Are these Lupin DVDs legit?

[Sketcher]

I found some 1st season DVDs of Lupin III on ebay. Does anyone know if these are good? As in, are these cheap copies from VHS, or fansubs?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1977623652

Are the english subtitles really there? :) I bought an anime DVD once and despite saying it had english subtitles, it didn't.

[Galaxia]

Well, judging from the product description

Dialogue: Japanese
Subtitles: Chinese or English
Number of DVD: 3
Region Coding: NTSC ALL (Playable on any DVD player)

and the price ($39), those are usually the signs of a bootleg.

[ohmrbill]

Yep, look like Hong Kong bootlegs to me. I wouldn't bother with them, even IF you have nothing against bootlegs; the subtitles in HK's are usually 100% engrish and nearly impossible to read.

[Arxane]

I'm 100% sure they're bootlegs. No legit Japanese DVDs have ever put 24 episodes of a show on three discs. Eight episodes per disc? The visual quality must be horrendous! And why would a Japanese release have Chinese subtitles, which is an almost dead giveaway of a bootleg.

I'd say don't bother looking for anime on E-bay. Most of them are bootlegs. You're better off searching on sites that sell legit releases (but not Anime Castle; they sell bootleg anime music CDs).

[Sketcher]

ok thanks. I won't buy them. Darn, I thought I was around getting to see the first season without having to buy the Italian ones ;)

[Daisuke Jigen]

They were availiable from Kodocha for a while, before they shut down.

The Italian lupin III DVDs are censored, believe it or not.

That HK release isn't too bad, but its not professionsal either.

[Sketcher]

What do you mean by not too bad? Is it like buying VCDs where you can see the compression artifacts a mile away?

[Daisuke Jigen]

I was talking about the translation. Its not horrible and literal, but you do have to use a little imagination to get everything "kosher".

You know, you read it and then think "oh, they must mean blah-blah".