Where do you guys buy your j-dramas?

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

So, I was looking online at yesasia.com today to get some j-dramas (like hanadan and yamada taro and bambino) but they're so expensive! Plus, a lot of them don't have english subtitles (except the ones I listed above). So I looked on Amazon.com (the American store, not the japanese one) all these dramas pop up with English subtitles! But I was looking at the covers and the prices and they all seem really shady ($10 for a whole season of hanakimi?). They're all from China supposedly, but when I look for them on yesasia.com, none of them show up. I'm wondering if they're bootlegged copies or something... Have any of you bought these dramas from amazon? If so, were they legit?

Edit: I just received the dvds today and its actually totally legit! Thanks everyone!

Comments

[alt3hl337ninj4.livejournal.com]

Yes, unfortunately they are most likely bootleg. Many of the ones I've seen are fansubs or bootleg that seems to be the easiest way to get subtitles.

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

I thought so... it makes me mad because I ordered the Korean version of Maou (The Devil) because it wasn't on yesasia and I had ordered it a while ago and it still hasn't come. So when I checked the site, I realized the seller looked pretty shady... now I'm looking for other sources and all of them seem shady! Grr...

[gimmick-game.livejournal.com]

I've never purchased them from Amazon (I chose to support fansubbers and download theirs instead of buying entire seasons, seeing as I'd rather support the boys by having money to purchase their singles, albums and concert DVDs), but I have seen the product of some of the Taiwan/HK subs.

They are usually subbed in both English (I use the word loosely) and Chinese, and the quality is fairly low. I watched most of Stand Up!! this way before it was subbed and I caught more from listening to the Japanese than I did trying to read the subtitles.

9/10 if you find something being sold on a large site that's subbed, they're going to be pretty bad subtitles, and HK/Taiwanese bootlegs. (With exception of Kiiroi Namida, which came subtitled on the official DVD, and quite well).

My suggestion? Download the fansubs and burn them to playable discs if your intent is to watch them on a tv. If not, just download.

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

You're probably right... but I do want to buy the dvds too to support the shows and stuff... maybe I'll just buy them without subtitles and then download the fansubs... then I won't feel so bad. I'll have to do it slowly though because they're so expensive! The Maou season is $200 dollars! Plus I can't even find the korean version with or without subtitles...

[gimmick-game.livejournal.com]

I can't say how much of that money really goes to support the boys, mostly to the television stations and the writers, probably. Sure, if a DVD box set sells well and the ratings were high when the series aired, it may cause producers to look at the actors for other shows, but monetarily I don't think it's a big thing.

But if you've got it, go for it! :)

[kari-rika-dm.livejournal.com]

Most likely they are not legit. Check to see which company is releasing the DVD. Like for example, there is a legit US version of HanaDan coming out released by Eastern Star but there are bootlegged copies as well which use softsubs from other subbing teams. Oftentimes you'll know when you see the English subs - like they use DaoMing or something instead of Domyouji. Also, if the seller is a private seller and not Amazon itself, then it's definitely not legit.

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

Yeah I think you're right... I'm so mad that I bought The Devil from this person by accident! You don't think I'll get in trouble or anything do you? With the law or anything?

[kari-rika-dm.livejournal.com]

Well uh. Technically speaking I suppose it's wrong but it's not entirely your fault because you didn't know. Just don't flaunt that you have them. XD If you really wanna go straight then get rid of your copy but it's a bit of a waste for you to throw your money away like that so I say just be careful next time. =) Make sure you know who you're buying from.

English Subbed J-dramas

[ceres-lucard.livejournal.com]

I usually download but when I do by I buy from vendors at Anime Conventions like ACEN or something. The product is right there to look at and ask questions about it.

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

Ah I see... I think I'm going to stick with the official ones. I'm slowly starting to learn Japanese, so maybe by the time I save up enough money for the official ones I'll know enough to understand what's going on... lol! Thank you!

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

I know right???!!!! I REALLY want the Maou one... and Uta no Onii-san... but if I had to pick one it would be Maou :) Maybe I'll ask for that as like my only Christmas present... lol!

