"Complete Collection 26 Episodes. Import 3 dvd set"
Seller: amazonplace (Safe buying guarantee )
Rating: 4.7 stars over the past twelve months ( 486 ratings ). Seller has 486 lifetime ratings . Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days; Ships from PA, United States. Expedited shipping available. International shipping available.
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Comments: Brand New/Sealed DVD Set With Complete Collection 26 Episodes. Import 3 dvd set. English/Japanese Language, English Subtitles. US Buyer Get Free Gift For Purchase Over $100. Free Tracking Info.
This is rather curious, because the anime in question, Elf Princess Rane, consists of just two extremely silly half-hour episodes.
There's more going on here than just carelessness. What "amazonplace" is selling are pirate DVDs. A legitimate edition of a 26-episode series will usually be spread across six to eight discs. If it's on just three DVDs, it is likely a pirated edition. (The name of the seller is another warning flag: working "amazon" into the name is an attempt to fool visitors into thinking the seller it is part of amazon.com. There are a number of dealers whose names are variations on this theme, and I don't do business with any of them.)
The problem is compounded by the fact that anime generally is overpriced. Disc #1 of Martian Successor Nadesico, for instance, is 100 minutes long and costs $26.98. That's 3.7 minutes for each dollar, or $.27/minute. This is comparable to the Criterion Collection edition of The Rules of the Game: 106 minutes for $31.96, or $.30/minute. Nadesico is quite enjoyable, but it's nowhere near the level of Renoir's classic. The first volume of FLCL is 60 minutes long and costs $23.96. That's $.40/minute. Compare this to the complete fifth season of The Simpsons, 484 minutes for $32.49, $.07/minute. So, when the legitimate boxed set of Trigun costs $149.99, the $23.79 three-disc set offered by amazonplace is going to look quite reasonable to those who don't know or don't care about piracy.
(These are the prices at amazon.com as of today, 5/3/05. You can often find better prices elsewhere.)
For more information about bootleg DVDs, see the Pirate Anime FAQ.
Addendum
Steven Den Beste writes:I noticed this on your site:
"A legitimate edition of a 26-episode series will usually be spread across six to eight discs."
That's quite common, but not quite as much of a rule as you might think. Quite a few series have come out with a much higher density than that. In my collection, all of the following came out with 6 or 7 episodes per DVD:
Those who hunt elves
El Hazard TV
Slayers
Slayers Next
Fruits Basket
You also wrote:
"The problem is compounded by the fact that anime generally is overpriced. Disc #1 of Martian Successor Nadesico, for instance, is 100 minutes long and costs $26.98. That's 3.7 minutes for each dollar, or $.27/minute."
This is because the market is relatively small, so we anime fans aren't getting much help from economy of scale. When a disk is expected to sell 20,000 copies, they can cut the price. Anime disks usually don't sell anything like that well. The notable exception has been Disney's releases of the Miyazaki films, which have had a competitive price-per-minute, but which also have been big sellers because of the Disney name.
If you think our prices for anime are absurd, you should see what it costs in Japan. I'm told that the norm is two episodes per DVD, each of which sells for upwards of $70.
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