hontou ni
24Sep/0728

Original or bootlegged? – 4 classes of anime DVDs

Can you pick out the bootleg and original DVDs from the picture above? I can now but only because I learnt it the hard way - by throwing hard-earned money at bootlegs. It's tough to be an honest anime fan nowadays. With pirates so proficient and extensive in their trade, bootlegged anime DVDs are making their way to shelves of reputable hypermarts, complete with official censorship stickers granting the impression of authencity. My Cardcaptor Sakura DVDs was bought from one of these hypermarts. Touted to be 70 episodes on 8 DVD9s, I bought it believing every episode would be just under 1GB which is reasonable quality only to find the discs to be DVD5s, making them just a little better than VCDs. I knew I should have followed my instincts. The packaging printing quality was substandard and the price was too low (S$45 for supposedly 8 DVD9s). I blame myself for being a cheapskate. This brings me to one of the classes of anime DVDs I (unfortunately) own -

Class 1 DVDs - Undoubtedly bootlegged

The above is my sad collection of bootlegged DVDs which I'll see personally to polymer heaven very soon. All of them was acquired during my trip to a neighbouring country years back. Usually on DVD5s and packing up to 8 eps, these abominations have picture qualities just slight above the VCD. Truly, a blight on the landscape of the Great ArtTM. They are actually a lot worse than the fansubs I own. Of course besides being enticed by the price (the very same DVDs are sold for 3 times the price in Singapore, yes despite being bootlegged), I blame these stickers for giving me a very slim but overpowering hope that smothered my blaring instincts which know otherwise.

Class 2 DVDs - Bootlegs like original

When I bought my Haruhi R3s, one of my questions was, "Can originals be a deal so sweet?" Priced at S$50 for 7 DVD5s, the picture quality is excellent and include many specials and creditless OP/ED. The DVD and packaging publishing is also of high quality. But there was an important incriminating detail - the DVD menu is in Japanese. Soon, I found out that these are also bootlegged - R2 rips with R3 subs. I only confirmed it when I realised the discs were missing the IFPI codes and LBR codes in the inner rim of the DVDs.

Class 3 DVDs - Originals like bootleg

After having realised that my Haruhi, Zero no Tsukaima and FMP TSR DVDs were bootlegged (albeit with R2 quality), I was wary of DVDs that came in the similar, no frills boxsets. But when I saw the X TV boxset, my resolve to be 'original' crumbled. Sold at S$80 for 14 discs (includes X OVA), the series was too good to be legit and to pass up on. The spartan boxset reinforced that belief but I bought the set anyway seeing how superb the picture quality was. So imagine my elation when I realised this no frills package were bona fide R3s upon closer inspection at home. I plan to stock my anime collection with this class DVDs. The existence of this boxset clearly refutes the saying, "if it's too good to be true, it must be."

Class 4 DVDs - Undoubtedly original

The price tells it all. Of course everything is superior about the DVDs - excellent packaging, video compression etc. My 8 discs Da Capo R3s were purchased at S$220 while my AIR R3s (eps 01-08 only on 4 discs) were bought at S$120. Although I did get my 7 discs Angel Layer for only S$70, I'd say it's still considered expensive compared to my good brother's recent AL haul. Of course one gets nice booklets, artboards etc but personally I would prefer Class 3 DVDs (no frills DVD goodness) so that I can free cash to invest in other anime-related vices (read: figures).

Pls note that this entry is in no way trying to discuss the moral/legal aspect of bootlegged/original anime DVDs or making judgment on any personal preferences in DVD acquistion. It's merely a post to chronicle my (mis)adventures of buying anime DVDs. Frankly, if there's anything I want most to convey, it's "Know what you are buying".

Related posts:

  1. Anime DVDs – A mad 6 months acquisition
  2. Why I collect 2D merchandise (Part 1) – Anime DVDs
  3. Full Metal Panic! TSR – From bootleg to blu-ray

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Filed under: Anime Vices Leave a comment
Comments (28) Trackbacks (1)
  1. Beowulf Lee
    September 24th, 2007 - 12:12

    Whenever I visit back in China or go to China town, I always make certain I pick up some bootlegs. It’s not that I want the movie or whatever, it’s just that I want to have the bootleg.

    Living in high tide MAFIAA DMCA US, I don’t have trouble getting originals of anything. Unless I’m running around in the streets of NYC or something.

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  2. Kabitzin
    September 24th, 2007 - 12:47

    That extra touch of sticker is hilarious. It’s the little things that count, haha.

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  3. Kurogane
    September 24th, 2007 - 13:23

    Oh well, those bootleg DVD’s are unfortunately the main source of anime over in my country, the “neighboring country” referenced in the post.

