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Anime

Updating the Pirate Anime FAQ 231

Posted by michael from the arrrr-matie dept.
Joe Curzon writes "Over two years ago, I created what is now probably the most comprehensive and detailed guide to spotting bootleg and counterfeit anime/manga related goods - The Pirate Anime FAQ. A special version of the FAQ has also been published at numerous Anime Conventions around the USA. However due to commitments in the "real world" I have not been able to update FAQ almost a year. :( I would like to iron out any creases and update the whole thing in one go, so I was wondering what improvements would the Otaku readers of /. recommend? The DVD section and Fansub section are in need of the most attention and I plan to deal with that soon, but I was also wondering if there were any subtle changes I could make to improve the FAQ as well?"
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Updating the Pirate Anime FAQ More

Updating the Pirate Anime FAQ

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  • If you see it on eBay... (Score:5, Funny)

    by confused philosopher ( 666299 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:10PM (#6086721) Homepage Journal
    If you see it on eBay and they say it comes on CD-R, then I'd recommend avoiding it ;-)

  • Personally... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by NeoOokami ( 528323 ) <neowolf@@@gmail...com> on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:14PM (#6086747) Homepage
    I enjoy buying bootleg Hong Kong DVD sets. I'm not trying to justfy it, it's still a form of piracy. But so is just about every song and movie you download off the net. The primary difference is that I still get relatively nice packaging and sets at prices that are sane enough for me to afford. I can't justify spending $300 to watch an entire series. And some sets, like Maison Ikkoku that I've gotten don't have good US alternatives. Viz Video was once releasing it at $30 a two episode tape but stopped before they even finished. Even then this is a 96 episode series. Would anyone in their right mind pay $1440 just to watch a TV show? (Although I do believe Viz Video has recently started to release the show in a series of pricey boxed DVD sets - Unsure of how these will be)
    • Gasp!

      You are advocating piracy on /.
      on a thread about how to spot and stop piracy
      about anime, the worlds most loved or hated animation.

      Very provocative.

    • Too Expensive, Blu-Ray (Score:4, Informative)

      by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:40PM (#6086863) Homepage
      I have recently discovered anime and like it alot, but I haven't seen too much. Most of what I have seen is the stuff that's aired on TV (Betterman, Dual, DB(Z), Rurouni Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc) simply because it's expensive. The blockbusters of the world don't carry much (a movie or two like Akira and Princess Mononoke) but if I want to watch a series, I have to wait for it to be on TV.

      I agree with you that anime is very expensive, but so are most other TV shows. Unfortunatly I think this is due to the DVD format it's self. It was designed for movies, and as such can only hold 4 or 5 episodes of a half hour show per disc. And with shows running into 6 discs for a single season for some shows (this is from Buffy season 2) at nearly $50 it's very expensive.

      This all assumes you can even get it. The Cowboy Bebop collection is no longer sold, so I'd have to buy each disc individualy. The Betterman saga is something like $150 in a full set.

      This is why I hope Blu-Ray discs and players appear soon. While they may not add to much for movies (full HDTV or something maybe) but for collection like series, they would probably reduce the cost a ton. Or you could fit all of the Starwars triligoy on one disc (episodes 4, 5, and 6) or any other trilogy. So even if it costs 5 times as much to make a blu-ray disc, it holds as much as about 7 DVDs, making it cheaper (not including the cost of packaging 7 DVDs, labeling them, running that many production lines, etc).

      Blu-ray, where are you?

      PS: I don't condone privacy. I could download entire series, but I don't think that's right. I'll wait untill I can afford them or they are on TV.

      • Re:Too Expensive, Blu-Ray (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Fulcrum of Evil ( 560260 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:46PM (#6086887)

        This is why I hope Blu-Ray discs and players appear soon. While they may not add to much for movies (full HDTV or something maybe) but for collection like series, they would probably reduce the cost a ton.

        Don't hold your breath - DVDs cost less than a dollar to press. The price of a DVD has nothing to do with the cost of production.

        • Don't hold your breath - DVDs cost less than a dollar to press. The price of a DVD has nothing to do with the cost of production.

          Don't forget that that production includes the cost of encoding the material, developing additional material (menus, extras, etc) mastering the disc, creating checkdiscs, testing checkdiscs in each of the dozens of spec-incompatible DVD players, re-encoding because frame 34b at 1:43:23.87 succumbed to the bugginess that is the color red in mpeg. Making the glass master for the
          • The interesting thing is that "pirates" or fansubbers are fully willing to perform equivalents of all those production tasks for free, and to a level of quality acceptable to many viewers.

