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miko2I broke down this Sunday and ordered an illegal dvd.
Technically illegal anyway. You see, I have everything that's been released for Ranma 1/2 on VHS, and with two movies, multiple oavs, and 6+ seasons of the series, that's a LOT of VHS cassettes lying about (well, actually, stacked neatly in an orderly fashion). I've been running out of space to put new dvds that I buy and so I've been wanting for a while now to get at least the first season of Ranma 1/2 on dvd, which would save me a lot of storage space (and also be much handier and more permanent to have in general).
The trouble is, boxed sets are never cheap. The 1st season of Ranma 1/2 (digital dojo) on dvd sells for around $85 or so. So I attempted -- twice -- to purchase it on E-Bay, but both times I got bid up higher than I really wanted to spend.
So then I started looking at the cheaper knockoff imports. There are several classes of these. Chinese/Singapore knockoffs come with Japanese dialogue and English/Chinese subtitles. I really wanted one with the English language tracks too. Some of the versions sold on E-Bay are not even dvds per se, but the vcd/whatever formats that you can run on your computer but not in your dvd player. Suffice it to say, if it sells for below $10, then you're not getting something equal to the $85 boxed set. You almost always get what you pay for.
The Taiwanese versions, of course, are direct pirate copies of the English versions. Taiwan doesn't recognize international copyright laws, so it's legal in that country to make copies of movies from America, Europe, India, Japan, China, etc. It's not really legal to export them and sell them in the U.S., but it happens. A LOT. Not only on E-Bay, but many of the low-priced versions being sold through Amazon.com by their "partners" are actually Taiwan or other Aisian imports. In that respect, it's better to buy through E-Bay because you actually get a better description of the product, and can write to the seller for info, and know for sure what you're actually getting.
So... for $58 I could buy (direct purchase, not bid on) a boxed set of Ranma 1/2 that was not only identical to the English VIZ versions, but actually contained the first TWO seasons -- 40 episodes. The packaging won't be the same -- in fact, the sellers point out that it's much less bulky, which they consider a good point -- but the dvds themselves will play just like the originals. That proved much too tempting to pass up, so I did it, and will soon do the same for episodes 3 and 4, and the oavs, and the first movie (I already have the 2nd on dvd).
Given how little dvds cost to manufacture, I can even kind of justify it to myself, using the same logic that napsterites used, even though I know that, by law, it's not really legal. But to me it's a bit like speeding on the freeway. In fact, people that speed know they're breaking the law, but I bet a lot of people purchasing these dvds from Amazon, E-Bay and the like don't realize that they're participating in video piracy.
Really, I just wish cds and dvds were priced more reasonably, so that the temptation wouldn't even be there. I mean it came down to $85.00 for one season ($170 for two) or $58.00 for the same thing. Really, $55 before shipping and handling. So I'd be paying about $115.00 for different packaging... packaging that took up a lot more space on my crowded dvd shelf I might add. Hmmm... hard to stick to your principals for that kind of money.
Of course, when other pirates are out there transfering video files over the internet for free, it makes you wonder if they're even worried about the Taiwan piracy thing these days.
But then my ultimate lame justification in these situations is that I already spend waaaay more than the average person on dvds and cds... the entertainment industry gets plenty of support from me as it is. :)
But anyway, I now need to find a home for a bunch of Ranma 1/2 vhs tapes.
So if you're like me, you'll want to save your money up for this coming May, because you're going to be spending it then.
In the current Previews (pre-order magazine for comics and stuff), I discovered that Disney is releasing Treasure Planet on dvd in May.
This might almost prove tempting to pick up, since I haven't seen it and some of the previews of it looked interesting.
But they're also releasing Spirited Away on dvd in May. Oh, wait, I MUST have that one immediately!
And they're also releasing Kiki's Delivery Service on dvd in May. Another Miyazaki film. Well, I have it on laser disc, but would much rather have it on dvd.
And they're also releasing My Neighbor Totoro on dvd in May. Hold on a sec! That's three Miyazaki movies that I need to get! I haven't even owned Totoro since I gave my vhs copy away (has been out of print for a good while now).
And -- YES! -- They're also releasing Castle in the Sky on dvd in May. Finally! A fourth Miyazaki movie on dvd that I must get!
