US TV Shows in Japanese? For free?

January 30, 2008 9:43 AM

How would I go about finding torrents or downloads of popular TV shows dubbed in Japanese?

I have been reading alljapaneseallthetime.com and find the method described very interesting. This method involves immersion in Japanese language materials. The author recommends getting materials you are already familiar with so you can generally follow what is going on even if the dialogue is in Japanese.

The problem is that now that I am looking for a few shows in Japanese, the prices are simply bowling me over. $200 for a season of DS9? No, really? And I would be buying a few of these? Uh-huh.

Movies are not so bad and I am not worried about them. They seem to be respectably priced and I can afford them. But the meat of what I want to watch is TV shows I know and love; Star Trek, CSI, Stargate, etc. I already own those shows in english and it grates how I would have to shell out essentially triple the money to get the same shows with Japanese dialog.

Can anyone advise? I already know where to find Japanese TV shows, with or without subs, but I am really looking for US TV shows dubbed in Japanese (sans subs, unless I can disable them). I am handy enough that I can navigate Japanese pages although I will not understand most of the content.

Hope me Obi-wan Kenobi, you're my only help!

posted by splice to sports, hobbies, & recreation (2 comments total)

Niconico Douga is like the Japanese version of Youtube. They have a few US shows dubbed in Japanese, like Stargate SG-1, Monk, and Ally McBeal. I'm sure you can find a few movies as well, like Napoleon Dynamite (named Bus Otoko or Bus Man in the Japanese dub).

Unlike Youtube, NicoDou requires registration first before watching the videos. Just learning how to work the site will help your Japanese ability!
posted by etoyasu at 9:51 PM on February 15

Thanks, I will check it out.

Since posting the question I discovered that WinMX is a popular file sharing app in Japan. There is a short tutorial on d-addicts including a link to the current patched version. I've downloaded some US shows, Japanese music and Japanese fonts from the network. Pretty simple to use.
posted by splice at 5:29 AM on March 5