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Quality of Rurouni Kenshin DVD Economy Box Sets...?




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Josh7289



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 1252
PostPosted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:30 pm Reply with quote
Last Christmas, I got the first RK Economy Box Set (for season 1), and I really haven't watched it much because my discs are messed up (the video freezes, glitches, etc.), but what I have seen has been pretty poor quality. Granted, the anime is ten years old, and I shouldn't expect anything like modern anime, but it looks like it was just transfered onto the DVD from a VHS tape or something. I think the subtitles are "hard", too, (I could be wrong) further proving that it could be from a VHS tape. Really, it looks pretty bad, but what I really want to know if the quality is the same on the individual DVDs and on the more expensive box sets. Can anyone verify this for me?

Thanks.
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GoodLuckSaturday



Joined: 30 Oct 2003
Posts: 567
Location: Indiana
PostPosted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:35 pm Reply with quote
Josh7289 wrote:
Last Christmas, I got the first RK Economy Box Set (for season 1), and I really haven't watched it much because my discs are messed up (the video freezes, glitches, etc.), but what I have seen has been pretty poor quality. Granted, the anime is ten years old, and I shouldn't expect anything like modern anime, but it looks like it was just transfered onto the DVD from a VHS tape or something. I think the subtitles are "hard", too, (I could be wrong) further proving that it could be from a VHS tape. Really, it looks pretty bad, but what I really want to know if the quality is the same on the individual DVDs and on the more expensive box sets. Can anyone verify this for me?

Thanks.


Since the title menus are in the original DVD fonts, I would think they're just the old DVDs with the manga logo and in a new box. I've only watched the Economy sets myself (I have one and two, but feeling like I'm eternally trudging through the first season filler).

I haven't really noticed anything in terms of poor transfer quality, at least not of a quality I didn't expect from an anime from 1996 to begin with, but I would like to know more about it, espeically if there was a poor video transfer after all.
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Josh7289



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 1252
PostPosted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:43 pm Reply with quote
I think I was able to pick up on this, if true, because I had just watched the Platinum Edition of Evangelion and more modern anime. And Akira, which was from 1988...

Also, by that time, I was very used to the quality of anime on tapes from recording shows I would miss on VHS...

Anyway, it still looks like VHS to me, and I just want to know if any other releases had this "problem".
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sykosteve



Joined: 22 Jul 2006
Posts: 356
Location: columbus, ga
PostPosted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:03 pm Reply with quote
I've got a question that's slightly on topic. What's the difference between the economy sets and the wooden box sets aside from packaging?
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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:05 pm Reply with quote
sykosteve wrote:
I've got a question that's slightly on topic. What's the difference between the economy sets and the wooden box sets aside from packaging?

One is a lot cheaper, and you get some decent cover art. I hear the wooden bento boxes are prone to roughing up the DVDs because of the jackets inside. Nothing holds them in place, so it's bascially "naked" discs being thrown around in a wooden crate with little to no protection.

I have neither, but this is the first real complaint I've ever heard about the econ. sets in comparison to the bento boxes.
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GoodLuckSaturday



Joined: 30 Oct 2003
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Location: Indiana
PostPosted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:26 pm Reply with quote
I watched episode 22 of the Economy Box (has the worst arrival scene in the history of god...), but I didn't notice any real lax in video quality that would suggest it was a VHS transfer. I do think the opening animation looks that way, but the actual episode itself looks fine, and seems to be at DVD quality.
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Deltakiral



Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 3338
Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK)
PostPosted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:33 pm Reply with quote
Tony K. wrote:
Nothing holds them in place, so it's bascially "naked" discs being thrown around in a wooden crate with little to no protection.


Basically all the disc are left in small sleeve and don't have anything to secured them down. It's a real shame that there wasn't a better method for that, the crate is really amazing.

Tony K. wrote:
I have neither, but this is the first real complaint I've ever heard about the econ. sets in comparison to the bento boxes.


I have the season one box, and the quality is the same from the when the series was first released on DVD. I am still looking forward to getting season two somewhere in the future but everyone wants 60 dollars......too much for me....I am still doing a lot of ebay searching.
Till next time,

Delta Kiral
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
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Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:38 pm Reply with quote
Tony K. wrote:

I have neither, but this is the first real complaint I've ever heard about the econ. sets in comparison to the bento boxes.


I started a thread about this when the econ boxes first came out. animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22468&

As I mentioned this is true with all of the Media Blasters titles in my experience. Since then I did get a Sony SXRD 60" screen, which helped against the flickering since my settings are a bit darker than my old CRT. The resolution looks even more pathetic when upconverting to 1080p. I really hate saying bad things about companies or people, but in this case (like Bandai QC issues) I feel as though it is something that consumers should be aware of and the company should fix.
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Josh7289



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:45 pm Reply with quote
Ah, so the problem resides in all Rurouni Kenshin DVD releases, and some other Media Blasters releases to boot? I guess that's what we will have to expect from low budget smaller companies like this...

