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Table of Contents

• Section 1: Who are Fansubbers and Why Should I Watch Jmedia only through them? What is their beef with sites like k*ss*s**n or dr*m*c**l?


• Section 2: What are Subs and Raws? How Do I Actually Watch with Them?


• Section 3: Useful Links and Where to Find Fansubbers & Raws


• Section 4: Where to Watch Jmedia Legally

Let's start with the basics...

Section 1: WHO ARE FANSUBBERS AND WHY SHOULD I WATCH JDRAMAS/JMOVIES ONLY THROUGH THEM? WHAT'S WRONG WITH K-SS-S--N OR DR-M-C--L??

A quick message for anyone who is new to the jdrama community: k-ss-s--n, dr-m-c--l, and dr-m-n-c-, etc. don't sub anything. We fansubbers do and have been doing so since the 2000s, when Japanese dramas and movies first became popular in the wider world. Sites like the ones I mentioned have been stealing our fansubs, removing our credits, and make money off it through all their annoying ads and pop-ups. We do the hard work, in middle of jobs, school and just our daily life, for you guys to enjoy Japanese content. The fact of the matter is, we are fans of jdramas and jmovies just like you, except we make English or other language translations for our fellow fans - that's why we are called fansubbers. But for all our hard work, which we make available for free, those thieves reap all the benefits. There is a reason why fansubbers get demoralized and contemplate stopping - and if enough of us stop, none of you will be able to watch any future jdramas or jmovies at all, since the vast majority never end up on official platforms. In the future, please support fansubbers instead of these sites.

Below, I will provide the links of some major fansubbers, the places to get raws, etc. But first let me explain some of the terminology and how to actually watch with fansubs.

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Section 2: What are fansubs and raws? How to watch using them?

2.1 WHAT ARE SUBS?? WHAT ARE RAWS??

If you are new to this subreddit, the Japanese drama/movie community, or just to the whole concept of raws and subs because so far you been watching on leeches such as k*ss**n or dr*m*c**l, this post will further explain it to you so that you may never get lost!

First and foremost, the fansubbers here mostly do not do hardsubs, except in cases where raws are hard to find or to make it harder for the thieving sites to remove credits. (More explanation on fansubbers and thieves, the whole situation in the jdrama community above).

But what are hardsubs? Hardsub means that the subtitles are burnt into the video permanently, they are part of the video so you cannot show/hide them in a player.

So, what do we fansubbers mostly do? We do softsubs. What are softsubs? They contain the text and any other information you need in order to understand what you're watching - in case English translations of Japanese dialogue and text - in a separate subtitle file (usually with .ass or .srt on the end). They are not on the actual video, they must be downloaded separately.

So, what does this all mean? In summary, there have separate file both for the video (raw) and the subtitle file. Which means, you need to download the raws from another site (links at the end of the article below), and the subtitle file from the links or places fansubbers mention.

2.2 OKAY, I DOWNLOADED THE FILES FOR SUBS AND THE RAWS. WHAT NOW?? HOW DO I PLAY IT AND ACTUALLY WATCH THE DRAMA/MOVIE??

Once all files are downloaded (both the subtitle and the video file), I would suggest you download VLC MEDIA PLAYER. This player is free and can be downloaded both through a desktop/laptop or your phone. I recommend using this player because it can play most kinds of video format (such as .mkv or .mp4, for example) as well as any kind of subtitle format. However, there are lots of other similar software that people prefer.

Once it is downloaded and installed, you can do either of the following steps/options so you can finally watch the shows:

NUMBER 1: If you are watching the show through your laptop, make sure the video is playing first in VLC Media Player. Once the video is playing, locate where the subtitle file is located, drag the subtitle file using your mouse, and then drop it into the VLC Player (while the video is playing). It should start playing smoothly afterwards.

NUMBER 2: Or, instead of doing number 1, you can rename both the subtitle file and the video file the same name, for example; The video file name is "MOVIE1" and the subtitle file is "MOVIE1". Make sure both files are in the same location in your desktop/laptop (which means, both files should be in the same folder). Next, play the video file through VLC player and then the subs will automatically play along.

