Where is a good place to buy or rent legal anime in the original Japanese, for someone living in Region 1 (the USA)? I know this is a clueless question, but I'm new to the genre, and I don't know where to look. I have searched these forums, Googled, and visited places like Tsutaya and the Anime News Network, but I'm still confused. If I have a region 1 DVD player, does that mean I should forget about DVDs and focus on renting online from a site like Tsutaya? I'd prefer to rent or buy from an English-language site, but I have no idea where to look. And no, I don't want pirated stuff.

In the short term, I'm interested in Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, because I heard it's relatively easy. More generally, it'd be nice to sample some anime too, if only to see what all the fuss is about.

Apologies in advance if this question has already been asked and answered here.

I don't have experience with the company but they have it here:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Girl_Wh...kid=222336

It's on Amazon too...

http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Leapt-Thr...B001FXG1ZO

Tch, buying anime is for squares.

caivano Wrote:I don't have experience with the company but they have it here:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Girl_Wh...kid=222336

It's on Amazon too...

http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Leapt-Thr...B001FXG1ZO

English dub.

Yeah, I looked at Amazon and Netflix, and I found it only in English.

Every anime DVD I ever bought (which I have done seldom since the invention of the torrent) had an option to use the japanese audio track.

EDIT: Also, if you want to sample some anime, check out funimation.com . They license stuff, subtitle it and stream it with commercials, legally. Personally, I'd rather just pirate my anime, but to each his own.

Generally if you buy the anime DVD, there is a Japanese track. You can choose to turn the English subs on or off. I'm not sure where to find Japanese subs (which would be immensely helpful).

You can actually buy the entire season, licensed version of Cowboy Bebop for $24 (used; $35 new)--a steal.

http://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-Bebop-Compl...417&sr=8-1

Cowboy Bebop's a classic and definitely worth viewing, even if the language is a little rough/slangy.

Tonari no Totoro or My Neighbor Totoro is another classic, but it is also pretty easy to understand. Howl's Moving Castle wasn't too difficult either.

If you're looking for streaming options.... Hulu has some subbed anime (http://www.hulu.com/channels/Animation-and-Cartoons). I'm not sure which series are subbed and which are dubbed. Crunchy Roll (http://www.crunchyroll.com/) also streams subbed anime for free...I think. It's been a long time since I spent any time there. Those are the two "legit" streaming services of which I am aware.

Hope this helps.

Pretty much EVERY anime dvd in existence, with the exception of a few rare ones that were heavily edited for american tv, will have the Japanese audio track. We are talking 99.99% of the anime out there.

Yup. And if you look at the information on Amazon for that Girl Who Leapt Through Time DVD, it clearly says "Language: English, Japanese" and "Subs: English"

It's too bad that they never provide Japanese subs though.

You could get an account at crunchyroll...
http://www.crunchyroll.com/

They also have dramas, but they don't have all the anime (still have loads though).

hereticalrants Wrote:

caivano Wrote:I don't have experience with the company but they have it here:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Girl_Wh...kid=222336

It's on Amazon too...

http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Leapt-Thr...B001FXG1ZO

English dub.

Language: English, Japanese

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!

I had to buy Azumanga Daioh DVDs because all the downloaded versions were hardsubbed. =) The only way to get a Japanese track with no subs was to buy the domestic version. Strange times...

Of course all the newer anime you can easily get RAWs because of torrents. Oh, the old days with RM encoding and IRC queuing...

kainzero, when something is hardsubbed, I just open a browser and pull it over the bottom part of the screen to cover the subs. I just don't get when bakabt has english dub without any dual audio up on its site. That irks me a lot.

aznv.tv has better terms of service than crunchyroll imo.

@stehr I was wondering why there was so little commercial imagery on the registration page of the site. Thanks for the linkup!

There are a few Japanese community sharing sites out there where Japanese share an abundance of R2 Japanese films/anime DVDs. I've accumulated quite a handful of Japanese dubbed Hollywood DVDs from them. But it looks like you want to buy them, so you might want to take other people's advice.