    I used to buy them too… till I finally got broadband and started being able to download fansubs economically.

    While I know it’s morally wrong and all that shit, but is it better to waste my hard-earned money on some shit that’s actually worse than a free alternative? No way man. I’d picked the free alternative 11 times out of 10.

    Still, I try to be a responsible anime fan. I do purchase legitimate stuff if I can afford them, but usually it’s once in a blue moon for me, since I’m really in a 3rd World country.

    But when one day, when I secure financial security, rest be assured I will be paying all my dues back to the industry, legitimately.

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  4. LytHka
    September 24th, 2007 - 13:50

    I’m not sure what’s wrong with knowing what you buy. If a person has no alternative to bootlegs, sure, go ahead, but when they do I don’t see why you’d want to support such piracy. Folks, get fansubs instead.

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  5. Vexx
    September 24th, 2007 - 15:01

    So far I’ve been lucky, my only two “screwed with lousy” bootlegs were from an American “reputable” online shop I no longer do business with (Anime Castle). The gamma on both of them are horrible and each is the first half of a series crammed onto one disk.
    I blame my at-the-time neophyte-ness.

    My only other item is a “probable” bootleg of Tsukikage Ran but since it seems to be the only damn version available anywhere on the planet – thanks to those probable bootleggers for keeping something worthy from vanishing completely.

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  6. KSamurai
    September 24th, 2007 - 17:00

    Hmmm I wonder if they start doing bootleg BlueRay releases soon or later??

    I’m still waiting for the pixel perfects releases to come out :)

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  7. quigonkenny
    September 24th, 2007 - 22:55

    Class 1 — My Hime (Bootleg)
    Class 2 — Haruhi (Good Bootleg)
    Class 3 — X TV (Cheap Legit)
    Class 4 — D.C. (Legit)

    Hah, called em. Pretty much, at least. I could tell the Mai Hime was bogus, and that the D.C. was legit. The Mai Hime looked like it was printed on an $80 inkjet, and the D.C. had all the right logos. I was questionable about the X TV (fairly cheap design) and somewhat certain about the Haruhi (the logos could have been hiding in the busy design, but the fonts were straight up Windows styled), so I could have gone either way on those two. Of course, none of that was probably evident from the outside of the box.

    I’ve owned (to my knowledge, at least) only 6 bootleg anime products, only 3 of which were bought with the knowledge that they were bootlegs. Two of them I still own and use regularly, and those are the unknowing bootlegs of the first two Inu Yasha soundtracks. They were among my first anime purchases, so I didn’t know that being less than the price of an American CD (which was less then than it is now) should have been a definite clue, considering Amazon was selling the “same” thing for 5 times the price; I just thought I was getting a hell of a deal. Of course bootleg CDs might as well be the real thing, since if they’re well done, you’re not losing quality. These were definitely Class 2 discs. Even the inserts were well done. Only on very close inspection (years later, after finding out what to look for) could I tell the discs were fake, much like your Haruhi discs. Speaking of Anime Castle, guess where I bought them? I’ll come back to that…

    Next, I bought the first of three Inu Yasha “box sets.” At 18 to a box, I figured they were a pretty good deal at $30 a piece, considering Viz had yet to even release more than the first 40 episodes in the States, much less a box set. Of course, when I got the first one, I realized why it was such a good deal. Six eps to a DVD5 disc, and not even full discs at that? Well, it was still better quality than the rips I was pulling from Adult Swim with my 2nd-gen tuner card, and it was in the original Japanese, and once the first Viz box set came out at 27 episodes for over $100, it looked to be an even better deal, and I convinced myself I wasn’t really sure they were bootlegs after all… After I got the third one though, and realized there really wasn’t a return option for me once I found that the DVD player locked up in the middle of one of the episodes on disc 2, my enthusiasm diminished quite a bit. These I got from Discount Anime DVD. The name should have probably clued me in.

    Then, one day, after trudging home empty-handed from Best Buy realizing I didn’t have the $150 to spend on the Trigun box set, I happened to visit good ol’ Anime Castle again, and found the holy grail of “legit” (wink-wink) DVDs. I knew from the price that they just had to be bootlegs, but even so, what true Trigun fan could turn down buying the entire series for $18? Yeah, didn’t think so. Once I got a look at them, though, I saw these weren’t even as good as the Inu Yasha bootlegs. When I opened up the “box” (it was actually a Digipak in a plastic sleeve, like the
    Inu Yasha bootlegs) and saw only 3 DVDs (for a 26 episode series, you do the math), and when I further saw that each DVD was of the 4.7GB variety, I started thinking that $150 wasn’t such a bad goal to start saving up for. I could have recorded the series off of TV on a set of VCR tapes (in LP format) and ripped them to my computer via frayed RCA cables and it still would have looked better than the quality on those glorified VCDs. It was at that point I realized bootlegs weren’t worth the money, whatever the price (luckily, I make more money now than I did then). Didn’t hurt that I finally found those “fansubs” everybody was talking about on the interweb at around the same time…