NUMBER 3: If you are watching through your phone,* this is how you do it:

Step 1: Play the video first through VLC app.

Step 2. While the video is playing, click the icon on the very lower left side of the screen, the one that's beside the border of the screen.

Step 3. After clicking that icon, you will see a pop-up on screen that looks like the one on the photo below. Click the arrow down icon beside the "Subtitle" text.

Step 4. Next, click "Select Subtitle File."

Step 5. After that one, another pop-up will show where you will need to locate where the downloaded subtitle file is stored. Just click it once you find it, and then the subtitles will start working accordingly with the video.

And now you are ready to watch the drama/movie. Enjoy! You can share this post to anyone who might need it. Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

* Only possible through an Android phone; for iOS, watch this or similar tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_Gf6DhggYs&t=103s

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Section 3: Useful Links - Finding Fansubbers and Raws

3. 1 WHERE DO I FIND FANSUBBERS?? UPDATES ON SUBBING PROGRESS, WHO IS SUBBING WHAT, ETC.??

Let me share some major fansubbers: hpriestsubs, ECOTVSubs, luwuang, icedhojichasubs, irozukusubs, Blitz Fansubs, Furritsubs, ichihachisubs, CitrineSubs, aoihachi. There are so many more! Nowadays, fansubbers are scattered all over the Internet. One major place to find them is Twitter, where many fansubbers like the ones I mention usually post updates and sometimes links to their subs as well as raws. Other fansubbers can be found on d-addicts (which I'll talk about below), LiveJournal, Subscene, Tumblr, etc.

You can follow yullaineedesu on Twitter, they post which dramas/movies are being subbed and by whom, as well as general jdrama news. The jdrama fansub map also states this info and is a handy guide on finding out who is subbing what. Another major source of information is the d-addicts forum (which is, admittedly, buggy and looks like its UI hasn't been changed since the 2000s, when it was founded), which is one of the main place where fansubbers make their announcement for which projects they will be taking on and usually post softsubs.

3.2 RAWS:

- JRaws (run by JAM, the nicest person ever - if they don't have something you want, request them and if they can, they'll upload for you, sometimes even with subs!)

- Hikari Raiders (run by hikariraiders on Twitter)

- bagikuy (the links on older dramas & movies seem kinda broken now, sadly, but newer dramas seem okay)

- dr*m*hd (godawful ads, very sketchy, but they have jdrama AND KDrama raws uwu)

- Torrenting sites such as nyaa (public, limited content), Avistaz (private, with lots of strict rules to follow) and JPTV (private, same deal)

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Section 4: Legal Ways to Watch Jdramas and Jmovies

As any person who watches Japanese media knows, whether they are long time fans or just starting out, anything Japanese is hard to find legally. Whereas cdramas and kdramas are all over the places — Netflix, Viki, VIU, iQiyi, even free and subbed on YouTube (!) — Japanese companies either don't seem to realize there are overseas audiences for their content or don't find it profitable to make them available abroad. That's where we fansubbers stepped in — people have accused us of stealing from Japanese companies but the truth is we encourage people to watch legally whenever possible. Fansubbers usually drop their projects whenever official subs are made available, in fact. We stan Japanese actors, directors and writers; we want them to get compensated for their work. But since it is mostly impossible to watch legally with subtitles, that's why we stepped in.

Nevertheless, every so often, jdramas and jmovies do make it over to official platforms overseas. It all depends on what region you are in though and is usually quite limited. Now, without much further ado, here are some legal, official sites.

• Netflix (South, Southeast and East Asians get quite a few Japanese dramas & movies, while the catalogue is much more bare in North America) 


• Viki (Decent amount of Japanese content in most regions)


• Amazon Prime Video (dribs and drabs make it on Prime Video, even in North America — not sure about other countries and regions)


• WeTV (mostly in Philippines, Indonesia; I am not sure, but perhaps rest of Southeast and East Asian regions as well)


• VIU