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Forum - View topicNEWS: RahXephon Film Goes HD in Japan
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Josh7289
Posts: 1252 |
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HD-DVD, I see. In which direction is the anime industry leaning more for HD in Japan, since we all know it's non-existent over here?
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Area88
 Posts: 374 |
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Not at all. Japan is more leaning towards Blu-ray. Anyone this is more of an experiment to test the market. Notice how only the movie in in HD while the TV series is not. |
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icepick314
 Posts: 486 Location: Back in the Good Ol' US of A |
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i don't think any particular format is set...
although i saw more blu-ray releases with Brave Story and Air TV series being on blu-ray so far...probably from release of PLAYSTATION 3... i bought Air TV on blu-ray just to have it in collection...somewhat dissapointing since for $250, figure there was lot better packaging than this...but still first TV series that was released on blu-ray... |
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WEKS
 Posts: 82 Location: Finland |
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Well I don't know how many HD-DVD players have been sold but with the Playstation 3 there is over a million BluRay players world wide.
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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It would seem as though Blu-ray is doing better in Japan, but that might be due to the relative popularity that HDDVD has earned in the US. There are definitely still more Blu-ray anime titles than HDDVD in Japan, and they share the US region code to boot! Warner announced plans on encoding DVDs with both Blu-Ray and HDDVD so you can play the DVD in either player. LG has also (not the first time) announced that they will release a player that will play both formats in Q1 of this year. More info is currently being announced since CES is going on this weekend.
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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There are more BD anime only because anime fans have a large overlapping with PS3 users, not to mention many BD manufacturers (Sony, Pioneer) are also anime producers themselves. However, see how abysmal the sale of PS3 is: 
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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Vir
 Posts: 33 Location: Central European |
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Hm. I'd much rather that they test the waters with a HD-DVD or BD volume 01 of the series rather than the movie... Granted, the effects were a bit more pumped up, but not by much, and the story is different in many ways...
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Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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There wouldn't be much point in releasing something in HD that wouldn't take advantage of the technology. If memory serves the RahXephon tv series only had a 2.0 Japanese audio track and was presented in 3:4. I never did a side by side comparison, but I would imagine that the transfer for the film would be really nice if it was intended to be presented on a 35mm print, as compared to a NTSC monitor. Even so, a good percentage of the animation was intended for television and lacks the detail that many theatrical releases have. Unless a tv series is mastered in HD like Samurai 7 or GITS (which also have nice 5.1 mixes) it would be silly to release it on HD. The real difference is when we see films mastered for theatrical release like Metropolis or Steam Boy, both of which are slated for Blu-Ray releases. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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And you thought I was not aware of that...  Although Pioneer does not produce anime itself anymore, it is very natural if Geneon's anime products favor Pioneer's hardware over Toshiba's.
Now we'll have to wait if Toshiba will start shipping its anime titles with HD. The live-action Mushishi would also be a perfect water-tester. |
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Area88
Posts: 374 |
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Did Rahxephon use cel animation or digital ink? |
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Vir
Posts: 33 Location: Central European |
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I imagine that they used digital colouring, but I don't know. They certainly used a lot of digital effects. RahXephon was touted by bones to be a "High Definition animation", so the source material might be in high enough definition to justify a HD release. After all, when ADV had plans for a HD DVD release, RahXephon was among the three shows selected. (The realization of that plan was delayed indefinitely.)
The English track was in 5.1 over here, so I was under the impression that the TV series had a 5.1 track in Japan, but it seems that this impression was incorrect. If they still have the mix project files, it's a simple job of replacing the English dialogue with Japanese in the already existing 5.1 audio and watching through the show once to check that it turned out OK. If they don't still have the mixes, then a HD release would entail a lot more work. On the bright side they might get a better baby cry sound this time.  But re-doing the audio for an entire 26 episode show is a lot more work than just making a HD release of existing audio and HD video. So I guess I'll have to wait untill the format wars are over and then some; if it'll ever happen. Oh, well, there are plenty of new shows and movies to look forward to in HD.
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Mohawk52
Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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We might find that Geneon, as well as the others, start putting out both until a clear winner has been decided by the consumers, much like the old Betamax / VHS war.
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Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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Don't forget Disney who releases all of the Gibli titles is firmly in the Blu-ray camp. So far the only anime company besides this recent Bones addition has been Gonzo who announced that they would release titles on both formats. LG has just confirmed their HDDVD/Blu-Ray combo player since there is no clear winner in the format war anytime soon. Most of the early adopters have given up on the wait and see approach and have ended up buying both. You can currently get the 2nd gen. Toshiba HDDVD player for about $400 and the Samsung BR for under $600. Thinking back to ten years ago my first DVD player cost me more than both of these put together.
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Steventheeunuch
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I'd rather they do their own 5.1 mix and not rely on what ADV does. Not because I'm being snarky and saying the Japanese should do their own work, but because they have a tendancy to make better 5.1 mixes (from what I've been told) than ADV. |
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