Like a good lawful citizen that is supposed to obey relativistic moral standards, I bought probably my first original DVD, a collection of Studio Ghibli movies recently.
Of course, that sounds too good to be true, what with me being the notorious cheapskate that I am (my philosophy being: why pay money for it when you can get it for free?). Indeed, it is. I bought the "original" collection (complete with the "tulen" hologram sticker and all) from a popular bookstore (it's a pun, so you know what bookstore it is).
I dunno if I should blame our film censorship board (or whoever it is that hands out those "authentic" holograms), but they aren't doing their job well. The collection, which had a sticker on it saying RM 69.90 and "Buy Original", was being sold there at half the price. A steal. But too good to be true.
And how do I know it's a fake? Firstly, a quick check at the real Studio Ghibli collection will reveal that the box set comes with 7 Discs (my one has 5 discs). And it contains one movie that the one I bought doesn't have, namely, Spirited Away. Okay, so some small differences are possible. But load it up and lo and behold, I have come to witness the one of the most crappily encoded DVDs on earth masquerading as an "original" collection.
Besides the horrible resolution and the fact that the geek hired by whoever pirated this stuff (and managed to get a "tulen" tag on it) did not put any chapters whatsoever. And with 3 movies crammed onto one disc, it doesn't make for a pretty sight. Skip a chapter and you skip a movie.
Other giveaways: Spelling mistakes and other "Engrish" errors. Obviously.
By the way, I've also come across other legally pirated stuff, like a recent .hack//Roots DVD my friend lent me. It was nicely packaged in a box set, except it was totally necessary, because some genius decided to cram all 26 episodes of that anime into one DVD. A genius, I tell you. Not to mention other idiocies, such as a few episodes not having any subtitles for a few minutes at a time.
And yes, it had a "tulen" sticker on it, and was being sold at dear ol' Jaya Jusco. Whoever said you can't find pirated stuff in those places?
Yes, the Government folks here are either dumb, too lazy to do any research, or aren't paid enough. Regardless, this is why I still download free fansubs, which are leagues ahead in terms of quality than these China trash. And yes, they are free. Free is better, just as those Linux nerds tend to rave that Open Source > Microsoft.
Rant over. Bye!
Of course, that sounds too good to be true, what with me being the notorious cheapskate that I am (my philosophy being: why pay money for it when you can get it for free?). Indeed, it is. I bought the "original" collection (complete with the "tulen" hologram sticker and all) from a popular bookstore (it's a pun, so you know what bookstore it is).
I dunno if I should blame our film censorship board (or whoever it is that hands out those "authentic" holograms), but they aren't doing their job well. The collection, which had a sticker on it saying RM 69.90 and "Buy Original", was being sold there at half the price. A steal. But too good to be true.
And how do I know it's a fake? Firstly, a quick check at the real Studio Ghibli collection will reveal that the box set comes with 7 Discs (my one has 5 discs). And it contains one movie that the one I bought doesn't have, namely, Spirited Away. Okay, so some small differences are possible. But load it up and lo and behold, I have come to witness the one of the most crappily encoded DVDs on earth masquerading as an "original" collection.
Besides the horrible resolution and the fact that the geek hired by whoever pirated this stuff (and managed to get a "tulen" tag on it) did not put any chapters whatsoever. And with 3 movies crammed onto one disc, it doesn't make for a pretty sight. Skip a chapter and you skip a movie.
Other giveaways: Spelling mistakes and other "Engrish" errors. Obviously.
By the way, I've also come across other legally pirated stuff, like a recent .hack//Roots DVD my friend lent me. It was nicely packaged in a box set, except it was totally necessary, because some genius decided to cram all 26 episodes of that anime into one DVD. A genius, I tell you. Not to mention other idiocies, such as a few episodes not having any subtitles for a few minutes at a time.
And yes, it had a "tulen" sticker on it, and was being sold at dear ol' Jaya Jusco. Whoever said you can't find pirated stuff in those places?
Yes, the Government folks here are either dumb, too lazy to do any research, or aren't paid enough. Regardless, this is why I still download free fansubs, which are leagues ahead in terms of quality than these China trash. And yes, they are free. Free is better, just as those Linux nerds tend to rave that Open Source > Microsoft.
Rant over. Bye!
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