(a repost from my personal blog)

In the past decade, with the emergence of digitally distributed, fan-translated "digisubs" (now just "fansubs") and dual-language DVDs, the anime fandom in the US experienced rapid expansion. Distributors like (most famously) ADV / A.D. Vision also experienced growth, but then a sudden leveling off and eventual contraction, despite the continuing rise of interest in Japanese animation. ADV’s troubles are representitive of the declining...