Help! Quality of "Import" DVDs you've purchased.

monkeyboy · Post by **monkeyboy** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 11:06 am

I've purchased US licensed Anime DVDs and rented them on Netflix.
What I would like to know from other members who may have purchased "Import" DVDs is, how's the quality compared to US released discs?

What "brands" are good what suck? I purchased a Spirited Away DVD (from Hong Kong) The image quality is great the sub is so so, plus zero extras.

Anyway please help if you know any of the companies listed here or others I've not listed.

Is FX good? Anime Cartoon, Anime Studio?

As for music, Sonmay?

Thanks for any info!

yoshito · Post by **yoshito** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 11:09 am

The problem with HK DVDs and CDs are that they are copies, not originals. If you want quality, stick with the originals. Only problem is that they are Region 2, but some have English Subtitles.

SM or Sonmay is notorious for copying all Japanese CDs... you definitly want to avoid them.

ReiTheJelly · Post by **ReiTheJelly** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:24 pm

Yes, and sometimes the subtitles are laughable. I used to have copies of The Legend of Basara and Angel Sanctuary (before it was released in the US) that had such bad subtitles the only reason to actually watch them was to laugh.

And the A.S. tapes were actually from the US! I bought them off these guys from NYC...who had apparently just run the script for the show trough Babelfish! The LoB DVDs were Hong Kong copies --- which didn't even come in a case (they got send in a ziplock bag!)

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 12:58 pm

I've gotten four HK DVDs that I can recall. Two of them (Dragon Knight 4, Steel Angel Kurumi) I got before the fansubs were even started (and my video rental store didn't have those episodes). One of them I got (To Heart) before the digital fansubs came out and I needed to check the video for things related to my cels). The Gatekeepers I got back when I couldn't download fansubs.

I think for all of them the video quality was pretty good (although still somewhat below commercial DVDs since HK DVDs cram so much onto each DVD). But that was the only feature that was good about them. The sound quality for them was somewhere between mono, a very hollow sounding stereo and low grade stereo. The subtitles were from poor to bad. It's pretty funny watching them because the characters names keep changing and it's hard to keep track of who is who.

And it wasn't uncommon for the HK DVDs to get stuck at some spot while playing them.

Sugarflower · Post by **Sugarflower** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 1:25 pm

FX was a good company that ripped American dvds of anime. Almost all of their releases have the original american subs and sometimes extras, basicially just a direct rip from the american dvds as I was saying. FX was busted and shut down but I think they are resurfacing under a new name.

Anime Studio used to have crappy dvds but have been ripping american copies for a while now just as FX was doing. Anime Cartoon, which is now Manga International, have pretty decent or pretty crappy copies of anime. Most of their stuff comes from TV rips and even dvd rips from the other HK companies plus they usually have their own ppl to make translations and subititles resulting in good to horribly bad Engrish.

Here is a site I used alot for finding out what each companies dvd qualities were like. There are very good reviews there to help you out a bit:
http://www.import-anime.com/index.php

I used to visit this message board alot for reviews on the dvds that were coming out: http://arcticnightfall.com/
But then I only started to use the other link above.

The only HK DVDs I last remember purchasing were of the Dragonball Dragon Box sets since I dont have a region 2 dvd player for playing japanese dvds.

Hope this info helps a bit.

rallihir · Post by **rallihir** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 3:35 pm

I've had a lot of mixed quality in the "import" DVDs. Manga International does a lot of titles that I could not find in the US and their quality is only about half what I could find in the region 2 Japanese DVDs. However, my Japanese is not good enough to understand the majority of the straight Japanese DVDs. Curiously, some of the import DVDs do not play in some of my DVD players. Yet when I try another DVD player or the computers DVD drive, they will play. So, the player itself may influence the quality of the DVD experience.

Krafty · Post by **Krafty** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 6:04 am

Without entering into the "Are we killing the Anime Industry" debate from the other thread, I have anime series from all the HK bootleggers but don't forget, there are legitimate HK imports too which are comparratively cheap compared to western/Japanese prices so they're not all pirated DVDs.

Sugarflower summed it up well in her post so refer to that. I will say that I'm very impressed with FX's releases, good packaging and overal great visual and audio quality on the discs. Since they base there version on the US editions, the dual-language option is superb and the subtitles and consequently spot-on.
Anime Studio USED to do a lot of good US transfers but I don't know what they're up to nowadays. They didn't used to skimp on DVD extras either which was satisfying.
We mostly see Manga Cartoon/Anime Cartoon/Manga International releases. These ones often have the 'Engrish' subs BUT they often have series we can't obtain in the west, or some older titles that had been released were only made available on VHS.
If a 36-ep series costs you US$20, can you complain if the subs aren't precise? nah. I find the subs are often worst on the hentai titles but I only look at the pictures anyway j/k I'm just glad that a company is releasing such titles because we couldn't see these series any other way, not even by downloading them because they wouldn't be available to rip in the first place!

