I had this question for a long time. Is there really any "ORIGINAL" anime in Malaysia? We all know of a certain "famous anime store" in Malaysia that has alot anime supposedly with "TULEN" sticker, but do the people they buy it from really own the rights to this anime and can it really be considered original?

In america, as you all know, anime is licensed by companies like Bandai Visual, Geneon Entertainment, ADV, Funimation and so on and so forth for international distribution. They hold the copyrights to the anime there. How about Malaysia? We don't have companies like this. What I think we are doing now is buying "2nd hand rights" from Taiwan (which i'm not even sure if the Taiwan companies hold the rights in the 1s place) and straight away claim these anime as "original". I don't think I have to tell you that the quality of the subs on these DVDs are like shit. Is this the quality of an original dvd i bought at original price? I have no choice but to buy region 1 DVD from US if I want to buy original DVDs or just stick to fansubs.

Say for example Bandai Visual now holds the international rights (outside Japan) for the anime Melancholy Of Suzumiya Haruhi. Only a copy produced by Bandai Visual sold in Malaysia can be considered original, right? If its distributed by "Wong Ah Kau Productions" from Taiwan I don't think can be considered original right?

What are your thoughts?

Details in my thread

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=352018

The only Legit Anime you can get around here AFAIK are ODEX releases which are, Singaporean

cheerz

Thanks for the link. I'm aware of ODEX but never bought a copy before so I'm not sure about the quality. When i was in singapore i saw alot of VCDs of anime by ODEX but the packaging looks quite cheap and at that time I thought ODEX itself was a bootleg.

The question is, can you get ODEX stuff in Malaysia, cause I never really seen any, but mountains of other bootlegs banyak like AnimeDVD, Animanga, MTV etc. And i'd prefer it if they localised the region 1s released in US. Those at least have nice packaging and always come with free stuff. (Najica thongs anyone? )

Odex releases tend to be rare and far between, most shops like animetech tend to not bring them in on account that they only have 3 episodes/dvd and cost something like RM40. Compared to 26 episodes/3dvd's for RM120ish

if u want a link to sites that does resonably priced dvd's i have them, in a thread in the hobby section

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...dpost&p=9870456

im using dvdpacific massively atm for all my dvd orders.

This post has been edited by mr lappy: May 4 2007, 05:55 PM

As I recall, there are only limted companies that licenced anime in Malaysia, and all of those are dubbed for TV and VCD sales. There was one licensor which not only licenced but subbed the animes but I think the company had folded out from bad sales. It was MTV (Not the same as the MTV Channel) and was based in Shah Alam. they sold animes subbed in malay and/or english. Those are the most ORIGINAL that you can get. The others are HK Bootlegs.
Like I said in the fansubber thread, japanese companies/studios usually don't care about the market outside of Japan, thus they don't usually licence their distribution in other countries, which is why Hong Kong can sell bootleg openly without their japanese neighbour complaining. It also helps that Chinese and HK tv channels now CANNOT air cartoons or animation that is not made in china, which leads to more bootlegs
KTHNXBYE

Does this explains why I get shitty 2 frame per second animated cartoons done by chinks, occasionally on some China news channel in my Astro?

The amount of QUALITY I saw is equivalent to Keluang Man.

That's why I ordered them. To do a right thing.

There is an issue for what is right or wrong in this.
For one, not all anime watchers/collectors can understood Japanese, which means that original Japanese videos are out of the question. Imports from the US meanwhile cost a bomb here, and as many of the collecters here is unlike the otakus in Japan which have money to buy them, it's also out of the question
So what's left for them? bootlegs. They have no choice, either buy them or none at all. Say what you like, buy MONEY is the main thing in this equation here. I suffered through all my varsity days when I limit my spending to just frickin' RM10 PER WEEK just to save money to pay for my shounen jump and shounen sundays copy, and that does not include tankoubans and such. And those are mangas, which is why i have to forgo from buying Anime DVD. Even after I got my work (I work part time at my varsity, and still does), I don't spend more than RM50 per week.
It might be easy for some that have money to say, go buy the original, but hey, I'm no hypocrite, if you can't afford it, than DONT. Buy the bootleg first and then when you have money, get the original later.

