Defective or Disappointing UK Anime Discs

[Mangaranga]

Accel World - Part 1 & 2 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
As pointed out by Mangaranga, both parts in the UK and Australian release do not contain Character Artwork from Viz Media.

You missed the main thing that I pointed out ages ago. The Hanabee BDs don't have any of the 8 Shorts included in Viz's release either. These shorts were pretty entertaining and were even Dubbed too. I suspect that Hanabee either couldn't get the rights to them, or they were cut due to compressing 4 BD50s down to 2 BD50 & 2 BD25s.

 

[NormanicGrav]

Accel World - Part 1 & 2 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
As pointed out by Mangaranga, both parts in the UK and Australian release do not contain Character Artwork from Viz Media.

You missed the main thing that I pointed out ages ago. The Hanabee BDs don't have any of the 8 Shorts included in Viz's release either. These shorts were pretty entertaining and were even Dubbed too. I suspect that Hanabee either couldn't get the rights to them, or they were cut due to compressing 4 BD50s down to 2 BD50 & 2 BD25s.

I knew I missed something. :lol: Hanabee probably cut them out for lack of space reasons.

 

[NormanicGrav]

Dragon Ball - Season 3 (DVD)

NOTE: Episode 81 is missing the second half. It instead repeats the second half of episode 83, which is a bit of a confusing development, going straight from the gates of hell to a bit of nonsense with a mischievous fox. That’s if you watch it in Japanese. If you watch it in English, it plays through normally. You’ll just have to remember to change audio and subtitles at that point via your player remote.

The problems continue here, as episode 73, The Devilmite Beam, lacks translated English subtitles for the Japanese track, and instead merely repeats the dubtitle track again. The problem with Dragon Ball is that the English adaptation is so different from the Japanese original that the dubtitles on many occasions fail to make sense, not even syncing up with the Japanese dialogue. (Apparently some of the other episodes lack dubtitles to go with the English dub, but I haven’t personally checked this out.)

 

[Rui]

That's pretty pathetic. Added to the list!

R

 

[Just Passing Through]

That's pretty pathetic. Added to the list!

R

That's Dragon Ball, not Dragon Ball Z

 

[Rui]

That's pretty pathetic. Added to the list!

R

That's Dragon Ball, not Dragon Ball Z

Oops, thanks!

 

[NormanicGrav]

Kokoro Connect: TV Collection - DVD

Just some minor issues:

The only issue was with a missing line of dialogue 4:04 into episode 10. It’s a short line, and you can easily infer the meaning. It is there in the English dub though, and that was the only time I checked the English audio to see that it existed. The subtitles are timed accurately and are free of error.

And some minor disappointment:

The only extras are on disc 2, and amount to the first opening credits and the first closing credit sequence in textless form. No doubt if you had bought this on Blu-ray, you’d get all of the textless credit sequences. Otherwise you get Hanabee (and in some cases MVM) trailers for Revolutionary Girl Utena, Princess Knight, Hiiro no Kakera: The Tamayori Princess Saga II, Little Busters, and La storia della Arcana Famiglia.

 

[NormanicGrav]

From the New World: Part 2 - DVD

In regards to this DVD release then some potential issues can be found; for starters the subtitles are noticeably smaller than the previous sets; they are still relatively easier to read but it can take a few minutes to get ‘re-adjusted’ to the new size. Another issue is that some subtitles seem in-correct, for instance during the start of Episode 20 Satoru shouts “It’s it” which (when comparing to the English Audio track) should be “It’s Here”.

These minors ubtitle issues occur throughout this second instalment but for me the biggest issue with this set is that some minor visual errors occur, with the most noticeable being on Episode 22 at the 1 minute 16 second mark. The picture just glitches up momentarily and returns to normal. Similar issues have also occurred throughout the first disc however unlike the visual glitch in Episode 22 I was unable to make it happen again upon rewinding.If you cast these issues aside the remaining product is perfectly fine, with a reasonable English Dub track, clear subtitles (despite the smaller font) and easy to access DVD Menu – although different artwork (considering that characters are older) would have been better.

 

[-Danielle-]

Well that's crap isn't it. I really want this series, hopefully if they make a complete series, it won't have all these issues.

