Malaysian Release of 3.33 with English Subs?

[hunterslullaby]

Since I still haven't seen 3.33....

I was browsing around for news about an English-language release of 3.33, and came across this Malaysian DVD , which is listed as having English subtitles.

A little further research revealed that it was seemingly released by the "Sarawak Media Corporation." My understanding is that in general, such Malaysian anime releases are legitimately and legally licensed, if often lower-quality in picture and sound. Does anyone have experience or recommendations with this particular release, or with Malaysian releases in general?

[Ornette]

DVD is region free. Do Malaysian releases usually come all regions?

[pwhodges]

Yes; and the English subtitles are usually well below the standard of decent fan-subs IME. Although they're plastered in stickers saying they're official and all that, I'm rather dubious just how official, and have actually replaced all those I bought with real official DVDs from somewhere else.

[hunterslullaby]

Well, I now have a copy on the way. I'll probably replace it whenever Funimation gets around to a official release, but in the meantime, I'll report here after I've had a chance to watch it.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Curiosity is getting the better of me.

How do you know it's Malaysian? I didn't notice any indication of what language it's in.

Anybody know what's up with this release here? http://www.amazon.com/Evangelion-3-33-English-Subtitle-Import/dp/B00DU4Y0JA/

Could either of these be bootlegs? I remember seeing a few 2.22 bootlegs up on Amazon years ago.

[Veefy]

Curiosity is getting the better of me.

How do you know it's Malaysian? I didn't notice any indication of what language it's in.

Anybody know what's up with this release here? http://www.amazon.com/Evangelion-3-33-English-Subtitle-Import/dp/B00DU4Y0JA/

Could either of these be bootlegs? I remember seeing a few 2.22 bootlegs up on Amazon years ago.

I am almost 100 per cent certain your link is a bootleg.

If you look at the reviews for other items that seller has sold, you can see people have mentioned they are bootlegs, so logically all DVDs they sell are bootlegs.

http://www.amazon.com/Ranma-Complete-Series-Episodes-1-161/product-reviews/B000PHC9FM/ref=aag_m_pw_cr_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

[Shinoyami65]

Being Malaysian, I can tell you that the film is almost certainly going to be a fairly low quality bootleg, and probably either with stolen subs or with a very rough translation. It's happened to me before when I tried to get english subbed versions of the Ghibli films Ponyo and Arriety. Both times I got a DVD with ok-quality graphics but a terrible translation that was downright confusing to follow at times.

Trust me, Malaysia may seem OK to you but DVD pirating and bootlegging are very prolific here, mainly because it's easier than trying to get ahold of high-quality BDs and it's very expensive to mail-order stuff from Amazon and such.

There may be some legitimate Malay anime releases, maybe, but generally these come long after the legitimate releases in the US and the UK. So if 3.33 hasn't been legitimately released in the US yet, it is extremely unlikely that a Malaysian company will have been able to get rights to it yet. Even though we are geographically close to Japan we do not get a lot of legit anime merchandise and very few good anime are aired here (we only have anime through Animax, and they're much more cruel to us than to other countries). In short, hunterslullaby's link is probably a bootleg because there's no way a legitimate 3.33 release would have occurred in Malaysia yet (and I haven't heard anything about it). I'm pretty sure they haven't even released 1.11 and 2.22 here yet.

[hunterslullaby]

Well, I watched the "Sarawak" version of 3.33 last night, after re-watching the Funimation versions of 1.11 and 2.22. I now believe that this was probably a bootleg of some kind or another. However, the transfer was decent, and the picture generally remained sharp.

The subtitles were generally lucid. The translation was sometimes a bit confusing, but I suspect that might reflect the original material more than anything about the competence of the translators. For what it's worth, Sarawak chose to render Asuka's nickname for Mari as "Networking Four-Eyes." I'm not sure what other idioms might mark it as the translation of a particular set of fansubbers, but would be happy to look out for telltale phrases on a rewatch if anyone is interested.

In any event, I will probably have to spend a good long while on the 3.33 FAQ before I say anything more about the film itself. I'll also make sure to pick up a legitimate copy of the U.S. version when it is released, though I'm not sure if that will help me understand it any better.

[Jayfive]

Sarawak chose to render Asuka's nickname for Mari as "Networking Four-Eyes."

That always make me laugh.

Brings up the image of her striding through a conference hall in a sharp suit making deals and connections:

"Hey, Mari Illustrious, here's my card, let's do lunch"

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

I ran across this DVD on Amazon last week and thought it was a bootleg. Usually modern releases that have packaging quality akin to 90's Manga Ent. releases don't strike me as very official, not even by modern Manga Ent. standards.

[Sailor Star Dust]

Usually modern releases that have packaging quality akin to 90's Manga Ent. releases don't strike me as very official, not even by modern Manga Ent. standards.

Agreed completely.