            The single most expensive part of creating a DVD for legal sale in America is the English dubbing- and many fans count that as a big negative. (They're a minority of total buyers, though)

            Often the fan-produced versions have superior translation and disc layout compared to professional work. Most importantly, they can p
            • Often the fan-produced versions have superior translation and disc layout compared to professional work.

              I see you've apparently stopped watching fansubs this past season. This past season has mostly consisted of a new variation on the same dick-waving theme that has been around since the beginning. And thats the "Look! We can make up random translations and post our bittorrent of the episode 24 hours after it was broadcast!" variation, which has come up with such superior professional work as the ever-m
      • my wife and I are kenshin fans we bought half of the series (dubbed in english --the same as the expensive ones that amazon is selling) from nextdayanime.com for less then fifty bucks. Best purchase I ever made

      • Re:Too Expensive, Blu-Ray (Score:4, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 31, 2003 @07:41PM (#6087080)
        As a sibling post states, pressed DVDs are under a dollar each to make. There's actually two factors why the cost of a season of a TV series (anime or otherwise) is so expensive.

        The first is the DVD count are intentionally produced at a higher rate than necessary proportional to the number of videos involved (ie, putting only 3 episodes on a DVD instead of 4). This is done intentionally to inflat e the price, as consumers like you view more about the number of DVDs involved than the content of said DVDs.

        The second factor is people are *willing* to spend the money to buy seasons of TV shows. In the US, TV shows which are often on don't normally sell well (there's less incentive to buy what you can always catch on TV). Of course, exceptions include "cult" classics. With anime, there is no syndication on TV, so you're stuck buying at whatever price they're willing to sell at. For that major reason, anime is even more insanely priced than US TV shows.

        What do these two factors mean? For one, they mean you should consider buying the 3 DVD instead of the 4 DVD season set for some series, all factors being equal, especially since it should be $1 less.. Realistically, it means less DVD switching. Of course, at some level, it might mean less quality, but that's what reviews are for if you have the choice. There's also the possibility of endorsing opendivx (or ogg's one, whenever it becomes stable), as in general more will fit on the DVD at the same quality (it'd probably happen you could fit a whole season on a single DVD). Of course, showing how factor one to producers doesn't effect your buying habits, they might start producing single DVD seasons.

        Why this really matters is buying a single DVD for a season removes the "stigma" of buying a box case. The result should be a steady increase in the supply of series, since it's so easy to produce (about as much physical printing and packaging as a movie). Producers will manufacturer more seasons to increase their profits. Buyers, then, seeing the flood of TV series available will start diversifying the price (they'll pay more for X-Files than Matlock, since the former is newer), which should drive down the price down to the price of movies (in reality, since tv series have until dvds survived solely on revenue from the actual tv shows, all profits on dvd sales are really "icing on the cake", so as people begin to realize this, tv series might even begin to sell for *less* than movies).

        So, to me it's only a matter of time for enough people to realize that they not only want but can probably get several tv series as part of their library without it being unordinary.
      • Search Amazon.com for Cowboy Bebop. They have an exclusive to Amazon deal on the series. You can buy all six discs in one package for $98, which is a lot cheaper than buying the individual discs anywhere else! I thought I would never get to see Bebop legitimately until I came across this deal.
        • Speaking of illigitimate Bebop, can anyone recommend a DivX player that doesn't crash and burn on certain episodes, but is nicer than Windows Media Player? I'm running DivX Player 2.1 on WinME (circumstances beyond my control). It handles most things better than WMP, but it crashes in the middle of Session 24.

          Just wondering....

      • $100 for 13 hours of anime is not a hell of a lot to pay. Considering you'd spend $25-30 for a 1-2 hour movie. Boxed sets run from $80-200, mostly depending on how new the series is, and how big a hit it was. If you're poor, be paitient as you said. Boxed sets get released for way cheaper than buying the individual dvds. I can't justify $200 (more because of my budget than anything else) but $100 for 13 hours is my sweet spot. (Nadesico was a super value at $80 for 13 hours) As was stated in other replies t

    • Re:Personally... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Chymaera ( 607989 )

      The primary difference is that I still get relatively nice packaging and sets at prices that are sane enough for me to afford.

      The difference is that you're spending money on it at all. Buying bootleg anime supports an evil industry that probably does a great deal of damage to anime studios every year.