I think money is not an issue for true collectors, even here in Malaysia. Why would collectors collect bootlegs? Abit worthless rite? But now the issue is "we don't have a choice", in terms of anime. Would I buy original anime? I would, especially if its a series I really like. But like most people, i'd probably download 1s, if like it then only think of buying ori. Will not buy ori as trial.

But then again, "True Collectors" are usually ones with money to spare. ppl with low pays usually tend not to be in that group, even if they want to. Pay for electric, pay for rent, food, etc, and what do you got left in the end? Living in KL also means that the high cost of life contributes towards this. Not to mention to pay for families (father/mother/little sis or bro back at kampung). in the end, collecting can take a toll on your financial life, unless you are only paying for yourself and not others.

Well that's another story. Let's face it, collecting as a hobby is a luxury, not something that anybody or everybody will indulge in. If you don't have the money, then don't collect la. If collecting bootlegs/fansubs makes you feel happy cause you can't afford the originals, then by all means. But of course to a true collector your collection is worthless. I agree true collectors have money to spare on their hobbies, but that doesn't mean they are rich.

Example: Those otaku collectors you speak of in Japan, you think their pay is high? Not really. How can they afford their hobby? Easy. They live with their parents, have no commitments (pay for rent, electic bill etc), and don't even bother to get proper clothes hence their lack of attention to their own appearance. They spend every penny they earn on their hobbies. And I won't even go into those hikikomori which are sponsored by their parents 100% for their lifestyle and hobbies.

Which is in Japan. I doubt we can find Hikkis here in Malaysia, and on teh contrary to the Japanese counterparts, Malaysian offsprings usually pay for their parents expenses once they work XD
But this is way off the original topic. Meh, we need moar company licensing anime in Malaysia to get them cheaper.

Lies! Their release of Hellsing stole fansub trans!

At least you get cheap "licenced" anime that has high quality subbing XD

Not really, they nicked one of A-Kraze's early releases, which wasn't really all that great, if i recall in one of the later episodes where they introduced the non-cannon Incognito there was a part where because they nicked the subs, his jibberish was translated as #$(&@)!*^*$)#*&$*@)#*!^*)#$*(#%*#) or something like that

well im with wolfx here. Im totally disagree bout this being poor collector give them legal rite to go support pirates. Well, u ask a stamp collector here, do they collect bootlegged stamp. no. Even they are poor, collectin bootleged stamp is a total disgrace. If u cant join the hobby, its best u quit it. If u cant support to pay a fee of certain membership, might as well quit it. Thats why i quit as Gundam model collector 5 years ago. Reason, too expensive (i wasnt workin at that moment) and planned to further my collection after im workin (but then i found other interest and drop this one).

U have to know between wat's right and wat's not. and if one cant afford to buy something, doesnt mean he/she are allowed to do crime. In the end it will coz the licensed distributor become poor which result of company collapse and more people become jobless and poor. So here's the reason everyone having difficulties.

There is lots of reason why i quit readin scanlation when they have this Bahasa Melayu version comic is out. Tryin to support so they dun die and in a way, i can support my favourite artist to stay alive instead. Same goes with music, i d/led due to quick availablity but i will buy the original CD to support them. And again, i dun wan to say this thing again, Dont go cryin bout anime production goes halted half-way due to inpopularity and say everyone love the anime so much but the fact that most of them got em illegally.

You do realize that most local BM trans manga are also not licensed, for example go to takehiko inoue's official site and see if there is any mention of Slam Dunk being distrobuted officially with proper rights in Malaysia, there be nothing, nada, zip, zero!

