Pirates!! Arrr!

Ok, I dunno about you guys but Ive looked around and seen all these Ghibli dvds on ebay and the like. The thing is ive also looked around on sites to try and find hints and give aways of pirate copies. It all gets very confusing cos they say stuff like look for the ghibli symbol and so on but ive seen region 0 pirate copy boxsets with the ghibli symbol on it along with other dvds that look odd.

I was wondering if you could tell me and anyone who is confused, really obvious (and non obvious) things to look out for to be sure we are purchasing a proper copy.

Thank you

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Actually the best way to avoid falling into the bootleggers' traps is to be very familiarized with what the authenic products should look like. You can easily find their pictures on their web. Some sophisticated bootlegs can come very close to the official products, but never be the same. So the more homework you have done, the easier you can spot the tiniest or the most negligible traits (some slight differences in the brightness/contrast of the cover art can be a warning beacon, but you have to have a keen eyesight ).

Nevertheless, most of the bootlegs you can come across are far from being sophisticated anyway. They may even be completely different from the official ones to make an impression that it is a different product from the official company. The Ghibli boxset is a good example. To date, there is no Ghibli DVD boxset except the R3 one released by IVL (see the pic). Any so-called "Ghibli archive," "Miyazaki collection," or whatever, that does not look like the one below, or contains a different number of movies, is a guaranteed bootleg.

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My light novel review blog: ラノなの！@ novel.co.nr

*stares longingly at box* hhmmmmm........they are very convincing. They have official tags and symbols on and stuff.......hhhmmmm....some even have the cheek 2 say that it is official....... silly beings...i feel like emailing them on e-bay saying: 'oi thats a fake!'
learn what the official covers look like got it.....any more?

i gathered the cover of DVD which is ...perhaps... selling from the net.
ive not verified the DVD really. but, i think that these are the official cover. of course, im sure the Japanese edition is the official cover.

i can not find the Chinese edition of Kiki. in China, did they not sell Kiki?

the artwork of DVD of Ghibli or Miyazaki (with 79 thumbnails 1.3MB)
http://rose-rote.hp.infoseek.co.jp/miya/dvd/dvd.htm


now, anyone can make the copy of the cover easily.
looking at the photograph, you can not distinguish official from cheat.
use the Force.

wow! thats really helpful!!! thank you hunni!!!
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viele und viele liebe

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Originally posted by nanashi
i can not find the Chinese edition of Kiki. in China, did they not sell Kiki?

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They do, but not the official ones. They sell literally everything that is related to Ghibli/Miyazaki, even if that relationship is close to non-existent in some cases .

But for unknown reasons many people like the Disney English dub very much (like to see Kirsten Dunst, the heroine in Spiderman, as Kiki?). Very few would pay the high import price, while the majority gets the bootlegs of the R1.

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My light novel review blog: ラノなの！@ novel.co.nr

teehee i now ruin my reputation of love and affection and say that Kirsten Dunst annoys me.....no offence to anyone who likes her...... I watch all of the movies in Japanese anyway woop!!!!!

Theres loads of DVDs that arnt available in the UK!!! WEll im saving for a multi regional DVD player for £20... wat...$36 USA.....I dunno wat the other currencies would be......

Out of interset, going off subject as I normally do...lol..... Dont you think Sen in Spirited Away is too young to fall in love, as wonderful as Haku is?? You know wen Kamaji Zaniba says that only love can break the spell thing??? oR do they mean frienship love??? But anyway......yeh....lol

Love you
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quote:

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Originally posted by LillyKimilly
teehee i now ruin my reputation of love and affection and say that Kirsten Dunst annoys me.....no offence to anyone who likes her...... I watch all of the movies in Japanese anyway woop!!!!!

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Oh our beloved angel of love is revealing her dark side ... **runs**

It's my habit to watch a movie in its "original way" whenever possible. To me the English dub is okay, not particularly outstanding, but also not very annoying... for most of the times only (I really hate the high-pitch sonic blast when Kirsten Dunst screams in certain scenes, and also the disturbing changes to Hisaishi's wonderful score)

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Theres loads of DVDs that arnt available in the UK!!! WEll im saving for a multi regional DVD player for £20... wat...$36 USA.....I dunno wat the other currencies would be......

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Well wish you good luck. A muti-regional DVD player is really helpful in many situations, and an essential equipment for any anime fan.

quote:

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Out of interset, going off subject as I normally do...lol..... Dont you think Sen in Spirited Away is too young to fall in love, as wonderful as Haku is?? You know wen Kamaji Zaniba says that only love can break the spell thing??? oR do they mean frienship love??? But anyway......yeh....lol

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Hehe going off topic is also one of my nasty habits. *hides* (^_^;; )

Chihiro is only 10, and I certainly feel that it is too young for her to fall in love with anyone. Perhaps I am quite a conservationist, but the scene of Kamajii talking about "love" often makes me feel uneasy. Therefore I tend to believe that the love element being emphasized in the later part of the movie is the friendship or the platonic love between Chihiro and Haku. Another possible explanation is that "love" is used as an umbrella term for describing all virtues of interpersonal relationship: friendship, trust, confidence, affection, etc. After all, with a limit of 2 hours, Miyazaki can't be too preachy, and has to make the content and words as concise as possible. Anyway it is one of the natures of Ghibli films to be filled with symbolic elements that are open to all kinds of interpretation, and I believe that the love issue here is also the case.

