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Miyazaki Region 1 DVDs at Last?
PinkStainlessTail writes " Ain't It Cool has a "story" (or baseless rumor, it is AIC after all) claiming that Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY, CASTLE IN THE SKY (aka LAPUTA), and KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE will be released on 2 disc region 1 DVD sets from Disney in April of this year. The original story comes from comic artist Steve Bissette's message board. " Here's hopin'
Yes, yours is a bootleg.
Which means that neither Miyazaki nor Studio Ghibli recieved any compensation for their efforts.
Thank you for being a hindrance.
If the rumor is based on reality I'm definitely preordering the DVD's. =)
Anyone who hasn't seen Castle in the Sky will be in for a treat--it has some of the most AMAZING hand-drawn backgrounds you've ever seen.
Man do I feel stupid. I had some idea about DVD Regions when I got my player a year or so ago, but didn't give it much thought. This article forced me to go look-up a few sites that offered information on exactly what the mention of DVD Regions in the
Sometimes
--- have you healed your church website?
Japanese televisions use a higher color temperature (~9000) than American televisions (~5400). Theaters use a lower color temperature as well (~5000-5700), and so to keep colors looking the same when released domestically in Japan, Miyazaki has his animations color shifted to compensate.
When you take one of these DVDs and play it on an american TV, it looks pink. best to wait for our own domestic release.
I certainly hope that the DVD release is better that the terrible Fox DVD release of My Neighbor Totoro, which was a pan-and-scan version with no Japanese language track or extras.
If Disney are releasing it directly, then there is some chance they might do a good job, but I'm certainly not preordering anything until the details are clear...
Ain't It Cool has a "story" (or baseless rumor, it is AIC after all)
Now if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is.
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
I'm still waiting for the region 1 DVD though. I'm just afraid it will also have the infamous red tint that everyone got in Japan.
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.
I have traveled to Japan a few times and lived there a couple times. The whole region thing is a real pain. I ended up getting a region-settable DVD player so that I can watch movies I pickup there. Its' a shame that one has to do so much just to watch movies made in another area that arn't and will probably _never_ be avaialble where they live.
Mecworks BLOG
Right now my daughter needs to watch her DVDs off my wife's iBook hooked up to the TV, all because we can't play Japanese DVDs on our North American player. And it's not like the movies are cheap, coming from Japan. But the amount of wiring that needs to be done isn't worth the effort.
Someone bought her the Fox copy of Totoro a few months ago on DVD, thinking it would be a good replacement for the older VHS she got when she turned 1. She put the DVD in the player, turned it on, and within 5 minutes she came up to me and said, "Daddy, this movie is wrong." (the English voices were godawful)
If this is true, and she can get these movies on DVD with Region 1, they had better have the original voice tracks on them.
The world's only surviving livewriter.
Is it posted on nausicaa.net yet? No? Probably BS then.
Miyazaki's stuff is pure genious. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest directors that ever lived. This is good for everyone, not just anime fans.
Ive already imported all these movies, and I will probably wind up buying the r1s as well. I sure hope that they have all the extras that were on the japanese dvds. Tons of cool stuff on the dual disk sets.
no
I'm holding in my hand a boxed set called "Archives of Studio Ghibli", published by Anime Cartoon International. It's got 6 DVD's, each with two films. It doesn not include the newest film, or Castle Cagliostro (which is separately available). The DVDs have Japanese menus, and offer English or Chinese subtitles with the Japanese soundtracks.
Actually Japanese TVs use a lower black level (0 IRE as opposed to North America's 7.5 IRE, which isn't nearly so much of a problem), and the only color shifted Japanese R2 dvd was Spirited Away, which has a noticeably red tint on every set in Japan. There's actually a lawsuit regarding that very issue brought about by a few Japanese people (see this article at animenewsnetwork).
-- Your IP is showing
Both companies you listed are well known bootleggers.
Your copy is a bootlegm obviously so at that price.
I live in North America and buy all my movies here. So region codes are the least of my concern. What I am looking for is a DVD player that doesn't give a damn about what the disc wants or where it came from. It's my copy of the movie, my DVD player, my TV and home theater system. So, why can't I pull up the DVD menu any time I damn well feel like it? Does anyone know if there is such a device?
Here's the article from Anime News Network, just posted about half an hour ago, with more concrete news on the Kiki and Castle in the Sky DVDs. As you can see, there's nothing said about a Spirited Away DVD release, though :/
I bought this bundle in the US last month - http://www.discountanimedvd.com/dvd_detail.asp?dvd no=1696
They are listed as 'All code, Region Free' on the website. The only problem I've had is that the "Spirited Away" discs do not play on my PC's DVD drive (a pioneer drive). 'Spirited Away" does play in my Playstation 2. So take that for what it's worth.
I've enjoyed every movie so far and I'm half way throught the set.
Because the article's submitter and the editor clearly appear to believe it is.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Actually...
