Categories
Star Trek

Cheap Space Nine

Last December, after newly registering on Yahoo! Auctions Japan, I won an auction for the entire seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9).  At only 5,000 yen ($60) it was an amazing deal.  A Kiwi guy in Otaru had them for sale, and I just got lucky.  They were the authentic, North American release retail dvds that sold for $120 per season when they were first released.  They still go for half that now.

While I was pretty jazzed and excited about my great steal of a deal, I wanted to have the Japanese release of the DVDs, complete with Japanese subtitles and Japanese dubbing.  Yes, I know, this is a bit specifically obsessive and weird, but I thought that rewatching this series that I love in another language that I am studying would be like killing two birds with one stone.  On weeknights when I end up watching eight episodes in a row non-stop, I wouldn’t be retreating into my own little English sci-fi nerd world, I would be retreating into my own Japanese sci-fi nerd world.

However, the Japanese releases were going for anywhere from 8,000 yen to 15,000 yen per season, used.  Not affordable.  Well, last week, I came across an auction that had ALL seven seasons of DS9, which included Japanese subtitles and dubbed dialogue.  Only 10,000 yen.  I bid on it without thinking.  On the auction page, this was the only image of the box set:

At the time, I realized that it was sort of odd for there to be a set containing all seven seasons of DS9 in a single box, and that it was weird for it to say “Star Trek 4” underneath the main title.  After all, DS9 is the third Star Trek series, and the term “Star Trek 4” typically refers to the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, starring the original cast.

css.php