All the cool effects, honorifics, translator notes that explain references that you might miss as non-japanese viewer… Whoever put this much effort for free more than 10 years ago, thank you! It was so refreshing seeing this in the era of corporate sloppy subtitles!
I’m not really saying that all fansubs were perfect or that the “do for free” model is good. I only miss the passion that nowadays is just less common now than it was back in the day.
That’s a very good way to put it. I’m pushing 50 and have watched anime since my earliest childhood. When thinking back on how the community has changed over the years, it’s not recognizable anymore. And the passion and energy the community has lost is probably the biggest contributor why it feels so empty now. The second biggest contributor is how commercialized it has become. Third would be that it reached the mainstream (though I personally group this together with #2).
My MAL profile says I joined the community in 2019 but I did watch a few shows before that. I did a little time travel to the 2000s when I only watched shows from those years and I honestly felt back then like I was in 2006. I couldn’t yet appreciate everything though. There were so many things I missed. When I go back now to watch some of those older shows I have this warm feeling of nostalgia. I dream about waking up to those days with all the appreciation and understanding I have now… But still I think I can’t say all the passion went away. Sure subs are terrible, but scanlations are awesome, sure there are a lot of trash shows but there are also shows like Frieren that are products of passion. Akihabara is still alive and well. Comiket also is as big as ever.
What I want to say is that I don’t think there’s no passion anymore, just that certain parts of industry become soulless husks of themselves.