      If it's packaging you care about you'll get better packaging by buying the real thing. Instead of buying five bootleg DVDs for $30, go buy one legit DVD for the same price and at the same time support th

    • Re:Personally... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sasami ( 158671 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @07:31PM (#6087047)
      Would anyone in their right mind pay $1440 just to watch a TV show?

      You don't have any basis for making this judgment. A 26-episode anime series costs about $180 here, retail. Why is that "too much" but a $70 bootleg boxset isn't? Prices have nothing to do with you, and everything to do with the market and what it will pay. Notably, DVDs in Japan cost twice as much as they do here, and they still sell plenty.

      If I can't afford to pay that much, then I'll simply do without. Or maybe I'll save up for a while. These are concepts that seem to be lost on people these days. Worst case, I'll rent or borrow, but as a collector I prefer to plan ahead and budget for purchases.

      Incidentally, the packaging you get on bootlegs is only "relatively nice" if you don't read Japanese. The printing on even the best reproductions is near-illegible compared to originals. The low-quality papers will also begin to degrade much faster.

      --
      Dum de dum.

      • What you say is true, (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Inoshiro ( 71693 )
        but I'd argue that there is some price fixing. One of the products of price fixing is piracy.

        Consider that new CD releases (at least in my city) have been slowly getting cheaper by about a buck every other year since 1999. A lot of new releases try to include something extra, like multimedia files, or a DVD. Why? They're trying to give value to a consumer that won't bat an eye at breaking the law. Offer value, and you can beat free.

        Right now, what really strikes me as suspicious is that Canadian DVD
      • Some 26 episode series are released as cheaper sets as well. Nadesico is available now for about $70. Slayers for around $80 online. Cost of other box sets is actually coming down to $150 or $120 many times now.

        While I don't *want* to pay as much as anime costs, I look at it in terms of entertainment per hour. It's not really any different than buying Hollywood movies...only you "need" 6-8 DVDs usually to see the whole story. To me, it'd make sense to do more box sets prices at $50-60 than sell single DVDs

    • Re:Personally... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by sql*kitten ( 1359 )
      I can't justify spending $300 to watch an entire series.

      "Hi, I really like your product, but I don't want to give you any money for it. You are going to go on making it, right, so I can just steal it? Hello?"

      That's the problem, see. Like all digital media, a DVD is trivial to reproduce once its made. In an industrial scale, it's less than $1/disk. But the content on it is not trivial to produce. Animation requires lots of people and lots of time, and altho' the end product is cool, and the people making
      • "Hi, I really like your product, but I don't want to give you any money for it. You are going to go on making it, right, so I can just steal it? Hello?"

        That's the problem, see. Like all digital media, a DVD is trivial to reproduce once its made. In an industrial scale, it's less than $1/disk. But the content on it is not trivial to produce. Animation requires lots of people and lots of time, and altho' the end product is cool, and the people making the storyboards probably have a blast, the actual cel-by-c
  • I was wondering what improvements would the Otaku readers of /. recommend?
    I think an index on number of tentacles would be appropriate.

  • Kinda funny... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by NeoOokami ( 528323 ) <neowolf@@@gmail...com> on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:20PM (#6086774) Homepage
    One of the things pointed out in the DVD section is that the logos of Anime Cartoon and Video Animation (Animation Video) look the same meaning they're the same company. That's kinda funny considering they actually are two different companes. Animation Video's logo looks like Anime Cartoon's because AC releases better quality sets and so they wanna be associated with that. PS - Another logo in that same section actually IS another name/logo for Anime Cartoon. And it doesn't look similar at all. Just goes to show that you can't recognize piracy with copying for even priates copy wachother. ;)

  • Otaku (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:21PM (#6086776)
    It might help if you refrained from using the word "Otaku". To you, it may mean "enthusiastic anime fan", but to anyone who actually speaks Japanese, it means "pathetic loser with no life". If you're intending to inform people about a subject, you might want to avoid offending them.

    • Star Trek Fans (Score:5, Funny)

      by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:25PM (#6086804)
      "To you, it may mean "enthusiastic anime fan", but to anyone who actually speaks Japanese, it means "pathetic loser with no life"."

