Akira - The best version to own on DVD?

K

Kaede

Adventurer
I've still not got round to buying this on DVD and a quick search of Amazon and play only bring up second hand copies of an older release. In fact some of the copies on Play.com being sold for £9.99 are the ****** Manga Force versions.

I really want to get this on DVD as it's easily my favourite Japanese film and I found this:

http://www.akira2019.com/dvd-japanese-s ... dition.htm

Which is the Japanese R2 Special Edition release. It comes in a great boxset and includes English subtitles. Does anyone know where I might be able to pick this up from?

Unfortunately the Blu Ray version isn't an option for me.

Also can anyone shed any light as to why this superb film, which is probably one of the most well know Anime films to outsiders isn't actually currently availble brand new?

Regards,
K
 
I'd go for this one:

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/119925/A ... +%3E+Anime

(copy and paste it all... f*cking urls with stupid characters in)

That's the most recent UK release which contains both versions of the film (two dubs, different aspect ratios), each in it's own case inside a card slipcase. It also has the Japanese language track with subtitles. I see what you mean about the Manga Force edition though, some people are passing it off as the 2-disc edition on there.

As for why it doesn't seem to be in stock at the major retailers, I'm presuming the licence has lapsed and that's why we don't have the Blu-ray either. I could be wrong though.
 
It's insane that Manga have allowed the licence to lapse. Surely there's still an audience out there for such a famous and iconic film? Come to think of it, the US release is out of print as well.
 
I have that version, along with GitS and Ninja Scroll in this manga essentials box set from a few years ago. I actually have two copies of it.

fabricatedlunatic said:
It's insane that Manga have allowed the licence to lapse. Surely there's still an audience out there for such a famous and iconic film? Come to think of it, the US release is out of print as well.
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Akira was the old anime crowd, everyone who got addicted with that already owns multiple copies of the film. In this day and age, Naruto is their Akira.
 
It's insane that Manga have allowed the licence to lapse. Surely there's still an audience out there for such a famous and iconic film? Come to think of it, the US release is out of print as well.
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Look at who released the US Blu-ray though: Honneamise. If the license has expired and Manga were to go up against Bandai for it, they might have a fight on their hands - I wouldn't be at all surprised if the next time Akira reaches our shores it's sporting a Beez logo.
 
Cheers Ayase, but after a bit of googling I've got my heart set on that Japanese special edition:

japanese-02a.jpg
japanese-02b.jpg
japanese-02c.jpg


My try and bumble my way through amazon.co.jp to order it. Would go lovely with my Patlabor box sets. ;) 8) Japanese region 2 will play straight on UK regions players right?

Akira was the old anime crowd, everyone who got addicted with that already owns multiple copies of the film. In this day and age, Naruto is their Akira.
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Jesus Christ. *shakes head*
 
Yes asia has the special edition listed as "temporarily out of stock", whether that means they're likely to get any more in though is quite another matter.

Which is a shame as I wouldn't mind owning that myself.
 
This reminds me I must replace my VHS some time. I just got very confused with all the releases and their different variations on sound tracks like only Stereo for both Japanese and English on one and on another Stereo for one language and 5.1 for the other or the DTS one which was only DTS for Japanese and 5.1 for English.

Thinking about it now I may just try and pick up the DTS one as it is one anime I pretty much only watch subbed.
 
Ayase: I have that edition and its horrible. Subs are those for the hard of hearing so you keep getting told about explosions and so forth.
 
I'd hardly call it horrible. True it tells you about (some, not all) sound effects going on, but the subtitle font is fine and the picture and sound quality are both excellent for DVD.
 
That special edition does look nice. I have the old manga dvd version which is good enough but that special edition looks tempting.

I have the first volume of the manga and I'd like to get the other 5 volumes cheap, probably after christmas.

Akira is such an iconic movie, it really is what got me into anime when I was young. Now I think it's time to read the manga's for some closure.
 
It looks like Manga Entertainment have lost the license, no stores stock a new DVD that I can find. I think this is a good thing. Manga Entertainment release some poor excuses for DVDs. Akira only having HOH subtitles is a travesty. Million pound restoration, and no one at Manga bothers to check the DVD before releasing it? Pioneer should have sued them. This isn't their only DVD to have this problem. As far as I can tell, Manga Entertainment are run by a bunch of inept amateurs who have no respect for the consumer, let alone cinema.

Who knows when we will see a new DVD in the UK. Looking at the Madman Entertainment website, they list their Akira DVD as having both Region 4 and 2, so maybe they have the license now and intend to release their superior DVD in the UK. Superior in that it has correct subtitles and both the new and original dub.

I got burnt twice by Manga Entertainment with their Akira DVDs. First with their special edition, and then again --hoping they corrected the subtitle blunder-- with their "Ultimate Collection" DVD. Turns out they just used the same disk. Less said about their straight VHS to DVD transfer of the original dub that was included with this so called "Ultimate Collection" the better.

At the time I contacted Manga Ent' about this issue, but they simply never responded, proof that they either didn't care, or were just too stupid to get what they did.

Hong kong Legends went bust, Manga Entertainment thrive, is there no justice in this world?

Rant over. :)
 
It's funny the different little things which really get on people's nerves. As everyone knows I'm very particular about cover art, but seeing the subtitle "explosion" when there's an explosion on the screen doesn't bother me in the slightest. It's not like it's hard subbed.
 
Well I can tolerate neither cover art disasters nor hard of hearing subtitles (they're not hard subbed, no, but if you want to watch the film in its original language and don't speak Japanese you can't avoid them, hence they might as well be). They were the reason I watched Millennium Actress in English. T'was a fine dub, to be sure, though that's hardly the point.
 
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