New Films at HKFlix

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

07-01-01, 11:21 AM

GeoffK

Registered

Thread Starter

Join Date: Jan 1999

Location: Marblehead, MA

Posts: 6,948

Likes: 0

Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Reply Like

07-01-01, 11:59 AM

Furious

Senior Member

Join Date: Jan 2000

Location: Vancouver, Canada

Posts: 909

Likes: 0

Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Erm

I'll say one thing on this issue, some of the anime titles that were added are of EXTREMELY questionable legality and a few of them are well known bootlegs to those in the anime scene.

Reply Like

07-01-01, 04:34 PM

GeoffK

Registered

Thread Starter

Join Date: Jan 1999

Location: Marblehead, MA

Posts: 6,948

Likes: 0

Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Let me know which ones are questionable and I'll e-mail my contact at HKFlix, generally they are big on making sure things are totally legit

Reply Like

07-01-01, 08:16 PM

Thrush

DVD Talk Limited Edition

Join Date: Jun 2001

Location: Under a dead Ohio sky

Posts: 5,820

Likes: 0

Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Re: Erm

Quote:

Originally posted by Furious
I'll say one thing on this issue, some of the anime titles that were added are of EXTREMELY questionable legality and a few of them are well known bootlegs to those in the anime scene.

You say that like its a bad thing.

Reply Like

07-01-01, 09:28 PM

codefree

Guest

Join Date: May 1999

Location: USA - Bush: Selected, not elected

Posts: 12,212

Likes: 0

Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Quote:

Could You Kill My Husband Please?

Now there's a title!

Reply Like

07-01-01, 11:13 PM

Furious

Senior Member

Join Date: Jan 2000

Location: Vancouver, Canada

Posts: 909

Likes: 0

Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Animation Titles

Quote:

Originally posted by gkleinman
Let me know which ones are questionable and I'll e-mail my contact at HKFlix, generally they are big on making sure things are totally legit

Looking at their anime inventory on site, the only legitimate title I can readily identify is Taiwan's (well actually it was animated in Korea, but based on Taiwanese folklore)Grandma and Her Ghosts, released via Hong Kong's Winson Entertainment a few months ago (as a side note, this "kids" film, features some suprising trailers, including some cat 3 nudie/violence fests). The other titles are all very familiar inventory items for anime bootleggers in SE Asia and indeed the local stores here. Now what I'm finding extremely strange is the apparent Malaysian film censorship board approval "obi" on some of the scans of these discs. These discs are sold under the guise of a number of different company variations including:

-Cyberdisc
-Anime International
-Anime Cartoon International
-Video Star Holding
-Another DVD
-Anime Japan International
-Anime International

HKFlix is listing these titles supplied via Video Star Holding (which is strange in itself, as some of these titles use the above mentioned alternate names on the packaging and discs themselves). A search of Malay registrars brings up no information at all on this company (nor the Videostar Animation Enterprises that they are seemingly identifed as by the Malay government), and they are not listed as a publicly traded company on the Malaysian stock exchange as of June 22,01. This is a company name which has been attached to many anime bootlegs in the past, including the bootleg dvd releases of the Studio Ghibli Collection (which as we know, barring the french release of Porco Rosso, had not been licensed at all for dvd at that point, with Buena Vista and Disney holding the licensing options at that point), which were analog encodes sourced over from the Ghibli Ga Ippai Japanese LD Box. As another example Video Star Holding is linked with a boxset of Vision of Escalowne TV series which can be had for 40-50 CDN from resellers, bare in mind this is a show only licensed by Bandai Japan to Banadai USA, and a show that runs 26 episodes. It's clear they have sourced these discs via a Malaysian supplier, what is not clear is how they have seemingly been approved by Malaysian film authorities for sale in the country. To a reseller like HKflix this type of certification is usually a sign of legitimate product. However the checkered history of these discs and their strong links to bootleg resellers makes me very wary.

Reply Like

07-05-01, 12:52 PM

GeoffK

Registered

Thread Starter

Join Date: Jan 1999

Location: Marblehead, MA

Posts: 6,948

Likes: 0

Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

I think their response speaks volumes about them:

Quote:

Since there is now some question about these discs, we have removed them
from our site temporarily to further investigate this matter. We ordered
them from a reputable source in Malaysia and they had full certification of
legality from the Malaysian film board. We're really new to the Anime game
(these are the first Anime titles we have ever carried), so we thank you for
bringing this to our attention. Hopefully we'll be able to dispell the
rumors and get these titles back up on the site soon.

