An Open Letter and a VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
The 'culprit' might have been suspended, but just so we're clear.....
Greetings!
This is an open letter from the STORMY Team to YOU - Arashi fan and LJ user, STORMY Team supporter or otherwise - to address some issues circulating of late in the LJ Arashi (subbing) fandom.
The STORMY Team is composed of individuals bound by one strong tie: love for Arashi. The Team had faced some trials along the way - still is - but the Team still stands strong, tirelessly subbing Arashi videos for non-Japanese-speaking fans to enjoy.
Subbing is no easy work; it takes a lot of effort and time, which the Team does not have in abundance. We are not the best subbing group out there, but quality is important to us. We still try our damnedest to deliver.
Which leads us to the most important points.
Why the link redirects? Why the multiple passwords and the friends-locking of the LJ community? Why the use of new programs in unzipping (e.g. 7z)?
Answer: VIDEO-STREAMING.The Team (and other subbers) were very vocal against this. Yet, no matter how often we reiterate this one REQUEST, the videos are still uploaded in those sites.
The Jimusho (among other media companies) is extremely strict on the public distribution of their artists. Note how the profile pictures of an idol are omitted in official movie or drama websites even though he's the lead actor (e.g. Jun on the HYD website); or how Japanese fans block the idols' faces with emoticons or clipart whenever they post up a magazine scan on their blog; or how tons and tons of Arashi clips were taken down from Youtube.
The last thing we want is to get in any sort of trouble with the Jimusho. Best scenario: the Jimusho would simply have the videos taken off streaming sites. The worst... well. The Jimusho may track down the source of the videos, and you can imagine how it'll go from there. We ARE, after all, talking about Johnny Kitagawa.
This really isn't a conspiracy to keep fans from viewing STORMY Team subs; after all, why would we work so hard on our FREE subs, if not to share them to spread Arashi love?
The Aibakaland CB was closed down because of the assumption that the rule-breakers get the subbed files from there. In a way, that made things easier for because direct download links (e.g. MU) are now posted instead of CB links, which don't really work well for everyone.
The community is friends-locked because the Team trusts that those 'friends' abide by the single rule we have against video-streaming.
The 'multiple-passwords' is not really a problem, is it? After all, the passwords are already provided on the post itself. Be angry when the passwords aren't given.
The use of new programs (in this case, 7z) is because we deemed it a tool better suited for our purposes. It is not all that hard to download and install it, right? Compare that to the huge file size dramas you download.
STORMY Team makes money off their subs.
Now this is LOW. Imagine a mother nurturing her child and being accused of doing so simply because she wants to get paid. That's close to how it felt for the Team.
We do not get paid for our subbing efforts; everything we do is free. The Team's only incentive is the joy of working on something Arashian and knowing that some people - yes, even a single person - appreciates it.
We work hard, and all we ask for is a word of thanks and non-uploading to streaming sites. If we wanted to make money, we could have come straight out and asked for it before releasing any.
Even the Linkbucks thing is a non-issue.
Linkbucks pays 1$ per 3000 clicks per link.
Our files have usually 0-200 clicks.
Do the math.
What is one click more than the usual, just to get to the download page?
And if we're talking about making money, consider how we feel when we see bootlegs and pirated discs of our subs being sold online, and even in local shops. The Team does not get part of the profit from those. But that is already out of the Team's control. We think we speak for ALL fansub groups in this regard.
The personal bashing of individual Team members hurts the Team as a whole. We are one unit, one family. Haru started the Aibakaland forum. She formed the STORMY Team. When things became rocky and the Team kinda lost its footing for a while, she kept it together.
She's spent blood, sweat and tears for this whole endeavour, and money to maintain it. The Linkbucks return would NEVER quite cut it. Bashing her is just not fair. She deserves more. At least some respect?
Hate is such a strong word; kindly check if the Team deserves it. The accusation of the Team being entrepreneurial hurts the most. We do what we love, we love what we do. Some people don't seem to see that. Or refuse to.
To those who support the Team, abide by our few rules and openly show their appreciation for what we do, THANK YOU.
To the 'others', kindly reassess if your unnecessary negativity is helping you be a better person. If your answer is yes, good for you.
We only hope that if some people have the energy to click and write hateful things, they equally had even half of that energy to click and say THANK YOU after downloading something. That goes for ALL subbed videos by ALL subbers, not restricted to the Team.
Now that those are out of the way.....
STORMY Team's works-in-progress:
TENSEI KUNPUU DVD
Tokyo Friend Park II: Arashi Special
Marathon SP
and MOST IMPORTANT:
STORMY will be subbing the Ohno Satoshi-Ikuta Toma July drama MAOU.
Rest assured we will do our best, and look into the ways to make the viewing more pleasurable for you all.