      This reminds me of Star Trek fans who get hung up on the difference between Trekkie and Trekker. Once they start to care about this distinction, all hope of obtaining a life is gone with the wind (or, gone with a stream of tachyon particles, as it may be)
      • The difference is that an "otaku" in Japan is a person who has gotten very detached from society; often associated with people who watch hentai all day and rape little girls. There are websites dedicated to the theme. I'll go try to look some up.
      • Once they start to care about this distinction, all hope of obtaining a life is gone with the wind (or, gone with a stream of tachyon particles, as it may be)

        And they live with his mothers: No_More_Trek.avi (7.26 MB) [civfanatics.net]

    • Re:Otaku (Score:4, Funny)

      by Mika_Lindman ( 571372 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:59PM (#6086922)
      what improvements would the Otaku readers of /. recommend?

      word "Otaku". To you, it may mean "enthusiastic anime fan", but to anyone who actually speaks Japanese, it means "pathetic loser with no life".

      So what do you think "/. reader" means to anyone who speaks english?
    • It also means "house", but I dont think thats what he meant.

      Seriously, the japanese borrow words from english all the time. It goes the other way too, but not as often. Otaku is an example of this, and its english meaning is "enthusiastic anime fan".

      anime laws [google.com]
      Beginner's guide to the anime newsgroups [x-maru.org]
      • On the other hand, we tend to use it in the US to describe enthusiastic anime fans as a general group... in Japan, to call someone an otaku is nearly an insult; it has the connotations of having almost no social graces (or hygiene), it's someone whose life is pretty much defined solely by anime and related subjects.

        But then, the lack of hygiene and social graces would define most /. posters too -- just replace anime with GPLed software.
        • In English, to call someone a geek or nerd is an insult- it has denotations of having no social graces (geek) or hygiene (nerd).

          (The original definition of nerd: "A preppy who gets a courseload so heavy that his study-time precludes daily showers". It was spelled with a "u" back then.)

      • Re:Otaku (Score:2, Interesting)

        by BJH ( 11355 )
        Not "house". The kanji taku when used in combination with other characters means house (takuhai, jitaku, etc.), but the word otaku is a formal pronoun meaning "you". That's how it came to have its current meaning - the group of people who came to be called otaku used it when talking to each other.
        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

          • Well no, 'î (otaku) means either 'you' or 'house', but context distinguishes them. You wouldn't say 'Does your house want more tea', would you?

        • Re:Otaku (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Nogami_Saeko ( 466595 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @09:26PM (#6087468)
          My Japanese instructor gave me the best explanation - that the commonly accepted Japanese meaning was someone who stays at home all of the time (presumably watching anime and playing with toys) - in other words, doesn't get out much.

          The meaning took a more sinister undertone in the late 80s/early 90s when a self-proclaimed "Otaku" decided to start killing schoolkids in Japan.

          Regardless, it's not exactly the cute word that some people seem to thing it is.

          If you say that you're an "Otaku" to a Japanese person, it's basically the same as saying that you're a "fanboy with no life" in english, and although they may be polite about it, the perception will be the same.

          Not a good thing.
    • Yes, and Geek means someone who eats chicken heads. What's your point? Words change, especially when they swap languages.

      Then again, hacker. Oh well. I don't expect the loser shut-ins of Japan to protest too much.

    • Yes, but isn't the words "geek" and "nerd" also basicly terms we wear with pride, but are stolen from words with very negitive conotations? The general meaning of these words to many is STILL negitive. Is this not about the same thing? I say just put a blurb explaining the origions of the word Otaku, and its differing meanings, and let the Anime fans decide if they want to call themselves that.

    • I'd take the complaint about "otaku" more seriously if I believed that the Japanese were equally careful to use english correctly [engrish.com]. But apparently they're just as clueless as we are [engrish.com]. I mean, really [engrish.com].

      Cultures (At least interesting ones :-) happily steal words and phrases from other cultures and inevitably screw them up in the process. Smile and enjoy it.

      If you're going to be in a business meeting with someone from Japan, perhaps it would be a good idea to steer clear of "otaku" to describe yourself. Of

    • It might help if you refrained from using the word "Otaku". To you, it may mean "enthusiastic anime fan", but to anyone who actually speaks Japanese, it means "pathetic loser with no life". If you're intending to inform people about a subject, you might want to avoid offending them.

      And WTF do you think that /. and User Friendly's favorite word, "geek", means to the outside world? I don't think they think "technology enthusiast" when they hear "geek." Yet, /. readers do. And so do otaku.

  • Colors (Score:3, Offtopic)

    by fredrikj ( 629833 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:36PM (#6086847) Homepage
    For one thing, you could change the colors on the web site. The bright green and blue text is very hard on the eyes, try dark blue and dark green instead. You should also consider removing the menu GIF animation.
  • A couple hi res examples of authentic goods might be usefull, perhapps an image or two from some of the major series's would be helpfull.

