Pirate Copies on VCD's

xerxes@hkstar.com
Thu, 26 Feb 1998 13:27:48 +0800 (HKT) 

Pirate copies with original Japanese dialogues CHINESE subtitles of
Seasons 1 & 2, the 1st and 2nd movies and the OVA "Gold Wing" are 
available on VCD from Hong Kong. Season s 1 & 2 are available in 
double-CD packages except vol. 7 (end of Season 1) which carries only
1 VCD.  I haven't seen the movies and "Gold Wing" but judging from
the length of the programmes, I think only the 2nd movie requires 2
CD's to hold the data.

Season 1 VCD's are difficult to find now.  There is no guarantee for its
re-issing, but as sales seems quite good, the chance is fat.

All the's VCD mentioined above are for sale at HK$20 (US$2.5 approx.)
apiece at piracy anime shops.  The weight of Season 2 VCD's with CD
cases about 0.75kg. Anybody who can arrange to get them from Hong Kong
can check Hong Kong postage rate in Hong Kong currency at
<http://www.info.gov.hk/hkpo/postrate>.  The exchange rate is fixed at
HK$7.74 to US$1.

The following applies to Seasons 1 & 2 only.

Since I do not speak Japanese, I can't tell whether the dialogues of
are translated accurately.  But the translation is probably not too
bad because I did not find significant inconsistency in the subtitles.
There are however quite a lot of typing mistakes, so non-native
speakers depending on the Chinese subtitles must make sure that they
are capable of making out what the correct phrasing should be before
considering getting a copy.

The sound and picture quality is OK for VCD's, so members who speaks
Japanese and are desperate for copies enough not to mind the line of
Chinese subtitles running across the bottom of the screen,sometimes
concealing the original captions, can consider getting a copy, too.

I borrowd a copy from a friend and observed 3 defects : (i) A picture
interference that last about 40 seconds is found at the beginning of
episode #3.  Since the owner of the copy did not bother to change it,
I can't tell whether the defect is carried in every other copy.  (ii) 
The picture of a Japanese actress instead of a LoGH character is
printed on the title side of disc 14 (vol.8).  This defect is universal.
The programme is however OK.  (iii) The last 60 second of episode #46
is not subtitled.

This message is meant to help members who are desparate for LoGH copies,
not to patronise video piracy.  I shall be happy to give more details but
would not be committed to get pirate copies for anybody.
____________________________________________________________________________

Xerxes J.
<xerxes@hkstar.com>