While in Japan, I became a fan of the manga/anime/television series Nodame Cantabile. Since it's almost certain that the (live-action) series will never be brought over and localized, I decided to hunt down the DVDs and bring them home with me.

(Yes, I'm aware that there are at least two fan-subbed versions of the show floating around on teh intarwebes.)

SO, one season, 13 one-hour episodes, six discs. How much does a season set of DVDs cost in Japan?

MSRP: ¥23,940 (tax included). That's about $250. The Amazon price is ¥18,151 ($190). (I found it at a used shop, thank goodness.)

I picked up a copy of the Del Rey American version of the manga the other day, flipped to the translator's notes, and was annoyed to find out that a few of the translations are flat out wrong.

[BEGIN pedantic]

1. A harisen is a large paper fan used to smack people for various comedic reasons; the character of Dr. Eto is nicknamed "Harisen" because he uses one on his students. The translator rendered this as "Blowfish" (harisenbo), more commonly "fugu".
2. In the liner notes, the translator explained that the name Koshien refers to an amateur baseball team of which lead character Nodame is a fan. In reality, Koshien is the name of the stadium where the annual high school baseball tournaments are played.
   

[END pedantic]