    I live in a small town, theres only one place to get stuff, so I lack a basis for comparison on most items. As such, a library of authentic barcode/copyright information would be usefull for a website. I know I am interested in series X and Y, so looking up what the barcodes/info should look like for that exact series would be great.

  • Yeah... (Score:3, Informative)

    by dethl ( 626353 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @06:53PM (#6086906)
    Video Companies chose to ignore moral fansubbers for many reasons

    One of the main reasons is because the Japanese companies can't get the people in America due to licencing laws. If its not licenced in America, its not illegal.

    Now there are moral fansubbers who throw their fansubs away when said series becomes licenced, and go but a full quality DVD.

    • Re:Yeah... (Score:4, Informative)

      by lunatik17 ( 91135 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @07:11PM (#6086973) Homepage
      What are you talking about? Japan is a signee of the Berne Convention, so their copyrights are perfectly valid in America.
      • thank you, i've been trying to remember the name of that convention for like a week! Anyway, it's nice to know someone here knows what they are talking about

    • Re:Yeah... (Score:5, Funny)

      by blincoln ( 592401 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @07:19PM (#6087000) Homepage Journal
      If its not licenced in America, its not illegal.

      I see a need for a related article: the Ridiculous Justifications for Media Piracy FAQ. Here, I'll start it off:

      Q: If I keep my pirated media for less than 24 hours, is it legal?

      A: The answer is yes! Copyright law clearly allows for a trial period on any media!

      Q: If I pirate a video game that is at least ten years old, is it legal?

      A: Absolutely! Copyrights are totally dependent on the commercial availability of the work!

      Q: If I pirate a game or movie, but call it a "backup," is it legal?

      A: Of course! Consumers have the right to back up and own any media they can get their hands on!

      Q: If I pirate media that is not available in my area, is it legal?

      A: No question! Media corporations are legally obligated to release their product in all parts of the world, or give up all rights!

      Q: If I cannot afford a movie or game, is it legal to pirate it instead?

      A: Once again, the answer is yes! Media ownership is a right, not a privilege!
      • I read a book written by linus, and in it he explains how it is moral for a person who cannot afford something to spend that money on important things (food, etc) and then pirate the non-essentials that they cannot afford. As a good slashdotter, i cannot disobey the direct orders of god himself.

        I'm half serious and half kidding
    • Actually recent fansub I downloaded had warning in Japanese text scrolling across the screen about "episodes posted to internet..." Base on that I would say that they are acutely aware of network distribution...
    • It is illegal. But it won't ever be enforced. If there is no company selling the stuff in America, then there is no company who cares enough to enforce their rights. Moreover, there is no actual legal way to obtain the material in English.

      This is not, of course, an argument against actually downloading the stuff. I suppose that some people believe in obeying a law simply because it's there. They still believe that the Leviathan state is the root of all morality. 'Religion is obviously a hoax, but go
      • Moreover, there is no actual legal way to obtain the material in English.

        Technically, the legal way is to fly to Japan, hunt down the author, and give him one million yen.
        • That's still not legal. The author doesn't own the copyright, the publishing company does (usually). You'd have to give them the money, and get them to agree to allow you to make a copy of the fansubbers work. Not likely.

          You could also hire a private translator.
          • The author doesn't own the copyright, the publishing company does (usually).

            That's the US way. In Japan the author often keeps copyright.

            However, only for a manga is it possible for one person to have copyright for the entire thing. An anime will have had contributions from others (seiyuu, musicians, Koreans, etc).

            However, the author will know the publisher, and to keep authors happy, any publisher (in Japan or the US) will permit authors to pass out small amounts of the work. (If not, 500000 yen sh
            • However, only for a manga is it possible for one person to have copyright for the entire thing. An anime will have had contributions from others (seiyuu, musicians, Koreans, etc).

              This is why, for example, we'll likely never see a version of Macross 7 over here; too much of a nightmare to license all of the music.

  • I have a poster of Card Captor Sakura on my wall because I harbor deeply unnatural feelings for cartoon characters, not because I care about authenticity!

    Seriously, this resource has nothing to do with stopping "piracy"; you may claim that's an issue but what this is really about is *fraud* - which you should be opposed to even if you support piracy (as I do.) It does nothing to stop pirating of TMs or whatever, it just stops these pirated goods from being passed as licensed/authentic, which matters a lot to collectors.

