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Japan doesnt export enough? Who needs to export when we have the internet. Who cares if you can't go to your local Blockbuster and rent/purchase it. Go to an online anime shop, and buy it there..

They're not particularly easy to find anywhere outside of Asia. The best places, i think, to get them are cdjapan.co.jp and amazon.co.jp, who both ship internationally. AnimeNation and GameMusic.com have video-game music as well, but i'm not sure if they ship internationally, and (at least in the case of GameMusic) they can be a little over-priced.

There are also places like Yahoo! Japan's auction thing and SoundtrackCentral's Marketplace, where you can buy them second-hand.

Be careful buying soundtracks from eBay, though -- there are a lot of bootlegs sold there. Some of the auctions do warn you (if you know what to look for), but some of them don't even do that. But if you ever see anything about EverAnime or SonMay, they're bootlegs.

I've gotten all 11 Final fantasy OSTs through AnimeNation. They may cost more, but their reliability is top-notch.

I've picked up a number of game soundtracks in my time (I've got a number of FF soundtracks and other FF albums, two of the three Metal Gear Solid 2 soundtracks, and a few others.) While the music in them is pretty great, there is a certain nostalgic factor too. I'm not sure Aerith's Theme (FF7), The Oath (FF8), or others would elicit quite the same response from me if I just heard them without having in the back of my head the circumstances at which you hear them in the game. Although, the opening to Chrono Cross is just beautiful by itself. :D As is the MGS2 theme. But I digress.

It would be nice to see major chains in the US start picking up video game soundtracks, but I don't know how commercially viable it would be, whether many people beyond the gamers would buy them. And even of the gamers, how many would plunk down the money for the soundtracks to the games as well? Most of my friends who are avid gamers could really care less about the music. It would be real nice to have translated CD inserts though, save me the trouble of having to learn to read them. :)

Anime Nation is my current importer of choice, theyv'e got a pretty decent selection, and their prices aren't too horrendous. High enough to keep me in check at least.

Game music

Anime castle

Anime jungle

Anime outpost

Right stuff

Anime nation

No clue about Motoi Sakuraba. I'm intentionally somewhat naive about who makes the music I buy. Instead I've purchased the soundtracks from games and movies that I've really enjoyed and have already spent enough time with to already be vested. Anyway, I have had a good deal of luck purchasing imports via animenation. I don't think that they are the least expensive vendor/importer, but they have a pretty wide selection and they are from my home town. Alternatively, Tokyo Kid in Boston's Harvard Square has quite a bit of imported music/figurines/movies, unfortunately, last time I checked, you had to call them to rather than buying stuff directly off of their website.

...you'll love the manga.

The linked article, while informative (I didn't know Nadia was so popular, for example), is really just an infomercial for Right Stuf (an anime distributor).

So I'll offer a plug of my own. I like AnimeNation...they have a great news section and a Q&A column "Ask John."

It is one thing to give the Disney spin to something that is as fun to read as Treasure Island" (even if they give it a poor treatment). I have a problem with the fact that they will probably turn around and try to sell the fact that they put so much technical merit into the film that they should recieve some kind of recognition. That is just wrong. (Recognition they will then use as, "Print Spin" on their DVD marketing.) This is why we are behind the TIMES!!! I cannot wait until they give Beyond Good and EviltheDisney spin.

I was looking around for imports of Spirited Away on DVD. I searched places like eBay, Yahoo! Shopping, and AnimeNation. I found a few different versions, and was wondering which of these is an actual import and not a pirated version (I know, it's hard to say, but hopefully my next questions will make it clearer what I mean).

There are appear to be three different versions, regardless of the region code. There is a 1-disc version with a light blue cover, a 1-disc version with a dark cover, and a 2-disc version with the same dark cover. So, I am wondering what the difference is between the light blue and dark cover DVDs?

With regard to region codes, I was only able to find dics with either no region code (distributed by Manga International, Inc.?), and discs with a region 3 code (from Singapore), but none with region 2 code (from Japan). I'm guessing that the discs with no region code are not legal. But I couldn't say for sure. I'd never heard of Manga International, Inc. before.

And finally, there are a several different language choices. Japanese + English/Chinese subtitles, Chinese + English/Chinese subtitles, Japanese + French/Chinese subtitles, Japanese/Chinese + English/Chinese subtitles, etc. Anyone have any ideas as to which of these are "real"?

