Petition for Uncut DVD release!!!

[jeffbert]

Hmm, this is becoming a very lively discussion. I too, would be a bit reluctant to pay $50 for the 2003 anime seeing that it had such unacceptable editing, dialogue, rearranging of episodes, etc, were it not for the fact that Atom is my hobby. I have yet to pay about $400 for the J language live series, but am intending to do so.

Of course, I hope to turn this hobby into a career, but that is just a distant possibility, even as I am now working on what I hope will be a book on Astroboy.

[Dr. Tenma]

Although it does not assist with the issue at hand or make the dub edits any more acceptable, FYE stores have carried the 2003 box set on sale for 29.99 for a while now.

[Kirben]

I'm more than willing to buy an anime series and support the producers. Or import a DVD I can't watch. I've got no clue how to unlock region codes nor do I have the funds to a universal DVD player. Call it "excuses" if you want, I am currently unable to buy.
And can I see these websites, please? Are they selling these second hand? If so, then the Producers still don't get anything out of it ;p

They are excuses though, when it is all possible. I don't know any specific auction sites currently offering the Korean DVD sets, but it is easy to set up a specific search at eBay for example, which emails about any related items.

I managed to hunt down several rare items (video games only released in Japan) myself, it only requires patient and money.

for example, I am perfectly willing to (and am planning) to pick up the American 80s series boxset because I am capable of finding it easier, it can play in my players, and has the Japanese versions that I want (minus the 2 first episodes) do the producers really lose out if I download content from a DVD not intended to be sold in my area?

Yes, because it is available to buy, and that content is still licensed from the Japanese company (Tezuka Productions) that produced the series.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the prices on the Australia Deluxe DVD set of the Astro Boy 1980s series reduced another quarter or even half, if you wait long enough. And could always just keep the extras disc, and re-sell the actual series, which would reduce overall cost even more.

[Dr. Tenma]

I think this is on topic- Would anyone be interested in a frequently (weekly or monthly) updated topic where I put together the best of Astro Boy stuff on eBay? I did something similar for a forum on a video game once. Puts the best deals together and I'd try to keep it to rarer things (as in, not the DVDs you can run out to FYE and buy).

[sgupta]

Dr. Tenma, yes, that's the cut US series. I got my copy on Amazon (even a bit cheaper than FYE), and it's certainly worth it for that I'd say just for the English voices. But of course that's the cut up version, not the Japanese uncut one.

As far as your cool Astro things on eBay idea, I like it. =)

[fafner]

Unlocking a region-locked DVD might fall under the anti-circumvention part of the DMCA, which could warrant a criminal record for the offender. I am not a lawyer, and I honestly think that it wouldn't make a case in a court, but I would be very careful before telling someone to unlock such a DVD, especially someone who lives in the USA. This I think is a valid excuse, beside the lack of money and/or being technically ignorant in the field, to refuse to buy DVDs from another region.

If the companies want the money, they just have to sell the damn thing to people asking for it, instead of making it difficult for them to buy

Edit: For the record, I frequently bought foreign-region DVDs and unlocked them with a region-free DVD reader, so I am not forging excuses for myself ... and I don't live in the USA.

[jeffbert]

Both those laws have nothing to do with region codes, only protecting material from copying.

[fafner]

The DMCA has a clause to forbid circumvention. Unlocking a DVD might be seen as such.

[Dr. Tenma]

It gets complicated, but I know at least with video games it says it's going to be a problem but often isn't. Every title I've imported has had a "FOR SALE/USE ONLY IN JAPAN" sticker on it and they all work fine in America... never had any trouble with it. A mall and a few Best Buys around here even sell games with those stickers on them publicly and haven't received any sort of penalty. Although I'm not sure if the same applies to DVDs and "unlocking" something is indeed different, it may be one of those cases that is a technicality but not really enforced by the agencies. Not saying it's okay but I'm not sure if it's truly illegal or just misrepresented.

[sgupta]

Unlocking a region-locked DVD might fall under the
Edit: For the record, I frequently bought foreign-region DVDs and unlocked them with a region-free DVD reader, so I am not forging excuses for myself ... and I don't live in the USA.

I'm pretty sure it's legal to use a region-free DVD reader and you can't get in trouble for that - using a computer to remove the region code and reburn the disc may be another story, tho'. Still, I've never heard of anyone actually getting in trouble for this.

But yes, I agree with you, fafner, - really, of course it's good to support producers when possible, but they need to support their fanbase too if they want us to buy their stuff. I purchased Astro Boy 2003 US when actually I didn't have to (Youtube's got it in the US free + legally, Hulu's got it in the US free + legally, and there are illegal torrents as well). I don't regret buying it in the least (and I even went out of my way for the Korean version because it'd great video + audio and has great subs), but I'm also not going out of my way to buy a version that really does me no good to own. It's not it being a foreign DVD or even the region that's the issue - it's the fact that for me, it's not really something in any way useful. It's a bit hard to be extremely sympathetic to producers when they can't bother with a decent uncut English language release. They came close with the Korean version but never finished it and it's now out of print. It's especially sad because it's reasonable to think they have everything they'd need (ie. the rest of the subs, etc.) to produce a Japanese-equivalent set for English-speaking markets with very little work, but they just don't seem to be interested in doing that as of yet.