each other (or invent our own lyrics).

I bought Cyberghost for $7 a year. Had nothing to lose but if you are using a computer, you can use the Hola addon for Chrome that let's you select different countries. That works remarkably well...

greg wrote:Kid's station just shows stuff like Hello Kitty and Anpanman during the day, but then in the evening they'll show stuff like UY and later at night they'll show stuff like LOGH, GS Mikami, or Dirty Pair. Can't wait!

wow, that sounds awesome!

Just bought an account with SlickVPN for Black Friday at $20 per year with connections in 37 countries. Normal price is $75 so that was a steal. I hate Geoblocking but several governments including the US and Canada want to make it illegal for their citizens to surf anonymously or get around regional restrictions. For now, we are safe but tomorrow? Who knows...