[NEWS] Hyakupa Fansubs ceases operations

[JFC]

While this isn't "Official" H!P news, it IS H!P related, and it definitely has an impact on the non-Japanese speaking fandom, so I figured people might be interested in knowing.

Don't know all the details, but long story short, I was just doing random browsing, checking various sites I have bookmarked. I went to check out the Hyakupa Fansubs site, and discovered that they're going to stop doing fansubs.
This is what's on the main page of what used to be their site:

Due to actions taken against us by a Mr. Moyer, Hyakupa Subs has decided to stop all fansub related activities. It is unfortunate that we had to come to this decision but fansubbing is something we choose to do on our own free time and it's hard to motivate yourself to work when these sorts of incidents happen. Whatever motive Mr. Moyer had behind his actions is really irrevelant as it is the fans that lose most in this situation. We do not profit from subbing nor are we gaining from fansubbing in any way so closing down this site is not so much as a loss for us but rather a loss for you, the non Japanese speaking fans. We can only hope the community decides to avoid this behavior in the future as the number of fansub groups for Hello Project is already limited as is. We are still grateful for the support you have shown us and hope you continue to passionately follow the Hello Project girls since that is why we are all really here.


Invis will still continue to translate Sayu's blog so we would appreciate it if you gave him your support:
http://nantonaku-tl.net/

As for us, we are starting a new project so please check us out here:
http://www.takamaruyo.net

FROM - http://hyakupa.net/

IMO, it sucks that this has happened. That's one less group that can help us non-Japanese speakers better understand and enjoy featuring the girls/groups we love and follow.  

[Slack]

Yeah, I was speculating with Kuro last night about it.
With some new information I got today, I think I've hit upon what really happened.

On the new Nantonaku site, which is where they moved all the Sayu blog entries, one of their members said:

I’ll be a little clearer… someone told the isp to shut them down.

But why would someone do such a thing?
I believe it's because of a poll they started about a week ago.

H!P wotas always have the most hilarious polls on 2ch and so we thought we’d like to share them with you!

This poll had its options taken from a pervy 2ch thread (never a great idea) about various H!P members and sexual acts
While this kind of content sounds like something one might find in our restricted-access perv forums, this poll was on their front page.
Not making matters any better, half the options were members that are still under 18.

For those curious, I have copied the poll options from the last google cached copy of their front page.
(in tiny font for those who don't wish to be bothered by it)

Pick one of the following:

Have "new marriage sex" with Miyabi
Have sex with Mano as much as you want for 1 night
69 with Maimi
Go down on Airi
Kumai fapping you off
Taking a bath with Momo
Boob job from Kikka
Blowjob from Dawa, she swallows
Hand job from Sayu
Deep kiss with yuuka
Rub Risako's boobs as much as you want
Sleeping together with Riho, no sex

I remember reading some of the comments on the post they made about it, and many of the reactions were predictably negative.
From that point it's not much of a stretch to imagine some reader being offended by this content and going to their webhost to demand they be shut down.

I can imagine that disgruntled user's thoughts: "It's not only blatant sexualization of the H!P members named, it's also promoting pedophilia!"
It seems clear to me that this conflict spiraled out of control and Hyakupa just decided that they'd had enough of it.
In light of all that happened, I believe InvisNantoka's words now have some context:

I’ll be honest here, we will always have disagreements as people over what is good and bad, and certainly the issue will hit shades of gray.
What hurts is that the actions taken sometimes can easily feel like you’re biting the hand that provides.
In this case not only did the steps target something that some people disagreed with, but because of the way things happened, the content which other people enjoyed took a hit as well.

How sad that a fansite with such quality content could be shut down just like that.
The whole situation reminds me of what happened to jphip all those years ago back when we were "jpmxxx".
It's like history repeating itself.

Despite all that, I'm glad that the people at Hyakupa haven't given up on their community.
Given the circumstances, I can understand why their staff decided to move on and make a new site and it's easy to imagine a much worse result.
It would have just been too tragic if they had just decided to shut down everything.

While we here at jphip already learned a similar lesson all those years ago, I think what happened here should serve as a warning.
If we value the community built here, we need to resolve our problems civilly without resorting to drastic measures.

[JFC]

^
Wow, if that poll indeed was the thing that started it all, then to be honest, I'm not surprised at all that they got shut down. Having a sexually-themed poll like that on their front page is questionable enough, but to include underage girls in it? Hate to say it, but that's just a dumb and blatant invitation/dare to have someone misinterpret and report them. It just makes it even more of a shame that this lapse in judgment lead to this. I'd like to think that it's the fear of a something like this happening which has lead JPH!P to keep such a tight reign on our pervvy-themed stuff.

[kuro808]

^ I totally agree with your point, they should have used better judgment on those types of things even though in a reality it might be fine there but it isn't fine in America or other parts.  However, in talking to Slack two nights ago, I felt the same way in they could have kept the subs going but just a different site, however the best way seems to be move forward and let the past be a lesson in life

[Slack]

Yes, they could have kept going with subbing on the new site, but I can understand why they decided not to.

