Wanderers

[Jojo]

Sorry bout that, I didn't know that the Wanderer's were still licensed. Maybe I'll have to look into when the licenses are over with. But thanks for the info, and I never heard about the OVA 3 until now, thats exciting!

[Jojo]

Also, if they are still licensed, how can www.sundevildvd.com sell them in those cheap dvd packs? Just not sure how thats possible if they are still licensed!

[Captain Southbird (EHOL Creator)]

Oh, c'mon, now.  How would a series become "un-licensed" exactly?  And in only about 4 (?) years after it was released domestically?    

*checks SunDevil*

Ah, hint (on the Wanderers discs):
"Subtitles English & Chinese"
AFAIK, domestic releases never include Chinese subtitles, but Hong Kong (Chinese) pirates very often include them.  (After all, Chinese is not a major language of Region 1; Spanish and French are fair game, though.)

The site is also not mentioning region codes, which just about every anime/DVD site generally should.


Other stuff:
The "El Hazard The Magnificent World Perfect Collection" is using a common pirate cover image.



This is not the regular El-Hazard boxset for the OAV, which the "Perfect Collection" is providing for.



THIS is the legal, Region 1, domestically released El-Hazard OAV boxset.


There were Wanderers and AW boxsets released later, but their retail is somewhere about $80, with most places now not selling them for less than $65.


So, how can they sell them so cheap?  Easy -- illegally, as pirate items.  That doesn't make them "un-licensed" or the practice legal.

[Jojo]

but then, if they are illegal pirates, howcome they have not been shut down by now? (because all of their anime is this cheap "pirated" versions)

[Captain Southbird (EHOL Creator)]

Can the authorities be everywhere at once?    Go report them.  I think only Pioneer (Geneon) / AIC are going to care, though.  US authorities are more worried about their own products being pirated.  Thus, the only people who would care would be the parent company in charge of the translation / distribution within this country.  This wouldn't be the first place to sell bootleg materials, though.  Almost all of the soundtracks I ended up purchasing I later found were to be from classic pirate companies (EverAnime, SonMay, etc.) who do a great job of making them look authentic, but you must realize are NOT whatsoever.  See my note in the Soundtracks section:

http://www.el-hazardonline.net/cgi-bin/eholpage.cgi?series=NA;menu=2;content=music/music.html

Anime prices are horrendous a lot of times.  The El-Hazard boxset still wants somewhere around $100.  That's pretty steep if you're new to the series and not sure if you want to buy it.  I can see why these people end up selling pirated goods, but in the end I feel it's my duty to tell you the facts.  El-Hazard is not cheap anime.  Any place selling the El-Hazard OAV boxset for less than $95 or the Wanderers or AW boxsets for less than $65 should be suspect.  Similarly, soundtracks usually cost somewhere between $20-$30, so if you're seeing them for like $10, again be suspect.  No reseller could get away selling boxsets for $16 if they purchased them from Pioneer (Genoen) / AIC and stay in business for long.