Perhaps you're an avid fan of Japanese cartoons and comics looking for access to an obscure series, or a parent wondering why your kids always seem to have something to watch on their computer. Maybe you've just heard the terms "scanlation" and "fansub" thrown about and want to know what they are.

Anime and manga-popular Japanese style cartoons and comics-are more available than they ever have been before, and this is not just thanks to licensing companies. Groups of individuals all over the world have teamed up to provide translated anime and manga online for free.

The goal of these groups is not to cheat licensing companies and original creators out of their money, or to break copyright laws. Legitimate groups do not charge for the series they translate, and most stop distributing series once they've been licensed in the language they are translating to.

The translation of anime is generally known as "fansubbing," while the translation of manga is known as "scanlation." In both cases the group is responsible for acquiring raw versions of the media and fansubbers add subtitles to the video while scanlators replace the text in word bubbles.

There are several groups that actively translate anime and manga, and there are sites dedicated to keeping track of their releases, including "Baka-Updates Manga" and "Fansub TV." Most groups release translated media via Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and torrents, but some offer direct downloads as well.

As stated earlier, legitimate groups do not charge for the media they release and once they stop distributing a series they support the purchase of the licensed version of the media, making them a great resource for series that are not available in one's native language.

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