  • fansubs rox (Score:2, Informative)

    by Graspee_Leemoor ( 302316 )
    I think you should update your pirate anime faq with more coverage of internet fansubs. Specifically you should have lots of ed2k and bittorrent links to good stuff like One Piece and Hikaru no Go.

    But seriously, you should point out that lots of fansubbers do better translations than the official ones, and that many people download fansubs because of the greediness of the official distributers, who often put out a dvd with just 3 eps on it, and since anime series tend to be at least 20 eps long that's a lo
  • So, what do you all think about fansubs? Fansubbing licensed anime is certainly wrong, though many people still do it to save themselves money (DVDs are expensive). But what about for unlicensed anime, especially titles that will probbaly never be licensed? If it's something that would never be translated anyway, then I don't see anything wrong with letting fans watch it. As for the more popular series that are likely to be licensed, it really depends on the fans. The fans who go out and buy the DVDs o
  • 1) Friends
    2) Friends with cable modems/high speed internet access
    3) Friends with no life
    4) Friends who are total anime junkies, worse than yourself
    5) CD-Rs
    6) Friends who are KaZaA addicts.
    7) A girlfriend who can put on pouty cute faces and stuff for your friends in exchange for all the anime they've stolen.

    Mix, and enjoy.

    And don't let your girlfriend see the hentai collection.

  • This FAQ Works (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anenga ( 529854 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @07:05PM (#6086949)
    When I first got into Anime around 3 or 4 years ago (When I was 14 or 15) I found it really interesting that everyone who offered Anime up for download or Anime fansub groups would not promote distribution of licensed Anime, and that's still true today. (Though, it kind of sucks cause Anime is ussually licensed before the fansub group can even finish it) If you request or go around looking for licensed Anime, you won't really find it, or if you do it will be on a P2P network or some other non-fan supportive medium.

    The entire FAQ is an interesting success story which shows that not everyone is out to pirate and rip off companies just becuase they can. If you have a good product which people like, it will accumulate a fanbase and they'll help create junior policies and "implied social contracts" against people that would harm your company. It's why I thought FOX made a huge mistake with their "cease and decist" letters against Simpsons fansites which caused many of the best Simpsons fansites to go off the web, all because they had some JPEG's of Bart or a 2 minute video clip of their favorite scene in an episode. Now everyone is realizing that fansites help companies earn more profit (because you have more explosure & a dedicated fanbase, among other things).
  • Anyway, I think the unlicensed anime images you host on the website count as "anime piracy" anyway unless you have permission from every anime studio to have them there, which I doubt.

    graspee

  • If you call your page The Pirate Anime FAQ: A Guide To Unlicensed Anime and Manga Related Goods, it would make sense to include more detailed information on where to get the stuff (not just say eBay). How about explaining the benefits of different P2P systems, mentioning AnimeReactor, etc. And while you are at it, don't you think your FAQ is too one-sided? I would also add sections on "Why should I buy pirated stuff?", "How should I pirate stuff?", "What can I do for the anime piracy scene?", "How stupid yo
    • And I forgot, give some advice on dealing with different file formats. For some reason anime pirates just love using some obscure formats for anime videos. They used Smacker, Vivo, RealVideo. Now they use OGM. Crazy people. We anime fans definitely need some advice on dealing with all these file formats. I just downloaded Akira and had to convert that stupid OGM to AVI/MP3, because ogm DirectShow filter would not install correctly for some obscure reason.
  • what the guys out there want to know is... where do I get Hentai for free!?

  • Strange English (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Contrary to some beliefs anime and manga products with English that is either strange, doesn't make sense or is just plain nonsense is not a clue to spotting unlicensed goods.

    What you say!!

  • ... way too expensive right now. I know people want to make a buck, but I can totally agree with the fellow who doesn't want to spend $1500.00 or so for a *single* series.

    And with DVDs "pressing" cost being about a dollar and the packaging being maybe a dollar or two more, exactly how can producers really expect to gouge customers this much?

    They are almost forcing people to find cheap alternatives. Crappy copies off of file sharing or Hong Kong pirated copies are becoming not just a means to get stuff jus

  • Sorry, I don't collect anime but this is an important topic for many collectors.

    In my case, I collect the labels from bananas, apples, etc from around the world.

    How can I be certain that I'm getting the real thing? What would happen to the banana label market if piracy ran rampant? Would my entire collection become suspect? Would I need to defend the authenticity of my colorful stickers with carbon dating or exotic chemical analysis?

