Sorry, it was begging for a bad pun I think it's about time we had a Bluray thread of our very own to discuss releases. I haven't been burned by a bad release yet, but I've been very cautious when buying. Doctor thodt has graciously allowed me to use his OP from Cinema Discussco. doctor thodt posted:We are almost 4 years into the lifespan of the format, so I guess it's time to refresh our thread a bit. What does this mean for Anime? Well for starters it means most series produced these days will get a Bluray release as well as a DVD release. It also means that a lot of anime companies are doing what western studios are doing, which is going into their archives to remaster some of their older releases. Unfortunately a lot of these releases are a hit or a miss as far as the buyer is concerned. Companies either don't spend the money to remaster them correctly or they upscale old digital shows. What's upscaling and why is it bad? Short version is as it sounds on the side of the box. You take a lower resolution image and upscaling it to fit a bigger one. It generally won't look bad per se, but it completely misses the whole point of the format. During the middle of the 2000s the anime industry was in the middle of it's digital revolution. Traditional cell animation was being phased out for pure digital and a lot of series that were produced in this decade were created at a set resolution. DVD releases in this era looked great, but now when studios went back to remaster them for a Bluray release a lot of the time they were simple upscales with very little effort put into them. This was either due to the studios not having access to the original masters themselves or the studios being lazy by double-dipping on a Bluray release to maximise profit. Again upscaling isn't necessarily bad, but you really don't want to waste your hard-earned money on something that doesn't make your jaw drop in awe. So yeah suggest poo poo for the OP to make it ADTRW specific. I'll throw up a bunch of links to poo poo like CDJapan later.
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 05:11 |
|
|
# ? May 30, 2024 12:20 |
|
While I do have a fair number of BDs, the only two anime ones I have are Paprika and Evangelion 1.11. But both do look fantastic though. I've always wanted to ask, but is there a reason the only Blu-rays produced for Gunbuster/Diebuster was of the compilation movie? I mean, if they could do that, why not for the full set of 12 episodes?
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 05:22 |
|
Nate RFB posted:While I do have a fair number of BDs, the only two anime ones I have are Paprika and Evangelion 1.11. But both do look fantastic though. Yeah, Paprika is the only anime BD I own. They're not too common here still, Paprika looks and sounds fantastic though and I'm glad I picked it up.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 05:27 |
I'm going to start us off and highly recommend Studio Ghibli's remaster of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. This is exactly what you want in a remaster. They took a very old cell animated film and handled it with an incredible amount of care and the end result is a pleasure to watch; you'd expect nothing less from Ghibli. The amount of detail that now pops out of both the animation and the backgrounds really just make it a pleasure to watch. It's as close to flawless as we're ever going to get. It's jam-packed with extras as well which are a really lovely bonus if you're a Ghibli fan. How about this one? Audio commentary with Hedeaki Anno and Assistant Director Kazuyoshi Katayama. It's really fascinating to hear them both talk about the movie and it's one of those rare times you'll get a really solid commentary on an anime film. There's hours of extras packed on top of it, so there's nothing bad I can say about the release at all. Oh what's that America? You don't get it till next year? I'm so sorry quote:I've always wanted to ask, but is there a reason the only Blu-rays produced for Gunbuster/Diebuster was of the compilation movie? I mean, if they could do that, why not for the full set of 12 episodes? Because Gainax are dumb and don't want our money.
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 05:33 |
|
The Gundam Unicorn BDs are pretty great looking. As for older stuff that have gotten the blu ray treatment, Wings of Honneamise is BEAUTIFUL.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 05:33 |
Revolute posted:Wings of Honnêamise is BEAUTIFUL. This. It's just such an amazingly beautiful film that really lends itself to Bluray and you really gotta hand it to the remastering crew. Almost every scene in it has really gorgeous backgrounds and it just looks good to watch.
