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"Unlike typical Japanese media enterprises that exert their draconian copyright laws to squash usage of IP" Man, Japan doesn't even like people overseas buying their media.

To quote someone who said one correct thing today, "you really should consider making posts based upon facts". Read What difference does the firmware version make for CD and SA-CD? for an intro to the firmware issues I was speaking of. I know people who purchased the PS3 when firmware V2.00 added optical output for the format, only to find that capability taken away in the next revision. Since firmware upgrades are not optional if you want to stay on PSN, that's a clear bait and switch move. And if you read through the whole FAQ you can see some of the other limitations that come from Sony giving up on development here before the feature ever really worked perfectly.

I purchased about 20 new SACDs in 2010, from companies like Mobile Fidelity and via the SHM-SACD remasters. That gives me about 80 of them total. Since some of these are the highest quality recordings available, they get an inordinate amount of playtime here relative to the rest of my music collection.

See activity on SA-CD.net to see that many people are still actively using the format, and how many titles are available. Yes, there are probably only a few hundred people in the world impacted by Sony's SACD on PS3 decisions. That doesn't mean those people were not misled about Sony's commitment to supporting the format well in the PS3. I never claimed there were a "mountain" of such people, merely that the mechanics of how they were treated is similar to the situation with both backward compatibility and the Other OS features. This is a regularly recurring behavior from Sony.

I just wish the likes of Nobuo Uematsu, Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, James Horner and the like would release the scores

Sheet music exists (at least for piano), you just have to find it before it goes out of print.

(note: I use cdjapan a lot and they're fairly decent, but I've never ordered from vgmworld, so I don't know how good of a store they are)

That reminds me... has anyone mentioned the SHM-CDs? Has it ever been discussed on Slashdot? There's not even an entry in the English Wikipedia. It seems almost unknown outside Japan. I was tempted to submit a news item about it once, but being lazy as I am I've never done it.

Opinions vary a lot, some claim the quality is similiar or even inferior to CDs, while others, possibly the majority -- the format seems rather popular in Japan given the increasing number of releases -- say the quality is noticeably higher.

Anyway, here's the Japanese Wikipedia page about the SHM-CD,and the summary from CD Japan:

The high quality SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing, SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc, allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=RZCD-45716 is a random sampling of the Japanese maxi-single, which is very successful there. A common tactic there is to sell 2 or 3 "lead-in" singles months before the album comes out. Then they will try to sell you the actual album for $20-$25 which often contains all 3 singles and B-sides and perhaps only 4 or 5 new songs. Of course, I can't see the same formula working here, but they were bound to try.

I know of another legal way to buy Japanese music. You can buy Japanese CDs in an English web page at
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/
I have no financial interest in this company. I am merely an occasional customer. Of course, if you are under, say, 25 years old, the idea of actually buying a CD will be anathema to you as you'll have to wait for it to arrive by mail and you'd rather slit your emo wrists than do anything that doesn't lead to instant gratification. And if you want to just buy individual tracks, this isn't the answer you were looking for either. However, if you are over 30 years old and not afflicted with ADD, this might be an option for you should want to purchase that CD that is only available in Japan. Sometimes Japanese CDs come with bonus tracks not released in other markets (usually this means the US), so hardcore fans of various Western singers/groups might be interested in Japanese CDs for that reason too.

You're kidding, right? America has CHEAP DVDs compared to Japan. If you order through sites like deepdiscountdvd.com you can get them for $18-20 each, and they just had a 20% off sale there too.

DVDs in Japan cost between 4200-6200 yen per *2-3* episodes ... that is ~$40-60 per disk. And the 4200yen ones are generally kids shows ... the top-name ones cost 5200-6200 per 2 eps. Most box sets nowadays even are around $75-100 per 26 eps ... sometimes much cheaper. Infinite Ryvius is an excellent series for example that only costs around $40 for 26 eps.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCBA- 2125 -- $60 for 2 eps of GSD

Or you could get the uncensored Japanese release of Kill Bill, which would be a near-perfect analogy to the video games industry. Incidentally, grey market importers of often bloodier Japanese release video games have been around for decades. No one's gone apeshit yet.