Spirited Away
Kiki's Delivery Service
Castle in the Sky
Totoro is out on DVD from Fox, but Fox only owns the pan and scan version. If you want it in widescreen, you'll can either wait until Fox's contract expires and Disney can release the film on DVD in North America, or get the region 2 set they've already released.
"Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity" -Alvy Ray Smith
We're not boycotting DVDs today.
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
Since everyone seems to think the bootleg versions are official releases, here are the lists of (legal) available versions of Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky, and Kiki. If you have anything else, you got scammed.
"Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity" -Alvy Ray Smith
Being in Europe, I don't give a rat ass about what region DVDs are! Ha-hah!
J.
Aren't geeks supposed to have region-free DVD players????
In short, there may yet be cause to worry if Disney doesn't feel that we need Japanese audio on these DVDs...
If not now, when?
Here:
http://www.inmatrix.com/genie/
Just FYI, these are bootlegs made from the laserdisc editions and the existing Japanese DVD's. None of the money went back to the creators of the films, and in addition, the video is rife with edge enhancement, block crawl, and other artifacts.
I'm impatient for a legit release, but until then, these bootleg copies of Laputa and Totoro will have to do.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
According to what I've heard on the Miyazaki mailing list, the "Spider Man: Return of the Green Goblin" animated VHS tape includes a trailer for Laputa that says it's coming soon, and the insert on the "Country Bears" R1 DVD claims Kiki's is coming soon, "for the first time on DVD."
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
You're totally right! Given the total consideration that Disney has shown to Miyazaki during every step of this project and the timely manner in which they have conducted themselves, i would _never_ imagine Disney failing to keep everyone fully updated as to what their plans are.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
DVD regions just make me wish the MPAA was required to release Region 0 DVDs 2 years after the release of a movie anywhere.
I hate their arguement that regions are needed to allow movies to be released in theaters before you can buy them. What I hate about the arguement is what about old movies?
Why is Gone With The Wind: DVD Deluxe Collector Box Set (1939) a region 1 dvd? They've had 64 years to play it in every country.
Of course their other arguement is regions protect prices. Region 1 dvds cost more. Well, if they are only going to release the DVD in one region anyway, why not put it in Region 0? If there's not enough of a market in other regions, then release it in region 0 and pool everyone together.
sorry, I'm just annoyed by all the region stuff....
"Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
It's a fairly simple thing to remove region encoding on modern DVD-ROM "RPC2" drives. This site has firmware for practically every DVD-ROM drive available, patched to RPC1, which does not check for region encoding on the DVD. Couple this with a software DVD player such as InterVideo WinDVD and it's a simple matter to go into the registry and delete the key that tells the player how many times you can change the region encoding. You can even use this tool to do it automatically. I'm not positive about the legality of this, for IANAL, but I don't believe after recent rulings on DeCSS (which this does not bypass) that there is much of a risk of any kind of legal problem.
[insert witty comment here]
Thank you for being a hindrance.
Be careful not to hurt yourself on the way down from your high horse.
It would be a hindrance to buy bootlegs if someone was offering a legit product. Since Disney/Ghibli are not giving me a legal way to get them, I don't think I'm hurting them in getting bootlegs. If anything, I'm proveng them there's demand fot the movies and prompting them to release them.
I bet you are also against abandonware and MAME.
I use the word 'hack' very liberally. Many times, it's just a few buttons on the remote.
While you're at it, desable Macrovision, and if you're in the market to buy a DVD player, use that site so that you buy a DVD player that plays SVCD's... thus allowing you to skip the whole buying DVD's-to-replace your VHS collection.
I agree with parent comment. Yeah, sure the letter of the law might be violated when you do the bootleg thing. But what about the "rights" of consumers to, well, consume? If the IP holder is unwilling to share the IP, then as consumers I think we have every right to get it from alternative channels.
The whole "region coding" thing is the biggest farce. It made sense that once upon a time there were different formats for the different regions -- because different standards were adopted for TV broadcasts. Region Coding is a (possibly illegal) added layer of technological obscurity designed to HINDER our rights.
But, back to bootlegging. Once upon a time, my roommates found this audio tape. We have no idea where it came from. We loved it, and listened to it over and over again. Eventually we were able to find out who the band was and miraculously one roommate had a friend who collected vinyl, and he just happened to have the album. So we bought it, secondhand (or maybe third or fourth who knows).
Then we burned CDs of the vinyl because the tape was getting worn out, and now we all live in different parts of the country anyway. In fact I just burned another copy over the holidays (a copy of the copy) because my old roommate stole my last one...
I have looked for this album in used CD shops, on Ebay, wherever. It is simply not available. While I might technically be commiting a crime by copying the original, I really don't see what else a consumer is supposed to do. Go without a great record because nobody will sell it to me?
