Recreation Bamboozling Swindlers!

Help! I've been tricked!!! Need advice!

Is there anyway to tell online by looking at a particular boxart that a dvd-set is Chinese bootleg??? I bought three dvd sets at www.half.com: Trigun (the only non-bootleg out of the three, very good quality), Slayers (the voicing and music balance is whacked out, luckily it had subtitles so i can at least READ whats goin on, but I couldn't enjoy Lina's awesome Japanese voice), and Record of Lodoss War: OVA (the subtitles were worse than that of "All your base are belong to us", and something that would take at least 5 seconds to read was only left there for two seconds, leaving me clueless!!!).

If there is anyone out there that knows what to look for to avoid chinese bootleg DVD's please tell me! Thank you!

 

Sorry that am bumping this, but I really need this question answered. Isn't there anyone that might have at least one useful tip???

 

Looks like you got grifted.

Well, lets see. For one, make sure you know what the North American release art look likes, and compare it to what you see. Also, be sure to look for company logos on the box art.

However, the best way to avoid situations like this is to deal with reputable people and companies. I'm lucky in that the local gaming store also sells anime and that the distrubutors the owner deals with haven't failed in providing the real deal or what I asked for. Granted, sometimes they've been a little slow with deliveries, but its very much worth the wait.

If you live in a town without a store that sells anime, then the best way to do it is either to order from well-known sites like Amazon, or from the companies themselves.

 

Ah, thanks very much, Neph. For you sake, I hope the old landlady gets what's comin to her. I'm rootin for ya since you helped me out enough on the forums as it is.

 

I'm sorry to hear about the problem with the boxsets. Neph has some good advice there, and I hope to help by adding a few things I've noticed.

Your best bet is to not buy much, if any, dvds/videos/vcds on eBay and Half.com. More often than not, they're either bootlegs, or homemade copies from people trying to get money with minimal effort. A few other things to look for:

Number of episodes per disc. Usually, bootlegs will have more episodes per disc. You can double-check against the American and Japanese releases by checking Amazon.com for the American release, and http://www.animaxis.com or http://www.cdjapan.co.jp for Japanese releases. They'll usually say what languages the dvds/videos come in, and how many episodes per disc. If the eBay or Half.com dvds have more, they're most likely bootlegs.

Region number. Japan is region 2 (doesn't play on most American dvd players), and America is region 1 (doesn't play on most foreign dvd players). Chinese bootlegs are usually region free (region 0), which is usually a good tip-off.

Voice track and subtitle languages. Usually, Chinese bootlegs have at least Chinese subtitles available, if they don't have the American dub track. If there are Chinese subtitles, more than likely they're bootlegs.

Number of episodes total in the set. This is usually a good tip-off for series that aren't finished yet, like Inuyasha. I saw a set of dvds on eBay that boasted "the complete Inuyasha series, all 89 episodes, including the movie!" Problem being, Japan has only gotten as far as episode 50-something, if I recall correctly, and there's more than one movie. However, for complete series, like Trigun, this doesn't work as well, so refer to the other clues to bootlegs.

Lastly, ask the seller. Keep in mind that they're not required to answer truthfully, but if they want a good reputation, they should. Ask if what they're selling is a bootleg. If they don't give a number of episodes or a region number, ask them. They should tell you.

As Neph said, you're better off looking for local stores that sell anime, or shopping from such online companies as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble (I think they sell some anime), Animaxis and CD Japan, AnimeNation, etc.

Good luck with your next anime purchase!

 

Wow, thats some extensive advice right there, thanks!