Bootlegs!
The term bootleg is used for any item not officially endorsed or created by the copyright holders of said title.
In the case of Utena, BePapas and various japanese companies hold the copyright to everything Utena, and all legit related items go, in some manner or other, through them.

However, there are many bootleg items in the marketplace- some are asian made, some are fan made, and some are mass produced in non-asian countries. (Such as, here in the US. Yes, bootleg merchandise is made here in the US)

My purpose here isn't to preach, or to condem or support, but to (hopefully) educate so everyone who reads this page can make their own decision on what they want to do regarding boots.

Commonly bootlegged items include
Typically asian made- cds, dvds, vcds, posters, playing card decks, idol cards
Possibly US made (en masse, for profit)- tee-shirts (and other apparel), addess labels (and other stickers), decals, lighters (as in zippo), magnets, mousepads
Fan made (limited, sometimes for profit)- repo cells, plush dolls, costumes

When deciding to buy an item that may not be legit, there are some things to consider-
Was a legal version made, is it something that you could make yourself, is it something you are really willing to pay good money for?
Asian bootlegs are usually made by a company, so your money will be supporting that-
Or you may be giving your money to a domesically located enterprising individual attempting to skim a profit off of fandom, or to a fellow fan familiar with the show, who has something they made for sale. Technically these items do violate bootleg laws if a profit is made, but the ethics are for you to wrangle with.



CDs, VCDs, DVDs
Most of these come from China, Tawian, and Hong Kong. Tawian CDs may carry company names like SonMay (SM), EverAnime, Golden Anime, and Archer.
Some sellers may tell you these cds are legal cds, but they are not. They are legal in Tawian, because Tawian (and China) do not support the international treaty on copyright. So, if you lived in Tawian, making and selling these cds is legal. If you lived in China, importing these cds is legal.
But because the US recognizes international copyright, it is not legal to make or sell unlisenced cds here in this country. What is legal in Tawian is not legal here.
(because you can get away with it, does not mean it's legal)

There are legal DVDs available here in the US, and legal DVDs from Japan can be imported. Legit CDs are getting harder to find, but there are ways to find them all for one so dedicated.
There are no legal VCDs. (all VCDs not released by a domestic company are usually illegal)
Although boot CDs are usually of decent quality sound-wise, the inserts are not as nice. And it's not unusual for a boot CD to have something subtly wrong with the sound, either.

Non-CPM DVDs with english subs are not legit (they will have chinese subs too usually), and are quite often terrible quality, both image and sub wise.

Personal advice is to steer way clear from boot DVDs and VCD- and please make all of the attempts you can to get the legal CDs.

Posters, artbooks, cards
Most items like this don't have a legit version, but that doesn't make these worth the paper they're printed on.
Posters are huge for bootlegging. Usually they pick images from artbooks (seemingly random ones at that), print them out (oversizing them which cuts down on image quality), and laminating them.
These are cheap ($5 or so), and not just in the money matter. Yuk.
I've seen my first bootleg artbook- Saito's manga poster book reduced to pocket size without the slip cover. Image quality isn't half bad, but it doesn't compare to the real one. Why buy a book of postcards when the legal poster-size book isn't *that* much more?
Playing card decks are almost always illegal. Usually really poor reproductions of artbook images. Again- Yuk.

'Local idiot stuff'
A lot of en mass US stuff is stuff you could make yourself. You could print up a tee-shirt with an image of your design. You could print your own address labels, and make your own decals.
Sure, you need a good printer and program, but you could. Or you could get a friend to do it, and you could make something you actually *like*.
Sometimes the people who do things like this are familiar with the story, sometimes not, and almost all of them pick the worst images to exploit.
Someone doing those things for sheer profit is mildly annoying, even more annoying are buyers who buy without realizing. Other eBay stuff I suspect- mousepads, other sticker items, magnets, bookmarks. Yes, there are legit items that fit these catagories, but be careful and check out the seller, and you can usually tell a legit item from something created on someone's laserjet.
Someone is making zippo style lighters and trying to sell them on eBay- they look like scaled anime images being glued to the side, and the whole deal given a layer of clear resin.
Ugh! Why buy that??

One-time fan stuff Sometimes a fan will auction a piece off fanart, a homemmade costume, or some other handmade item.
These items are pretty obvious, as the sellers will say the item was made. Fan usually don't do lot of selling for profit, but who am I to judge their motivations? This type of item is usually the most accepted in the community, if you buy you aren't as likely to be spit on by other fans. (A piece of advice, don't brag about how vast your SM cd collection is)

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