The generic "Is this a bootleg" thread

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by chimuikuzeru

what is up with this site? i ordered the boxset of ayashi no ceres from them.
but they end up sending me a d*mn fansub bootleg, a VERY good bootleg, but a bootleg nontheless. has anyone ordered from them before? or is this just my mistake not knowing they distrubute anime bootlegs? i emailed them asking whats up, but still no response.

You got ripped off because their 'import' DVDs are all bootlegs and it appears many of their Domestic DVDs are as well...

Next time buy from someone reputable like deepdiscountdvd.com

[srb]

You should have checked the details. If it's region zero and has chinese/english subtitles for example then it's definitely a bootleg.

[chimuikuzeru]

ahhh i see...crap!i thought it would be okay because i have an original of the initial d boxset, as well as most my other japanese movies and such and they have english subtitles. does anyone know where i can get an original import of the ayashi no ceres series though?

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by chimuikuzeru

ahhh i see...crap!i thought it would be okay because i have an original of the initial d boxset, as well as most my other japanese movies and such and they have english subtitles. does anyone know where i can get an original import of the ayashi no ceres series though?

Imported region two series rarely, if ever, have subtitles.

Buy the DVD versions Viz has released, they have dual audio and subtitles.

[chimuikuzeru]

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

Imported region two series rarely, if ever, have subtitles.

Buy the DVD versions Viz has released, they have dual audio and subtitles.

i'm also looking for the cardcaptor sakura and kare kano boxset for my girlfriend. are there any reputable online sites to purchase this?? most sites have it listed
for about $100. thats a huge hell no if its going to just end up being a crappy bootleg.

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by chimuikuzeru

i'm also looking for the cardcaptor sakura and kare kano boxset for my girlfriend. are there any reputable online sites to purchase this?? most sites have it listed
for about $100. thats a huge hell no if its going to just end up being a crappy bootleg.

I dont know about a boxset for CardCaptor Sakura but deepdiscountdvd has all the dvds for it and the Kare Kano boxset.

[Riese]

The best way to avoid the bootleg burn is to keep tabs on legitimate markets.
Check and see if the anime you want has a legit release currently available.
http://animeondvd.com/ is a great place to start.

I try and buy 2nd hand R1 or R2 disks to save a buck and I know that Amazon Associates and many other 2nd hand selling areas are swamped with bootlegs.
Some will show you photos off an R1 company's site but then state later that it's R0 with 3 disks for the whole series.

ADV is putting out a very reasonably priced batch of DVD sets called The Essential Anime Collection.

[Raptoot]

not sure if anyone's already asked this but anyway...

i'm seriously considering getting the Naruto series 1-3 box set
but i was wondering if anyone knew of any websites where i can get a good price (other than bidding sites like ebay)

keeping in mind that it needs to be either based in, or able to deliver to UK

any input is greatl appreciated
thx x3

[xris]

Originally Posted by Raptoot

i'm seriously considering getting the Naruto series 1-3 box set

You don't give any details but I can safely say that these will be illegal bootlegs. Have a read of the first post of this thread on how to spot such items.

[Sailor Enlil]

Originally Posted by bohemian

This is an interesting thread, and I'm sure most anime fans had experience on bootlegs, now let me share my thoughts:

Generally, I avoid bootlegs as often as possible. Even though they are cheap, they still cost money to buy. If I can find BT of my favorite animes, I won't hesitate to download them and will never buy any DVD (both bootleg and legit) even if they are available. For some old shows where BT are hard to find, I will buy bootlegs. Most (I should say all) bootlegs are from HK/China, the heaven for piracy of copyrighted stuffs (in addition to anime, also music, computer software, movie, games, etc). Btw, Hong Kong is my hometown (now I'm in the United States).

The reason why bootlegs have english subtitles is because the HK market is not big enough for the piracy industry, thus a large chunk of the market consist of overseas (predominately the US). And as far as I know, some Japanese people also buy HK bootlegs since Japanese anime DVD are insanely expensive (over 6000 yen per disc, around US$60 for a single 4-eps DVD).

The majority of concerns from US buyers are not the legal issues, but the quality of the subs. Since I speak Chinese as my first language myself, I always watch Chinese subtitles on these bootlegs. I never tried the English subtitles on these bootlegs so I would not judge on them, but most of the time the Chinese subs are good in my opinion. My best guess for the poor English sub quality is that they are second hand translation, which means they are not done by people who speaks English as their first language. I'm sure whoever did the sub have a good understanding of Japanese, but their English skills are questionable. As a result, most English subtitles in bootlegs are crappy.

