Anime bootleg DVDs still exist, and they do blu-rays now

Recently I’ve been trying to score a copy of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and also the original FMA and just casually browsing eBay I noticed that the prices for these shows is pretty low considering these anime have been OOP (out of print) for about 8 years. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that in a couple of listings, the blu-rays would be shrinkwrapped entirely. Now the reason this is a big red flag is because if you have been buying Funimation blu-rays long enough, you know they NEVER shrinkwrap the slipcover. Other ways you can spot a bootleg is if you do end up ordering one, check how the box art/slipcover have been cut because if it’s not perfect, it’s not official.

Now bootlegs aren’t an enormous problem in the grand scheme of things but if you’re searching for OOP media, say DVDs like Rurouni Kenshin or blu-rays like Full Metal Alchemist in my case, you’re going to run into them and although they always seem to get harder to spot, there’s always something that gives it away. The shrinkwrapped slipcover, the cut of the box art/slipcover, the bottom color of the DVD/blu-ray, the total file size of a disc (Funimation’s standard for example is 49-50GB blu-rays, or BD-50), the price itself (if you shop around a lot, you can usually tell this way), no barcode or altered barcode on the box, the region code of the DVD/blu-ray (0 means its probably bootleg), which country it comes from (Malaysia and Singapore are the most obvious that it’s fake) etc. These are the most obvious methods to spot fakes. Granted if you’re shopping online, you can’t physically see the media unless you purchase it but always check the reviews.

Also, the bootlegs these days have gotten much better. Some people end up keeping them because it’s almost a 1:1 copy of the official release. I’ve seen this happen with Full Metal Alchemist where people are disappointed it’s not a genuine copy but happy that it at least looks good.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by ATastyElixir.
• This topic was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by ATastyElixir.