Defective or Disappointing UK Anime Discs

Welp, assuming the film video and English audio quality for DBZ have no problems, then I am fine with the UK release. Could not care less for the (in my opinion worst casting of all time) Japanese audio and as for the extras, they are only live-action Funimation in-house stuff. Good for a one time watch, but no real need to be in HD. Also we get art cards, which is nice. :D

Just a quick question, are there any extras/niceties that the UK release is actually MISSING over the US one?

As best as I can tell, assuming you are here for the movie, with English dubbing, then this release is superior to the US one.

Anyhow, looking forward to finally getting to watch the film tmrow, after some 3 odd years of waiting.
 
megagold5 said:
Welp, assuming the film video and English audio quality for DBZ have no problems, then I am fine with the UK release. Could not care less for the (in my opinion worst casting of all time) Japanese audio and as for the extras, they are only live-action Funimation in-house stuff. Good for a one time watch, but no real need to be in HD. Also we get art cards, which is nice. :D

Just a quick question, are there any extras/niceties that the UK release is actually MISSING over the US one?

As best as I can tell, assuming you are here for the movie, with English dubbing, then this release is superior to the US one.

Anyhow, looking forward to finally getting to watch the film tmrow, after some 3 odd years of waiting.
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The US release has 5.1 Japanese audio for the theatrical cut. The UK has only stereo.
 
Just Passing Through said:
megagold5 said:
Welp, assuming the film video and English audio quality for DBZ have no problems, then I am fine with the UK release. Could not care less for the (in my opinion worst casting of all time) Japanese audio and as for the extras, they are only live-action Funimation in-house stuff. Good for a one time watch, but no real need to be in HD. Also we get art cards, which is nice. :D

Just a quick question, are there any extras/niceties that the UK release is actually MISSING over the US one?

As best as I can tell, assuming you are here for the movie, with English dubbing, then this release is superior to the US one.

Anyhow, looking forward to finally getting to watch the film tmrow, after some 3 odd years of waiting.
Click to expand...

The US release has 5.1 Japanese audio for the theatrical cut. The UK has only stereo.
Click to expand...

Yeah, bar that, which I personally couldn't care less about.
 
The Devil is a Part-Timer - Blu-ray

Subtitles:
You have the option of DTS-HD 5.1 MA Surround English, and PCM 2.0 Stereo Japanese, with optional translated subtitles and a signs only track. I went with the Japanese audio, and the dialogue was clear, and the music and the action came across well. The English dub is watchable enough, and the surround affords the show a little more space. The real issue here is with the subtitles. Manga authored discs can’t show more than two lines of captions simultaneously, which becomes a problem when there are two conversations occurring simultaneously, or when there’s background dialogue with the main character dialogue, or when there’s on screen text to translate at the same time as when someone is speaking.

Rather than simply leave bits out as a certain, to remain nameless distributor usually does, Manga cram everything into the subtitle stream, which means at certain points in the show, subtitles flit by, are mixed up, or are downright incomprehensible. I don’t appreciate having to skip back and frame advance, hoping that my brain will catch up and decipher it all. Consequently, at those points, subtitles can be completely mistimed. It doesn’t help that the disc is random when it comes to subtitle placement on screen, with them suddenly appearing at the top without reason. I didn’t bother noting all the annoyances, but at 1:11 into episode 10, Chi’s line isn’t subtitled, and at 3:10 into episode 13 is a perfect example of incomprehensibility as a perfect storm hits, of two conversations plus screen text. It’s also worth noting that the signs track for the English dub takes its timings from the main subtitle track, and that some signs won’t stay on screen long enough to read.

Also, I get the feeling that Manga have adapted the subtitle script for the UK audience. Certainly the only time I’ve heard the word ‘chum’ (episode 3) in a US production is in association with hunting a great white shark, not as a descriptor for a ‘friend’.
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Other notes:
In case the subtitles weren’t enough to tip you off, this is indeed a Manga Entertainment authored title, which is odd given that the US release from Funimation plays on Region B Blu-ray players. It seems to be a bit of an unnecessary duplication of effort. It’s disappointing too, given Manga’s scattershot approach to chaptering their episodes. Forget about skipping credit sequences here. And they may use 2 BD 50s as opposed to a BD 50 and a BD 25, but given that they are using the same video materials that Funimation used, you’re not going to see any difference.

