Fansubs are subtitled videos created by fans, and are generally released and distributed over the Internet. The movement for fansubbing was driven forward by English-language fans of Japanese origin television such as anime and dramas. Fansubs exist in many languages other than English, but English language subs are the most common. It is because of volunteer fansub communities around the world that anime and J-drama has achieved a wide following around the world. Most fansub groups see themselves as evangelists for Japanese media industries overseas, and will only subtitle series that have yet to be licensed in the target language. Once a series has been slated for commercial release overseas, most fansub groups will remove their works from the net.

animesuki
AnimeSuki is the fansub archive site that every wired anime fan relies on. It provides a complete and convenient overview of links to all unlicensed English anime fansubs available through the P2P file swarming application BitTorrent. Once licensed, anime series are no longer linked through animesuki.

Froth-Bite
Froth-Bite is a group that has been fansubbing unlicensed series for two years. Their portfolio is impressive in their diversity and their willingness to pick up works both old and new. Notable subbed works include Mahoraba and Maico.

The Triad
This fansub group is well-known for subbing series that feature cute girls. They were the original group who subbed the series Azumanga Daioh — which has become immensely popular with US anime fans. Their work is probably one of the primary reasons the series became popular enough to be licensed in the US. Other notable subbed works include Nanoha and Air.

Anime Empire
Anime Empire is a well-established fansubbing group known for their high quality subs of slightly off-beat anime. Notable subbed works include Yakitate Japan and Capeta.

Live Evil
Live Evil’s specialty is their subbing of old and obscure shows. Their main translator, Tofusensei is a public spokesperson for the movement and has appeared in the mainstream media as well as on fansubbing panels at major conventions like Otakon. Notable subbed works include Galaxy Express 999 and Space Symphony Maetel.