Dave's Guide to Bootleg Anime
Jun 12, 2007 13:25:40 GMT -5
Post by Revolver Ocelot on Jun 12, 2007 13:25:40 GMT -5
Anime is quite possibly the most grossly overpriced novelty a nerd can possibly find himself/herself obsessed with. To go about things legally, you'll typically find yourself paying between $15 and $25 for one volume of a series that contains between 3 and 5 episodes, which means it'll take about 10 or 12 volumes to get an entire series (most animes only being about 26 episodes long).
But there are alternatives. Most commonly is simply downloading anime by the gig from torrents, FTPs, etc. But if you want something in physical form, fear not. There's a significant portion of the southeast Asian population devoted to bootlegging anime.
When you mention the word "bootleg", the first thing that usually comes to mind is a burned DVD with the title of an anime scribbled on it in black marker and a generic DVD case with a low quality bitmap print of artwork from the anime in question with title text lazily embedded over it. But this is not always the case.
Some bootlegs are even better than the real product. In particular, there are 2 bootleg companies that make beautiful folding artbox collections for many popular animes.
The first company is FX. FX is great because they just make copies of officially released DVDs. Their DVDs are so accurate that they ironically still have the anti-piracy FBI warnings at the beginning and the logos of the anime's respective publishers and production studios. They also have all of the nifty little animated menus. Because their DVDs are exact copies, you wont have to worry about the common bootleg problem of incomprehensible subtitles and shitty audio quality.
The next is MAC (Manga Anime Cartoon). This company isn't as good as FX. Their artboxes are even more beautiful than FX's, but their DVDs are not exact copies. They're home-brewed and have cheap-looking DVD menus. Luckilly, the video quality and sound quality of their DVDs in top knotch. But the killer is the subtitles. Almost all of MAC's box sets have rock-bottom quality subtitles that seem like they were translated by a autistic chimp reading an English dictionary upside down.
So, for those of you not content to watch anime on your computer or just don't have the bandwidth, but don't want to spend more money than a cocaine fiend on your habit, look into bootlegs, particularly on eBay. But be careful. Here are some steps to take to ensure you don't get screwed;
1. As with any purchase on eBay, check feedback. Bootleg anime sellers are usually power sellers who have thousands of customers every month, which means your e-mails will likely go unanswered. Their prices are usually great, but be prepared to go ignored if you have a problem.
2. Check the description of the bootlegger's description of the item carefully. Make sure there's the right number of episodes. Don't be suspicious if you see a 50 episode series on only 4 discs. Bootleggers tend to use good formatting and condensing, and some use high-density DVDs.
3. An easy way to tell how good your subtitles are going to be is by looking at what subtitle tracks are available. If it's just English or English/Japanese, they're probably good. But if there's English and Chinese, stay away. What they really mean is Engrish and Chinese. If there are any other languages, like French, German, Spanish, etc., that's a really good sign. It usually means that the DVDs will be exact copies of commercial products, since bootleggers typically only make their products for English speaking territories.
4. If there are any pictures of the item, check the logos on the picture. If it's FX, it's a good buy. If it's MAC, stay away unless you're content to watch the show dubbed.
5. Try to use logic when it comes to pricing. Typical range for good-quality bootleg box sets are between $20 and $25 before shipping for a 26 episode set, $15 and $20 for a 13 episode series or OVA, and between $30 and $40 for a longer, 50+ episode series like Gundam. If it sounds too good to be true even for a bootleg, it probably is.
But there are alternatives. Most commonly is simply downloading anime by the gig from torrents, FTPs, etc. But if you want something in physical form, fear not. There's a significant portion of the southeast Asian population devoted to bootlegging anime.
When you mention the word "bootleg", the first thing that usually comes to mind is a burned DVD with the title of an anime scribbled on it in black marker and a generic DVD case with a low quality bitmap print of artwork from the anime in question with title text lazily embedded over it. But this is not always the case.
Some bootlegs are even better than the real product. In particular, there are 2 bootleg companies that make beautiful folding artbox collections for many popular animes.
The first company is FX. FX is great because they just make copies of officially released DVDs. Their DVDs are so accurate that they ironically still have the anti-piracy FBI warnings at the beginning and the logos of the anime's respective publishers and production studios. They also have all of the nifty little animated menus. Because their DVDs are exact copies, you wont have to worry about the common bootleg problem of incomprehensible subtitles and shitty audio quality.
The next is MAC (Manga Anime Cartoon). This company isn't as good as FX. Their artboxes are even more beautiful than FX's, but their DVDs are not exact copies. They're home-brewed and have cheap-looking DVD menus. Luckilly, the video quality and sound quality of their DVDs in top knotch. But the killer is the subtitles. Almost all of MAC's box sets have rock-bottom quality subtitles that seem like they were translated by a autistic chimp reading an English dictionary upside down.
So, for those of you not content to watch anime on your computer or just don't have the bandwidth, but don't want to spend more money than a cocaine fiend on your habit, look into bootlegs, particularly on eBay. But be careful. Here are some steps to take to ensure you don't get screwed;
1. As with any purchase on eBay, check feedback. Bootleg anime sellers are usually power sellers who have thousands of customers every month, which means your e-mails will likely go unanswered. Their prices are usually great, but be prepared to go ignored if you have a problem.
2. Check the description of the bootlegger's description of the item carefully. Make sure there's the right number of episodes. Don't be suspicious if you see a 50 episode series on only 4 discs. Bootleggers tend to use good formatting and condensing, and some use high-density DVDs.
3. An easy way to tell how good your subtitles are going to be is by looking at what subtitle tracks are available. If it's just English or English/Japanese, they're probably good. But if there's English and Chinese, stay away. What they really mean is Engrish and Chinese. If there are any other languages, like French, German, Spanish, etc., that's a really good sign. It usually means that the DVDs will be exact copies of commercial products, since bootleggers typically only make their products for English speaking territories.
4. If there are any pictures of the item, check the logos on the picture. If it's FX, it's a good buy. If it's MAC, stay away unless you're content to watch the show dubbed.
5. Try to use logic when it comes to pricing. Typical range for good-quality bootleg box sets are between $20 and $25 before shipping for a 26 episode set, $15 and $20 for a 13 episode series or OVA, and between $30 and $40 for a longer, 50+ episode series like Gundam. If it sounds too good to be true even for a bootleg, it probably is.