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  8. Stripey
    September 24th, 2007 - 23:04

    Beowulf Lee: LOL! MAFIAA.. XD Yeah over here, we have to be discerning. For example, one can unwittingly get an original when hunting for bootlegs if he buys an Class 3 above :P

    Kabitzin: Then you’d love the “All rights reserved. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, lending, hiring, public performance… prohibited” that lines the discs inside. :) I supposed it’s done to protect their pirated status XD

    Kurogane: I feel your pain. I think it’s worse when the casual anime fan on the street and even the vendors themselves seem to sincerely believe they are originals. These discs seem to have enter the country through legal channels and are imported by companies who proudly splash their names/contact/details on the DVD packages. But my country’s not better with a distributor acting like the Spanish inquisitor and selling worse than bootleg quality discs… legimitately XD

    LytHka: Oh, it’s my wish that people know exactly what they buy. :) As for alternatives, it’s sad that in my country, the official releases are poorer quality than say the Class 2 bootlegs in this entry or they claim to hold the licenses but keep churning out VCDs instead of DVDs which is what the market wants. So yeah, I’m with you on that we’d need to make a decision with the choices available. Fansubs >>> Class 1 bootlegs though :)

    Vexx: Haha! I wouldn’t be surprised if many years down the road, at some anime museum, it’d be your copy of Tsukikage Ran DVDs on exhibition XD

    KSamurai: Knowing the pirates, who’d outlast cockroaches in a nuclear winter, it’s just a matter of time :)

    quigonkenny: Right on! :) Like yourself, it all boils down to the quality. For example, I still love my Class 2s to bits because they are gorgeous despite being bootlegged. And I’m going to get my legit Cardcaptor Sakura soon, not being able to stand the bootleg quality no matter how cheap it was. Looks like we pretty much share the same philosophies when it comes to DVD purchases. :)

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  9. Sherman, the Ramni
    September 25th, 2007 - 08:02

    Quick question:

    Is there a netstore where I can buy ORIGINAL anime DVDs? Yes, those with the frills and whatnot.

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  10. Stripey
    September 25th, 2007 - 09:16

    I’ve yet to get anything from therightstuf but Moyism (undisputed King of anime merchandises) and my good brother Zyl recommend it :)

    http://www.rightstuf.com/

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  11. Steven Den Beste
    September 25th, 2007 - 09:42

    RightStuf’s shipment policy is best summarized as “We ship at our convenience, not at yours”. I used to buy from them but eventually got fed up with the delays. These days I buy all my stuff from Robert’s Anime Corner Store, where the policy is “next business day shipment or die trying”. I have been EXTREMELY happy with him:

    http://www.animecornerstore.com/index.html

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  12. Xellos-_^
    September 25th, 2007 - 11:20

    With Righstuf if they have what you order currently in stock they will sent it out usually in the next 2-3 days. It is only when it is not in stock and they have to order or a preorder that will taje time.

    I also fine Rightstuf much cheaper then the other online company and if you are in the US you also get free shipping if you order over $49 of stuff.

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  14. shiro
    September 25th, 2007 - 20:10

    Yeah… know what you buy…

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  15. Xellos-_^
    September 25th, 2007 - 20:59

    Stripy, the 40% off for bandai just ended 3 weeks ago.

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  16. quigonkenny
    September 26th, 2007 - 00:24

    “Is there a netstore where I can buy ORIGINAL anime DVDs? Yes, those with the frills and whatnot.”

    I’ve never had need to do so, so the only three sites I can think of are cdjapan.co.jp, jbook.co.jp, and of course amazon.co.jp. CD Japan is the only one of the three that shows up in English, but Amazon is the only one I’ve seriously looked at. I’ve thought about buying a few things from time to time (Maximum the Hormone CDs, one of Haruhi novels just for kicks) and decided against it when I saw the shipping costs. In both the above cases, it was 3500 yen to the States (about $30), and I imagine it would be higher for DVDs (especially the ones with “the frills and whatnot”) than for CDs or light novels. Haven’t checked shipping for either of the other two (and probably couldn’t in the case of JBook, as the only thing that helped me navigate amazon.co.jp was the fact that it’s laid out almost exactly like the US version) but I imagine it’s similar.