Peace.
STORMY Team
Greetings!
This is an open letter from the STORMY Team to YOU - Arashi fan and LJ user, STORMY Team supporter or otherwise - to address some issues circulating of late in the LJ Arashi (subbing) fandom.
The STORMY Team is composed of individuals bound by one strong tie: love for Arashi. The Team had faced some trials along the way - still is - but the Team still stands strong, tirelessly subbing Arashi videos for non-Japanese-speaking fans to enjoy.
Subbing is no easy work; it takes a lot of effort and time, which the Team does not have in abundance. We are not the best subbing group out there, but quality is important to us. We still try our damnedest to deliver.
Which leads us to the most important points.
Why the link redirects? Why the multiple passwords and the friends-locking of the LJ community? Why the use of new programs in unzipping (e.g. 7z)?
Answer: VIDEO-STREAMING.The Team (and other subbers) were very vocal against this. Yet, no matter how often we reiterate this one REQUEST, the videos are still uploaded in those sites.
The Jimusho (among other media companies) is extremely strict on the public distribution of their artists. Note how the profile pictures of an idol are omitted in official movie or drama websites even though he's the lead actor (e.g. Jun on the HYD website); or how Japanese fans block the idols' faces with emoticons or clipart whenever they post up a magazine scan on their blog; or how tons and tons of Arashi clips were taken down from Youtube.
The last thing we want is to get in any sort of trouble with the Jimusho. Best scenario: the Jimusho would simply have the videos taken off streaming sites. The worst... well. The Jimusho may track down the source of the videos, and you can imagine how it'll go from there. We ARE, after all, talking about Johnny Kitagawa.
This really isn't a conspiracy to keep fans from viewing STORMY Team subs; after all, why would we work so hard on our FREE subs, if not to share them to spread Arashi love?
The Aibakaland CB was closed down because of the assumption that the rule-breakers get the subbed files from there. In a way, that made things easier for because direct download links (e.g. MU) are now posted instead of CB links, which don't really work well for everyone.
The community is friends-locked because the Team trusts that those 'friends' abide by the single rule we have against video-streaming.
The 'multiple-passwords' is not really a problem, is it? After all, the passwords are already provided on the post itself. Be angry when the passwords aren't given.
The use of new programs (in this case, 7z) is because we deemed it a tool better suited for our purposes. It is not all that hard to download and install it, right? Compare that to the huge file size dramas you download.
STORMY Team makes money off their subs.
Now this is LOW. Imagine a mother nurturing her child and being accused of doing so simply because she wants to get paid. That's close to how it felt for the Team.
We do not get paid for our subbing efforts; everything we do is free. The Team's only incentive is the joy of working on something Arashian and knowing that some people - yes, even a single person - appreciates it.
We work hard, and all we ask for is a word of thanks and non-uploading to streaming sites. If we wanted to make money, we could have come straight out and asked for it before releasing any.
Even the Linkbucks thing is a non-issue.
Linkbucks pays 1$ per 3000 clicks per link.
Our files have usually 0-200 clicks.
Do the math.
What is one click more than the usual, just to get to the download page?
And if we're talking about making money, consider how we feel when we see bootlegs and pirated discs of our subs being sold online, and even in local shops. The Team does not get part of the profit from those. But that is already out of the Team's control. We think we speak for ALL fansub groups in this regard.
The personal bashing of individual Team members hurts the Team as a whole. We are one unit, one family. Haru started the Aibakaland forum. She formed the STORMY Team. When things became rocky and the Team kinda lost its footing for a while, she kept it together.
She's spent blood, sweat and tears for this whole endeavour, and money to maintain it. The Linkbucks return would NEVER quite cut it. Bashing her is just not fair. She deserves more. At least some respect?
Hate is such a strong word; kindly check if the Team deserves it. The accusation of the Team being entrepreneurial hurts the most. We do what we love, we love what we do. Some people don't seem to see that. Or refuse to.
To those who support the Team, abide by our few rules and openly show their appreciation for what we do, THANK YOU.
To the 'others', kindly reassess if your unnecessary negativity is helping you be a better person. If your answer is yes, good for you.
We only hope that if some people have the energy to click and write hateful things, they equally had even half of that energy to click and say THANK YOU after downloading something. That goes for ALL subbed videos by ALL subbers, not restricted to the Team.
Now that those are out of the way.....
STORMY Team's works-in-progress:
TENSEI KUNPUU DVD
Tokyo Friend Park II: Arashi Special
Marathon SP
and MOST IMPORTANT:
STORMY will be subbing the Ohno Satoshi-Ikuta Toma July drama MAOU.
Rest assured we will do our best, and look into the ways to make the viewing more pleasurable for you all.
Peace.
STORMY Team