    All collectors should be concerned. If your hobby becomes devastated by
  • Video Companies chose to ignore moral fansubbers for many reasons (which we will not go into depth about in this guide).

    So go in depth... Many would find it an interesting read

    • Re:Elaborate (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Bagels ( 676159 )
      Among other reasons, it is *fan*subbing, so typically it creates an installed fanbase in a newly-licensed country that, more often than not, will lap up the higher-quality licensed DVDs and merchandising. Also, in some cases, a series is considered so niche that it would never be released outside of Japan. In those cases, I suppose the companies don't mind fansubs too much because, short of importing the Japanese DVD and hiring a personal Japanese translator, there would be no other way for a foreigner in

  • Anime.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Hilleh ( 561336 ) <hilleh.email@com> on Saturday May 31, 2003 @09:35PM (#6087496) Homepage
    There are four basic anime plotlines:

    1) Scantily clad girl uses super powers to save world.(Evangalimoon (sp?), Ghost in the Shell)

    2) Group of characters with amusing defining characteristics saves world in their own unique (Sealab)

    3) Big fucking robots blow shit up, shitty subplot with overdrawn romantic scenes and ludicrously dumb villains. (Gundam)

    4) Brooding dark Swordsman or Vampire does lots of brooding dark stuff, girl falls in love with him cause he's "mysterious", saves world from unspeakable evil. (Samauri X, Vampire Hunter X, D or what have you)

    • Re:Anime.... (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      There is one basic type of human:

      1) The over-generalizing one.

    • Re:Anime.... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Qzukk ( 229616 ) on Saturday May 31, 2003 @11:03PM (#6087813) Journal
      There are four complex anime plotlines that are generally understandable by Westerners:

      1) Social Observation. Peer into the inner workings of society and interaction between humans in unusual situations or in the wake of a major social shift. Watch Serial Experiments Lain (can mankind make the shift to an online society? Should it?) or Evangelion (children are put into machines and ordered to kill, maim, and destroy. What is life like for those children?).

      2) Coming of Age story: Typically a young female either in or approaching the early teens experiences an adventure, learns to rely on her self and her own skills, as well as to trust her friends around her, and emerges at the end an older, stronger, and wiser person. See Spirited Away (or almost any Miyazaki movie).

      3) Tragic Romance (in the shakespearian vein). Sometimes its just not going to work out. Japanese seem to love watching people writhe in emotional agony. Especially same-sex parings. See Revolutionary Girl Utena (series first, then movie). See also just about every show targeted at older girls or young women in Japan.

      4) Weird Shit Happens. Sit back and enjoy the ride. See FLCL (Fooly Cooly), Excel Saga, and just about anything you buy in R2 without English translations if you don't understand Japanese.
  • Since there are tons of games produced based ON anime series and other games that most fans will play anyway(eg: Dance Dance Revolution, ), why not a listing of how to spot counterfeit games? I know any CD that's silver and supposedly for the playstation is an instant pirated game, but most people won't figure that out. However, Dreamcast, Saturn, PC, and other CD systems are just as likely to be targeted by bootleggers. In some cases, these CDs won't even boot with out some sort of modification to the c

  • How to spot a bootleg and other things. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Maul ( 83993 ) on Sunday June 01, 2003 @12:12AM (#6088028) Journal
    People mentioning BitTorrent and fansubs don't get the picture. Nobody sane downloading One Piece off of BT believes they are getting an official product, and furthermore they are paying $0.00 for it.

    The problem with "pirated" anime is that bootleggers attempt to pass their bootlegged goods as the "real thing." Many anime fans, especially novice anime fans, believe that they are getting a real collector's item when they buy these products.

    Of course, there are ways to spot bootlegs. If you are looking for official merchandise as a collectable, you should always be wary of deals that seem too good to be true, and always look out for the warning signs.

    The anime itself:

    Obviously, a series being sold on eBay as a VCD or CD-R is a bootleg. That goes without saying.

    However, most bootleggers use DVDs nowadays, and have done an extremely good job making their product appear to be official. You can prevent yourself from being duped if you are keen on things.

    Anything with subtitles in both English and Chinese is a bootleg.

    Almost anything that is "region free" is a bootleg.

    If the price is too good to be true, it is probably a bootleg. Region 1 (US) anime DVDs range between $20 and $40. Region 2 (Japan) anime DVDs are even more expensive. Someone offering all of Lain (which is released on 4 DVDs in the US) for $20 is either crazy or selling a bootleg.

