...yep, that is total BS about that translations. 
I find translations done by commercial groups not 
only lack, but times tend to be -way- off, and 
instead of EXPLAINING cultural differences, they 
repalce them with American references (instead of 
having some type of notes beforehand, as fansubs 
do). Fan translations are a labour of love...no 
one HAS to do them. Generally, people who 
translate anime in the US might not even like 
anime, they just do it for the money. That 
bothers me ;p So far the only company that has 
deviated from this, with good results (happily) 
is Synch Point, with Tenshi ni Narumon (hell, the 
dub director even has a crush on Raphael...).

However, it IS true that anime is being 
commercially purchased -so- quickly now. Fruits 
Basket and Noir were both purchased before their 
runs on Japanese TV ended. Saiyuki was bought 
before fansubbers even got to the second volume 
(however, all of these titles are still 
distributed because word is not travelling very 
fast on them, since one wouldn't think they would 
have been bought already). All of Ayashi no Ceres 
has been released. Megami Kouhosei, which aired 
in 1999, is about to be shown in CN. 

The thing that's odd to me is the recent 
commercialization of older anime. Yu Yu Hakusho 
is going to be running on CN (grrr!). Marmalade 
Boy and Kodocha have been purchased (as well as 
their mangas). Dragon Knights, a manga series 
that was underground even in Japan, just started 
a run with Viz. 

Man, I think that really sucks, too, 'cause I'm 
such a fansub girl. I hate hate -hate- buying 
anime commercially...not only for the shoddy 
translation work, and lack of love that usually 
applies (it's all about the money, folks, don't 
kid yourselves...sure, a few people might love 
anime, but in the end most of the people who 
produce our commercial anime are not into it at 
all)., but the -prices- are getting ludicrous. 
$30 for a DVD (or subbed VHS) that contains 2 
eps, 3 at most. You're LUCKY if you get 4. If 
it's an OAV, you might get 1. I'm sorry, but $30 
for one episode...is not worth it. $10 for one 
episode...is NOT worth it. It's just getting 
silly. 

-Misha