(no hidden referrer links, just trying to link to a corroborating site.)

Not to mention that Miyazaki and Lasseter go way back. Studio Ghibli even made a documentary them. Nausicaa.net describes it as a thank you gift for John Lasseter for his help with the North American release of Spirited Away that was later published at the request of the Studio Ghibli staff. Here's their synopsis.

Yes, we know listening to samples is an alternative to getting the actual complete album.

Depends on what you want them for.

It's enough to tell me I don't care if he's on iTMS or not.

But if you want an album, you can get one.

Now I suppose you'll tell me that a CD isn't an alternative to downloading them from iTMS.

Whoops.. teach me to check links.. should be

CD Japan

If they get the price down to 25 cents... or maybe even 50!... then I might consider it.

Wow, I think the prices of $.99 a song are insanely cheap for the convenience. I only wish they had some Japanese music.. Recently I bought a CD that was 6 years old and it costed me almost $30 (not including shipping & handling from Japan)... Not only that, but it also has only 10 songs on it.
Check it out

Its a good CD though... My Pen Pal likes their music.

I hope you understand my point, alot of things still aren't available from a licensed agent of the japanese companies producing anime which implies their is still a rather large market for fansubs for things that may or may not ever come here...

So yet again, someone has pointed out that not all fansubs are harmful. And once again, it doesn't change the fact that the majority of fansubs (by volume of distribution) are zero-day translations of sure-fire titles like GITS, Witch Hunter Robin, and One Piece.

on my favorite fansub torrent site either (& right now their is more OST's & 'Manga' than anime on it)

Ok, so you admit right there that the fansub site is mostly used for OST, which is even less ethical. It's exactly as bad as trading MP3s of American-made music, as the ameliatory excuses of fansubs don't apply: there is no need to translate/localize it, there is no such thing as a "Region 2" CD player, and companies like CDJapan or Amazon.co.jp are ready and willing to legally sell you any of that.

This is a very naive comment. Even if you do know the language, importing the DVDs from Japan is incredibly expensive. (It's not like everyone in the world has access to Japanese network TV!) It's not uncommon to have two episodes to a DVD that costs US$50 before any kind of shipping or customs fees. The profit margins must be incredible here, because the price per episode on the US discs is perhaps one quarter of that.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the popular series, Witch Hunter Robin. The Japanese release is thirteen discs long @ 5000 yen (USD 48) per two episode disc. The official legal US release (not to be confused with the many Hong Kong bootlegs) has an MSRP of US$30 per four episode disc, and you can get it for closer to $20 if you shop around. This is a very typical case. The R2 discs cost even more after factoring in shipping from Japan.

So is learning Japanese easy and fun? Maybe. If you feel like learning the 2000+ JLPT level 1 kanji, each with multiple pronounciations and a specific stroke order. But paying for the discs is NOT easy and fun. While this does not legitimise fansubs in any way, it does show that your argument for abandoning fansubs for learning Japanese is poorly conceived.

I listened... and found myself cracking up from the sheer hilarity of it. This is going to make my things-to-get list, after the Ace Combat 5 soundtrack.

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.

Don't bother with the Fox DVD. Either wait for the Disney version (which will actually have a japanese language track), or order the region 2 disc from CD Japan and play it on your favourite region-free player.

CD Japan are rarely wrong.

But yes, the new ones are quite expensive, around $24-30. However, the older are around 2000Y ~ $16-18.

Take this movie. Or this TV show.

There are number of movies like speghetti westerns that I've seen that are in Japanese. The grand point is that the Japanese like watching things in Japanese. For some odd reason its bad for Americans to watch things in English? *shrug*

ps. Fansubs are the only way to watch shows? I beg to differ. Of course no one ever thinks about watching it off the air raw. ^_^

Take this movie. Or this TV show.

