Why Must This Be a Blog in Love?

Well I haven't updated in some time because I was busy. Things have happen since I last updated, but I don't really remember everything that happen. I went to Oorai, learned more about my phone, and learn more interesting things about Japan, but in all the hustle and bustle of doing things, I have no idea what really went on.

So all of that isn't why I signed on today. I signed on because today I've been spending a lot of time online and learning about frustrations of living in another country in terms of prices and product availability.

So I'll start off with this. There are certain TV shows in the US, such as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, that I am unable to watch while I'm here in Japan even though I really want to. Now this seems only natural. I'm in a different country, and they have different things on TV. The thing that is somewhat frustrating though, is that these programs are available on the web on site such as www.hulu.com. It seems as though I should be able to enjoy some quality programing, but no, I cannot because of region blocking. Basically the idea is that at least for TV shows the rights to distribute them in different regions is sold off to foreign companies that can translate them for the native people. Well that sounds nice, but I don't need translation; I am an American. Over the past few week however I've come to accept this as an inevitability of business and capitalism and all those great things we are told to love in America, and very well we should because without those things, a lot of what we have wouldn't be possible.

So after this I learn of another streaming site that just launch for anime at www.crunchyroll.com. This site not only allows free streaming, but also puts money in the pockets of people who make and translate anime. Pretty awesome stuff right there. So I thought I'd check it out. Well turns out, as a person in Japan, all I can do is participate in the forum. Now what's the point really. Oh no people who already have access to it can watch it in a foreign language.

So I decided to look for legitimate means to watch some in Japan. Now as the country of origin, it would make sense that it would be the place to find the stuff for the lowest price. Actually, no. So for example, I could buy a whole season of School Rumble in the US for around $60. So for 26 episodes, that's around $2.31 per episode. That's not great, but not bad considering it's probably something you haven't watch much before you buy it, and can't watch on TV. So let's compare this to Japan's pricing in the native country. One volume of the show in Japan, which is 3 episode, costs 6,000 yen or about $60. That's right. For the price of the whole season in the US, you can buy 3 episodes in the native country. WTF? That's $20 per episode. Now why can this happen? DVD regions. So what does this tell me? These are free market practices that destroy the ideology of capitalism. The idea is that the free market will allows for the most efficient use of resources, but the free market isn't free, not when companies can do things like this which prevent me, the consumer from paying a fair, competitive price for what I want. There are some things that it makes sense are expensive, like fruit, but DVDs with programs made in Japan shouldn't be that much more expensive.

I'm tired of watching the world waste it's resources on “the free market.”

DISCLAIMER: Any future company that disagrees with this speech can gladly disregard it. I do have a certain amount of moral flexibility, and I would gladly disregard this for a great job. Please let me know where to submit my application.