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 05:38 |
|
Most hand drawn things from the 80s transition extremely well to Blu-Ray. It's sad that we're not getting the Zeta Gundam TV show on Blu-Ray over here, because the subbed rips from the Japanese one are loving gorgeous. It really shows how well animated the show was for being just a Gundam TV show.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 05:48 |
|
Even though I didn't like any of them very much, I have Claymore, Witchblade and Heroic Age on Blu-ray. They're all beautiful. Eden of the East is fantastic, and so is Ponyo. Even older upscales of stuff (like Full Metal Panic!) is actually great on the format. Gundam Unicorn and the Evangelion Rebuilds are my favorite Blu-rays though, no doubt. I pretty much refuse to buy non-Blu-ray anime/movies now. Amazon helps with this.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 05:50 |
|
Any of the Macross movies or OVA's or anything basically available for Blu Ray in Europe? Getting a PS3 for Christmas and I'd love to have something Macross to play on it. As it is I've already made up a Blu Ray wishlist on Amazon.co.uk and added Wings of Honnemaise, Evangelion 1.11, Gundam Unicorn episode 1 and Nausicaa. More recommendations for pretty poo poo to blow my socks off always welcome. I'll have to check out the other thread for recommendations on non-anime stuff too.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 05:52 |
Zorak posted:Most hand drawn things from the 80s transition extremely well to Blu-Ray. Cell animation lends itself incredibly well IF the money is spent on the remaster. For example I heard the Legends of the Galactic Heroes release was loving terrible and hardly improved on the DVD release. Which makes it extra shameful because the 4 boxsets costs $600 each.
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 06:20 |
|
I have Paprika, Eva 1.11, Gunslinger Girls s1 & s2, DBZ Kai part 1, and will soon have the first Nanoha movie, all on Blu-Ray. Besides the obvious draw of better quality audio and video, my other main reason for buying the Blu-Ray version whenever possible is to save on storage space. In general for series, the larger capacity should mean more episodes/disc. I just hope more releases come out on Blu-Ray, and wouldn't mind DVD getting phased out entirely. I know it will take time, but I'll wait.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 06:30 |
Mason Dixon posted:Besides the obvious draw of better quality audio and video, my other main reason for buying the Blu-Ray version whenever possible is to save on storage space. In general for series, the larger capacity should mean more episodes/disc. Try telling that to Japan. My Eden of the East collection fits 11 episodes 2 BDs and the picture is flawless throughout. I paid $60 for it. A new release in Japan packs a whopping 2 episodes per disc. Different markets I know, but gently caress paying $100 for 2 episodes of Panty & Stocking. It's insulting if you want to import the rare release that's region free.
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 06:36 |
|
Infinitum posted:Cell animation lends itself incredibly well IF the money is spent on the remaster. For example I heard the Legends of the Galactic Heroes release was loving terrible and hardly improved on the DVD release. LOGH isn't THAT good looking of a TV series, in all honesty. As much as I worship it, they cut a lot of corners deliberately to make up for it being, well, amazing otherwise. It looks sweet and has some great visuals often, but it likes to conserve movement and has a lot of Macross-face going on sometimes. And Japanese media pricing is worthless in its entirety but that's an entirely different argument
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 06:47 |
That's the thing though and I think you're missing the point. I agree that a lot of old TV series honestly don't look good, but if you remaster them like you actually care about the source material they can look spectacular and brand new. All the grain, fuzz and blur gets removed and you're left with something that feels like you're watching that was created yesterday. For example if a decades old series like Ranma 1/2 was choosen for a bluray release it has the potential to look amazing if all the stars align and the time and effort is spent on it. However the source material itself is obviously quite dated and the animation quality isn't going to be that great.
