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NEWS: Akira Gets Blu-Ray Disc in Japan, U.S. in February


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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:36 am Reply with quote
Were I to consider what anime ought to be released in HD, this would certainly be a strong candidate.
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Daimao Raki



Joined: 03 Jul 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:45 am Reply with quote
With Geneon in limbo, who has the rights to this?
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hikaru004



Joined: 15 Mar 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:54 am Reply with quote
BV might have snagged the US rights back. Very forward thinking of them. This article is implying that BV has the US rights at least.
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Anime World Order



Joined: 05 May 2006
Posts: 390
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:57 am Reply with quote
Daimao Raki wrote:
With Geneon in limbo, who has the rights to this?


As the news update states, this release was originally going to be done by Bandai Visual, but now that they're more or less folded into Bandai Entertainment it'll be released through them instead. At least, that's how I read it.

In my opinion, the standard price point of Blu-Ray discs is far too high as it is (I generally am unwilling to buy Blu-Ray unless I can pay under $25 and it contains everything the DVD release does; the first condition is doable, the second one is far more problematic), and the $50 price tag on this is even higher than that. Still, that's a lot better than we'd have managed were Bandai Visual to have done the release. Here's hoping the online retailers will be able to offer it new for around $30-$35 at least.
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hikaru004



Joined: 15 Mar 2004
Posts: 2306
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:45 am Reply with quote
Anime World Order wrote:
Daimao Raki wrote:
With Geneon in limbo, who has the rights to this?


As the news update states, this release was originally going to be done by Bandai Visual, but now that they're more or less folded into Bandai Entertainment it'll be released through them instead. At least, that's how I read it.

In my opinion, the standard price point of Blu-Ray discs is far too high as it is (I generally am unwilling to buy Blu-Ray unless I can pay under $25 and it contains everything the DVD release does; the first condition is doable, the second one is far more problematic), and the $50 price tag on this is even higher than that. Still, that's a lot better than we'd have managed were Bandai Visual to have done the release. Here's hoping the online retailers will be able to offer it new for around $30-$35 at least.


It's a still Bandai Visual release. It's most likely being released by the Honneamise section in Bandai Ent since we actually have a release date. You might want to think of the merger as a simplication of getting the products here instead of a takeover.
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:31 pm Reply with quote
That's a big title right there. That is probably going to look epic on Blu-Ray.
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dewlwieldthedarpachief



Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 751
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:45 pm Reply with quote
Anime World Order wrote:

In my opinion, the standard price point of Blu-Ray discs is far too high as it is (I generally am unwilling to buy Blu-Ray unless I can pay under $25 and it contains everything the DVD release does; the first condition is doable, the second one is far more problematic), and the $50 price tag on this is even higher than that. Still, that's a lot better than we'd have managed were Bandai Visual to have done the release. Here's hoping the online retailers will be able to offer it new for around $30-$35 at least.


I agree that $50 bucks is a lot of money, but the way I think about it I pay maybe twice what I would for a DVD for a product that has 6 times the resolution, the native film frame rate, better color, increased durability, and lossless multichannel audio to name a few things. On paper at least those reasons seem like enough to merit more than twice the cost of the DVD, not to mention that these quality gains are things that the DVD release does not contain which seems contrary to what you said there.

I've heard Mr. Surat of the Anime World Order speak with some disdain of Bluray before on the podcast (Paprika?), but nothing I've listened to has him candidly laying down his HD hate. I hope he talks about that someday.
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icepick314



Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 486
Location: Back in the Good Ol' US of A
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:52 pm Reply with quote
i would like to get this release since Akira is one of those anime film that you HAVE to watch but spec is a bit iffy...

all it says is English track have 5.1 audio but is it lossless TrueHD like Japanese track or just regular 5.1 Dolby or DTS?

that's the dealbreaker for me...
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varmintx



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1235
Location: Covington, KY
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:23 pm Reply with quote
icepick314 wrote:
i would like to get this release since Akira is one of those anime film that you HAVE to watch but spec is a bit iffy...

all it says is English track have 5.1 audio but is it lossless TrueHD like Japanese track or just regular 5.1 Dolby or DTS?

that's the dealbreaker for me...
I agree; Blu-ray.com has the English track only in 2.0.
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Tony K.
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:32 pm Reply with quote
Hm.. only PCM 2.0 for the English? That sucks for the dub audience. Well if that's the case, then the retail shouldn't be that much. Then again, there are still 5 months to go. Maybe they'll at least add a 5.1 Dolby Digital for the English track.

I don't see how they'd deny equal treatment for both tracks, though. What with the movie being such a huge landmark in anime history, you'd think its Blu-ray debut would pack a wallop. But as long as the Japanese track gets high grade audio, I'm all for it.

And I'm anxious to upgrade too, because I tried watching the DTS DVD a while back and it just looks sooo grainy. Should look sleek and shiny with the HD mastering.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15571
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:37 pm Reply with quote
I doubt I'll jump on the bandwagon, unless they re-release Akira in regular disc, and omit that annoying Tenchi Muyo joke in the subtitles for background signs. [They might win me over even more with an Otomo commentary. Wink ] But if I ever survive the second economic depression, and can afford a player, I'd be interested in a BD version, if it doesn't bleed colors as badly as the one currently in circulation.
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braves



Joined: 29 Dec 2007
Posts: 2309
Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas)
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:59 pm Reply with quote
Tony K. wrote:
And I'm anxious to upgrade too, because I tried watching the DTS DVD a while back and it just looks sooo grainy. Should look sleek and shiny with the HD mastering.


Yeah, as long as it's done right, I have no issue with the removal of grain. But if grain gets removed the wrong way (see DBZ remastering) then it'll just mess up the whole picture entirely. So I'm just on a "wait and see" basis with this. But I have to say that $50 is ridiculous....
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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:38 pm Reply with quote
braves wrote:
Yeah, as long as it's done right, I have no issue with the removal of grain. But if grain gets removed the wrong way (see DBZ remastering) then it'll just mess up the whole picture entirely.

That's just FUNimation being stupid and why I'm hesitant on buying anymore of their anime. If they can't even do any decent authoring (on DBZ, let alone other questionable encodes), then I'll download R2 DVD-ripped fansubs instead of supporting such shoddy treatment. They can sacrifice video quality for lower sale prices all they want.

braves wrote:
But I have to say that $50 is ridiculous....

Better than $80 like Jin-Roh. I wouldn't mind paying around $25 for Akira if they make a remarkable a/v transfer and load it with HD extras or something. I could care less about dubbing, though I hear the ZRO Limit redub was pretty adequate in itself.
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cyberbeing



Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Posts: 135
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:03 pm Reply with quote
Well considering Akira was originally made for a theatrical release you would assume it would have a decent master, but I guess there is always the possibility their original transfer was poor. I am still quite interested to see how Akira in HD with a massive bitrate turns out. The DVDs leave a lot to be desired.
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daxomni



Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 2650
Location: Somewhere else.
PostPosted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:20 pm Reply with quote
Sweet!

1. I'll pick this up just as soon as I get a BD player. Could be a while before that happens though. Wink

2. I don't get where all this hate for the DVD version is coming from? It's one of the best transfers I've ever seen. Confused
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