There are number of movies like speghetti westerns that I've seen that are in Japanese. The grand point is that the Japanese like watching things in Japanese. For some odd reason its bad for Americans to watch things in English? *shrug*

ps. Fansubs are the only way to watch shows? I beg to differ. Of course no one ever thinks about watching it off the air raw. ^_^

Take this movie. Or this TV show.

There are number of movies like speghetti westerns that I've seen that are in Japanese. The grand point is that the Japanese like watching things in Japanese. For some odd reason its bad for Americans to watch things in English? *shrug*

ps. Fansubs are the only way to watch shows? I beg to differ. Of course no one ever thinks about watching it off the air raw. ^_^

Take this movie. Or this TV show.

There are number of movies like speghetti westerns that I've seen that are in Japanese. The grand point is that the Japanese like watching things in Japanese. For some odd reason its bad for Americans to watch things in English? *shrug*

ps. Fansubs are the only way to watch shows? I beg to differ. Of course no one ever thinks about watching it off the air raw. ^_^

Take this movie. Or this TV show.

There are number of movies like speghetti westerns that I've seen that are in Japanese. The grand point is that the Japanese like watching things in Japanese. For some odd reason its bad for Americans to watch things in English? *shrug*

ps. Fansubs are the only way to watch shows? I beg to differ. Of course no one ever thinks about watching it off the air raw. ^_^

Take this movie. Or this TV show.

There are number of movies like speghetti westerns that I've seen that are in Japanese. The grand point is that the Japanese like watching things in Japanese. For some odd reason its bad for Americans to watch things in English? *shrug*

ps. Fansubs are the only way to watch shows? I beg to differ. Of course no one ever thinks about watching it off the air raw. ^_^

For purists like myself, all of the Ghibli DVDs yet released include the Japanese language tracks, along with subtitles.

That is, all of the DVDs that Disney has released. Fox had the rights to Totoro for a while, and before they got passed onto Disney, they released a horribly under-featured DVD with no subtitles. Because of that release, Disney hasn't gotten around to putting Totoro out on DVD with a proper set of subtitles.

We ended up getting a region free player and ordering Totoro from CD Japan instead of buying the Fox version.

Blockquoth the poster:

obtaining imported products, especially soundtracks, are _prohibitively_ expensive. This isn't like "go to Tower and pick up the CD for 15 bucks" ... these things run 30 and 40 dollars for the real mccoy

Well, first of all, you're exaggerating the hell out of the import situation. You can find virtually any Japanese CD you could possibly want right here. They do mail order to anywhere in the world, they're fast and reliable, they're 100% legitimate, and depending on the exchange rate, almost every album can be had for less than $25.

But that's all beside the point. The simple truth is you're a lazy cheapskate who just can't be bothered to support the industry. You're not a fan -- you are a parasite.

Hell, buying pirated goods is even stupider than stealing them outright...

There hasn't been a single case of a Japanese company cracking down on this in the US, at least that I'm aware, so really in all honesty, this FAQ comes off like that one kid in class who reminds the teacher that she forgot to give homework.

Translation: "So long as I don't get caught, nobody is hurt."

Yeah, you tell yourself that, if it makes you feel better.

Fine then, I'll tell myself that. Meanwhile, I'll be ordering another round of CDs from CD Japan pretty soon, for instance the SaiKano OST and the GitS:SAC OST which I "borrowed" from a friend since I wasn't a big fan of the show, only the music (amongst other CDs that I have mp3s from.

Why bother, when downloading it is so much easier

I only have one reply to this: snort. I'm really sure its "so much easier" to deal with the drek, people who never let you fetch stuff, and other crap on kazaa and the like. And thats if anyone else out there actually had my interests in music.

Now, I'm completely against the people who do as you describe and resell the burnt CDs for 500% profit (at this point, I would call it "bootlegging"). But you have to face it: Today's US music industry relies on people not hearing the crap on the disc ahead of time, so that they might be fooled into buying it. Since they have managed to get their industry into such a run-down state that the only way they can manage to sell anything is by accident or deceit (wouldn't you call filling a CD with two good songs which get radio advertising time, and the remainder with remixes or other crap deceit?) they have to force people to not preview the music. So they push for laws against it.