But really, this seriously sucks. Why can't they just get a better transfer? I'm sure the Japanese DVDs must look excellent (like, at least not from VHS?)...
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kid_gloves





PostPosted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 7:04 pm Reply with quote
Josh7289 wrote:
But really, this seriously sucks. Why can't they just get a better transfer? I'm sure the Japanese DVDs must look excellent (like, at least not from VHS?)...


The japanese companies often spend alot of money on their encoding process for their R2 dvds usually resulting in a higher quality than the US release. Thats to be expected if you think about the market size and for some reason the japanese companies are extremely reluctant to just hand over their dvd versions to the US distributors forcing them to make due with whatever they can afford on the encoding process.
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
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Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:40 am Reply with quote
Josh7289 wrote:
But really, this seriously sucks. Why can't they just get a better transfer? I'm sure the Japanese DVDs must look excellent (like, at least not from VHS?)...

Funny you should mention it, since there is a tenth anniversary LE box set which has the enitre series OAVs and movie, plus a CD in a wooden box comming out in Japan. That's 22 DVDs/CDs plus a book and a reverse blade letter opener all for 80000 Yen! That's a far cry from the economy price, but should look great for die hard fans. Of course the price is about the same as a PS3 (if you can find one) or a series 3 Tivo.
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joel_s95387



Joined: 29 Jun 2005
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:59 am Reply with quote
I'm wondering if you are stretching it a bit by saying its "VHS quality". I have the first season burnt and although it's not the best, it looks better than VHS, and that's a compressed DVD. My original Legend Of Kyoto Arc looks a bit better than the burnt DVDs though.

I've recent;y began having problems with playing all Media Blasters boxes, Bandai Boxes, and Viz Boxes on my PS2. The video glitches. Yet Gankutsuou 6 and Gits 2nd Gig have no problems... I thought it was my PS2 but it should do that with all DVDs if it was the PS.
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Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:52 am Reply with quote
joel_s95387 wrote:
I'm wondering if you are stretching it a bit by saying its "VHS quality". I have the first season burnt and although it's not the best, it looks better than VHS, and that's a compressed DVD. My original Legend Of Kyoto Arc looks a bit better than the burnt DVDs though.

I've recent;y began having problems with playing all Media Blasters boxes, Bandai Boxes, and Viz Boxes on my PS2. The video glitches. Yet Gankutsuou 6 and Gits 2nd Gig have no problems... I thought it was my PS2 but it should do that with all DVDs if it was the PS.


I will agree that it isn't as bad as a VHS tape. MB does definately have issues, from the above mentioned flicker, to mono audio issues. Not to mention how cheap the Anime Works and Media Blasters intro animations look. Indeed Geneon is my favorite company since they do amazing video transfers and sometimes even have DTS encoded DVDs for standard prices not to forget that almost all of the recent Geneon titles are 5.1 and/or 16:9. Gankutsuou, Zipang and Shana are all amazing transfers. I think I even bought all of the Starship Operators partially because of how good the DVD looked.

The only compatability issue I have about Bandai was one of the Zeta episodes from the box set freezes up on my Sony player. The episode plays fine on my JVC, Pioneer and Oppo players. I have heard some horror stories from others. I'm just upset at how most Bandai discs lack extras or even a DVD insert. The video and audio quality really varies from title to title. There was that fiasco with all of the GITS, but the labeling errors on the DTS disc and CD didn't bother me.

I will agree that there is some coding problems with Viz discs. I have to go to the main menu to change the language on some of there discs, since the subtitle and language buttons don't seem to work during playback. I really am dissapointed in the Saikano DVDs that are letterboxed (which means black borders on all four sides) instead of anamorphic.

Bringing this all back on topic, Media Blasters hurts the most since they have consistantly had poor transfers. The fact that they relesed Berserk, Figure 17, Genshiken, Giant Robo, Gunparade March, Otogi Zoshi, Shura no Toki, and Twelve Kingdoms hurts since I'm a huge fan of all these series. The only saving grace is that there DVDs have a ton of extras including those annoying bloopers that I'm not fond of. I do however love the interviews found on Berserk, Figure 17, and Otogi Zoshi. When it comes down to it I'm much happier when Geneon releases titles that I like.
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Zalis116
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Joined: 31 Mar 2005
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:18 am Reply with quote
kid_gloves wrote:
Josh7289 wrote:
But really, this seriously sucks. Why can't they just get a better transfer? I'm sure the Japanese DVDs must look excellent (like, at least not from VHS?)...


The japanese companies often spend alot of money on their encoding process for their R2 dvds usually resulting in a higher quality than the US release. Thats to be expected if you think about the market size and for some reason the japanese companies are extremely reluctant to just hand over their dvd versions to the US distributors forcing them to make do with whatever they can afford on the encoding process.
"For some reason..." the reason is "reverse importation," because the Japanese companies don't want the R1 discs to look as good as the R2s, so that Japanese fans have more incentive to buy the R2s, which are still more expensive than R1s even after shipping/customs/hardware costs. Even some DVD-ripping groups have become dissatisfied with R1 video sources and have switched to R2 sources.
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