FANZA's Impending Troubles & The Path Forward

For most international fans, finding something similar to R18 post it’s dissolution was a tough task but since then the only legible option in hand had been it’s Japanese cousin FANZA which was doing fine onboarding international customers. DMM was pleased that it had at last developed a fan base so devoted that it would continue to generate revenue even after its international website was taken down for violating foreign billing regulations, such as those imposed by Visa and Mastercard. Amid the ongoing blockade on foreign traffic, it’s unlikely that the top management at DMM gives a rat’s shit of complying with international card processors like VISA. ZENRA believes that often times they’d just depend on a single biller, unlikely to mitigate any unforeseen risk at hand. Consequently, now the fans have to suffer the aftermath that has witnessed the platform being region blocked in several regions outside Japan. It’s not just the adult video service that fans have been locked out of but also the games that have been affected. Likely so that unless one is accessing from an IP outside Japan, it remains unavailable.

One user noted, "FANZA suddenly banned overseas access including Game Player version for the past few hours, only some DMM games that were not originally banned overseas are allowed."

Most domestic AV manufacturers in the industry can certainly understand FANZA's reasoning beneath the decision. It has much likely to do with these billers pulling the plug on the Japanese giant owing to a rumor in Japan, that there have always been voices that the adult industry hurts the international image of the nation. Then there are reports of the platform's non compliance stance on most issues regarding the circulation of adult content. It's possible that DMM opted to conclude its international operation after the international biller cut, feeling a sense of dejection at not being able to serve the global market.

A few years ago, they banned credit cards outside Japan, resulting in overseas consumers having to buy points before they could consume content normally on the platform but with the recent ban, they're unable to do so. Another user expressed his frustration over the same, "I am currently unable to access content that I have legitimately purchased because FANZA is blocking foreign IPs. I have purchased over 2000 AVs from FANZA and now I am unable to view any of them. This situation is very troubling."

Up until recently, the only workable solution was to utilize a VPN to access the website's content and basic functions, like downloading and streaming, but even that appears to be broken now. My understanding of the Japanese and how they handled the entire R18 situation leads me to believe that it is preferable to mentally prepare for things to go worse rather than hope for a turnaround in the near future. Those who previously purchased the movies have every right to be upset that they are no longer available for download.

FANZA's campaign banner for Anti Piracy starring Miru, Mio Ishikawa & Momo Sakura

This is not a self servicing decision, rather it’s one that is detrimental to it’s consumers. Which brings me to these major filmmakers that campaigned under FANZA’s banner for anti piracy, goes down the drain. Raking in the services of actresses, shooting for an anti piracy ad film just to lock up IPs of customers outside Japan will have customers who obediently support genuine products have a genuine sense of being left out. I’m of this belief that fans will face certain friction to switch to local authorised platforms subsequent to the FANZA blockade, even though perhaps that is a better option. It is because they’re used to FANZA's consumption methods from before, and might jot adjust to the ergonomics of these platforms. The downside to it is that, it’d give rise to more illegal tube sites flourishing out of the void left by FANZA. Streaming intellectual property for free to ardent fans and dmm wont be able to do shit as it’s not in its jurisdiction

By now, it’s evident that the credit card issue and domestic pressure are likely the reason behind FANZA’s exit And with no comeback in site for FANZA as well, having bit the dust, overseas fans will have to resort to streaming JAVs illegaly until a similar platform promising authorised content comes up. But, here’s my two cents if the guys at DMM are reading this right now, next time it happens, could you just formally announce it over a week or so or maybe just allow the users with a grace period so that they could download their purchased JAVs uninterrupted like R18 did earlier when they decided to wrap up shop, somehow this time it happened all of a sudden and users had all the rights to vent their frustration over the issue.

UPDATE: As of the time of publishing this article, it seems as if the top dawgs at DMM had a change of heart. The streaming giants have now retrieved FANZA, and it remains accessible to foreign customers, including most regions outside Japan. For exceptions, however, one could use something as simple as a VPN to browse the site and access most of its features. To me, it seems as if the very thought of losing a mass share of their revenue from overseas clients was quite unnerving for the DMM management, so they decided to pull the plug on their decision and came back faster than one could say the word. However, despite all the non-compliance and billing issues surrounding the firm, for the time being, DMM remains unfazed, and it's likely that they'll continue providing access to foreign customers in the near future.