I wonder do other members have anything to share? This is quite an interesting topic for discussion.

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My light novel review blog: ラノなの！@ novel.co.nr

Sorry for not get involved

I think "Love" (or 愛 in its original Japanese) has a very wide range of meaning, incl. love between pals, parents, mates, etc. They different but they have one similarity, the will to self-sacrifice for other sake... maybe this is what its mean...

I don't mind English dub either... except Castle in The Sky that James Van Der Beek's voice annoyed me....
(he has a very low voice yet Pazu is still a child and should be more high-pitched)
I don't mind Kiki's dub either... sometimes people in Japan said that US dub is more amusing than the original Japanese....

it's only funny to hear American people dub a movie w/ Japanese vocabs such as names....

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私のスペシャルブレンドだ。その都度味が変わるので、
保証はできないね。 F(^^)

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Originally posted by Neko Danshaku =^^=
They different but they have one similarity, the will to self-sacrifice for other sake... maybe this is what its mean...

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Originally posted by LillyKimilly
aaww thts sweet. but then wat age is right for love??? you could feel it at any age couldnt you???

also with the love thing in whisper of the heart dont they confess love at the end and he says he wants 2 marry her........how old are they??? teehee i always cheat wen it comes to storylines.....

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That depends on how you define "love." If you take a very wide definition that includes all kinds of love, like parental and platonic ones, I think everyone is granted the right to love as soon as s/he is born.

If you are talking about love as a romantic affection between different sexes, I still see it as a right that comes with your birth, as a part of the "general love." But I think people with mature minds can use this right more properly. So what is maturity? It differs for everyone due to different life experiences, so it is impossible to lay down a clear-cut "mature age." But I would regard people like Shizuku as far from being completely mature.

Shizuku is 14. While Seiji's age has not been explicitly mentioned, it is presumed that he studys at the same grade as Shizuku. Bear in mind that an age of 14 means only one year older than Kiki, and I cannot forsee Kiki getting married with Tombo in one year.

I think the last 45 seconds of the movie about Seiji's proposal really ruins the movie. It is like listening to a warm and harmonious piece of music, but suddenly there are jazz-like bings and bangs everywhere. I would definitely appreciate the movie much more if the love issue concludes in a more subtle manner, like the ending of Mononoke.

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My light novel review blog: ラノなの！@ novel.co.nr

quote:

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aaww thts sweet. but then wat age is right for love??? you could feel it at any age couldnt you???

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Looks like our angel of love already bored to spread love and demands for love itself

quote:

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I think the last 45 seconds of the movie about Seiji's proposal really ruins the movie. It is like listening to a warm and harmonious piece of music, but suddenly there are jazz-like bings and bangs everywhere. I would definitely appreciate the movie much more if the love issue concludes in a more subtle manner, like the ending of Mononoke.

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I guess we cat have many similarities after all...

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私のスペシャルブレンドだ。その都度味が変わるので、
保証はできないね。 F(^^)

teehee......no im not looking for love....too busy lol. Finished exams and stuff but still busy.....

maybe men are not into slushy seens...........they want scary stuff and half naked ladies ;-p.....men, i will never understand them at all!!!

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Good guidelines for spotting pirated material.

I'm so glad people on this site really care about buying authentic material! I was so sad about seeing SO much crooked material on ebay but this site makes me feel a tinge better. You guys are awesome!

don't support crooks!

Fortunately I've also found this site on Nausicaa.net. It's really helpful for identifying bootlegs, finding the little hints that let you know that it wasn't made authentically, and also helpful - it seems they list release dates as soon as they know. (i.e. so you know Howl is DEFINETLY not out in DVD yet, in any part of the world).

Here's and example of things they wrote. Plus a link:

Do you know...
If the DVD box-sets on auction sites are bootlegs?

Our reply:
Yes, the "6 disc," "10 disc" or "13 disc" DVD box-sets are all bootlegs (as are most of the single movies). Please visit this page for information about "Anime Cartoon International" and other piraters.
Rule of Thumb: If you can't find the item at a reputable store it's probably a bootleg.

The packaging quality is remarkably good, but that's because the pirates are more sophisticated then in the past. Team Ghiblink strongly recommends that you bypass these bootlegged products. All Studio Ghibli films will be officially released on DVD by the end of 2003, please visit the Video Release page for details. The main video page is a good starting point for video searches.

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/feedback/faq.html