You know what really makes me feel better? It's not telling myself that I'm going to buy the stuff I like, because I know that to be true. It's that I look out and see civil disobedience performed against the gross misuse of a once-honorable law (copyright law, to be specific). Once upon a time it let people be creative and get money for their creations. Now, the music industry (amongst others) has shifted the power of the law from protecting authors to protecting the publishers. Once upon a time, an author granted permission to a publisher to publish the work. Nowadays, the publishers use work-for-hire loopholes and other tricks to take the work by force and leave the author with nothing but debt. For instance, if you read the text of the DMCA, you'll notice that there are no rights assigned to authors of a work. If I record a song in a DRM-enabled format, I have no right to remove the DRM from it, because the DMCA protects the DRM, not my work. (And before you claim "bullshit", take a look at this where legal threats were made against a person who wrote his own tool for fixing the "don't embed" bit for fonts he created himself. It hasn't gone to court, apparently, but given that the DMCA repeals rights of due process, that doesn't matter much, does it?)

So do the American thing. Protest the commercialization of your government and download an mp3 today.

From what I'm hearing, they either reduced or eliminated the jitter. I think there's a preview disc out sometime next month of the first ep or two (at CDJapan) that I know people are going to decide whether they want the entire box or not with. Preview disc is under $13 before shipping.

This manga, drawn by Makoto Yukimura, is about an aspiring astronaut (sp?) that starts his career as a lowly space garbage collector. The story is very interesting as it explains the life and perils of being astronauts. It also explains the danger of excessive garbage in space (it is even used as a plot device in book 2, but I won't spoil it! :)

Guess what? There is a free online version! It is located here. (Shockwave Player required), courtesy the editor (Kodansha).

Select the first episode. The shockwave file is an animated version of the first few chapters.

You don't need to understand japanese because it is subtitled in english.

Happy reading!

PS: I know about it because it is translated in French :)

All of you in France, I highly recommend this manga.

I didn't find an english translation of it, AFAICG (as far as I can google).

it's too commercial

If, like me, you live in Region 2 (Europe and Japan; handy, that), you don't care. But then, you haven't cared for a long time, cos they're all available at cdjapan.co.jp. Two-disk sets of Totoro, Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, Laputa, Spirited Away, Whispers and probably others are currently residing on the DVD case.

Note: even though they're region 2, they're also NTSC, so you'll need compatible equipment. That's not a problem for Americans with multi-region players, though.

The films are in Japanese with optional english sub and dub, and the second disk is all in Japanese.
In case you're interested, I'm a big fan of cdjapan, especially now that the exchange rates are going my way. They're extremely efficient at getting the stuff out, and my first stop for those hard-to-find films that aren't generally available elsewhere.

Or consider "Song of the South" - You will NEVER see that movie again, because The Mouse is so Politically Correct that they would never air that movie (and I don't see why not - Uncle Remus's tales were NOT racist!) Since there is no profit in keeping the movie preserved, it will in all probability rot away in a vault next to Walt.

I believe it was released on LD in Japan here.

Maybe it's scorable on e*bay.

To make sure you're getting the real Japanese DVD you had best either buy it in a Japan Town near you and make sure it's $50 (the $10 version in Chinatown is not legit) or order from Japan.

CD Japan is excellent for ordering Japanese CDs and DVDs. They're also good for ordering Japanese releases of non-Japanese stuff. You just pay shipping plus the exchange rate that your credit card company gives you, which is a pretty good deal.

Another place is AMO Tokyo. I haven't bought anything there but have heard good things, at least if you're ordering anime. If you are ordering J-Pop, stick with CD Japan.

Any place in Japan may have a bit of weirdness when ordering from the US...like you may have to fax them a copy of your credit card and driver's license for ID purposes. Japan is sill getting used to this whole credit card thing...but it is getting better. :-)

The nice thing about the japanese release is that they included english subtitles. Proper grammar even! (I have this dvd, but haven't watched it yet) You'll need a region 2 capable player though.