All you people who point accusing fingers at people who are bootlegging need to consider where your blind allegiance is taking us. So far it's given us artificial and abritrary Region Coding, the DMCA, and it's upgraded copyright violation from a civil crime in which harm had to be demonstrated to a federal felony where no harm needs to be shown and prosecution cost is paid with your tax dollars. Next stop is TCPA and Palladium. Care to take your heads out of your asses now?
...because 2 weeks ago, I finally gave up and made my purchased Kiki VHS into a DVD. Heavy tweaked filtering, it looks pretty good, 40 hour encode... Yeah, after that I'd expect the whole effort to be made moot.
And presumably Disney will use the profits to further Walt's totalitarian ambitions by vigourously pursuing commie mutant traitors who use DeCSS or p2p file trading.
Having this story on the same page as the latest MPAA and RIAA efforts is illustrative. The outrage only lasts until the next fasionable release.
Xix.
"Everything is adjustable, provided you have the right tools"
Over at animeondvd.com they have the following post up on the main news page -
Right Stuf confirms Miyazaki DVDs (04:45 PM EST): While no features have yet been delivered to retailers (a standard practice for Disney; announce title, then a few weeks later provide details), Shawne Kleckner over at Right Stuf has confirmed that both VHS and DVD versions of Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky are due out in region one on 04/17/2003.
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." Col. Jeff Cooper
50 karma IS a license to troll ...as is evidenced by the countless bootleg posts you've been making on this story.
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
I would also reiterate that the lack of all these things isn't Fox's fault: it's just that they bought the rights to the dubbed, full-frame version of the movie through 2003, and nothing else. So it'll be at least a year before the Disney version, with all those extras, is available.
"Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity" -Alvy Ray Smith
Have you compared the translation (subtitles) on the pirate version to the official one?
I'm always interested in finding good translations...
I'm especially interested in the Myazaki box set (that has ALL of the movies except "Sprited Away").
As far as I know, that's only available from the Hong Kong pirates and probably has some movies that are not available anywhere else.
Rocky J. Squirrel
Yes I'm willing to risk my precious karma to spit at the raging moralists waging their fingers at you for buying the pirated boxed set.
/. community basically supports mp3s, divx, tivo and hates the riaa... but how dare you buy a hong kong version of say, shoulin soccer instead of waiting for Disney to censor, mutilate and redub it and use regions to force it down your throat!
How dare you enjoy these masterworks when:
1. this is probably the only way you can get some of these films, at least the only way you'll find them in japanese with english subtitles
2. you may not be able to afford to buy all of the official copies
the
It's much easier to mod me down than to post an intelligent reply
Rocky J Squirrel
Oohhh, no pink problem.
Don't the french have these wierd ancient high definition TV's?
Does that effect the resolution/frame rate of the DVD's made for them?
Rocky J. Squirrel
Except for the last but one scene being completely mistranslated and the sense of it ruined (and one minor mistranslation early on) the Disney dub is amazingly good.
It's the best dub done yet and certainly good enough that you can proudly show the movie to people who don't like subtitles.
Rocky J. Squirrel
Then the terror-, sorry, the MPAA - have already won.
Not such a big issue here (languages and all) but something to bear in mind. I live in Region 2 (as decreed by the DVD powers), but I buy almost all of my disks as Region 1 (or when possible, region 0 or unregioned) and have them posted from Hong Kong, as soon as possible. The message: market segmentation isn't going to work any more. Stick to global release schedules, you chiselling bastards.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
I'm glad to see that we are not in such a large disagreement, but only on fine points. Two, in fact, for which I can explain my position quite rapidly. ;)
One, I strongly object to the use of the word "stealing" to refer to illegal copying. It's a loaded word, and its use helps to spread propaganda from the studios. Stealing is taking something and depriving the rightful owner of its use. In fact, I am legally right; if you get arrested for selling illegal copies of movies, you are not charged with robbery, you are charged with copyright infringment.
On the second point, yes, I have access to P2P... on a 56K modem. Ever tried to download a movie that way? Fun it is not. Plus, I don't pay quite a lot of money; 10 bucks will get you a Miyazaki VCD. I kinda agree that "pirates" are leeches, but not a lot more than movie studios execs. Plus, remember, I can give 10 bucks to a so-called "pirate", of which nothing will go to Miyazaki, or I can give 40 to Disney, of which 1-2 will go to Miyazaki (my guess, I can't really tell) and 38-39 to Disney execs. Guess which one I consider the lesser of two evils.
Still, I intend to buy the original as soon as it becomes available. But I absolutely refuse to subject my kid to the whims of a corporation regarding when he can see Totoro. For a movie that has been around for over 10 years not to be available in DVD (particularly such a masterpiece) is a crime.
Again, thanks for your articulate response, and rest assured I meant no ad hominen arguments; I was trying to equate my behavior to others that I consider similar and acceptable. Admitedly, in a somewhat inflamatory manner (this is Slashdot, right?)