 

[serpantino]

These minors ubtitle issues occur throughout this second instalment but for me the biggest issue with this set is that some minor visual errors occur, with the most noticeable being on Episode 22 at the 1 minute 16 second mark. The picture just glitches up momentarily and returns to normal. Similar issues have also occurred throughout the first disc however unlike the visual glitch in Episode 22 I was unable to make it happen again upon rewinding.If you cast these issues aside the remaining product is perfectly fine, with a reasonable English Dub track, clear subtitles (despite the smaller font) and easy to access DVD Menu – although different artwork (considering that characters are older) would have been better.

I had that with Code Geass Season 2 (Blu-Ray) in about 3 episodes. Did contact Manga UK about it to see if it was a one off or on all the disks and they never bothered to reply.

 

[Emo185]

Well that's crap isn't it. I really want this series, hopefully if they make a complete series, it won't have all these issues.

Judging from previous releases a complete series set will just use the same discs inside a single set; as it cuts the overall costs down (i.e. no need to re-print discs).

 

[-Danielle-]

Noooooooooo! Do you think they'll bother to fix these issues with it or leave as is now? =/

 

[Cactus]

Psycho Pass - Season 1 Collection (Blu-ray)

Unfortunately while this UK release may have the better audio quality we do receive a few disappointing faults. To start off with the subtitles are grey, seem to be amateruishly made and can sometimes be relatively awkward to read during dark scenes but not only that the “signs and songs subtitles track” does not feature any subtitles for the opening and closing songs. To me this isn’t “that” disappointing but I know a fair amount of people enjoy having the songs translated as subtitles when watching the English Audio track. Fortunately this ‘subtitle issues’ isn’t the biggest problem with this release as the biggest issue is with the odd-chapter markings. For instance most anime releases, as well as the US release of Psycho Pass, feature five or six chapter points (Prologue, Opening, Part A, Part B, Ending and next episode preview) where as in this UK release the chapter marker is at every 4 minutes so if you wanted to skip just the opening song you’d end up missing around 2 minutes (give or take) of episodic content.

Source: Anime Blu-ray UK

Now that I've watched some of my UK Psycho-Pass BDs, I have to say that I've no idea what this guy is talking about. The subtitles are normal white and opaque, looking like bluray subtitles usually do. I've watched four episodes so far, and the chapter stop after the OP is absolutely there. I've got a Samsung blu-ray player from last year.

 

[Cactus]

I'll have to retract what I said about the chapter stops. Seems like it was just a random fluke. For example episode 4 has a correct chapter stop after the OP, but not episode 5.
The subtitles are still fine though.

 

[NormanicGrav]

Arcana Famiglia [La storia della Arcana Famiglia]: Complete Collection - DVD

There is a problem with a heavily pixellated frame, 7:42 into episode 8 on disc 2, which is followed by a few pulses of pixellation of lesser degree in the subsequent seconds. It’s just like that problem that plagued Inu x Boku SS, but it only happens the once on this disc, not repeatedly.

 

[Emo185]

Psycho Pass - Season 1 Collection (Blu-ray)

Unfortunately while this UK release may have the better audio quality we do receive a few disappointing faults. To start off with the subtitles are grey, seem to be amateruishly made and can sometimes be relatively awkward to read during dark scenes but not only that the “signs and songs subtitles track” does not feature any subtitles for the opening and closing songs. To me this isn’t “that” disappointing but I know a fair amount of people enjoy having the songs translated as subtitles when watching the English Audio track. Fortunately this ‘subtitle issues’ isn’t the biggest problem with this release as the biggest issue is with the odd-chapter markings. For instance most anime releases, as well as the US release of Psycho Pass, feature five or six chapter points (Prologue, Opening, Part A, Part B, Ending and next episode preview) where as in this UK release the chapter marker is at every 4 minutes so if you wanted to skip just the opening song you’d end up missing around 2 minutes (give or take) of episodic content.

Source: Anime Blu-ray UK

Now that I've watched some of my UK Psycho-Pass BDs, I have to say that I've no idea what this guy is talking about. The subtitles are normal white and opaque, looking like bluray subtitles usually do. I've watched four episodes so far, and the chapter stop after the OP is absolutely there. I've got a Samsung blu-ray player from last year.

This is the difference in subtitles that i was referring to US Psycho-Pass Blu-ray on the left, UK Psycho-Pass Blu-ray on the right

Nearly all US, Australian and UK Blu-rays (that are originally authored/created by FUNimation) use the bright white subtitles with thin black borders (as shown in the left picture); the UK (MangaUK) release opts for a bright-ish grey with thin black boarders (as shown in the right picture) - the sizing and space is different as well.

