I read comics religiously as a child until

they killed Superman, then brought him back

a year later in the mid-90's. It was like, what the

hell, doesn't this crap ever move on? Are they all

trapped like that guy in Groundhog Day but dressed

for a pride parade?

I ignored comics until I saw a pirated video of

the Japanese cartoon, Berserk; I was surprised to find

out that it was based on a japanese comic book, and

that they too were put up for free on the

internet.

At this time I thought the people copying

the books and posting them were actually the

people creating them. I had moderate birth trauma

so that makes me a little slow on certain things.

Free comics on my computer! No more dodging

fatbeards at the Virgin Megastore to read for free!

I was amazed at how such talented artists could give

away all their stuff for nothing; maybe japan had free

rent and food. The grammar and typesetting were horrible

but I gave them a pass since I thought they were putting

all their effort into drawing free comics for me.

Then, one day, to my horror, I read about a court

case brought by an actual manga artist, Go Nagai, against

people who were putting his books on the internet. I put

two and two together and my world fell down around me.

What I felt responsible for was not stealing - the guys

who photocopy the mangas and post them did that - but

for participating in a one sided and racist cultural exchange.

In the back of my mind I still believe it is easier to steal

japanese media because to the average american consumer,

and even alot of the "Japanophiles", the japanese aren't

people, they are something you read funny stories about on

the internet, or they are the extras in your latest favorited

youtube video about cats.

When you dehumanize a people and their culture into

a novelty, it is easy to abuse their rights. Or bomb them

with Predators. Or travel to their country and make complete asses

out of yourselves on their mass transit. (search youtube for

Gaijin train, the video that made me want to develop

ethnospecific bioweapons targetted at white trustafarians)

Online theft has gotten so astronomically worse for

Japanese media lately that for the first time, the entire

cultural export of a nation may be effectively demonetized.

Maybe its a conspiracy by hollywood to stamp out competition?

If it is, it has worked flawlessly.And please don't try talking sense

to the downloaders; who would admit fault when getting

something for nothing? In a few years there won't be much worth

stealing.

So what I'm doing is trying to prove that America is not

just a 'taker' - that, clumsy and inept as it may be, there are

some here who actually want to give back in some creative way

to the people who took the time to entertain us. Then again most

of the stuff coming out of Japan is hideous garbage so it is

possible I'm just wasting my time.