Sonmay/Ever Anime are other culprits who produce a plethora of pirated anime/game soundtracks. The quality is good so I wouldn't worry be concerned about that. Again, they release CDs that I've never seen before from new and old titles so I take my hat off to them. Plus, these CDs can be bought from $2-5 each so you can't go wrong.

However I'd advise that you purchase the official products whenever you can, as long as it falls under budget. Big films like Spirited Away, like you suggested MonkeyBoy, sell on websites for about $10-12 during sale periods so buy them then. Mind you, with competition for media sales SO high you'll never have to pay the full RRP for a DVD or CD, buying it via Ebay or elsewhere online is the smart thing to do.

The quality of the official discs, as you know, is USUALLY the best (unless you've got Ghost in the Shell

) and the 2-disc versions with all the extras are great.

At the end of the day it depends what series you want to see. You may not want to wait 3 years (if at all) for a series to come out in the US so buy the asian imports because life is too short.

If you're buying directly from asia and not an American in-betweener, buy in bulk and haggle the shipping cost quoting actual postage prices to support your argument. They'll often agree with you and you'll save even more money, heh. When I've been quoted $100 for shipping/handling I come back with an offer of $60 (after I've looked up the actual costs nd added a little extra for handling) and it's been accepted.

One last thing to point out. These asian companies rarely go head-to-head with each other and release the same title so you don't always get a choice of which version you buy. However, I'd always look out for FX titles first then go from there

RahOtaku · Post by **RahOtaku** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 10:37 am

You know you all are going to Anime Hell, right?

monkeyboy · Post by **monkeyboy** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 11:05 am

Thanks for the info! I now have better knowledge when shopping on line!

Sugarflower thanks for the links too!

LOL Krafty

Without entering into the "Are we killing the Anime Industry" debate from the other thread,.

I thought of that when I first posted this question.

As for the official release of Spirited Away, I couldn't wait

I got my copy from Mandarake LA (before they closed) during the movies release here in the US. I kinda knew it would be what I paid for.

I so wanted to see it un-dubbed , and come on it was moused!

RahOtaku wrote:

You know you all are going to Anime Hell, right?

LMAO I'll throw another shrimp on the bar-b-cue for everyone!

Please note I'm not saying Australia is Hell! No flaming here please!

Sugarflower · Post by **Sugarflower** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 11:22 am

Glad I could help you out.

I used to be as obsessed with collecting HK dvds almost as much as I am now with cel collecting. It wasn't until I was able to get my hands on cable internet that I started to just download fansubs of everything. Now that extra money goes to my cel habit!!

There are still those occasional series that I want to collect since the American companies have not and probably will never release here.

RahOtaku · Post by **RahOtaku** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 11:23 am

Ohh... Forget about the Hk Dvd's...

Where are the Furries?

Krafty!!!

I want to be where the Furries hang out!!!

Krafty · Post by **Krafty** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 6:01 am

RahOtaku wrote:Ohh... Forget about the Hk Dvd's...I want to be where the Furries hang out!!!

Well Rah, if you want to be where MY furries hang out I'll send you a PM with my home address

You should have guessed they'd be an evil twist to my desciption.

Mind you, the OTHER 'furry place' is a paradise that exists only in my mind, frollicking with loving, playful nekogirls (some playing beach volleyball) on a warm secluded island surrounded by waterfalls and blue skies, with a fridge of cold beer... *ahh* Am I selling it to you yet?
*sigh, keep dreaming Krafty...*

yeulih · Post by **yeulih** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:50 pm

Sonmay and EverAnime were Taiwanese companies that made bootleg CDs. I don't know if they're based in Taiwan anymore, since Taiwan joined the WTO. But if you were looking for hi-q bootlegs, I would recommend the Sonmay ones. The packaging on the Sonmay ones are superior - their booklets look identical the Japanese versions, and of course the CDs are pressed.

I haven't been back to Taiwan in a long time, so I haven't bought any recently.

As for DVDs, it seems that the better the outside packaging, the better the quality. Obviously this is not foolproof. This is what I've gathered form visiting DCD/CD stores in China.

My legit anime collection does far greatly outnumber my non-legit stuff, though.