Making and releasing fansubs requires quite a bit of time and effort, all of which is done for free.
With something big like this coming from their own readers, it's easy to lose the motivation to continue such a labor-intensive operation.
Why put in all that effort if it won't be appreciated, right?

Now, we all know that the vast majority of fans greatly appreciate fansubs but given what happened it seems that the reward isn't worth the risk any longer.
For their efforts, gratitude and thanks are the only positive things Hyakupa could have expected as a reward for their services to the community.
After what happened, having their site shut down or even having legal action taken against them seems to be what they can expect should another lapse in judgement occur again.
From that perspective, the risk just seems too great for the reward.

Being taken down by someone in the very community you toiled away for is just plain traumatic.
I think it's admirable that they decided to continue on at all and I'm not surprised at all that they decided to no longer continue the part of their operation that took the most time and effort.

Unless we as fans can convince the fansubbers that their efforts are worth more, I don't see this decision being reversed for Hyakupa.
I think it would take a massive outpouring of support to even have a chance of changing their minds.
The idealistic optimist in me says that if we care enough about this, others will too.
However, the cynic in me says that most people will just be apathetic to the collapse of one sub group when there's at least a couple others.

Still, it's all moot unless we try to do something.
I know online petitions can be kind of corny, but I don't know how else we can collect together enough goodwill to make them see that the risk/reward equation isn't as skewed as they thought.
We'd need to pool together the resources and memberships of all the forums to even hope to make a difference.

But if anything can be done, I think we should at least give it a shot, right?
We shouldn't let one person's actions ruin something good for everybody.
If we lead this off, it could be a great opportunity for JPH!P to show some leadership here.
If anyone else thinks this might be a good idea, I'd like to write the first draft of the petition myself.

So, who's with me?

[JFC]

Sounds good. At the very least, it would at least give them peace of mind to know that there are those of us out here in the online communities that really do appreciate the work they've done.

[nachdenki]

In my opinion the hyakupa guys are whining too much.
I've never been a friend of these "someone doesn't like me/us so I/we stop my/our work [and punish the majority for it]" explanations.
Sure, reporting to the host or whatever happened is way over the top but it's partly even their fault putting such a poll on a page that's a lot of interest for young and enthusiastic fans of some kind. Idols aren't all porn after all, some people still have an innocent fandom. The fan they talk about could very well even be a parent of a fan.

So since as it seems the problems they got were unrelated to the actual subbing (=nobody tried to stop them doing that) I'd say either they want to help people and sub or they don't. I could understand when they take a break to sort things out though, but that people like their subs is self-evident.

[Slack]

You have a very good point, nachdenki.

After having a while to think about what I wrote earlier today, I'm pretty sure the last three paragraphs were the direct result of too much caffeine.
By that point in the post, I was on a roll and impulsively kept going.
What I realized is that everyone involved made their own decisions and for better or worse we all have to live with the results instead of try to change things back to how they were.

At this point, writing a petition to show support seems like it's too much fussing over something that is actually not that big a deal.
Sure, they were one of the few subbing groups that covered H!P, but it's not like we've lost all of them or anything.
A more appropriate response to their giving up the fansubbing business would be to fill the gap they've left.

In other words, I think I've been inspired to try my hand at subbing again!

[daigong]

^ Fuck YEAH. We gonna drop that hot release?

WTF. My first thought at this thread "THIS is news?" Y'all shoulda reported this post on yo'selves At most, H!P Crapola, HiP Joint but i'd file it under General Discussion. But it made its point, got my attention. That saying...Hilarious. Yeah. I'll show some Leadership.

JPHIP FANSUBS NOW STILL HIRING 

I had to write something because I'm pretty disturbed that JPH!P is mentioned in the same breath as...srsly. Apples to Oranges.

Let me get some facts straight:

Back in the day, (circa early 2006) JPHiP had to change webhosts for fear of "IP shutting us down" was because we were on one of those cheap free forums miumu.com BOOM dropped 20 bucks and moved our 60KB database to our own server which is what you see today at forum.jphip.com

We drew the line on underage talk from the start and maintain an environment where you can have healthy H!P Talk without the so-called perviness. OR vice versa, all done tastefully.

True dat nach. I get that there's hard work and efforts in maintaining subbing and a group like these guys but shit. HPS -> H!F Fansubs and along comes another. Kinda ironic that one of their staff (agrayrainbow??) used to be on JPH!P Subs. What they do is their business.

JPH!P is no place for egos. Nuff said. That's why I love the translators here at JPH!P, humble help each other out in the posts/threads with blog posts, articles, and such. None of that bow down to us mentality, "Look at me blog/websites" We do it cuz we love it.

Butt yeah Slack, everyone resolves their differences or they quit like Lebron James in the 4th quarter. Thassit. I ain't gonna teach or preach. Onto Postwhoring.

[KappaAiriSuzuki]

most of the subbed videos i watch are subed by hyakupa
i wish i could under stand japanese