International
Licence
Holder
...
KOREA（DAI WON PUBLISHING CO.,LTD）、HONG KONG (JONESKY LIMITED)
TAIWAN（SHARP POINT PUBLISHING CO.,LTD）
SINGAPORE / Singapore version , English version
PHILIPPINES、AUSTRALIA / English version
（CHUANG YI PUBLISHING PTE LTD）
THAILAND（NATION EDUTAINMENT）
ITALY（PANINI S.p.A.）、FRANCE（DARGAUD BENELUX）
GERMANY (PANINI VERLAGS GMBH)
SPAIN、ARGENTINA（Editorial Ivrea S.A.）
INDONESIA（ELEX MEDIA KOMPUTINDO）
BRAZIL（CONRAD EDITORA DO BRASIL LTDA）
MEXICO（GRUPO EDITORIAL VID, S.A. DE C.V.）

This post has been edited by SetaNoriyasu: May 5 2007, 12:00 PM

crap, n they still sell em like there is nothin. no wonder they are really cheap.

so, there arent any legal stuff in Malaysia? man this country is dying. more minus confident in this country.

No, while you don't see Slam Dunk in Inoue's site, it was listed years ago in Shueisha's official site. Both Comics House and Tora Aman buy the licence from Shueisha for the company's manga that is sold under Sheuisha or Shokagukan.

---

Added on May 5, 2007, 12:37 pmI remembered reading this in SBS (One Piece Volume 26)
Chapter 237 (Page 26)

Why do I post this? Because the mangaka himself usually has no idea which country licenced his manga unless the licensor is very famous

This post has been edited by linkinstreet: May 5 2007, 12:37 PM

Ya...i don't expect the mangaka to know where his manga is going to anyway since its his publisher's job to do this. Wasn't there some controversy about the HK movie version of Slam Dunk that was going to be filmed and the mangaka knew nothing about it?

Thank God for the Chinese?

OT...but might as well post it here. XD

http://break.com/index/intervention-new-toy-addiction.html

I have been using Robert's Anime Corner Store for my R1 purchasing.

http://www.animecornerstore.com/

Haven't been let down so far and I'm quite happy with the level of service. Plus, they tend to get their stocks in earlier than the release date (Solty Rei vol. 4 is already available for ordering while other sites like Amazon still places it as pre-order status till the 29/05 release date) which is a plus for the impatient.

What I would like to know is are there any advantages purchasing from Dvdpacific. I noticed that the ex-stock prices are lower than RAC but is it significant enough to warrant a switch?

Getting Gunslinger Girl Original DVD from Japan. Cost me a bomb but I don't mind since it is an awesome anime. Will save up $$$ for Crest of the Stars series.

The Gunslinger Girl Boxset cost me about close to 300 RM.

Anime-tech has R1 rips. Just look for those with ONLY English subs.

well besides the price for me(which is still cheaper fo me to buy from them even after shipping from a uk dealer) they also get the stock before the release date.

anyway, i tired all their shippin method and i find that SAL is a little too long for my lilking but its darn cheap(took about 3-4 weeks to arrive dunno bcoz of customs issue or something). int priory mail is resonably quick which is 3-5 days and DHL is obviously fast.

mind you i ship it to the uk (US > UK ) so im not sure how it would be like to the m`sia. and i ship my stuff individually now as it comes out after learning a lesson on customs tax where u will get taxed for stuff declared more than 30 pounds or something like that.

btw, neone knows where i can buy Gunslinger Girl (english translated manga)? i tries Border (Penang) and my fren (KL) Kinokoniya (or watever u called it) and got no luck though. if im not mistaken its distributed by ADV. or our country doesnt permit this kind of comic in Malaysia?

p/s: i dun wan to mail order since im goin to collect them 1 by 1 rather than whole batch. Before u can recomend me to d/l, i had the soft copy, i just feel like collecting the original hardcopy one.

KL kinokuniya had it. I bought my 3 volumes from there. If they don't have a copy, you can order it through the phone with them. There's nothing wrong with GSG manga and never heard of any ban for it. If you're from penang and near to borders you can ask them if they will order it for you.

