Anime and the world of fan-subs/dubs

To be perfectly honest, I've only recently been getting into anime fan-subs and dubs.  It's a world I knew of for a very long time, but I just never checked it out for myself.  After talking with tons of people on Twitter and through this site, I've been looking a lot more into this side of anime fandom.  What I've found thus far is nothing short of astounding.

If there were ever a way to really show how much you love anime, what better way to do it than by translating content that hasn't been made available to English-only audiences?  Even though I love anime and a lot of Japanese culture, I don't have any knowledge of Japanese.  I rely on translations and dubs to enjoy this hobby that I absolutely love.  I know that a lot of anime localization outfits put a lot of time and effort into translations, and I greatly appreciate that.  It's when I think about that process being handled by fans that I'm floored.

There's so much work to be done, and this sort of accomplishment is done only for other anime fans out there.  This isn't for more or recognition, but instead, just a love of anime in general.  Just like myself, fan-translators and dubbers work hard to show people the content they love in order to bring smiles to the faces of other fans out there.  What a truly selfless, talented and amazing thing to do for your community.  This kind of support really is something special.

I'm going to start spending a lot more of my time with fan subs and dubs, even for content that has official translations.  Why only support one side when I can support both?  If you haven't checked out this side of anime fandom yet, I suggest you take a few hours out of your week to dive into the amazing content out there.  At the very least, you could do so as a thank-you to all those selfless people that have put hundreds of hours into these projects.