I just thought it was something worth mentioning, hence why i included it in the review; besides when they are placed side by side the subtitles on the left seem far easier to read (in my opinion)

 

[Emo185]

Noooooooooo! Do you think they'll bother to fix these issues with it or leave as is now? =/

i believe they will leave it as is as its nothing 'majorly' serious - just disappointing (and presumably out of there control)

 

[Cactus]

Now that I've watched some of my UK Psycho-Pass BDs, I have to say that I've no idea what this guy is talking about. The subtitles are normal white and opaque, looking like bluray subtitles usually do. I've watched four episodes so far, and the chapter stop after the OP is absolutely there. I've got a Samsung blu-ray player from last year.

This is the difference in subtitles that i was referring to US Psycho-Pass Blu-ray on the left, UK Psycho-Pass Blu-ray on the right

Nearly all US, Australian and UK Blu-rays (that are originally authored/created by FUNimation) use the bright white subtitles with thin black borders (as shown in the left picture); the UK (MangaUK) release opts for a bright-ish grey with thin black boarders (as shown in the right picture) - the sizing and space is different as well.

I just thought it was something worth mentioning, hence why i included it in the review; besides when they are placed side by side the subtitles on the left seem far easier to read (in my opinion)

The font used by Manga UK is the same font as on most BD I've ever seen. I'm Swedish so I see a lot of subtitles, lol. I've actually never seen one look like the Funi ones. I agree the borders are a little too thin, but again they look absolutely normal. And perfectly white as well. I guess it's all down to what you're used to.

I did a quick Google Images for examples:
http://community.wd.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/10748i9F20348F7556A899?v=mpbl-1
https://egycsepplelek.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/large_inception_blu-ray_subs2.jpg

 

[Emo185]

Now that I've watched some of my UK Psycho-Pass BDs, I have to say that I've no idea what this guy is talking about. The subtitles are normal white and opaque, looking like bluray subtitles usually do. I've watched four episodes so far, and the chapter stop after the OP is absolutely there. I've got a Samsung blu-ray player from last year.

This is the difference in subtitles that i was referring to US Psycho-Pass Blu-ray on the left, UK Psycho-Pass Blu-ray on the right

Nearly all US, Australian and UK Blu-rays (that are originally authored/created by FUNimation) use the bright white subtitles with thin black borders (as shown in the left picture); the UK (MangaUK) release opts for a bright-ish grey with thin black boarders (as shown in the right picture) - the sizing and space is different as well.

I just thought it was something worth mentioning, hence why i included it in the review; besides when they are placed side by side the subtitles on the left seem far easier to read (in my opinion)

The font used by Manga UK is the same font as on most BD I've ever seen. I'm Swedish so I see a lot of subtitles, lol. I've actually never seen one look like the Funi ones. I agree the borders are a little too thin, but again they look absolutely normal. And perfectly white as well. I guess it's all down to what you're used to.

I did a quick Google Images for examples:
http://community.wd.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/10748i9F20348F7556A899?v=mpbl-1
https://egycsepplelek.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/large_inception_blu-ray_subs2.jpg

Do those really count? as they are for live-action movies and not for anime.

Either way FUNimation produced shows often use the same subtitle style as that used in the US Psycho-Pass release; for instance the UK Blu-ray releases of Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero, Blood-C, Blood-C: The Last Dark, Fairy Tail - Parts 1 to 8, Highschool DxD, Karnveval, Last Exile: Fam Parts 1 and 2 and Steins Gate Parts 1 and 2 all use the same subtitle style as the US Psycho-Pass release.

The only other release, which has used the same style of subtitles as the UK release of Psycho-Pass, was Deadman Wonderland and yet again MangaUK authored the discs themselves.

I Guess I'm jus too familiar with the US FUNimation style subs so I easily noticed the difference xD

 

[fabio de lunatico]

There are worse problems with the Psycho Pass subtitles than the font.

From Just Passing Through/Jitendar's review:

It being a Manga authored title, it comes up to the same limitations as the others when it comes to subtitles, in that the disc can’t show more than one subtitle caption at a time. Where there is on screen text to translate and dialogue, the appropriate captions are flashed up consecutively, not leaving as much time as might be comfortable to read them all. This reaches a head in episode 14, around 11 minutes in, where there are two conversations occurring simultaneously, and the disc translates them both. Good luck sorting those subtitles out into some semblance of sense. Also, while the theme song lyrics are subtitled, they are only done so on the full subtitle track, not the signs only track as you might have expected.