My error at the Premiere....let people get away with piracy.

Non-TF, non-toy related topics. Discuss movies, music, sports, etc.

Moderators: Kup, Ultra Magnus

Post Reply
tenma555

My error at the Premiere....let people get away with piracy.

Post by tenma555 »

Anime Expo Encounters with Jessica and Michelle: The Ignorant Pirates.
I went to Anime Expo in Long Beach California, and on the last Con day they were holding the premiere release of the new Transformers movie. While I was in line, these pair of girls, probably highschoolers, lined up behind me. I greeted and introduced myself, and they apparently post on the internet all the time by their names of Jessica and Michelle, which so happened to be their real names (I thought it was unusual they didn’t use Alias’, which I thought was original). They started ranting about how awesome Tranformers and started showing me toys.
It was all going ok until they started talking about how “American DVD’s” have so few episodes on them and are so expensive, so “importing” from Japan has been their recent favorite thing to do. They went as far as to talk about how they import their DVD’s and buy online for real cheap. Well, considering the price tags they raised were in the piss-poor range of $10 or $60 for “whole series”, I immediately informed them that their purchases sound suspiciously like bootlegs, and not “legit” Japanese DVD’s. After all, Japanese DVD’s are hella expensive, come with lesser episodes, much like Japanese CD’s and VHS tapes back in the day.
This of course did not sit with them well, and they became incredibly defensive saying how Anime is so big that Japanese companies add English subtitles to their own DVD’s these days. I admit I am out of the DVD scene lately but this did not sound familiar, at all. This of course also was a red flag for me, and they claimed that the popularity of Anime is making this possible. Then they proceed to make fun of how bad some of the translations are (raise yet another red flag)

I didn’t even feel like arguing since these individuals seemed to not budge and it was honestly not going to be fun being alone in a hot line for hours. Just out of curiosity, I asked a test about where they got their “region free DVD player” (to play their Japanese import anime DVDs). Then they claimed that of course, all the DVD’s they buy are Region 1. She immediately corrected herself to Region 0. That pretty much put the nail in the coffin, but I just let it out of my head. Like I said, it was hot and I was just too tired to even fight against these stubborn girls. (if they were rational and good listeners, I would have been more than glad to have informed them)
It wouldn’t have been so bad hadn’t they not pushed the blame on me that “I wasn’t looking hard enough” or “I was being ripped off”, but most importantly I definitely feel ashamed that I didn’t do my part in kindly informing these people about what they were doing. It’s not even that I’m against people buying Pirate DVD’s. The fact these people thought they were importing legit DVD’s when they weren’t was bothering me the most. Because that’s claiming white as black, when it clearly isn’t. Those don’t sit with me well the most in life. Ignorance.
So I have decided to come up with a serious, and honest-to-heart, deal. If Jessica and Michelle can step forward for me and share information and images of their DVD collections, and if they are in fact actual Japanese region 2 DVD’s, I will <b>honor a total sum of $250</b> to any set of anime merchandise they choose.


I doubt this will ever become of anything and I’m sure they will never step forward. My offer stands true, though. And I offer it because I want them, to know. That’s pretty much it. This isn’t about *me being right*. I wanted to do the job of offering correct and truthful information, and if I am wrong I will be more than glad to be proven wrong which I would like to make up through my offering. I withheld the truth from them just they were being slightly stubborn and from the heat of the day from being in line. I feel that is a huge disfavor to the Anime creators who most certainly won’t market their products in US dollars $10 or their whole series for $60. (Needless to say, add English subtitles that are poor or abandoning their Region coding is a rare event as well.)
Trust me, I am not crazy about protecting Japanese creators or anything. If someone calls the Earth flat, I would like to do my part in informing them that all evidence suggests its rather circular.
Thanks for reading.

vgzone at googlemail dot com


And yes, I saw the movie and it was absolutely wonderfully ENTERTAINING. Naturally, I have my criticisms but I have to say the movie at least was enjoyable and was what I expected, a Giant Robot explosion fest.
Post Reply