UK Anime Distributor Anime Limited Discussion Thread

I have to admit - when it comes to the booklets, I'm hoping for more with text-based content, essays etc. in them in the future. Obviously this is more expensive in terms of translation costs - but for me, while art books are lovely to look at, the Anime Ltd releases in the past that I've enjoyed the most have often ended up being those where the booklet has contained textual material that enhances your understanding of the show/movie itself.

A case in point - Cyborg re 009 - where personally I felt the interviews in the booklet helped turn an average-ish movie into something above average.

I fully agree. For me, the film/show itself is the art - I don't really need to see it out of context, unless there's a particular reason for it. It doesn't add anything to my viewing experience. Textual material on the other hand can add quite a lot.
 
Obviously this is more expensive in terms of translation costs - but for me, while art books are lovely to look at, the Anime Ltd releases in the past that I've enjoyed the most have often ended up being those where the booklet has contained textual material that enhances your understanding of the show/movie itself.

A case in point - Cyborg re 009 - where personally I felt the interviews in the booklet helped turn an average-ish movie into something above average.

The critic in me can't help but seize on this. If the quality of the show you're watchng is improved by having outside material explain what's happening in it, then the show is badly written.
 
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The critic in me can;t help but seize on this. If the quality of the show you're watchng is improved by having outside material explain what's happening in it, then the show is badly written.

Normally I'd agree with you. I'm definitely not in the 'read the light novel / VN' camp - I generally despair of shows that people say you need to have read the original source material to properly 'get'.

But I guess I'm referring to stuff that isn't source material - ie. essays or interviews, stuff that's more like supplementary material. Almost like a side-dish or something to the main visual event.

It's one of the reasons it always makes me sad the Jonathan Clements intros to films at SLA aren't recorded for posterity as I find that kind of stuff really interesting in terms of building up a body of quality discussion around a film.
 
The critic in me can;t help but seize on this. If the quality of the show you're watchng is improved by having outside material explain what's happening in it, then the show is badly written.

I couldn't disagree more. Film is a product of its time and place, and critical material that helps to contextualise this always helps me better appreciate the work. It's not usually essential to enjoyment but it can certainly enrich it.
 
Agreed on the text based extras. The extras on disc that I always value are the commentaries, documentaries and deleted scenes - the behind the scenes stuff. That's not a common thing for anime (and becoming depressingly less common for mainstream releases too) , so interviews and essays are as close as I can get for that.

The UEs for Patema Inverted and Giovanni's Island were the best examples of this for me, making them the two high watermarks for AL releases in my opinion. In contrast, the lack of any such material in the FMP UE was the main reason I found it disappointing. I do hope we get some more books in the Patema/Giovanni style.

I also haven't forgotten the loss of the Clementary for Mai Mai Miracle in the Kickstarter vote. I'm not bitter. :p
 
I also haven't forgotten the loss of the Clementary for Mai Mai Miracle in the Kickstarter vote. I'm not bitter. :p

Hope you enjoy the leaflet instead....

That one reminded me why sometimes people shouldn't be given no brainer options. The brainless spoil it for everyone.

Very much still bitter about that one.....:mad::D
 
Saw the FMA box they had in the glass case at MCM and seriously, the size of the book alone is crazy - it's like proper coffee table book size.
 
Saw the FMA box they had in the glass case at MCM and seriously, the size of the book alone is crazy - it's like proper coffee table book size.

I'm dying to go through that.

My main issue now is I need to procure a copy of FMA : Conqueror of Shamballa since I don't own a copy, and require it for my FMA marathon
 
I hated Brotherhood to the point that I dropped that **** but I was told that I might prefer 2003 FMA to Brotherhood, £200 tho.
 
I hated Brotherhood to the point that I dropped that **** but I was told that I might prefer 2003 FMA to Brotherhood, £200 tho.

Honestly brotherhood in terms of story is better than the original as it follows the manga's ending instead of being an original one (not saying original ending was bad).
The original does explain some scenes that are only briefly mentioned, or cutout from brotherhood.

If you didn't like brotherhood I really can't imagine your liking the original.
 
Hope we get a Brotherhood UE someday.
Same, especially given the show never got treated that well in English-speaking markets. Here in the US at best we got those postcards in the 5-part release that had shiny slipboxes, in Australia they got an artbox to fit the 5 parts and the OVA, and in the UK, it was similar to the US from my understanding. Definitely a downgrade from how the original series got treated as well as Conqueror of Shamballa (FUNi's digibook LE for that is pretty great).