It does appear however that they have retained all of the extra features.
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Source - MyReviewer

Video:
Better is the ‘best’ word to describe this set as it’s still far from perfect; as while the ‘tinny audio issue’ experienced within the DVD release is nowhere to be found this Blu-ray release still suffers from the other faults, such as lack of text during opening and closing songs and the in-correct chapter markers. Fortunately these can be ‘overlooked’ as everything else works as intended.
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Source - Anime Blu-ray UK
 
NormanicGrav said:
The Devil is a Part-Timer - Blu-ray

Subtitles:
You have the option of DTS-HD 5.1 MA Surround English, and PCM 2.0 Stereo Japanese, with optional translated subtitles and a signs only track. I went with the Japanese audio, and the dialogue was clear, and the music and the action came across well. The English dub is watchable enough, and the surround affords the show a little more space. The real issue here is with the subtitles. Manga authored discs can’t show more than two lines of captions simultaneously, which becomes a problem when there are two conversations occurring simultaneously, or when there’s background dialogue with the main character dialogue, or when there’s on screen text to translate at the same time as when someone is speaking.

Rather than simply leave bits out as a certain, to remain nameless distributor usually does, Manga cram everything into the subtitle stream, which means at certain points in the show, subtitles flit by, are mixed up, or are downright incomprehensible. I don’t appreciate having to skip back and frame advance, hoping that my brain will catch up and decipher it all. Consequently, at those points, subtitles can be completely mistimed. It doesn’t help that the disc is random when it comes to subtitle placement on screen, with them suddenly appearing at the top without reason. I didn’t bother noting all the annoyances, but at 1:11 into episode 10, Chi’s line isn’t subtitled, and at 3:10 into episode 13 is a perfect example of incomprehensibility as a perfect storm hits, of two conversations plus screen text. It’s also worth noting that the signs track for the English dub takes its timings from the main subtitle track, and that some signs won’t stay on screen long enough to read.

Also, I get the feeling that Manga have adapted the subtitle script for the UK audience. Certainly the only time I’ve heard the word ‘chum’ (episode 3) in a US production is in association with hunting a great white shark, not as a descriptor for a ‘friend’.
Click to expand...
Other notes:
In case the subtitles weren’t enough to tip you off, this is indeed a Manga Entertainment authored title, which is odd given that the US release from Funimation plays on Region B Blu-ray players. It seems to be a bit of an unnecessary duplication of effort. It’s disappointing too, given Manga’s scattershot approach to chaptering their episodes. Forget about skipping credit sequences here. And they may use 2 BD 50s as opposed to a BD 50 and a BD 25, but given that they are using the same video materials that Funimation used, you’re not going to see any difference.

It does appear however that they have retained all of the extra features.
Click to expand...
Source - MyReviewer

Video:
Better is the ‘best’ word to describe this set as it’s still far from perfect; as while the ‘tinny audio issue’ experienced within the DVD release is nowhere to be found this Blu-ray release still suffers from the other faults, such as lack of text during opening and closing songs and the in-correct chapter markers. Fortunately these can be ‘overlooked’ as everything else works as intended.
Click to expand...
Source - Anime Blu-ray UK
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I seriously can't understand how a company which has been in the anime business for so long still haven't caught on to the industry standard of chapter stops after the opening credits!
 
It's pretty piss poor that whoever authors Manga's discs can't seem to do subtitles or chapters properly. Equally stupid is the omission of OP/ED subtitles.
There's a perfectly good master from Funimation already, so there was no reason for Manga to shove out an crappy product. They really do seem to be taking inspiration from Kaze recently with all the crappy releases, removal of BD Extras and artificial "collectors editions".
I like the people behind the company, but I'm glad I very rarely buy anything from them anymore.
 
Mangaranga said:
It's pretty piss poor that whoever authors Manga's discs can't seem to do subtitles or chapters properly. Equally stupid is the omission of OP/ED subtitles.
There's a perfectly good master from Funimation already, so there was no reason for Manga to shove out an crappy product. They really do seem to be taking inspiration from Kaze recently with all the crappy releases, removal of BD Extras and artificial "collectors editions".
I like the people behind the company, but I'm glad I very rarely buy anything from them anymore.
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I can only assume that the reason MangaUK author their own discs, instead of using Madman or FUNimation, is because of cost - or it could be a way of getting releases out sooner.

