[Access]

What he neglects to mention is that the fan-population has become more sophisticated with the advent of the 'net, in the 80's and 90's few people knew the different honorifics and what they meant, now most fans know them by default so why bother translating them. Also VHS fansubs were typically shown in a club environment before a large audience, today subs are downloaded and viewed often by a single user who can pause, rewind, or jump forward the video at their leisure. There were pleanty of really bad VHS fansubs out there which he does not show, and there was also a lot of elitism and things like exclusive clubs and profiteering in distribution to the tune of $10000. every quarter.

The purposes are different from the very beginning, with fansubbing the old adage 'by fans, for fans' applies, while commercial products aim to please 'the masses'. Also for an example of on-screen notes he needs look no further than ADV's Pani Poni Dash DVD which has a TON of on-screen notes that can be turned on/off from the menu.

His comments about pizazz or over-done effects are on track, but at the same time, I don't have the unrealistic expectation that debating it and pointing that out will change a thing. There will always be people trying to compete, show off, or outdo one another. Fansubbers are not professionals.