The upshot is, Disney's going to get a lot of my support very soon. :)
Speaking of Castle In The Sky, you know the original Japanese title of the film was Laputa, the Castle in the Sky? Laputa comes from Gulliver's Travels, of course, the name of the floating island Gulliver visits. But "La Puta" also apparently means "the whore" in Spanish, so Disney naturally dropped that part from the film's title. :)
Technically illegal anyway. You see, I have everything that's been released for Ranma 1/2 on VHS, and with two movies, multiple oavs, and 6+ seasons of the series, that's a LOT of VHS cassettes lying about (well, actually, stacked neatly in an orderly fashion). I've been running out of space to put new dvds that I buy and so I've been wanting for a while now to get at least the first season of Ranma 1/2 on dvd, which would save me a lot of storage space (and also be much handier and more permanent to have in general).
The trouble is, boxed sets are never cheap. The 1st season of Ranma 1/2 (digital dojo) on dvd sells for around $85 or so. So I attempted -- twice -- to purchase it on E-Bay, but both times I got bid up higher than I really wanted to spend.
So then I started looking at the cheaper knockoff imports. There are several classes of these. Chinese/Singapore knockoffs come with Japanese dialogue and English/Chinese subtitles. I really wanted one with the English language tracks too. Some of the versions sold on E-Bay are not even dvds per se, but the vcd/whatever formats that you can run on your computer but not in your dvd player. Suffice it to say, if it sells for below $10, then you're not getting something equal to the $85 boxed set. You almost always get what you pay for.
The Taiwanese versions, of course, are direct pirate copies of the English versions. Taiwan doesn't recognize international copyright laws, so it's legal in that country to make copies of movies from America, Europe, India, Japan, China, etc. It's not really legal to export them and sell them in the U.S., but it happens. A LOT. Not only on E-Bay, but many of the low-priced versions being sold through Amazon.com by their "partners" are actually Taiwan or other Aisian imports. In that respect, it's better to buy through E-Bay because you actually get a better description of the product, and can write to the seller for info, and know for sure what you're actually getting.
So... for $58 I could buy (direct purchase, not bid on) a boxed set of Ranma 1/2 that was not only identical to the English VIZ versions, but actually contained the first TWO seasons -- 40 episodes. The packaging won't be the same -- in fact, the sellers point out that it's much less bulky, which they consider a good point -- but the dvds themselves will play just like the originals. That proved much too tempting to pass up, so I did it, and will soon do the same for episodes 3 and 4, and the oavs, and the first movie (I already have the 2nd on dvd).
Given how little dvds cost to manufacture, I can even kind of justify it to myself, using the same logic that napsterites used, even though I know that, by law, it's not really legal. But to me it's a bit like speeding on the freeway. In fact, people that speed know they're breaking the law, but I bet a lot of people purchasing these dvds from Amazon, E-Bay and the like don't realize that they're participating in video piracy.
Really, I just wish cds and dvds were priced more reasonably, so that the temptation wouldn't even be there. I mean it came down to $85.00 for one season ($170 for two) or $58.00 for the same thing. Really, $55 before shipping and handling. So I'd be paying about $115.00 for different packaging... packaging that took up a lot more space on my crowded dvd shelf I might add. Hmmm... hard to stick to your principals for that kind of money.
Of course, when other pirates are out there transfering video files over the internet for free, it makes you wonder if they're even worried about the Taiwan piracy thing these days.
But then my ultimate lame justification in these situations is that I already spend waaaay more than the average person on dvds and cds... the entertainment industry gets plenty of support from me as it is. :)
But anyway, I now need to find a home for a bunch of Ranma 1/2 vhs tapes.
So if you're like me, you'll want to save your money up for this coming May, because you're going to be spending it then.
In the current Previews (pre-order magazine for comics and stuff), I discovered that Disney is releasing Treasure Planet on dvd in May.
This might almost prove tempting to pick up, since I haven't seen it and some of the previews of it looked interesting.
But they're also releasing Spirited Away on dvd in May. Oh, wait, I MUST have that one immediately!
And they're also releasing Kiki's Delivery Service on dvd in May. Another Miyazaki film. Well, I have it on laser disc, but would much rather have it on dvd.
And they're also releasing My Neighbor Totoro on dvd in May. Hold on a sec! That's three Miyazaki movies that I need to get! I haven't even owned Totoro since I gave my vhs copy away (has been out of print for a good while now).
And -- YES! -- They're also releasing Castle in the Sky on dvd in May. Finally! A fourth Miyazaki movie on dvd that I must get!
The upshot is, Disney's going to get a lot of my support very soon. :)
Speaking of Castle In The Sky, you know the original Japanese title of the film was Laputa, the Castle in the Sky? Laputa comes from Gulliver's Travels, of course, the name of the floating island Gulliver visits. But "La Puta" also apparently means "the whore" in Spanish, so Disney naturally dropped that part from the film's title. :)