Once it makes its way into the US region 1 market, expect to see it for $30 or less.

But in this case there is a legitimate way to get the movie without lining Disney's pockets. Just buy the DVD from Japan, where it's already been released to DVD. You don't have to go to Japan either. You can order online from CD Japan or many other places. The DVD even includes English subtitles, so you'll have no problem following the movie.

Although Disney's name still appears in the credits of the Japanese DVD (if you can read Japanese...), they don't get revenue from the sale. That's because Disney bought only the worldwide distribution rights to the film. They don't get anything from sales within Japan.

Be warned that the Japanese DVD is region 2. Most DVD players in the US can't play region 2 discs (if you have to ask, then yours can't).

I've seen Akira on the big screen a few times, and it rocks. I've often wondered if there ever would be a follow up to it, but someone from Hollywood wasn't who I had in mind.

It has always bothered me that alot of anime hasn't been taken seriously for the sheer talent that goes into the story and art. I've always thought that alot (not all) of anime chose to go places that regular film would not or could not (like Akira).

If this project does make it to film, I certainly hope that Norrington doesn't *completely* ruin it. At very least it will bring new viewers to the original version Akira (even if its dubbed in English), and that can't be a bad thing, can it?

CD Japan for all your R2 needs (and in English, too).

I got totoro (as well as a bunch of other movies such as Mamoru Oshii's excellent Avalon) from cdjapan . The only thing to watch out for is the language; not all of them have subtitles. For some things like Gatchaman it doesn't matter, but be warned.

This is sad, but true. Disney most likely has no intention of releasing the rest of the Ghibli library, including such amazing classic films as "Nausicaa", "Laputa", "Porco Rosso". Miyazaki's latest film, "Spirited Away", will also most likely never see release in the United States.

Thank god it's not illegal to modify your DVD player to play Region 2 DVD's. Oh, wait...

By the way, all of the releases of Studio Ghibli films on DVD in Japan (Region 2) have also included English subtitles and sometimes also English dubbing.

I'm sure Miyazaki wants his works to be enjoyed by as many people throughout the world as possible. If doing a commercial release in the United States doesn't make sense financially, that's fine. All the really hardcore fans will buy the Japanese DVD anyway.

By the way, you can order Japanese DVD's from sites like CDJapan or Amo-Tokyo or even Amazon Japan.

Cryptnotic

Cagliostro and Kiki (possibly all future releases) have a neat second disc with the entire film in key frame/story board form synched to the audio.

If you want to order the LD's, you can get them from CDJapan. However, they will cost over $100 each, plus shipping.

These are both scheduled to be rereleased in Japan on DVD (Region 2). All of the Region 2 DVD Studio Ghlibli movies that have come out so far (Grave of the Fireflies, Tonari no Yamada-kun, Kiki's Delivery Service) have had English subtitles as an option. So waiting for the R2 DVD release might be a good idea (also it will be cheaper than buying the LD's).

Cryptnotic

If you're willing to pay a premium for imports, all of Yoko Kanno's CDs are available through CD Japan.

If you have a hard time finding what you're looking for, go to Tenkuu no Kanno Yoko for her complete discography with catalog numbers.

For anyone else reading this who isn't familiar with the amazing Yoko Kanno, you probably are and simply don't know it. She has composed the soundtracks for many recent hit anime series, including Macross Plus, Escaflowne, Brain Powerd, Turn A Gundam, and Cowboy Bebop, as well as a slew of one-shots for other shows like Please Save My Earth, X/1999, and the Lodoss War TV series.

Simply put, she is a genius. I can't even begin to describe how diverse and magnificent her work is without lapsing into lame hyperbole. She does it all: choral, orchestral, Celtic/new age, jazz, funk, techno, rock, ska, pop, and several other styles we don't even have names for. Many, many people buy her CDs "sight unseen" because she is just that good.

For samples in RealAudio format, go here.

Buy it here if you live outside Japan.