Editing Fansub (section)

===Growth of anime fanclubs (1980s)===
After anime companies pulled out of the United States in 1982,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Daliot-Bul |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_gFEAAAQBAJ&dq=anime+companies+pulled+out+of+the+United+States+in+1982&pg=PA24 |title=The Anime Boom in the United States: Lessons for Global Creative Industries |last2=Otmazgin |first2=Nissim |date=2020-10-26 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-1-68417-581-9 |pages=24 |language=en |access-date=2024-04-11 |archive-date=2024-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427042653/https://books.google.com/books?id=j_gFEAAAQBAJ&dq=anime+companies+pulled+out+of+the+United+States+in+1982&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q=anime%20companies%20pulled%20out%20of%20the%20United%20States%20in%201982&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> there were no longer any legal or moral forces to discourage fans from copying and distributing tapes among themselves. From the late 1970s until the late 1980s, clubs began expanding to have chapters in other cities and grew to become of national and international scales. As the fandom grew, fans begun to experience ideological conflicts such as whether to keep the fandom niche or not. The visual quality of tapes began to degrade as fans made copies of copies; by the early 1980s some C/FO members reported tapes in their 15th to 20th generation that were extremely poor quality. In the mid to late 1980s, fans began to make booklets containing the translated dialogue for entire films (typically $2–3 to cover costs) and anime-focused magazines.<ref name=Leonard />

Despite numerous attempts, any efforts to convince US companies to license Japanese animation failed, with the exception of a handful of companies that were intent on "carving up" series to rewrite them into children's cartoons. Sean Leonard states that entertainment executives at the time mistakenly believed that anime were, like Western cartoons, predominantly aimed at young children; furthermore, Japanese animated dramas and such were much too violent and complex in plot for children. Leonard states that the most notorious example was the translation of [[Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)|''Warriors of the Wind'']], released in the US in 1985, which left its creators [[Hayao Miyazaki]] and [[Isao Takahata]] appalled; Takahata exclaimed that licensing Nausicaä was a huge error and that no further [[Studio Ghibli]] produced films would be licensed internationally. These edits however were no worse than most other non-Disney animation films that were available in the US. Fans who obtained the Japanese originals of ''Nausicaä'' were inspired to organize an anime tour to Tokyo in 1986 to see Miyazaki's ''[[Laputa: Castle in the Sky]]'' and landmarks in anime.<ref name=Leonard />

[[Carl Macek]] played a key role in expanding the North American anime fandom. Macek ran a comic book and movie memorabilia specialty shop. After assisting in marketing and promotion of ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'' and the recent establishment of a nearby C/FO chapter, he began researching Japanese animation and imported Japanese cels, becoming known as a Japanese animation specialist. [[Harmony Gold USA|Harmony Gold]], who had acquired international licenses for several series and planned to distribute them in Latin America, Europe, and the US, reached out to Macek and enlisted his help for the US market. After noticing Harmony Gold's selection of ''[[Macross]]'' and similar science fiction series, Macek obtained Harmony Gold's approval to edit three anime series together into a single unified series named ''[[Robotech]]''. Macek went to science fiction conventions to promote the series and discovered a growing cult following among adolescents and young adults, in contrast to his initial assumption that the series could be exclusively targeted toward children. Macek edited ''[[Macross]]'', ''[[Southern Cross]]'', and ''[[Genesis Climber MOSPEADA]]'' together into ''Robotech'', which became a major commercial success and earned him significant recognition within the fanbase. Leonard describes ''Robotech'' as being more faithful to the original series than any other commercially successful North American anime release in its era, noting that ''Robotech'' included key elements such as the first love triangle on both Japanese and American animated television.<ref name=Leonard />

The C/FO was at its height between 1985 and 1989, with over three dozen chapters throughout the US. [[John Renault]] helped lead the C/FO chapter in Japan and played a key role throughout fansub history due to his Japanese fluency, anime industry contacts, and military background. Renault helped exchange raws from Japan, wrote informative articles about production, translated booklets, introduced military techniques to anime distribution, and provided plot synopses that proved invaluable for watching Japan-exclusive anime. Fan distribution through C/FO's efforts, particularly C/FO Rising Sun, sought to keep anime free (but controlled within the C/FO organization) in order to promote Japanese animation. Bootlegging at the time was economically infeasible; accordingly, access to anime in North America was heavily dependent on one's contacts within anime fan communities, leading to a growing divide in fandom between the "haves" and "have-nots". In 1989 members began to accuse Patten of disloyalty for writing articles for general magazines rather than the perpetually behind-schedule C/FO fanzine. However, Patten felt that, by writing for popular magazines, he was furthering their cause to proselytize and promote anime. After Patten stepped down{{When|date=April 2024}} with no clear successor, the C/FO began to break apart, and eventually ceased to exist as a conglomerate in July 1989.<ref name=Leonard />