With DVD, as with all new technologies, there are always a few technical issues to be worked out before everything can be perfect - especially with Anime DVD's!

I created this page to serve as a forum to answer frequently asked questions regarding Anime DVD releases, and to share any technical bulletins and information that is released by the manufacturers.

Media Blaster's early DVD releases, including Kite, Legend of the Labyrinth, Kitty Set #1, Rurouni Kenshin #1, etc. did not include inserts, so the only thing you will find inside the case is the DVD itself. Media Blasters has announced that they will begin including color DVD inserts in their DVD releases sometime in late 2000.

Yes. If and only if your Xbox/PS2 has the DVD playback capability, which can be purchased separately at your local electronics shop.

Import DVDs are region free, hence, will play in any DVD player. Including but not limited to NTSC DVD players, game consoles with DVD playback capability and computer DVD-ROMs. Each product description page will tell you the region code. Domestic DVDs (region 1) will only run on region 1 or region free DVD players. Asian DVDs are mostly region free, unless stated otherwise.

There are 8 regions (also called "locales"). Players and discs are identified by the region number superimposed on a world globe printed on the disk or the disk case. If a disc plays in more than one region it will have more than one number on the globe.


• Region 1 - U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
• Region 2 - Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
• Region 3 - Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
• Region 4 - Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central & South America, Mexico, the Caribbean
• Region 5 - Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
• Region 6 - China
• Region 7 - Reserved
• Region 8 - Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)




Some players can be modified to play discs regardless of their regional codes. This usually voids the warranty, but is probably not illegal. Some discs, such as those from Buena Vista/Touchstone/Miramax, MGM/Universal, and Polygram contain program code that checks for the proper region. These "smart discs" that do active region checking won't play on code-free players that have their region set to 0, but they can be played on code-switchable players that allow you to change the region using the remote control. They may also not work on auto-switching players that recognize and match the disc region.

Regional codes also apply to DVD-ROM systems, but are allowed for use only with DVD-Video discs, not DVD-ROM discs containing computer software. Computer playback systems check for regional codes before playing movies from a DVD-Video. Newer "RPC2" DVD-ROM drives let you change the region code several times. Once a drive has reached the limit (usually 5 changes) it can't be changed again unless the vendor or manufacturer resets it. The Drive Info utility can tell you if you have an RPC2 drive (it will say "This drive has region protection"). Drive Info and information about circumventing. After December 31, 1999, only RPC Phase II drives will be manufactured.

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