Bear in mind though that the GSG manga has been on hiatus and so are other titles by ADV manga. We were stuck at volume 3 since 1 year ago. >_<

dang, on hiatus and upto volume 3? well thats explain they never put em in the shelf or instock. Thx for tellin, goin to try order them then. Really need volume 6, though thing has already calm down in volume 5 against Padania Mafia. heard japan GSG already release volume 6 this year. wonder when ADV gonna catch up with it.

http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/guest/cgi-...7%65%72&AREA=05

I have always wanted to try Kinokuniya's book delivery service but I tend to end up going to Borders (Times Square) and buying them physically.

just wondering; I've seen a lot of shops (including legit stores like Speedy video) selling anime DVDs of this variant myanime dvds. Note the "original anime" stickers and the holographic Tulen stickers.
I've only bought FMP:TSR of this type of dvds, and i have to say I'm not quite happy with the overall quality of the discs. The most obvious is the picture quality. It's not up to DVD standard. It looks as if the resolution has been shrunk down to fit a VCD format, and the only difference is that they managed to stuff the entire season into one DVD. The Japanese release had two disks, if i'm not mistaken.
The subtitles are, well, bearable. They tend to misspell some of the names and the mechs, but the grammar is at least intelligible.
no omake videos, no extra content.
what is your verdict? did this company actually licensed the anime before they sell them?

sorry that you bought them. its not original.

1 look at the prices you would know its all 'original'

check the link on my sig for stuff like that.

Check my post that's in his sig for stuff like that heheheh

oh common, u should have the link in your sig as well !
arent you proud of your little thread?

no harm done, it's just 13 ringgit i spent on a whim.
normally i buy box sets for the American release, by licensing companies like ADV.
(region-free dvd players ftw)

but it's rather sad though, If you go to Low Yat or Sungei Wang Plaza, the fansub rip divx-dvds are no longer sold, but these dvds which are just as illegal are sold openly.
I wouldn't mind paying for an original release as long as they maintain their quality and I get my monies worth. Now you don't have a choice but to spend more, and get no improvement in quality. Just because they paid some people in Penapisan to get the stickers. The corruption runs deep.

Just hoping a credible licensing company would open here in Malaysia to cater for our little niche here.
can someone tell me which shops sell the Odex animes?
thx

I believe any shop selling videos (and having an anime section) should have some Odex releases.

I did saw a game store in Sunway Pyramid (the IT section) having Odex released Fullmetal Alchemist DVDs.

those shops are few and inbetween, and we don't get the special edition odex box collections =\

yes its a sad case. the 'tulen' sticker i thnk its not due to corruption but a loophole in licensing law in HK and taiwan.

anyway, bootelgs are not only a problem in m`sia.

but in the uk ppl are also openly selling bootlegs of anime stuff not so much on dvd since all major places(virgin,HMV ect) carries them. but stuff like figures,posters and misc stuff)

in the europe however, its a massive problem(like m`sia) fans there buys bootlegs like mad, figures dvd soundtrack, all of them u name it.

This post has been edited by mr lappy: May 22 2007, 06:05 PM

speaking of which, niko niko doh in jusco has been selling animu OST which looks authentic but are really taiwanese knockoffs

Either the storekeepers don't know that they are bootlegs, or they are thinking "what the heck...there's still money to be made from these stuffs". It's not like the Customs are able to differentiate anyway.

At least something is better than nothing, even if it's not the Special Editions. We don't have much of a choice when it comes to true originals unless we can afford importing from overseas.

This post has been edited by Dias: May 22 2007, 07:36 PM

ADV will resume GSG manga in June 20 something. Vol 4, end of this month and in July, Vol 5.

Japan is up to vol 8, with strong emphasis on new girl of Section 2, Petrushka, the Russian girl who is second generation new tech cyborg.

Yu Aida seems love to write about her, ever since she come in Vol 6, subsequent volumes has been about her and her handler, Alessandro. Strangely, her handler did not like red coloured hair which Petrushka has.

Vol 4 and 5 basically wraps up on final battle between Section 2 and Rome Padania terrorist cell. Pinochio, the super assassin and Triela has rematch in Vol 5. You also got to see Angelica increasing defect and also her first usage of custom made Steyr AUG.

Petrushka only start using her trademark Spectre M4 SMG in Vol 8.

The only girl manga did not emphasis much is Beatrice, the Uzi user.

Latest chapter of GSG, Angelica sacrificed her body to protect Marco from IED.

This post has been edited by Stormy001_M1A2: May 25 2007, 06:23 PM

Thanks for the spoiler.....

SPOILER TAGS PLEASE!

You are welcome