The old-school anime DVD/BD news thread.

[Mike Toole]

And here's where I get back to that 'playbook'. Now that Kozo Morishita has had this project reach market (regardless if he's still attached, or dead, or whatever) it is forever enshrined at Toei as "the way to do things in America".

It's actually my understanding that these were viewed as a fool's errand in Japan, but Morishita was high enough on the food chain to as he liked. In any case, I don't think these bode poorly for Toei releases (look at what Discotek are doing with Harlock, Honey, Mazinger, etc.) - I view these releases as a bid to recoup old expenses for creating the films in the first place. Remember, they didn't merely dub old compilation films - these are newly-assembled, and not included in Japanese because there isn't a smooth Japanese dub available.

Lovely Complex had some issues with blurring AND jaggies, although there was speculation that the problems originated from the source materials. Same people mentioned that Samurai Pizza Cats also had some similar issues.
http://www.fandompost.com/oldforums/sho ... plex/page8

Good reading, thanks. Yeah, this sounds like a 'crummy interlaced tape masters' issue, which is a major challenge for some 90s releases that don't have original materials available.

[usamimi]

Lovely Complex had some issues with blurring AND jaggies, although there was speculation that the problems originated from the source materials. Same people mentioned that Samurai Pizza Cats also had some similar issues.
http://www.fandompost.com/oldforums/sho ... plex/page8

Good reading, thanks. Yeah, this sounds like a 'crummy interlaced tape masters' issue, which is a major challenge for some 90s releases that don't have original materials available.

I agree--if you have any of the old Ranma 1/2 season box sets, they even have a blurb printed in the booklets inside some of them stating that any picture "issues" are because the copies they received from Japan where actually like that and there wasn't much they could do about it. (Sad but true, which is one of the main reasons I'm so stoked for the new blu-rays.)

[llj]

Of course, Lovely Complex was a 2007 anime....really befuddling. I guess it wasn't the type of series Toei cared about enough to produce a decent enough master for home release.

It's a shame that sometimes we have to wait weeks until we get word on the quality of an anime DVD release these days, while you can pretty much get word on how a Blu-ray anime will turn out before the actual release date.

I've only found one early report from a guy commenting on a blog about the Harlock DVDs:


http://skarohuntingsociety.blogspot.ca/ ... x-set.html

if you order directly through DISCOTEK you would have received this WEEKS AGO! I did and already watched all six DVDs... This is a top notch release - looks and sounds great. I just wish they could have gotten Galaxy Express 999 TV Series. That crap that S'more Entertainment put out was directly from the streaming episodes - it looked and sounded horrible! Plus S'More took a shit and refused to release the remaining sets...

Hahaha, nobody is ever gonna forgive S'More for the GE999 thing.

[SteveH]

*SNIP*

I've only found one early report from a guy commenting on a blog about the Harlock DVDs:


http://skarohuntingsociety.blogspot.ca/ ... x-set.html

if you order directly through DISCOTEK you would have received this WEEKS AGO! I did and already watched all six DVDs... This is a top notch release - looks and sounds great. I just wish they could have gotten Galaxy Express 999 TV Series. That crap that S'more Entertainment put out was directly from the streaming episodes - it looked and sounded horrible! Plus S'More took a shit and refused to release the remaining sets...

Hahaha, nobody is ever gonna forgive S'More for the GE999 thing.

I'm calling potential shenanigans on that post over there. I got a similar post from an anon on my blog http://tochiro998.livejournal.com/18097.html And there's been no reply to my challenge/question, altho the post at Skaro seems to take my question into account as a preemptive strike.

But no specifics.

So, shill for Discotek? Dunno. Doesn't matter, really. All I know is I'll have mine Thursday the 29th.

[usamimi]

Of course, Lovely Complex was a 2007 anime....really befuddling. I guess it wasn't the type of series Toei cared about enough to produce a decent enough master for home release.

Yeah, probably not. It wasn't a very detailed or "beautiful" series, anyway (I watched some of it, it's a cute story, but never got around to finishing it)...so I guess they figured that picture quality wasn't a top priority for it.

Hahaha, nobody is ever gonna forgive S'More for the GE999 thing.

Can you really blame people, though? I mean...it was a pretty shitty release. It's a shame that they put almost zero effort into it, and now we probably won't ever get a complete release. Poor GE999 didn't deserve that.

[usamimi]

So The Right Stuf put up Funimation's 25th Anniversary Akira DVD and blu-ray/DVD combo pack for pre-order...and both will include the Streamline Dub: http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827 ... 9275/4/0/0

I am actually super excited about it because I LOVE the Streamline Dub (CAM CLARKE FOREVER, man!), so I guess I'll be trading in my old Pioneer/Geneon blu-ray for this eventually. XD The other extras seem pretty good, too, though I'm surprised that it says it'll have 3 dubs on it...I guess Funimation wanted to make their own, too.

[greg]

I certainly have a nostalgic spot for the Streamline dub. "Just when my coil's reaching the green line!" It's nonsense, but at least the dialogue match the lips!

[usamimi]

I certainly have a nostalgic spot for the Streamline dub. "Just when my coil's reaching the green line!" It's nonsense, but at least the dialogue match the lips!

Same. And really, it's held up surprisingly well for it's age. A year or two ago I watched it again, and I initially had braced myself for horribleness...but other than maybe one or two minor voices I didn't care for, it was still good! (And since they were minor ones, who really cares, lol.)

I was honestly shocked to hear they got the rights to it, I figured that was impossible due to contractual red-tape or whatever. (But I guess thinking about it, if Discotek got Lily CAT's old dub, there must be a way, huh?)

[gaijinpunch]

So The Right Stuf put up Funimation's 25th Anniversary Akira DVD and blu-ray/DVD combo pack for pre-order...and both will include the Streamline Dub: http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827 ... 9275/4/0/0

I am actually super excited about it because I LOVE the Streamline Dub (CAM CLARKE FOREVER, man!), so I guess I'll be trading in my old Pioneer/Geneon blu-ray for this eventually. XD The other extras seem pretty good, too, though I'm surprised that it says it'll have 3 dubs on it...I guess Funimation wanted to make their own, too.

Is the only difference the Streamline dub? Can definitely live without it. It's how I originally saw the movie ,but I will always view that as me not knowing any better. The last three times I've seen it was raw, in the theater. Almost feel like I don't need my BluRay. Almost...

[usamimi]

Is the only difference the Streamline dub? Can definitely live without it. It's how I originally saw the movie ,but I will always view that as me not knowing any better. The last three times I've seen it was raw, in the theater. Almost feel like I don't need my BluRay. Almost...

Oh, no, the new blu-ray seems to have a LOT more features than the old one.

Old blu-ray special features:
Teasers 1 and 2
Trailers 1 and 2
TV commercial
TV storyboards

New blu-ray special features:
Akira Sound Clip (1988)
Music for Akira
Director Interview (subtitled) <--I'm assuming it's with Otomo, since it's subtitled
Storyboard Collection
The Writing on the Wall feature
Original Trailers (subtitled)
Original Commercials (subtitled)
Restoring Akira
Glossary
U.S. 2013 Trailer
Trailers

Plus the new blu-ray is a blu-ray/DVD combo pack, which to me is a bonus (blu-ray for playing on PS3, DVD for everything else).

I really like behind the scenes/special features, though. So if a version comes out of a movie I like with a lot of goodies like this and isn't crazy expensive, I generally like trading in old versions for the upgrade. Even if it didn't come with the Streamline dub, I'd probably want to upgrade with this one, since the old blu-ray was kind of a bare-bones release.