The producers of Fractale have reportedly forced Funimation to pull the English language simulcast until they completely wipe out the wicked scourge of fansubbing.

Fractale was initially scheduled to air an English subtitled version at the same time as the Japanese broadcasts, airing even before most of Japan got to see the anime.

However, in spite of the legal option, fansubbers chose to show off their famed sense of ethics by ripping off the stream and illegally distributing it themselves.

The Fractale production committee decided this was unacceptable and ordered Funimation to cancel the English version, with no resumption in sight.

Funimation explains:

“We are disappointed that this series has been distributed illegally, and we’re actively working to remove the first episode from illegal streaming and downloading sites; we’ve got a dedicated anti-piracy team in place that works on controlling all of our simulcast material. However, our Japanese partners for this series have decided that since this episode is currently uncontrolled and is available illegally in all territories, they don’t want the episode online.”

Oddly, the episode is freely available on Japanese P2P sites yet the production committee has not demanded that Japanese TV stations cease showing the anime until they wipe out the scourge of domestic piracy.

Nor does it seem this kind of heavy-handed and unrealistic response will be anything but counter-productive, as it assures 100% illegal distribution and demands the impossible of Funimation.

2ch is uncharacteristically understanding:

“I don’t know about all this stuff, but don’t these people know the unsubtitled version is available all over the place?” “That’s beside the point!” “But aren’t all these anime uploaded by Japanese in the first place?” “You’re saying it’s the fault of the Japanese all these anime are being uploaded!?” “This thread is pretty funny. To the right-wingers, there is no such thing as a Japanese person who commits crimes, is there?” “Well, Japanese can watch it without having to dirty their hands with crime.” “In Japan, the people who can only watch this on satellite stations have to wait 40 days for the broadcast – I think some of them won’t wait that long, you know.” “Is there any anime the fansubbers don’t pirate? Those dirty foreign pirates get to watch this stuff before someone who lives in the regions like me.” “Didn’t the same thing happen with Ore no Imouto?” “Futile. Japanese will just up it to Chinese sites and then the Koreans share it with everyone else.” “As long as China exists this is pointless.” “The Chinese have it up and subbed 2-3 hours after broadcast. They are very organised. They have Chinese exchange students in Japan to arrange it with too.” “If the Japanese government is so desperate to increase anime exports they should be demanding action from other governments, shouldn’t they?” “Right… those crazy fansubbers think they aren’t doing anything wrong.” “They just need to insert more ads into them. Like a protagonist with a Pizza Hut tattoo on his arm – then the extra distribution would be welcomed.” “They already do that, not that it has any effect.” “I live in the regions myself. Seeing all those hairy foreigners getting to watch the anime first is really disagreeable. And on top of that they act as if they are the saviours of anime, they’re despicable.” “You’d think they’d promote the legal version whilst quietly working on eliminating the illegal versions at the same time… Stopping the legal version at the same time is pretty dangerous.” “The legal broadcasts are the only way to halt pervasive illegal distribution. If they stop the legal broadcast, then they’re only going to increase the number of illegal broadcasts. Are these people idiots?” “If you stop the legal broadcast the illegal distribution will increase. What a moronic decision.”