Insane

[Cidien]

Ya, insane.

http://cgi.ebay.com/HELLSING-OVA-vol-1-D...dZViewItem

The anime business couldn't afford to stay alive if they charged as much as japan does for things. I had no idea how much it costs to import. Found this when digging around for info on the new hellsing ova series.

[Elcoholic]

Well, it IS a special edition and a very nice one if I may add. Looks great, almost as great as hellsing Fx box

But yeah, its expensive. Although it doesn't surprise me since I always heard that anime dvd's in Japan cost like $50 for 2 eps.

[Zagatto]

That particular figure is pretty rare and supposed to look very nice... not to mention the limited edition in Japan. All of these things increase the collectability of this set and serious collectors aren't known to think rationally when it comes to shiny things.

[Andromeda18_]

Well, it's not as expensive as the ebay seller is trying to make it out to be. If you go here: http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.asp...004074964/ you can buy the same item for $67.99 and you don't have to pay for shipping (if you spend more than $39 shipping is free). It's a little expensive but like Zagatto said "collectors aren't known to think rationally when it comes to shiny things". If this was, let's say, a Nana the movie special edition I wouldn't hesitate to pay a whole lot more.

[JunkieJoe]

80$ in japan isnt that much, average salary there is 5000USD, so when u take that into account its normal... its same as someone in US earns 2000USD and pays 20$ for DVD...

[Cidien]

Wonder now how many people import R1's in Japan to save money lol.

[Elcoholic]

80$ in japan isnt that much, average salary there is 5000USD, so when u take that into account its normal... its same as someone in US earns 2000USD and pays 20$ for DVD...

Damn, and I was planning to go on vacation there in a few years. Doubt its worth it if everything is 3 times as expensive.

[Andromeda18_]

It depends on the place really. In 2004 the average Japanese salary was 332,485 yen (about $2800) - http://gojapan.about.com/od/beforeyougot...panese.htm - however,

The average yearly salary in Tokyo is 50.000 US$, against 28.000 US$ in both Osaka and Nagoya. But in prefectures such as Nara, Kagoshima or Okinawa, the yearly average salary is under 17.000 US$, 3x less than in Tokyo, and well under Western European, North American or Australian average.

You might find the following article interesting: http://www.jref.com/society/socio-econom...tion.shtml


Also, for lots of information on spending vacation in Japan (and much more) this site is fabulous: http://www.japan-guide.com

[Elcoholic]

He thanks Andromeda!

I wasn't planning on going to tokyo anyway (maybe for a day or 2). I want to see the countryside and some historical places and just experience japanese culture. I'm fascinated by their technological advance while keeping their historical culture alive.

[Blight]

I know this strays from the point of the topic, but the other forum I hang out at is a sub-group (bakafish) that just did part one of that OVA. In fact I just finished DLing it this morning. Haven't got to watch it yet but when I get home from College I will. The torrent is active as hell right now too, so might be able to get a decent speed, though it probably took me about 18 hrs to get it. Here is the site. http://www.bakakage.net/index.php?act=idx

[Elcoholic]

Blight, i don't know if that's a private tracker but if it is they usually don't want multiple people dl-ing from 1 acount. Your paskey is mentioned in that link. If they have that rule you might want to reset it and i would ask people here to not use it till you've reponded here. Don't want to get you banned there. I've seen it happen on other trackers when people share their account.

[Blight]

Blight, i don't know if that's a private tracker but if it is they usually don't want multiple people dl-ing from 1 acount. Your paskey is mentioned in that link. If they have that rule you might want to reset it and i would ask people here to not use it till you've reponded here. Don't want to get you banned there. I've seen it happen on other trackers when people share their account.

OK, thanks. I haven't used torrent stuff that much, I?m not totally sure what that means. I do know that it is only a link posted in one of their threads, but you have to log in to view that section. Other than that you click the link and DL that torrent. I know other people have the torrent by just searching torrent sites so I guess that will have to be their alternative.

[Elcoholic]

Private trackers are trackers where you have to register (ussualy by an invite) and they keep track of your upload ratio and ban users who don't follow the ratio rules. I'm with a tracker that forces you to seed all files to a minimum of 0.6 or you'll get banned (but i always go or 1+ ratio). This makes sure everybody seeds the file and you always get good speeds. If you wait a day so there are plenty of seeds you can get 500 Kb/s which is pretty unique for a torrent site, especialy if you're used to mininova or piratebay.

Private trackers are the best so you don't want to ge banned from those sites.

[Blight]

Private trackers are trackers where you have to register (ussualy by an invite) and they keep track of your upload ratio and ban users who don't follow the ratio rules. I'm with a tracker that forces you to seed all files to a minimum of 0.6 or you'll get banned (but i always go or 1+ ratio). This makes sure everybody seeds the file and you always get good speeds. If you wait a day so there are plenty of seeds you can get 500 Kb/s which is pretty unique for a torrent site, especialy if you're used to mininova or piratebay.

Private trackers are the best so you don't want to ge banned from those sites.

Ok. Anyone can join this site, but I guess it would be better if they signed up anyway. Yeah, I got it the first day, so I ended up have like a 7.3 up/down ratio at the time, which lvled out to like 3 something by the time I was done dling the file.

But to get in all you have to do is sign up like a normal board. A word of advice though, don’t go there thinking you are going to have any semblance of an intelligent conversation. Besides the people who just won’t have any idea what you are talking about, you will have people come in a just type “fap” to everything. Idiots.

Thanks for the info.

Edit: Ok I watched it and it was badass. It's like 50 minuets long, and full of action. I have never seen Hellsing, and don't know anything about it, and I didn't feel left out or even have any questions. I say download it and check it out if you have some time.

[Andromeda18_]

He thanks Andromeda!

I wasn't planning on going to tokyo anyway (maybe for a day or 2). I want to see the countryside and some historical places and just experience japanese culture. I'm fascinated by their technological advance while keeping their historical culture alive.

That's what fascinates me as well.
I also want to visit historical places more than anything else (and bathe in an onsen) but the more Japanese live-action tv series I watch the more I want to explore Tokyo. I'd love to be there on New Year's Eve! The 2nd story arc of the anime Otogizoushi showed me another side of Tokyo (a very historical and at the same time urban side) that I didn't know about and that I really liked.

One of the best ways there seems to be of experiencing Japanese culture is to stay at a Ryokan (japanese style inn) instead of at a hotel, and they're quite cheaper. If you're interested in finding out more about ryokans you can look it up in that website I mentioned.