For instance since MangaUK decided to author their own discs releases have been 'a lot' closer to the US release; but at the end of the day the question of "quality" remains.
 
dont know if its just me but the naruto unleashed dvd set 1 doesnt seem to have sign subtitles for the english dub ? this issue isnt listed however. Would really appreciate some kinda conformation.
 
windcott said:
dont know if its just me but the naruto unleashed dvd set 1 doesnt seem to have sign subtitles for the english dub ? this issue isnt listed however. Would really appreciate some kinda conformation.
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That is covered in the general distributor specific issues part of the first post since manga is known for not having separate signs only subtitle tracks on certain releases, but since that series isn't mentioned it's likely that it hasn't been picked up on and if it is confirmed by others then it should be added to the list of series that have no signs only subtitles.
 
Thanks, reports for older titles are still appreciated as we only started this list relatively recently; there are a number of DVD-only shows which have unlisted flaws and need adding :)

R (sorry about the slow updates)
 
Disappointment, disappointment everywhere (in these titles):

Attack on Titan: Part 2 (Blu-ray)
Manga UK Authoring issues + UK subtitle translation issues:
The sticking point as always with Manga authored discs comes down to the subtitles, as once again they are limited to only being able to show one caption on screen at a time. In Attack on Titan, with very little on screen text to translate, that only becomes an issue in the eyecatches (the bits at the halfway point of an episode where the jargon of the show is explained), and the subtitle translations flash by at that point far too quickly to read. Subtitles can occasionally be mistimed when characters have long speeches. They may say one line, and two lines of subtitle will flash up, they then speak two sentences, and one line will flash up.

Once again we have a looseness of translation that I’m just not used to with Funimation’s subtitles. Following the release of Part 1, I asked around on a forum or two to see if anyone could do a compare and contrast of the two versions, and sure enough it was pointed out that Manga Entertainment have created their own subtitles for the UK market. If that wasn’t evidence enough, the first line subtitled in episode 14 contains the word, ‘twit’, a Britishism that no American studio would ever use. Having said all that, the translation didn’t seem quite as loose in these episodes, until I came to the Chibi short animations in the extras, where it was all over the place.

As usual for a Manga authored disc, the episodes are divided at random into chapters. No convenient skipping of credit sequences here.
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While extras are on Blu-ray, they're only the second half as the first was restricted to DVD only in Part 1's Collector's Edition.

Ghost in the Shell: ARISE borders 1 & 2 (Blu-ray)
Manga UK Authoring issues + UK subtitle translation issues:
The subtitling too is awful! It’s not the usual problem of subtitle clash that has recently plagued Manga’s releases, where there’s not enough room for signs and dialogue, or dialogue from multiple sources, it’s the actual translation that lets the side down. I know that if Funimation released something like this, the Internet would melt from the fan backlash, so I have to believe that Manga created the subtitle translation locally for their release, and ditched the Funimation subtitles. These are subtitles that seem more like transliteration rather than translation, and that done by someone who has never seen any Ghost in the Shell before. The terminology and phraseology that we are used to from the films and Stand Alone Complex has vanished. The first inkling I got was when they started using ‘infiltrate’ instead of ‘hack’ or ‘ghost-hack’. When Soga’s plan to hack the traffic nets and hold the country to ransom goes into effect, the word used, repeatedly in the subtitles is ‘domination’, and I get the feeling that whoever used it, doesn’t know what the meaning of the word actually is. Far too often I had to skip back and try and read a phrase through again, to try and parse it, and it turned what should have been an enjoyable viewing experience into a headache.
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The extras also suffer from multiple subtitles on one screen issue:
All of the extra features are presented in some form of HD, and it’s here you might spot some of the text caption and dialogue and subtitle clash that is so annoying on recent Manga discs.
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All credit goes to MyReviewer.
 
I don't get why Manga are authoring more discs locally now. Surly it's cheaper to do what they was doing in the past and get them from Funi and Madman.

If I get Arise now I'll wait and see if Madmans version are just Funimations discs.
 
Are Manga actually allowed to **** on the subtitles like this? I thought they had to use whatever the licensor provided them with, and I highly doubt they'd provide a separate poor translation.
I just spot checked the Funi discs and the subtitles are exactly the same as the JP BD, even down to the line breaks. It's literally just a change of font between the two releases when it comes to subtitles.

It's even more disheartening to see that Manga are continuing down their "We don't give a ****" path by not even being able to provide proper chapter markers. Give it a couple of months and hopefully they'll either sort it out, or die a quiet death like Khazi.
 
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