What I'm looking for is a Japanese + English subtitles region 2 2-disc set (or region free if those are not pirated versions). The reason I want the import is because I read the U.S. release of Spirited Away has had additional dialogue added and I don't want to see this dialogue, even in the subtitles.

Any help?

For a somewhat limited selection, but all DVD and really cheap, try Discount Anime DVD
For a truly excellent selection (and a great hentai section, or so I have been told) in both VHS and DVD, try Right Stuf
For a store with decent selection, plus some good soundtracks and posters and all kinds of stuff (free anime themed email too, if thats your thing), you can go to Anime Nation
Those are the really good online stores that i am aware of. You might not be able to find direct from japan stuff, or some of the more esoteric titles, but you can still find a good selection.

Yes, unfortunately, anyone who shops at AnimeNation, for example, are set to expose not only their credit card information, but their billing and shipping addresses, phone numbers, and other such personal information, on just getting a DVD or two. Another reason not to shop at places which don't use their own in-house services. Who's to say what that third party will do with the information they gather for their first-parties?

As for buying anime, the above-mentioned Animefu gives links to AnimeNation; I've used Robert's Anime Corner Store before. You can also try looking for anime stores via Google. (Which, strangely enough, gives the exact two places I mentioned as the first and second links in the same order I mentioned - weird :).)

The best way to find anime though is to find a friend who likes it and watch what they have. That's how I found out about anime first and why I have a growing collection of anime DVDs.

I mean, other than dirty movies, I can't think of anything else they actually sell

Among other things - lotsa Manga and Anime prints, books, videos, DVD's, posters, shirts etc, including Hentai, so i guess they've sorta had their hand in on the smuttier side of internet retailing anyways.
check animenation and you'll notice its all through store.yahoo.com

GrongBot

Those Who Hunt Elves (ADV Films)
Rurouni Kenshin (TV, Media Blasters/AnimeWorks; OAV [Samurai X], ADV Films)
Jubei-chan (Pioneer)

I beg to differ. I'm a fan of a type of music that North American record stores generally do not permit to grace their shelves. Apparently, despite the recent interest in anime, there's no market for JPop. MP3s are really the only way to get decent JPop music. Sites like Animenation allow you to order JPop CDs, but the price and shipping time combine to make that somewhat unfeasable when trying to find artists one likes.

Im really surprised the Heroic Legend of Prince Arislan series, one of my favorites, has only been mentioned once when nearly every other anime I would list has been repeated already, though I want to warn that Age of Heroes, or Part 5 should be ommitted, because its one of the worst series endings Ive ever seen, even though Parts 1 through 4 leave you craving the next one. Fantastic faux mideval setting, which leads me on...

Yes, the Record of Lodoss War is another must, but please dont confuse it with the lesser TV series [6 Parts is good, 9 Parts is bad]. It took a few times to make it all the way through, but it never got tedious.

Green Legend Ran, not Ran is also pretty good. Its not five star material, and maybe Im only mentioning it because its one of the most recent in my mind, but I thought it kept my eyes on the screen more than not.

Another that of course everyone has brought up, but I will hail is Akira. Even though I dont think its the flagship of anime, it certainly forged paths for works to follow, good and not-so-good alike.

Props go out to the ones that already have enough said about them like Ninja Scroll [one of my earliest experiences was with Jubei], MD Geist, Vampire Hunter D, Ghost in the Shell, Tenchi Muyo [yes, only the first movie, none of the show], Demon City, and Ranma 1/2.

btw, I cant remember if youve got a Family Video nearby, but here in Muskegon their selection far surpasses Blockbusters, and its not even owned by Viacom®. I am also a regular at AnimeNation .

...or you could just go back to Ultra 7 and Voltron.

• Ayashi-no Seles
  • Ayashi.net
• Bubblegum Crisis
  • Bubblegum Crisis page
  • Tokyo 2040: Rare and Useless Pages
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion site
• A.D.V. Films
• AnimEigo
• Anime Grapevine
• Anime Hideaway
• Anime International Company
• Anime Marriage Prospects
• Anime Nation
• Anime On DVD
• AniPike
• AniSound
• Ex
• OX-11 ("Gall Force: The Web Page")
• U.S. Manga Corps

I have been meaning to write lain up for a long long time. After all, any anime that revolves around IPv7 needs to be mentioned.

Here is a quick list of my favorite commedy:

Excel Saga - This is about as wacky as things get. ADV has this series, so it will be a while before anyone can get it. It makes fun of Aliens, Titanic, Anime in General, Star wars etc. If you can't take large doses of suger. Don't watch this.

