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sumireblossom · 2 years

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For a second I forgot I was a communist radical. I wanna write this to the Fandom because while scrolling I’ve been seeing some behavior.

While going on a binge for a few days into the Takarazuka community I gotta say,

“You should support the actors“

I like Takarazuka, unfortunately I don’t have the time/money to learn Japanese and then fly to Japan to watch a play. I live in a country where buying groceries and paying rent is the reality to most people’s salaries. I go out 3x a month because I literally don’t have the cash for it. Spending that much money to support something I like as a hobbie isn’t realistic, would I liek to, of course, it would be amazing no learn a new language and travel to another country, but guess what the great majority of the world’s population will never leave their state.

“oh you can buy the DVDs“

There’s such a thing as currency in the world and while some of you in Europe and The USofA have currency that has power over others most of us don’t. I buy k-pop albums, do you wanna know how? A big group of us get together months in advanced and buy them in bulk or else we’d never be able to afford it, and it’s a rarity. The exchange cost alone of one DVD is almost 20% of my monthly salary that’s without factoring in shipping costs which are almost the same price as the DVD, so almost half my salary.

“we stream them so you can watch it then“

So the expression time is money is a lot more literal than you’d think. First y’all love to gatekeep so there’s no easy way to be a part of anything. Second once again we have to come outside our bubble, not every one lives in your time zone not only that some of us have work hours we can’t just leave.

I’m not telling you what to do, or that you should just post all you have for free or any of that. I’m saying next time you see someone looking to consume these things, don’t be a classist and just think of the possibility that

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sumireblossom · 2 years

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Regarding the use of my subtitles & sharing of media. Please read.

It has come to my attention that my subtitles have once again been uploaded to youtube, this time on unlisted videos that can be publicly found.

To clarify the usage rules for my subtitles:

They can be used for private streams.

For personal viewing: If you have added my subs on a copy of your private/unlisted video on any video streaming site, you can share them privately. This means that the link to your private/unlisted video should only be shared via DM, private chat groups, email, etc. They should not be attached to any video or any comment, image, etc that can be seen publicly. Do not try to attach them as cards or links on YouTube videos, etc. Even if I do not spot those myself, someone will notice and inform me.

Do not remove my disclaimer. I can recognize my subs even if you do it or just post a small portion of it.

I offer my subtitles publicly for accessibility, and I would like to continue doing so as much as possible. However, I will be forced to make them private if they continue to be uploaded on public videos. Copyright is a big issue for Takarazuka stuff, and I really want to avoid any problems that might come along with my subs being added to public videos. (For everyone who has been following my rules, which I know is the majority, thank you so much! <3)

And for those who have followed me for a while, you’ll know that I try to do a stream every time I release subs for a new show. These translations and streams are made possible by the many fellow fans who have kindly shared their scripts, videos, etc with me and allowed me to use them for these purposes. Unfortunately, in light of the recent happenings, I will not be hosting any streams until further notice as I do not want to risk these videos appearing elsewhere.

For new fans and those who are just getting interested in Takarazuka, and those who are frustrated by the lack of sharing:

Please let me try to explain why the fandom is so strict about public sharing. I understand that the rules here are quite different as compared to many other fandoms out there, but there are reasons for it.

Hankyu, the parent company behind the Takarazuka Revue (and Toho), is very strict on copyright, and they have repeatedly upheld it by taking down uploads through lawsuits and cease & desist notices. While the revue has been making some effort to promote themselves in English, accessibility for foreign fans is still limited. We have to jump through hoops to watch livestreams, and sky stage, the Takarazuka cable television channel, is technically only available to those in Japan. And even though we can purchase BD/DVD releases, they aren’t cheap! Not to mention the lack of subtitles…

For many of us, it’s just not possible to watch as many productions as we’d like because of these factors. Which is why there are people who stream or share their videos privately/semi-privately. While I fully understand the desire to share something you like publicly so that more people can enjoy it as well, we really do not wish to attract unwanted attention and/or incur the dissatisfaction of the revue. With public uploads of full shows comes the potential of not only mass takedowns, but also the risk of further restrictions of international access to livestreams, etc. Also, when existing fans realize that their videos used for streams, translations, etc are being misused, they become more reluctant to share, and in the end, everyone gets less access to Takarazuka media.

And a bit regarding videos on that certain Chinese site: The Chinese fandom has different rules as compared to the English-speaking fandom, and in some ways they are slightly more open (and public) when it comes to sharing. Even so, as a general rule of thumb, whatever is being shared on that site is intended to be posted on that site only. Please do not reupload anything from there publicly! Not even clips to Tiktok, etc. They are aware of their stuff being reuploaded, and multiple people have openly expressed their displeasure regarding this. If you want to share something, please do it privately so that it does not draw unwanted attention to them and their stuff doesn’t get taken down.

I understand that things like these can make it difficult for new fans and those hoping to know more about Takarazuka. But at the same time, if you’re trying to learn more about Takarazuka and have experienced these difficulties, I hope you can also understand why things are the way they are here. We’re not trying to prevent more people from getting into the fandom! Please reach out to someone in the fandom if you’d like to know more, there are semi-private avenues for fans to communicate. :)

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