As for why bootlegs exist in the first place? Well, we should have learned the answer from a microeconomics textbook; there won't be anyone supplying bootlegs if no one demands them. There is a reason why people want to buy bootlegs: Many of the anime viewers are young people or students who only have a limited disposable income (sadly), if one could buy a favorite series for less than half the price of a legitimate release, that person will probably opt for the lowest price available, that's simple and normal consumer behavior, no? Not to mention that bootlegs are faster to come by than R1 DVD. For instance, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam and Turn A Gundam will not be available in the United States in the near future, the only source for US viewers to see them is through bootlegs, this is sad but true. I got the bootlegs for these two titles many years ago even before I saw their fansubs on BT.

I for one do not condone bootlegs, but I did download most of my anime through BT. Since it is even cheaper than bootlegs and is the lesser of two evils.

Greetings from a newcomer. I found this thread really interesting and wish to give a few 2c's.

Bohemian gave a few good points on why bootlegging is going on. But I'd like to mention more pressing reasons on why it's even happening. I live in the Philippines (part of South East Asia, so it's R3), and sadly it's a hotspot for piracy and bootlegging (thanks to close proximity to Hong Kong and Taiwan, a mere hour's flight away), so much that bootlegs of DVD's can be found in any stall setup almost anywhere (as in you can buy them off the shelf), including Shopping Malls. And anime bootlegs are no exception; in fact it's a lucrative business here with a few stores that specifically sell these DVD anime bootlegs (the biggest amomg them is a store chain called Comic Alley with branches in several major Shopping Malls). The really pressing reasons I posted on another forum (that of a Love Hina fansite) with a similar discussion (this was about the issue of purchasing Love Hina DVDs), copied here with a few edits:

Unfortunately there's going to be a serious problem with that. The Love Hina anime is NOT AVAILABLE AT ALL IN REGION 3 DVD with English Audio (i.e. for South East Asia, includes Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia). Importing US or Japanese DVD's is going to have major technical (and possibly legal) issues, since Philippine DVD players obviously won't play Region 1 or 2 DVDs (with the exception of those multiregion players you can buy from the black market, or on PC's with DVD-ROM drives that have their firmware flashed to get past the region lock), plus the MPAA is trying to make it such that importing Region coded DVDs from one region to another would be illegal and impossible (kinda like the modchip situation with game consoles, and have you heard about the report that The Patriot R1 movie DVD not being playable in multiregion players?). And there's also the issue of Shipping Charges as a result of importing titles. Once I ordered an imported music CD from Japan online, and ended up paying 4x the actual price of it due to the shipping charges (are you willing to pay $67.00 for 1 music CD album? I made that exception because that CD was a rare one, but I'm certainly not pulling that stunt again due to budget issues).

In fact as of date the only English dubbed anime available in Region 3 DVD's here in the Philippines are Metropolis and Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (courtesy of Sony Pictures, who have a local branch in the Philippines). A few other titles like Rayearth and Ghost in the Shell are only available in VCD. All other titles (eg Marmalade Boy, Kanon, and even Love Hina itself) can only be smuggled here if anyone here wants to watch them.

When someone suggested importing DVD titles from the US to make legit purchases, this is my response (with some edits):

Well, for those who have the money and means to import them from the US (eg online purchase, or having relatives living there), as well as equipment capable of playing them (i.e. multiregion DVD players or flashed DVD-ROM drives), that's only a short term solution. Until publishers officially license distribution in Regions 3-6, piracy of anime DVD's will simply continue unabated in these regions (sales of these Taiwanese bootlegs are like hotcakes in the Philippines and are available in shopping malls everyhere).

Much as I'm against piracy, Anime companies will have to really flex their muscles and go way out if they really want to bring this bootlegging phenomenon to a full stop, particularly in South East Asia (will they have branches in SE Asia like for instance Sony Pictures does in the Philippines?). Well, the bittorrent way of getting them is one alternative for the few who know about it - Bittorrent is not that known here (I'm one of the few who uses it and downloaded a number of fansubs), the Internet Broadband market is still small, and most PC owners here have plain vanilla Windows Installations without those required codecs like DiVX, 3Vix, etc, and can only play MPEG1 and standard AVI videos on their PC's, aside from DVD's if they have a DVD-ROM drive.

Oh and there's also this concern - bootlegs of US Release Anime titles (i.e. they have English Audio as well as Japanese Audio, English Subtitles only, which are of course the ones done by the US anime firm, no Chinese subs on most of them, and English menus, some having really sophisticated ones like animations), and like the traditinal bootlegs, they are R0, and in some cases fit up to 8 episodes in one DVD utilizing the DVD's dual-layering feature for double the capacity - you can tell it is when it's marked D9 or DVD9 on the box.