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 07:01 |
|
Infinitum posted:That's the thing though and I think you're missing the point. I agree that a lot of old TV series honestly don't look good, but if you remaster them like you actually care about the source material they can look spectacular and brand new. All the grain, fuzz and blur gets removed and you're left with something that feels like you're watching that was created yesterday. No, I mean the original series was not really drawn extremely well or good, it has a lot of cut corners so it's kind of moot. No amount of remastering will make Yang's face stop changing dimensions in certain conversations.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 07:03 |
|
tsob posted:Any of the Macross movies or OVA's or anything basically available for Blu Ray in Europe? I don't think any of Macross' dubs are Blu-ray, but Macross Frontier and it's first movie are region free. I would love to have the original series on Blu-ray.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 07:14 |
Zorak posted:No amount of remastering will make Yang's face stop changing dimensions in certain conversations. But at least like it'll look like they hosed it up yesterday Dj Meow Mix posted:I don't think any of Macross' dubs are Blu-ray, but Macross Frontier and it's first movie are region free. I would love to have the original series on Blu-ray. Macross is still stuck in Harmony Gold licensing hell last I heard. Hell I still don't own a DVD copy of Zero, let alone the bluray that's out
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 07:45 |
|
Infinitum posted:Short version is as it sounds on the side of the box. You take a lower resolution image and upscaling it to fit a bigger one. It generally won't look bad per se, but it completely misses the whole point of the format.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 07:46 |
Plorkyeran posted:Normally upscaling stuff doesn't actively make it look worse than it already did, but naturally the anime industry can never miss a chance to do as terrible a job as possible. The latest example is the (massively overpriced) Haruhi BD box set, which was almost artistic in its destruction of the video: DVD BD Yup, this is exactly the kind of poo poo you hate seeing. I'm not a Haruhi fan, but if I was and I spent good money on it I'd be pissed. As I said it really is the period of around 2000-2008 that you need to be really loving cautious with series because of this digital upscaling nonsense studios are want to do. Speaking of being cautiously optimistic. Read or Die + Read or Dream collection Dat. Box. I will murder someone if it's region locked.
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 07:59 |
|
Plorkyeran posted:Normally upscaling stuff doesn't actively make it look worse than it already did, but naturally the anime industry can never miss a chance to do as terrible a job as possible. The latest example is the (massively overpriced) Haruhi BD box set, which was almost artistic in its destruction of the video: DVD BD I feel blind even with my glasses on because I'm honestly not seeing any difference between the DVD and Blu Ray version. What am I missing that's so awful?
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:11 |
tsob posted:I feel blind even with my glasses on because I'm honestly not seeing any difference between the DVD and Blu Ray version. What am I missing that's so awful? Don't take this the wrong way, but you seriously can't tell the difference? Compare these 2 bluray samples: Nausicaa 1920x1080 screencap Haruhi 1920x1080 screencap See how clear the Nausicaa cap is compared the to the swirly Picasso that is Haruhi? Character outlines should be sharp and colours should be well defined, but in this case it looks like it's literally been run through a Photoshop swirl filter. It's disgusting.
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:22 |
|
Infinitum posted:Don't take this the wrong way, but you seriously can't tell the difference? The Haruhi DVD image looks pretty swirly to me too and I was only comparing those two images and not the Haruhi Blu Ray to any other Blu Ray since that was what was provided for comparison. Of course the Nausicaa one looks much sharper, but it looks like the Haruhi image that the poster provider was always meant to be somewhat odd and artistic looking and the upscale just made that more obvious.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:30 |
|
Nate RFB posted:I've always wanted to ask, but is there a reason the only Blu-rays produced for Gunbuster/Diebuster was of the compilation movie? I mean, if they could do that, why not for the full set of 12 episodes? however, for $35 or whatever it was, it is totally worth buying
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:32 |
|
I thought the Nausicaa BD release had gotten tons of poo poo for being overly red? The screencaps comparisons I've seen of Haruhi on BD made it seem an improvement, but maybe it was a lucky shot.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:32 |
|
tsob posted:I feel blind even with my glasses on because I'm honestly not seeing any difference between the DVD and Blu Ray version. What am I missing that's so awful? darkgray posted:The screencaps comparisons I've seen of Haruhi on BD made it seem an improvement, but maybe it was a lucky shot.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:34 |
|
Zorak posted:No, I mean the original series was not really drawn extremely well or good, it has a lot of cut corners so it's kind of moot. No amount of remastering will make Yang's face stop changing dimensions in certain conversations. Those scenes were reanimated in the DVD release and it's kind of funny how the show goes from modern 2000's quality computer-assisted coloured animation to the old cels in the same conversation. Eej fucked around with this message at 08:40 on Dec 3, 2010 |
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:38 |
Hahaha goddamn. That's classy.darkgray posted:I thought the Nausicaa BD release had gotten tons of poo poo for being overly red? I watched it about a week ago. I didn't notice it being overly red. You'll get a whole bunch of really anal retentive film buffs when a film gets reviewed. It looks gorgeous so I wouldn't worry about it some crappy review giving it a 9/10, bitching about how horribly red the picture was and asking that Miyazaki personally come around and suck their dick in forgiveness.
