Fan translations (or fansubs) were usually distributed illegally, but they could help generate overseas interest for a show. They could also be of questionable quality, and often contained copious translation notes that necessitated pausing to read. On the flip side, professionally dubbed voice acting was often painfully overdone, which was an equally jarring experience for many fans. So if you were a fan and wanted your anime however you could get it, you often were faced with the devil’s choice of unofficial subtitling with dubious translations, or officially translated dubs featuring wild voice acting.