Spoiler for here's a sample:

Notice it says D9x4, meaning Dual-layer DVDs, the secret to squeezing more than 4 episodes into 1 disc without loss in quality, and there's 4 of them in the package)

They're a growing lot of this stuff in the Philippines (available in the same local stores mentioned above), and available titles include Love Hina (TV Eps 1-24 + XMas Special and Spring Special, in 3 DVDs), Vision of Escaflowne (all TV eps in 3 DVDs), Martian Successor Nadesico TV (same), Please Teacher (all TV eps in 2 DVDs + OVA and creditless OPs and EDs), Full Metal Panic (the first anime season, all 24 eps in 3 DVDs + character drawings, creditless ED, and the highly sophisticated menu), Sailor Moon S Season (entire season in 4 DVDs), the 3 Sailor Moon Movies (sold in one package and includes extras like character profiles), Dual Parallel Trouble Adventures (all eps in 2 DVDs), His and Her Circumstances (all eps in 3 DVDs), and Ai Yori Aoshi 1st season (all eps in 3 DVDs). And it seems there's more coming in without any sign of abate (just FYI: I happen to have the Love Hina bootleg mentioned above, as well as the legit R1 Love Hina Xmas Special, Spring Special and OAVs, and video quality wise, the bootleg and the legits are virtually indistinguishable).

Spoiler for here are shots of the main and language menus of the Full Metal Panic bootleg:

Notice that one disc has 8 episodes and 3 audio track selections available

[viperlance]

I just want some clarification.
So there are a total of 5 dvds right. How many episodes are on each dvd?

[xris]

Originally Posted by viperlance

I just want some clarification.
So there are a total of 5 dvds right. How many episodes are on each dvd?

There are seven official (region 1) FMP DVD's. What you've seen on eBay are illegal bootlegs.

[DarkCntry]

There have been words coming out of licensing companies that they *might* switch to a region-free system if they can find a way to still deal with copyright issues. As it stands there isn't much to a region-code law, it's just for a way to control releases to certain countries.

As it stands, regions were put in place so commerical theatrical releases to home video on DVD could only be released and played in the country it was released in natively and which keeps people from selling/seeing/whatever say from the US before it was released in another country...I don't know how much longer they will plan on using the region system seeing as more and more and more region-free enabled DVD players become commonplace. And with the case of anime, there are only so many distributors for this genre, so the region system is holding them back. I'm pretty sure ADV would love to branch out to more places than R1 and R2-Europe, I'm sure quite a few of these licensors would love to get a global market outside of Japan for this...but what the problem entails is that if they were to go region-free then what would keep the Japanese people from going and buying a region-free DVD player (if they don't have one already) and buying what ADV releases instead of the commonly more expensive and of lesser episode quantity locally released DVDs?

It would be like reverse bootlegging in a sort-of legal way...so basically it's a catch 22 when it comes to the region system. It's to attempt to keep piracy from bootleggers down, but was defeated rather quickly...this could be a way to promote a global type of competition, but it could also mean it could drive up the total cost of anime. If a Japanese distributor cannot get the money from distributing the discs locally, then it's doubtful (even if paid for licensing fees) they would want another company outside of Japan to be their competitors with better products.

This is, of course, just my take on everything...and probably should be read while taking several grains of salt

[Ero-Senpai]

i just browsed thru ebay anime section and someone alrdy selling bleach epi 1-6

i guess some ppl are pretty desperate to buy sometihing they can get for free huh?

in case you wanna see for yourself heres the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...341571174&rd=1

[zalas]

eBay is full of people trying to make a quick buck. eBay doesn't seem to care either, or there just isn't enough people to care about it. Just be suspicious if the DVD says Chinese subtitles or all region ^^;

[Onizuka-GTO]

Someone gotta check on it, i mean if it's subbed by a private group of the seller or a single person, then he can sell it. Bleach hasn't been licenced in the west yet
But if it was subbed by a fansub, that's been digitally edited to remove credit and non-selling/rental warnings it has to be stopped.
No way can you rip of the hard work of these dedicated otaku fansubbers who help bring us anime for free, and yet make a profit off them.
if you want to sell a subbed raw anime on DVD, you better sub it yourself.

[Ero-Senpai]

thats why i posted it here in the fansubbers forum so they would know someone is selling their work possibly. i'm all to aware of the ebay scams been a victim a time or two but there are some out there who are decent its just these ppl ripping off stuff from places like this and then selling it kinds makes anime subbers and anime sites lok bad if the industry start pointing fingers at us and saying if we didn;t sub it they couldn;t sell it. just my 2 cents anyways

[WristBandMan]

look for this seller "gingertoys2" he makes a lot from anime & dorama fansubs......................

[srb]

Originally Posted by Onizuka-GTO

Someone gotta check on it, i mean if it's subbed by a private group of the seller or a single person, then he can sell it. Bleach hasn't been licenced in the west yet

That's just why he can't sell it - he does not have the distribution rights to the series in question.

[hunterx]

isn't the whole thing a bit hypocritical? The subbers don't have rights to the original content either, yet they have no qualms about ripping and distributing something that doesn't belong to them.