There’s now a date for the DVD release of Ratatouille in Japan: November 14th, eight days after the North American release on DVD.
There will also be two editions, a standard DVD release, and a Collector’s Box – but note the Collector’s Box is still just one DVD (however it comes with two teacups, a framed picture, and other stuff).
The Amazon Japan URL is SO long (about 12 lines worth here in this text entry box) that I think for now I’ll put the URL only for CDJapan’s listings instead. CDJapan is a company that will ship Japanese CDs and DVDs to customers overseas. They charge list price. Amazon discounts the price – but then adds hefty handling charges for shipping to overseas customers, so in the end Amazon usually winds up costing more. Remember that for both these places (as well as any other place) you’ve also got to add international shipping costs. Amazon IS selling them, but their URLs are just too long. Amazon is basically selling both for 25% off list (but then they tack on handling charges – on top of shipping – that basically bring it to about the same price as CD Japan). At CDJapan (the list price of the DVDs), before shipping it’s about US$27 for the normal DVD, $128 for the collector’s box.
Here are the links at CD Japan:
Normal DVD release: cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDS-5294
Collector’s Box: cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDS-5298
Both DVDs will be bilingual (have English subtitles, and have choice of English or Japanese dialogue). Both are just 1 DVD only though. And of course both are Region 2 (Japan) so make sure you know how to hack your DVD player if you live in North America (Region 1) or other parts of the world that are not Region 2. Personally all of my DVD players have all-region capability because a good portion of my DVDs are Region 2 Japanese ones, but that’s just me. However many players CAN be hacked (though not all) with easy secret commands from remote controls. A good place to look to see if your DVD player can secretly play discs from all regions is a website called Videohelp.com (www.videohelp.com). If you go there, you’ll see a listing on the left side. Under “LISTS” there is one called “DVD HACKS”. Click on this, and you’ll get to an area where you can enter the brand and model number of your DVD player and see if any hacks have been found (like being able to play discs from all regions).
*** I just had a look at both Amazon Japan and CDJapan, and here’s how the price for the regular DVD compares. The TOTAL PRICE (including international shipping to North America) at Amazon is Y4,400 (the type of shipping isn’t identified). The total price at CDJapan is Y4,000 for normal airmail, Y4,410 for registered airmail, and Y4,700 for EMS (the best choice, but most expensive… it’s insured and tracked, and fastest). I can’t remember how AmazonJP ships because it’s been a while since I used them… I don’t THINK it was EMS, but I don’t remember. If you’ve never created an account at Amazon Japan or this will be your first time ordering from Japan, I would probably recommend CDJapan (as they are very customer friendly and email in English well), but if you want to do Amazon, it’s another option, so I put the price here (thoguh note, for instance, that unless you can enter text in Japanese at certain points (like the title of the movie to find the right page) on Amazon Japan, it won’t be able to find it. Maybe at the bottom of this post I’ll put the two very long URLs for those wishing to use Amazon.
I will be buying just the normal DVD set from Japan myself (who needs teacups?) when it comes out. I wish I could have preordered it while I was back there this summer, but there wasn’t even at date until now. At any rate, for those that want it, that’s the info.
Oh yes, and MiniChuchan, yes, it’s great how, the longer you stay with something like language, the better (and easier) it gets. Gambatte!
Ok, the general “Ratatouille” listing for Amazon isn’t as long as the individual DVD URLs, so I’ll just post that. So here’s the general “Ratatouille” listing URL for Amazon Japan. Currently if you click on the first one, it’s the normal DVD. If you click on the 2nd one, it’s for the collector’s box. That “eligible for free supersaver shipping” is only if you live in Japan. There’s no free shipping if you live outside Japan.
amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_ss_fg_ … x=2&Go.y=7