Sadly it's not to be at the moment because Aniplex, though at least you guys still have the show in-print... (And AoA might not release it even though it's freaking FMA:B and almost crashed CR when it launched on there. They also still won't release Rurouni Kenshin TV despite those great streaming numbers. The Sony dub (CR and Netflix have the MB one) is their #4 all-time streaming title on Hulu.)

Also so jealous of how say Germany is getting the series. They're getting the booklets from the Japanese release we never got (unlike S1 where we did get the JP booklets adapted here).
 
Speaking of Aniplex and Rurouni Kenshin - I would love to see Trust & Betrayal and Reflections re-issued as Blu-Rays. I still have the original ADV DVD box, but really - especially in the case of Trust & Betrayal, that thing deserves BR treatment.
 
I really wouldn't be surprised if Anime Limited grabbed Brotherhood since MANGA's rights have expired. Especially if the original sells well.
 
Speaking of Aniplex and Rurouni Kenshin - I would love to see Trust & Betrayal and Reflections re-issued as Blu-Rays. I still have the original ADV DVD box, but really - especially in the case of Trust & Betrayal, that thing deserves BR treatment.
Indeed. (He also did a comparison for Reflection but the Internet Archive didn't save it.:()
hissatsu said:
Well, looks like I'm a little late with the screenshots this time, so here's a comparison with the R1 ADV Tsuioku-hen... I mean, Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal DVDs (barf). For the most part the BD is a huge improvement, though things are not as good as they could be, due to both choices made in the production of the BD and unfortunate reality.

There has been grain removal applied, though not nearly as severe as some. There's still a fine grain structure there for the most part, but it's pretty light. I can't see any signs of detail loss or smearing of detail. So while I'd prefer they leave the grain alone, I don't find what they did too objectionable.

The unavoidable issue is with scenes that used SD digital compositing and/or CG. Those are upscaled. Screenshots 21, 30, 33, 46, 48, 57, and 58 are upscaled. The only alternative is to redo the animation for those portions from scratch. I think Lain is the only anime that has had that luxury so far, and it will likely rarely be repeated. But beyond that, there are scenes that show no signs of any digital work and were definitely done on film that are upscaled as well. I suspect that the film elements for those cuts were probably lost at some point. Unfortunately archival of the original film elements has not been a very high priority in the past, so this will not be the last release affected by this. The percentage of upscaled scenes is extremely low in the first two episodes, but it goes up in the third and especially the fourth. It is somewhat disappointing that some pivotal scenes in the last episode are upscaled, even knowing that it was unavoidable.

I've also read complaints of black crush - this I think is a bit wrongheaded, or at least forgetting what RK Tsuioku-hen looked like in the first place. The dark scenes have always been very dark/murky, from the original LD release (which I still own) onwards. I used to have the R2JP DVD director's cut. Just as dark. The ADV DVD is has more black crush than the BD as well. Unless if you're going to insist that every release of Tsuioku-hen ever has independently made the same error, I think it's a lot more likely that this is the way it was originally made.

In the end I'm quite satisfied with my purchase, if not overjoyed. It probably the best that Tsuioku-hen will ever look, and I can finally get rid of those ADV DVDs.

BD screenshots cropped to 4:3 (1440x1080), DVD screenshots bicubic resized to 1440x1080

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Anime/Manga - View Single Post - [JP] Rurouni Kenshin OVAs / Film [EngSub][EngDub]
[JP BD] Rurouni Kenshin OVAs / Film [EngSub] [EngDub] - Page 3

You can currently still get the Japanese Blu-ray on Amazon Japan (it has English subs and the dub). It doesn't come in a digipak anymore and doesn't include the booklet.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B004X8VQJO/

Also, Blu-rays for the TV series when Aniplex? I'll never understand why they won't do it. They could have done a Blu-ray Box when the successful live-action movies were out for promotion purposes, but nope. And the TV series has been OOP for years there, the last release was in 2006 (this gorgeous set). Not even joking, it's been almost 10 years since Aniplex last did something with the TV series in Japan.
TV アニメ るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚- - allcinema
I really wouldn't be surprised if Anime Limited grabbed Brotherhood since MANGA's rights have expired. Especially if the original sells well.
They lost it? Last I heard they still had the rights, and also they got it from Aniplex directly, not FUNimation.
 
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I've cancelled my pre-orders for Gundam. I've been thinking about it for a little while now (huge investment in the long run) and I hardly have the time to watch any other shows that I'm interested in.

I'm certain the "no news" about future Gundam titles is nothing, but I dread to think of the long-run cost for owning them all if they do get released. Guess I need to somehow shift my Giant Origins Blu-Rays somehow :)

I think Fullmetal Alchemist and Escaflowne will take up most of my anime watching for the rest of the year anyhow!
 
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