18 May – The Anime community has been going crazy with the new release of the Anime movie, "Kuroko's Basketball: Last Game". However, this also leads to illegally recorded scenes from the movie being uploaded online, as announced on GSC Movies' Facebook page. "Calling all Anime fans, it has come to our attention that some of you guys had recorded parts of "Kuroko's Basketball" and illegally uploaded it online. "This has previously happened with SAO Movie and with the repeat offense, the trust between Odex/GSC Movies/GSC Cinemas and the Japan copyright are being greatly threatened. Please help us protect these benefits, so that it won't be revoked and we will all be left with no anime releases in Malaysia cinemas." GSC also urges moviegoers to alert the cinema manager if they spot any suspicious activities during the movie. As mentioned in the post, this isn't the first time an Anime movie has faced this issue while showing in Malaysia, before this, it was "Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale". If these incidents were to keep happening, then we may never get to watch Anime movies on the big screen in Malaysia ever again.
Movie pirating is nothing new and is almost expected with every new movie release – especially if it is a highly anticipated movie or an expected blockbuster. This problem also runs rampant in the Anime community. It's quite easy for anyone to be able to find any Anime episode or Anime movie uploaded and available for download online in less than a week after its release. This is because Anime material is not always available in every country that isn't Japan. So Anime fans from those countries are itching for ways to get their hands on and watch the newly released Anime movies like "Kuroko's Basketball" without having to fly over to the Land of The Rising Sun. And where there is a demand, there will be a supply, which is where the illegally recorded and uploaded material comes in. But these acts are actually serious crimes that are threatening people's copyright and disrespecting the hard work put into creating and producing these movies. "Kuroko's Basketball: Last Game" is still playing in theatres, so please do not record the movie and do report any suspicious activity in the theatres or online leaks of the movie.