Anime Purchased Internationally (a question)

[Seto_Sora]

So I am drawing near the end of the American release of my favorite anime of all time; .Hack. However, the series does not end with the American release, there is still three OVAs, a bonus game OVA, and a potential .Hack//Link movie which ties everything together.
To my despair, I was informed that the American front for the company that releases .Hack is out of business. Now I, of course, want my favorite Anime. So my question is, would it be wise to purchase these dvds internationally; that is, direct from Japan? Or would that be an exercise in futility. Now the fact is, I don't watch my anime dubbed. I almost always watch it in subtitles. Would these anime have English subtitles? Could I order them direct from the Japanese website?

SDG

[Falx]

Nope, you're out of luck.

It's only since last year that you'd be able to find something from Japan with English subtitles already there. Not to mention that anime dvd's and merch in general in Japan is horrifically expensive. As in "I can't believe sane people would actually pay this much" expensive. I'm talking U$60 for ONE disc with two MAYBE three episodes on it.

Perhaps now is a good time to start learning Japanese if you really want to buy them that much.

[Atria35]

Basically, what Falx said. If you want to pay those prices, go for it, but getting them subtitled? Pretty much impossible, unless it was a bootleg (and yes, you'd come across those while looking for imports).

[Roy Mustang]

Really, the only ones that you would find with English subtitles would be Blu Ray, since USA and Japan are in the same region for Blu-ray, but not for dvd's.


[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[ABlipinTime]

Just curious, what episode did you stop at?

[Wolf-man]

Yeah what everyone has been saying. The Japanese do not include English Subs on their dvds. I would say just download them. I'm sure you can I find them fansubs. In my opinion its not wrong cause you cannot get them legally in the states and the only other option would be buying Hong Kong versions from Ebay in which the translation is beyond horrible. Your choice just giving my opinion. Please don't waste your money on HK subbed dvds.

[Atria35]

Yeah what everyone has been saying. The Japanese do not include English Subs on their dvds. I would say just download them. I'm sure you can I find them fansubs. In my opinion its not wrong cause you cannot get them legally in the states and the only other option would be buying Hong Kong versions from Ebay in which the translation is beyond horrible. Your choice just giving my opinion. Please don't waste your money on HK subbed dvds.

Because those are just as illegal, and far less understandable. I accidentally bought HK subbs (I didn't know they were illegal at the time, I thought it was a genuine copy!), and the subs... well. They gave my friends and I a lot of fun, but it wasn't practical for understanding the story!

[Seto_Sora]

Whoa! OK! thanks guys! I really appreciate the advice! O.O I would have probably bought one of the blue rays and been really disappointed at the loss. :/ Well, that is that. I'm certainly not happy with the .Hack//Link manga right now... but I still have high hopes for the movie.

Just curious, what episode did you stop at?

^_^ My brother and I just wrapped up .Hack/Roots ep. 22: Bonds. We just have one DVD left and then its on to .Hack//Trilogy! XD I'll be a bit before I get to the video game's story line as I'm still working my way through .Hack//Infection. And, yes, Haseo is just awesome!

SDG

[Mr. SmartyPants]

If downloading fansubs isn't an ethical problem for you then go for it. That seems to be your best bet, really.

[shooraijin]

The Japanese do not include English Subs on their dvds.

That's not necessarily true -- I've bought (legit, before you ask) DVDs from cdjapan and other places, and some (operative word: some) of them had English subtitles. It's by no means the norm, but it's not a totally lost cause.

The bigger problem might be region encoding. The ones that are ALL or R0 often have subtitles, but there are a lot of ALLs that are also in legal grey areas. R2 DVDs are much less likely to, and may require fiddling with your player since North America is R1.

[Seto_Sora]

hmmm... good question on the ethics there. Personally, it won't bother me to go with fan subs. I had thought about the idea before, but had no idea how to go about it... heh, then I googled. LOL So now I'm also on the search for a fan sub of .hack//Unison, the Japanese only OVA conclusion to G.U.. Thanks again guys! This was a huge help!

SDG

[blkmage]

They're starting to add English subs on Japanese Region A BD releases because (1) North America and Japan are both in Region A and (2) they have figured out the people who will buy BD releases of their shows are most likely those who are willing to import Japanese Region A releases at exorbitant Japanese prices. For example, Kara no Kyoukai and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 1st.

[Wolf-man]

That's not necessarily true -- I've bought (legit, before you ask) DVDs from cdjapan and other places, and some (operative word: some) of them had English subtitles. It's by no means the norm, but it's not a totally lost cause.

It's more often than not the case that they do not have English Subs. There is very high chance of the dvd not having English subs.

R2 DVDs are much less likely to, and may require fiddling with your player since North America is R1.

Or you could just buy a region free player.

[shooraijin]

It's more often than not the case that they do not have English Subs. There is very high chance of the dvd not having English subs.

Which is entirely congruent with: some have them, it is not the norm, and it's not a totally lost cause.

[Atria35]

Since it's almost inpossible to be sure which ones do have them- AND are legit releases- I have given up. Besides.... expensive.

[blkmage]

Just order everything from Amazon.co.jp?

[Seto_Sora]

LOL I thought about ordering from Japan's Amazon. ^_^ But as to whether or not .hack//Quantum's blue rays have english subtitles is really hard to say. It strikes me that the company who is producing these isn't as well endowed monitarilly as they used to be. So I wonder if they would even put forth the money to have it subbed.
Shooraijin, you say its possible that they might. Now I'm no pirate, I'm willing to pay top dollar to the company if they can sell me a good product. So, how would one go about finding if they are subbed?

SDG

[DangoDaikazoku]

I don't know if this helps, but I got a pretty decent deal for international delivery of anime on Ebay. Fourty dollars for Clannad season one, two, plus OVA's and the movie, delivered from Japan (I think... It might have been China) with subtitles included. Although the DVD skips occasionally, and every fifteen minutes I have to pause the episode and reset the subtitles, it's great. That is also where I got the Clannad Visual Novel (although English was not included) and that one cost sixty dollars. So Ebay can be a great place to try.

[Atria35]

I hate to tell you this, DD, but your dvds are bootlegs. If you have to reset the subtitles and they skip.... yeah. You paid bootleggers for stuff that's legally avaiable and on-sale in the US. Great deal or not.....

Don't buy from EBay.

Not DVDs, at least- I'd buy manga or books from there any day.

[Wolf-man]

Why not? Ebay is a great cheap place to buy DVDs you just have to be careful and make sure that what your buying is the professional release and not a bootleg.