TheRealLefty: Well,
technically one can just search the interweb thingy and buy themselves a copy of the R2 Japanese import DVD's. Correct me if I'm wrong (and by "correct me" I mean "remove the link") but you can buy legal Japanese imports of anime DVD's from
J-List. Now, doing so would require a Region 2/Free DVD player, as well as paying all kinds of money for an imported Japanese DVD -- which is very likely to have English/Engrish subtitles. Seeing as the Japanese anime companies must obviously see no logical way of making money off of anything they don't liscense out to American companies, they don't bother trying to sue us gaijin over this copyright infringement. Of course, they're probably also smart enough to see the potential try-before-you-buy factor in the equation, and American companies aren't going to pay the necessary fees to liscense a series/movie/OVA that won't sell.
I hope that was at least somewhat coherent.
Before Yami no Matsuei (Descendents of Darkness) was liscensed, I bought what I believed to be a legitimate imported copy of the series (it was on 3 discs). Of course, I was plagued with shitty subtitles, iffy picture quality, and the opening and closing sequence didn't occur between episodes. I ended up buying the official version, and sold the bootleg for a fraction of what I paid for it, telling her the truth about what she was getting so as not to swindle her like I was swindled.