Slayers - Final Fantasy with a sense of humour. Very slapstick, but the second season (or series since seasons usually are not consecutive in Japan) has the best ending of any Anime I have seen.

And of course, the Usual batch: Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo, Urusai Yatsura etc.

Serious Trippy Anime:
Lain - Again. Need to write up a review for Slashdot.

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Rumour constantly states that MTV and Sci-Fi are trying to air this, but ADV won't let them because of the cuts they would have to make. Mix giant robots, the angst of adolecence, and a good amount of religon and philosophy. This series can be amazingly depressing, and the last two episodes need serious help, but this is literature in action.

For the more slice and dice fans, Ruroni Kenshin (also known as Samurai-X) recently was picked up. I strongly suggest the OVA series from ADV (which will be available on DVD as Samurai-X). Warning. This series is massivly gorey, and angsty, but it is the best anime I have ever seen, bar none.

Battle Athlese Victory, Tenchi Muyo, Photon, El-Hazard and Dual are the AIC "guy surrounded by many girls" anime which are very excellent as well.
Some good resources for anime:
Anime Web Turnpike This is the best Anime link site in general. Slayers Universe is a amazing Slayers Page. is a awesome store, which also covers anime news.

Actually, there is an alternative to a MOD chip which, IMO, is a LOT better.

Here it is...

-- Dr. Eldarion --
It's not what it is, it's something else.

As a huge Anime fan (The Slayers, Fushigi Yuugi, and Battle Atheletes being my favs! - especially The Slayers (subbed) w/ Megumi Hayashibara) I'd just like to say that my wild-blind-stab-in-the-dark-guess is that Mononoke Hime will catapult Anime into more mainstream America. I'm not talking about Pokemon or DBZ (Japanese-Americanish) Anime, I'm talking about real subtitled (on even dubbed, if it's good).

I can't wait til this happens, as so many really good Animes get 'stuck' in Japan, and they're only available if you can speak Japanese, read Kanji, or know where to find a good Fan-subber.

Anyways, everybody should see Mononoke Hime - you'll love it. (It was the best selling movie in Japan ever, until Titanic crossed the Pacific) And check out some Anime - you can get it at local stores like Suncoast, or online at www.animenation.com, which has really great prices! I'd suggest getting 'The Slayers' if you're a fantasy fan, it's hilarous, I guarantee you'll love it, or Rob promises to give you a full refund!

Mina Inerz (a.k.a Lina Inverse) - visit my webpage for great Anime Wallpapers!
Mina Inerz [N. Reinking]

Frater219 dun said:

If you want to see a Dungeons-&-Dragons-like show with some actual plot and no Yoda-oid floating deus-ex-machina, may I recommend the anime series Slayers?

*chuckle* What's funny...nearly everyone I game with (I'll state now my gaming circle tends to be comprised entirely of otaku; those of us who have seen Vision of Escaflowne are very hard at work addicting those few of us who haven't :) is quite convinced that Slayers in general is based off someone's D&D or Lodoss War game that went terribly, terribly wrong. :) (Yes, I mention the latter because Record of Lodoss War was based off a Japanese roleplaying game of the same name that was directly inspired by D&D. See previous post. :)

We are especially inclined to think Slayers is based off of D&D/Lodoss games gone horribly wrong because, for some reason, EVERY roleplay game we're in--especially D&D or anything involving human and/or elven mages--WILL eventually devolve into something bearing a remarkable resemblance to a Slayers episode. (Example--in a Shadowrun game I am in, one of the mages cast Accident to cause a delay for us to get to someone we were supposed to capture...the Accident spell ended up causing an airplane to crash into a bus full of nuns and schoolchildren, causing a traffic jam that pretty much caused all traffic in Tacoma to stop...I am not mentioning the name of the mage who did this, because the person who played her WILL probably hunt me down and kill me. :)

The Slayers reference is also especially funny to me for another reason. My husband was creating a half-elven paladin for a D&D game we're in...he was planning to base the character off Folken in Escaflowne (for those who have not yet seen it--and you are poor, poor, POOR deprived children and must correct this Right Now, and no, you don't have to hunt for fandubs; you can go right down the local Suncoast or Anime Nation and get it--Folken is a rather dark badass).

He rolls the dice. What he ended up with bears FAR, FAR more of a resemblance to none other than Gourry Gabriev (blonde, strong as an ox, and has the rough Int of an ox too...Str: 25. Int: 9). :)

I guess it could've been worse, though...he could've ended up with Dilandau... :)