    I’m sure there’s other sites out there, but you have to be careful with the domestic (US) sites that sell “import” discs, as a lot of those are bootlegs. Assuming that a product on an unknown site is legit if it is being priced similarly to how it is on one of the above three sites is probably a safe bet, but you may not be able to trust the site itself…

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  17. Stripey
    September 27th, 2007 - 05:31

    Xellos-_^: Which is why I’m looking fwd to Mar 08 :) Hopefully by then they’d have more series I want.

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  18. Sherman, the Ramni
    September 27th, 2007 - 08:39

    Stripey, Steven Den Beste: Thanks for the links.
    quigonkenny: Those helluva-high prices are exactly the reason I don’t buy Megami from CD Japan. Well, at least I found J-List and it’s great. My monthly bishoujo fix for US 22, shipping to Chile included.

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  19. cyw1988
    October 7th, 2007 - 09:17

    ooo stripes, this is really informative… Well done… WOW the immitation R3s are so close to original it’s quite impossible to tell the difference(except the price)… I have ordered R3s from JSDVD mall(google it for main webby).

    Their prices aren’t exactly cheap, still I am unsure whether they actually sell Original Stuff. I got The entire set of Eureka 7 and Evangelion from them costing close to SGD$500 for both sets in one shipping… I notice that the disc are similar to their R2 counterparts except there were actually minor scratches on some of them(i sent back and got them to change which they did). What did u mean by IFPI codes and LBR codes? Any screenies to show? thanks in advance for that…

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  20. cyw1988
    October 7th, 2007 - 09:33

    http://mall.jsdvd.com/ here’s the link to it… I am seriously praying my stuff are legit… argg

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  21. Stripey
    October 8th, 2007 - 07:51

    cyw1988: I looked through the site. The stuff looks legit. In fact I recognise some of the Taiwanese R3s at the shop where I get my R3 DVDs. IFPI and LBR codes are found in the inner rim of the DVDs or even CDs and can be traced back to the factory sources. My bootlegged DVDs didn’t have LBRs or IFPI. There’s also matrix numbers which pirates are too lazy to duplicate. You can find pics of what I’ve described over here.

    http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/index.php/Matrix_Numbers

    Will try to put up an entry on in-depth comparisons between originals and bootlegs :)

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  22. cyw1988
    October 10th, 2007 - 19:46

    Ah thanks bro…
    Well I checked my stuff.. they are legit… Eureka 7 was by mighty media and Eva was from Proware. I think JS’s prices are reasonable compared to the japanese R2s. I am planning to get Clannad R2 though, just to show my support for the greatest Bishoujo game ever made. Having said that prolly will get a copy of the game as well since the one i played was from a friend.

    OMG! this is gonna cost alot of $$ but I’ve been giving alot of stuff the miss recently(ZnT novels, kanon Mikoto figure, clannad Tomoyo Figure Louise yousei figure etc.) that I think it’s pretty justifiable hehe… Catch you sometime, gotta go before the uni com mods block my account for overusage on non-academic related material Orz

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  23. Stripey
    October 11th, 2007 - 06:51

    Ah the 2 very cheap boxsets I have (X TV ~ S$80 for 14 discs and SCRYED ~ S$68 for 12 discs) are from mighty media too. Do look out for these boxsets, really good deals to have :) Prowaremedia’s stuff is really quality too. My AIR DVDs are from them.

    Yeah for otaku, there are soooo many things competing for our cash. I skipped the Makoto figure too but couldn’t resist the yousei Louise…. tres bien!! XD

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  24. Wild Goose
    October 13th, 2007 - 00:42

    You should know by now never to buy anything in my country. Ten years ago, Reader’s Digest estimated that 80% of all CDs sold in my country were pirated – the number has surely gone up in the passing.

    The truly f**ked up part about Bootlegs sold here is that apart from those “Buy Original” stickers, they’ll have these little holographic stickers reading “Kementerian Perdagangan Dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna – Tulen” (“Ministry of Trade and Consumer Affairs – Original”).

    Also, from personal experience, fansubs > my country’s “original” dvds.

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  25. Stripey
    October 16th, 2007 - 00:34

    Wild Goose: heh yeah, I’ve learnt it the hard way indeed. I still remember the sales personnel was enthusiastically telling me it’s original. Yes, I asked XD It’s interesting that the dvds are made of raws from the internet (thanks the scrolling japanese words that warn of online piracy within the episode itself, I know.) but are of much poorer quality.

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  26. Kagura
    May 6th, 2009 - 08:33

    can anyone tell me where to buy mai-hime or otome dvd? in any singapore shop?

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  27. Stripey
    May 10th, 2009 - 00:00

    Dropped you an email on the outlet. Enjoy!

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  28. Ken
    June 6th, 2009 - 00:08

    Where can i buy toradora anime in singapore?

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