|
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:42 |
|
The Eden of the East bluray is excellent, though Im not happy about the case it came in. Tekkon Kinkreet is pretty much the reason why you buy anime on bluray.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:49 |
|
Eej posted:Those scenes were reanimated in the DVD release and it's kind of funny how the show goes from modern 2000's quality computer-assisted coloured animation to the old cels in the same conversation.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 08:51 |
|
tsob posted:The Haruhi DVD image looks pretty swirly to me too and I was only comparing those two images and not the Haruhi Blu Ray to any other Blu Ray since that was what was provided for comparison. Of course the Nausicaa one looks much sharper, but it looks like the Haruhi image that the poster provider was always meant to be somewhat odd and artistic looking and the upscale just made that more obvious.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 12:36 |
|
Mason Dixon posted:I have Paprika, Eva 1.11, Gunslinger Girls s1 & s2... What do you think of Gunslinger Girl S1 transfer and how heavily would you recommend buying it if you already have the DVD set? I'd already have those other two, but I'm holding out for a complete Rebuild special edition BR box set and a complete works of Satoshi Kon BR box set.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 15:51 |
|
Infinitum posted:Try telling that to Japan. I can't view the pictures at work, but hearing that Haruhi's AV quality was very poorly done on BR makes me sad. Ferretts posted:What do you think of Gunslinger Girl S1 transfer and how heavily would you recommend buying it if you already have the DVD set? I'd already have those other two, but I'm holding out for a complete Rebuild special edition BR box set and a complete works of Satoshi Kon BR box set.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 16:42 |
|
Ferretts posted:What do you think of Gunslinger Girl S1 transfer and how heavily would you recommend buying it if you already have the DVD set? I'd already have those other two, but I'm holding out for a complete Rebuild special edition BR box set and a complete works of Satoshi Kon BR box set. http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Gunslinger-Girl-Il-Teatrino-Blu-ray/8894/ They were pretty so-so on it, but concede that the source material really didn't lend itself to a good BD transfer in the first place so there was really nothing that could have been done. A Rebuild "box set" is probably not going to be available until like 2020 at the rate the movies are coming out, and as for Kon only Perfect Blue and Paprika are out on BD anyway. The thing is, more so than I can remember for DVDs this far into that format's lifecycle, Blu-rays are very easy to get dirt cheap. Rarely do I see BDs over $20 unless it's a special/limited release, and you can get tons of great deals on like Amazon for releases under $10. I made out like a bandit this past Black Friday. So, honestly, I don't feel there's any need to wait around if there's a release you really want. Kara no Kyoukai is supposedly finally coming out on BD in early 2011, and should look stunning. It, the Japanese release, will even have English subtitles. The downside is that it will cost something like $600 for 7 movies, if not more.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 18:08 |
|
Can't find a definite source for this, is Xam'd Bluray region locked or not? Some places say it is or say it's not, and I kinda want it. 2D Animation fits like a glove on bluray, I would get the eventual release of an Evangelion remastered boxset. When that show could, it looked amazing.
