As disposable income decreases for anime fans across the country, it becomes increasingly tempting to resort to alternative, less legitimate methods of obtaining our fix. This hurts an industry which is trying its best to stay alive in an increasingly volatile environment, but ultimately a person with no money to spend on entertainment will choose free entertainment over no entertainment. It’s an absurd level of Catch-22, with both and neither side to blame.

Anime companies want to take as much of our money as possible, and it’s only fair that they do so. I may often say that “I want to support the shows that I like,” but I also know that in the end, no matter how friendly the higher-ups and the employees are, a business is a business. Anime companies want to maximize their profits, but we fans have limits on how much money we’re willing to spend, especially as of late. The issue then becomes finding an amount that’s agreeable to both sides.

I know this sounds incredibly obvious, but we’ve seen at least one company (Bandai Visual) eat dirt because it didn’t even consider compromise.