[nbeydoun.livejournal.com]

Yeah i recently bought Hana Yori Dango on Aamzon. :)
But I bought it from a third party, and he had many reviews and most were positive and he looked pretty trustworthy.
I sent it to my cousins house in another province since i thought that i would be there by the time it came, but it actually came to her home within a week which surprised me.
The only problem was that it was pretty expensive. like it would say the total of both the movie and drama together was 25 but then the shipping was around another 25 dollars which came down to 50 $ :S
Hopefully that helped a bit (=

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the Hana Yori Dango ones are pretty legitimate on there... I might order one of those. The person I ordered from this time supposedly sent the DVD out June 19, but I still haven't received the package, and then I looked at the other products they were offering and realized they looked really shady... Thank you very much! I'll try looking some more :)

[criyu.livejournal.com]

On ebay there should be drama. Some even with English subtitles like this: http://stores.shop.ebay.it/Japanese-Drama-etc or http://stores.shop.ebay.it/Japanese-Drama-Super-Store or http://stores.shop.ebay.it/Super-Happyland__W0QQ_armrsZ1!

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

Thank you, but I'm pretty sure these aren't legitimate either... but thank you for the suggestion anyway!

[moonjava519.livejournal.com]

As the person above suggested, eBay has a lot of then. And I mean a ton. But it's risky, because a lot of them are translated from Chinese to English and not only are there grammar errors, but the names are totally changed around. BUT, some are pretty good too. I bought Kurosagi and it was terrible, and I bought ProDai and it's great. The only thing to keep in mind is none of them are "official" copies. The official versions released by the TV stations in Japan are rarely ever english subbed :)

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! :)

[karened.livejournal.com]

Welll, I get mine from traditional brick and mortar stores locally. They're subbed in Englished (Not perfect though), Chinese and Malay. Each series comprises 3 discs and costs S$29.99 (about US$20?).

I'm not sure if they are bootlegs, but since they're sold in a store (actually, a chain of stores under a major video company in Singapore. Read: Strict laws), I guess the worst they could be are parallel imports from maybe Taiwan or something. If they had been pirated dvds, I doubt the company would have the guts to sell them so openly, in so many stores.

Maybe you can see if you have visiting friends to Singapore/Taiwan (I heard it's even cheaper there)/Malaysia (Even cheaper, but there's a risk of piracy...).

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I'll have to make some friends over there... lol!

[kaayl.livejournal.com]

During the earlier times before I started downloading fansubs, I used to look around Amazon and eBay. As many commenters have indicated, the quality of the subs is really low. Some have theorized that they're actually translations of the Chinese subtitles (which were translated from the Japanese audio). And yes, typically they're bootlegs from China or Taiwan. A pretty good indicator is if they're region 0 DVDs (meaning all region). Legit versions would probably have region coding on them, and I've never seen a region 1 (U.S.) version of a j-drama yet!

Additionally, a danger of buying from eBay is that sometimes the people who are selling the sets actually take the files (without permission) from torrents, burn them to DVDs, and sell them. And we're not talking about the original subbers (who do their work for free) but rather people profiting on their work. That pisses the fansubbers off majorly, and several have gone into lockdown to prevent this kind of theft (STORMY being the latest example, I never did get to finish watching their version of Smile and Quiz Show).

I do highly recommend the fansubs, though. Many of the groups do really good work, and you can easily download them from sites like d-addicts.

[sugi67891.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I do watch the fansubs and they're amazing! But I do feel guilty sometimes that I'm not paying to watch them... that's why I want to try to buy the ones that I really like. I'll be making my own money in a few years so then I can spend it how I like, but for now, I don't want to waste my family's money... Thank you for the very helpful reply! Sorry I got off track... lol!

PS I totally agree that the people who try to profit off of these fansubs are snakes!

[mischi-14.livejournal.com]

i'm pretty sure official dvd releases of dramas (the japan version) have no english subtitles, so if you see them being sold around, they might be other versions (like hk or taiwan) or worse, fansubbed... i would think otherwise before ordering, if i were you...