    You can also look to make sure that the DVD packaging displays the name of a known distributor (ADV, AnimeWorks, etc.) or conforms to the packaging displayed on the original web site.

    Anime Sound Tracks:

    This can be a little trickier. Taiwanese bootleggers like SM and EverAnime often do a great job of making their bootlegs look EXACTLY like the real deal. The CDs are stamped, the sound quality is equal to that of the real thing, and even the packaging and appearance of the disc look exactly like the real thing from Japan. The only real way to tell is by looking at the name of the distributor, and the price. You will almost certainly pay a premium for the "real" thing, which could cost you $30-$50+ depending. SM CDs, on the other hand, are typically $5-$15.

    The strange thing about bootleg Taiwanese CDs is that sometimes even reputable, legit. businesses who otherwise wouldn't have anything to do with bootlegs sell them.

    Merchandise

    Merchandise can be tricky, because there is often so much of it that it is hard to keep track. Obviously, you want to look for the copyright somewhere on the merchandise. If it isn't there, it may be a bootleg. Many "wall scrolls," character cards, etc. are bootleg merchandise.
    Ultimately, the only way to probably make sure that you are getting legit goods is to know that it came from a store in Japan (though I'm not sure if that is 100%, since there are doujin-type goods out there that are fan-made).

    Comic Books:

    I know that bootleg manga are out there as well, but since manga isn't all that popular in the US yet, there are very few manga distributors. Viz an Tokyo Pop are two of the biggest ones. I guess just check to see if the manga is published by an authorized distributor.

    And while doujinshi is not "bootleg" material, techinically, many newbie fans buy doujin not realizing what it is. It complicates things if they've bought an ecchi doujin, which is likely since a lot of doujin is pornographic. They don't find out that what they've bought is a "fan comic" until they open it up and see their favorite anime character getting gang raped.

    Doujin is usually easily spotted because the art style will be different. However, many doujin artists are actually very good (a lot of pros got their start as doujin artists, and some still make doujin under "pen names") and can copy the original style. Sometimes the artist will be nice enough to write a warning on an ecchi doujin. It also will typically be larger / differently shaped than the manga volumes.

    Of course, doujin in itself can be collectable. But I know many people who accidentally bought H doujin from dealers or when they went to Japan for the first time. Many I know who still lived with their parents high got in serious trouble. ^_^;
    • Well, a note about HK DVDs. For live action movies there seem to be authentic HK DVDs, that is, DVDs released in Hong Kong by the original author. If it's Region 3, it's authentic. I've yet to hear of a Region 3 DVD that's pirated.
    • Just thought I would clarify. The SM and EverAnime CDs look really close to the original, and can be hard to spot. But once you know what you're looking for, you can simply look for their logos, which they happily display on their CDs. The logo will be the one difference, and is easily spotted if you know what to look for. Many newbies do _not_ know.

      Since Taiwan did not sign to the Berne Convention, their "bootleg" CDs are completely legal under Taiwanese law, in Taiwan. However they "become illegal"

  • I was expecting a FAQ about the anime versions of this [imdb.com], this [imdb.com], and maybe this [imdb.com]. =)

  • I found that some pirate goods producers can't even spell their own company name right. I really think that the FAQ owners should include a scan of the "Forever Anine" logo along with the other two.

    I got said CD from someone who runs a supposedly upstanding anime merchandise company in Australia. All their CDs are from Son May, ALCA, Ever Anime and Ho Son... whatever. At least they finally stopped selling fansubs.

    Dammit, anime threads here always inspire rage in me... I got to three comments and stopped r
  • Copyright is evil don't forget
  • We all know that fraudulent releases of anime run rampant around eBay, Amazon and the like. However, I have not heard any sort of official responses from the companies that produce and license the legitimate releases speak out against products which clearly infringe upon their licensing and distribution rights. I have attempted to contact a few companies in regards to what action fans should take (most notably Bandai), but have yet to receive any responses.

    I understand that for many of the smaller anime co
  • "Often the production of unlicensed goods is used by organised crime to launder money made from selling drugs, pornography and prostitution and to generally expand "business" opportunities."

    Oh god, not *that* argument again... In my experience 99.9%+ of piracy is kids sharing stuff instead of them all paying to get the same thing. Has anyone got *any* proof that piracy is directly related to drugs, porn, or prostitution at all, let alone "often"? anyone?

    I agree with most of the arguments, but let's please

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