-Mhat

Reply Like

07-05-01, 01:51 PM

clumsysquirrel

Banned

Join Date: Jan 2001

Location: Next to that thing with the stuff on it

Posts: 154

Likes: 0

Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Re: Animation Titles

Quote:

Originally posted by Furious

Quote:

Originally posted by gkleinman
Let me know which ones are questionable and I'll e-mail my contact at HKFlix, generally they are big on making sure things are totally legit

Looking at their anime inventory on site, the only legitimate title I can readily identify is Taiwan's (well actually it was animated in Korea, but based on Taiwanese folklore)Grandma and Her Ghosts, released via Hong Kong's Winson Entertainment a few months ago (as a side note, this "kids" film, features some suprising trailers, including some cat 3 nudie/violence fests). The other titles are all very familiar inventory items for anime bootleggers in SE Asia and indeed the local stores here. Now what I'm finding extremely strange is the apparent Malaysian film censorship board approval "obi" on some of the scans of these discs. These discs are sold under the guise of a number of different company variations including:

-Cyberdisc
-Anime International
-Anime Cartoon International
-Video Star Holding
-Another DVD
-Anime Japan International
-Anime International

HKFlix is listing these titles supplied via Video Star Holding (which is strange in itself, as some of these titles use the above mentioned alternate names on the packaging and discs themselves). A search of Malay registrars brings up no information at all on this company (nor the Videostar Animation Enterprises that they are seemingly identifed as by the Malay government), and they are not listed as a publicly traded company on the Malaysian stock exchange as of June 22,01. This is a company name which has been attached to many anime bootlegs in the past, including the bootleg dvd releases of the Studio Ghibli Collection (which as we know, barring the french release of Porco Rosso, had not been licensed at all for dvd at that point, with Buena Vista and Disney holding the licensing options at that point), which were analog encodes sourced over from the Ghibli Ga Ippai Japanese LD Box. As another example Video Star Holding is linked with a boxset of Vision of Escalowne TV series which can be had for 40-50 CDN from resellers, bare in mind this is a show only licensed by Bandai Japan to Banadai USA, and a show that runs 26 episodes. It's clear they have sourced these discs via a Malaysian supplier, what is not clear is how they have seemingly been approved by Malaysian film authorities for sale in the country. To a reseller like HKflix this type of certification is usually a sign of legitimate product. However the checkered history of these discs and their strong links to bootleg resellers makes me very wary.

is this what you do with your spare time? sad

Reply Like

07-05-01, 02:22 PM

Furious

Senior Member

Join Date: Jan 2000

Location: Vancouver, Canada

Posts: 909

Likes: 0

Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts

Re: Re: Animation Titles

Quote:

Originally posted by clumsysquirrel

Quote:

Originally posted by Furious

Quote:

Originally posted by gkleinman
Let me know which ones are questionable and I'll e-mail my contact at HKFlix, generally they are big on making sure things are totally legit

Looking at their anime inventory on site, the only legitimate title I can readily identify is Taiwan's (well actually it was animated in Korea, but based on Taiwanese folklore)Grandma and Her Ghosts, released via Hong Kong's Winson Entertainment a few months ago (as a side note, this "kids" film, features some suprising trailers, including some cat 3 nudie/violence fests). The other titles are all very familiar inventory items for anime bootleggers in SE Asia and indeed the local stores here. Now what I'm finding extremely strange is the apparent Malaysian film censorship board approval "obi" on some of the scans of these discs. These discs are sold under the guise of a number of different company variations including:

-Cyberdisc
-Anime International
-Anime Cartoon International
-Video Star Holding
-Another DVD
-Anime Japan International
-Anime International

HKFlix is listing these titles supplied via Video Star Holding (which is strange in itself, as some of these titles use the above mentioned alternate names on the packaging and discs themselves). A search of Malay registrars brings up no information at all on this company (nor the Videostar Animation Enterprises that they are seemingly identifed as by the Malay government), and they are not listed as a publicly traded company on the Malaysian stock exchange as of June 22,01. This is a company name which has been attached to many anime bootlegs in the past, including the bootleg dvd releases of the Studio Ghibli Collection (which as we know, barring the french release of Porco Rosso, had not been licensed at all for dvd at that point, with Buena Vista and Disney holding the licensing options at that point), which were analog encodes sourced over from the Ghibli Ga Ippai Japanese LD Box. As another example Video Star Holding is linked with a boxset of Vision of Escalowne TV series which can be had for 40-50 CDN from resellers, bare in mind this is a show only licensed by Bandai Japan to Banadai USA, and a show that runs 26 episodes. It's clear they have sourced these discs via a Malaysian supplier, what is not clear is how they have seemingly been approved by Malaysian film authorities for sale in the country. To a reseller like HKflix this type of certification is usually a sign of legitimate product. However the checkered history of these discs and their strong links to bootleg resellers makes me very wary.

is this what you do with your spare time? sad

As someone who resells imports, yes, this is what I do in my spare time. I like to know that what I am reselling is actually a licensed product.