In the case of the Chou Den-O movie, geography could be a small factor. The Chou Den-O movie is being aired in Japanese theatres. The majority of members here do not live in Japan, so even though we'd gladly wait in line and buy an admission ticket, we just can't. Bootlegs aren't always available, and of the ones that are available, many of them are shitty quality "cam-rips" (i.e. where some dude sneaks a video camera into the theatre and records the movie off the screen). The problem is, the video and audio quality of these cam-rips are often so shitty that they can actually make watching the video frustrating, thus preventing the viewer from actually enjoying the movie in question.
Cam-rips also often include:
- random conversations and noises from the other people in the theatre who happen to be sitting in front of, behind, or beside the person doing the recording,
- shadows of people who block/impair the view of the video on the movie screen because shift their position or because they are walking across/in front of the recorder because they need to go to the bathroom or go get a snack,
- shakey/unsteady camerawork by the person doing the recording because he/she is trying to keep the camera hidden from theatre staff so that he/she doesn't get caught and kicked out of the theatre (or even arrested).
Bottom line, DVD rips WILL give the best video/audio quality. Quality will ALWAYS win out over speed. Much like how good quality food ingredients will give you a better dish, good quality DVD rips will give a better quality video.
Now if you don't mind a shitty video with shitty audio that could also have the "extra" elements that I mentioned, then go ahead and look for them. Many (if not most) fansub groups out there are willing to wait for the DVDs and won't touch cam-rips with a 10-foot pole, but who knows? You might be able to find one out there who'll be willing to work with a poor-ass video camera recording.
Just don't hold your breath.