|
# ? Dec 3, 2010 20:35 |
|
I'm hoping against hope that the BD transfers of the Patlabor movies will make it to North America somehow. God drat, that was some nice looking poo poo.
|
# ? Dec 4, 2010 01:23 |
|
I want the Michiko to Hatchin set on Blu-Ray so loving bad but it's ungodly expensive. Some day..
|
# ? Dec 4, 2010 01:40 |
|
Honest Thief posted:Can't find a definite source for this, is Xam'd Bluray region locked or not? Some places say it is or say it's not, and I kinda want it. http://www.amazon.com/Xamd-Collection-Artist-Not-Provided/dp/B003TX8QBU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1291436828&sr=1-2 If it was region free it would have the Region 'B' and 'C' as well as the 'A'. Unless you know about another localised release of the series. I too would snap this up in an instant if it wasnt locked. Same with Michiko e Hatchin.
|
# ? Dec 4, 2010 05:31 |
|
Infinitum, you're doing the lord's work, and our heathen wallets will cry out in thanks by the end of page 3. I have the blu-ray, Criterion, and hardcover comics threads bookmarked for the materialist in me, and wondered when this subforum would open a platinum club. I'm glad to see the R.O.D. box set gaining more exposure -- I've only seen the first two episodes of the series, but the OVA remains one of my favorite anime and holds up to repeated viewings. The bluray vs. dvd comparisons out there don't justify the box's high price. A couple price drops and it'll find a happy home, though I made a point of watching Akira as my first blu-ray, and I've been sold on the format ever since, star alignments and all. Paprika and Evangelion 1.11 are also stunners. I can't speak much for complete series, but thanks to the 12 Days of Anime sale on RightStuf the Samurai Champloo blu box is incoming ($33, beats Amazon depending on shipping).
|
# ? Dec 4, 2010 05:48 |
Space Fish posted:
Bleh it looks horrible. Go for it if you don't have the DVDs already, but I'm personally not going to update my collection for it if those screenshots are any indication. Yet another crap release from the digital era. Really really disappointing because I was looking forward to it as soon as I found out it was getting a bluray release. quote:I made a point of watching Akira as my first blu-ray, and I've been sold on the format ever since, star alignments and all. Paprika and Evangelion 1.11 are also stunners. Akira is stunning. I truly mean that in every sense of the word. It got cleaned up so amazingly that there are scenes in the movie where you could swear you could see the individual cells. I've yet to upgrade my copy of Paprika to Bluray, but I may do as others have suggested and wait for a Satoshi Kon set. It's good knowing that all his works got really good transfers. Evangelion is flawless. It's like picking up a Pixar Bluray release. It's money well spent. Between this and Honnêamise I will gladly buy any remaster that the company put out because I know they'd treat their works with the respect they deserve. Even the Island episodes of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. quote:I can't speak much for complete series, but thanks to the 12 Days of Anime sale on RightStuf the Samurai Champloo blu box is incoming ($33, beats Amazon depending on shipping). Be wary of Samurai Champloo as it is upscaled. If you don't have the DVDs get it, but I wouldn't waste money on upgrading my current set.
|
|
# ? Dec 4, 2010 09:09 |
|
|
# ? May 30, 2024 12:20 |
|
The Champloo set was one of the first anime I bought on Blu-ray. I ended up selling it back, not because of the quality of the disc, I just wasn't as impressed with the show as I thought I would be. There were a lot of complaints about the upscaling they did scrubbing some fine details out of shots, but overall I was pretty impressed with it. If nothing else, it means an upgrade in audio to 5.1, better subtitles and fewer discs. Since then I've picked up Akira, Eva and Paprika, and they're all great. Clean 2D animation looks really fantastic in high def. I can't wait for the rest of the Ghibli catalogue to come out. Does anyone know what's taking them so long? If I was a big license holder, I'd be rushing out catalogue titles before someone gets off their rear end and invents a half-decent digital video distribution service a la steam or iTunes.
|
# ? Dec 4, 2010 10:54 |