In My View: A Heartfelt Apology to Arthur Smith and the Crunchyroll premieres

Around the time I started blogging, Arthur Smith came out with his interview over on activeanime.com. At the time, I lambasted him and while I still stand by what I said back then (and what I've said since), I have to say he's stood by his word.

He IS exploring other methods to distribute anime. He IS trying to combat fansubs in a way that is proactive rather than reactive. And I commend him for it. Because I didn't think this day would come.

So I just finished watching the premiere of The Tower of Druaga – the aegis of URUK – over on Crunchyroll and I implore everyone to go do the same. First of all because it's free. Second of all because it's free. And third of all, because it doesn't cost any money. What isn't good when it's free. I'd gladly sit through a screening of Spiral if I knew I didn't have to pay for it. Now the show itself is pretty funny, especially if you've played enough D&D and online roleplaying games to get the really high-strung dramatics that go in those situations.

Strangely enough though, I didn't see any advertising in the actual show, so I'm kind of curious where they're putting it. I also didn't see any advertising on the page either. But… for now, I'm willing to take those people over there at their word. A dubious proposition at best, but I'll put a lid on my inner skeptic.

In all fairness, the video quality is horrible. There are some scenes I couldn't actually figure out what was going on, especially when there was a lot of action and it was dark. The soundtrack sounded like it had gone through a digital masher, but you know what – it was free. I don't expect high quality video that I didn't pay for. And if you want the high quality stuff, then go over to BOST and get it there.

Not only was it free (have I mentioned that enough times yet), it didn't crash, which is more than I could say about AnimeNetwork's Online service, which I think has fallen out of the Otakusphere's memory. Now as much as I may think ADV is usually at the forefront on this side of the Pacific, I don't think they planned well enough for the immense amount of traffic they got. Hopefully, Crunchyroll did. Because at least until this one disappears out of the public consciousness, it will be the biggest thing since sliced bread.