Defective or Disappointing UK Anime Discs

demonix said:
Considering the face that Siren Visual is the distributor in Australia, and that they don't seem to have a good record with regards to quality it might be that if the masters were obtained from them it is likely that they mucked things up since there aren't any reports that I'm aware of for the US release that show these issues (I've only looked at the dedicated thread on TFP, and there isn't any mention of any video issues there and no glitch reports either).
Has there been anything major BD-wise* other than Durarara? The problem there was more a lack of QC than an error in authoring; the problem was with the subtitles they received.

* I think most of the PAL DVDs I have with audio artefacts are Sentai/Siren/MVM rather than FUNi/Madman/Manga**. I haven't actually run a tally, but my general impression is that Madman are better at pitch correction than Siren/Seraphim.

** Ghost Hunt is an exception.
 
Siren/Seraphim rarely pitch correct, so everything sounds chipmunked. Madman do pitch correct, and most of their DVDs sound pants. Nadias DVDs are apparently NTSC anyway.

Anyway, that issue with Nadia (I've reviewed the BD) is the same thing that happened in Gurren Lagann, ie SD material used to plug gaps where the original film was missing. Happens twice in ep 29, once in episode 30, once in episode 35, and once in 36. That's opposed to the regular loss of focus in some scenes, which I can only put down to the way the show was animated, cel and ink to a weekly broadcast schedule, where the animators had a choice between getting it done on time, or getting it right.
 
I've been re-watching Chrono Crusade and noticed that on Volume 2 (or the second disc if you have the complete collection) the 5.1 English Audio has been mixed/muxed incorrectly...as a result dialogue comes out of the left rear speaker as well as the centre speaker (it should only come out of the centre speaker unless someone is talking to the left).

The rest of the episodes (and the episodes on disc 1) are perfectly fine....
 
Invisible Crane said:
So anything wrong with Manga UK's release of Samurai Bride?

The Blu-rays are Sentai's masters with the Manga logo at the front instead of the Sentai one, and the trailers stripped so that there's only Samurai Girls. It's worth checking the US forums to see if there's anything wrong with Sentai's release, although I didn't have any issues with the review discs. I didn't see the DVD discs though.
 
Just Passing Through said:
Invisible Crane said:
So anything wrong with Manga UK's release of Samurai Bride?

The Blu-rays are Sentai's masters with the Manga logo at the front instead of the Sentai one, and the trailers stripped so that there's only Samurai Girls. It's worth checking the US forums to see if there's anything wrong with Sentai's release, although I didn't have any issues with the review discs. I didn't see the DVD discs though.

Really?, considering I've heard nothing bad about the US release I won't mind replacing my US DVD of SB with the UK BD
 
I think I may have spoke too soon about Manga UK actually improving. Seems their BD release of Samurai Bride is missing the english dub audio for the mini OAVs. Since reviews I've seen claim they were dubbed but not on the UK BD I have
 
Invisible Crane said:
I think I may have spoke too soon about Manga UK actually improving. Seems their BD release of Samurai Bride is missing the english dub audio for the mini OAVs. Since reviews I've seen claim they were dubbed but not on the UK BD I have

It took me a while to find evidence on this and you are correct, the Sentai release does have an English dub for the shorts. Epic fail on Manga's part once again.
 
Are they at least subbed?
Has anyone compared the Manga and Sentai discs otherwise? Is there a Seraphim credits page on the Manga discs?
 
Yes they are at least subbed and Seraphim are credited on the disc credits section. In fact the whole thing is a direct port of the Sentai release as far as I can tell
 
UK Studio Canal release of 'The Tale Of Princess Kaguya' has dubtitles.

Haven't seen it mentioned yet and it only counts as disappointing but it does bug me.
 
serpantino said:
UK Studio Canal release of 'The Tale Of Princess Kaguya' has dubtitles.

Haven't seen it mentioned yet and it only counts as disappointing but it does bug me.

Someone on their Facebook page also complained over some other stuff related to the film but I can't find that long comment now.

UPDATE - Never mind I found it on the Amazon UK review page instead:
Forgive me, Ghibli fans, but I have to say this. I love the film, and would easily give it 5-Stars. My reason for this review, is to slate the product, as it's so utterly shoddy, it's beyond a joke!

Firstly, the menu screen that starts the Blu-Ray, is pathetic. Literally, no expense has been spared, to create a static screen with cgi-created rose petals gently falling down the screen, whilst no music plays.

If you play the film, without setting-up any of the audio/subtitle options, it defaults to English 5.1, with on-screen English Subs for the Deaf/Hard Of Hearing! Why?

When the film starts, and even if you've chosen to watch the film in Japanese with English Subs, the film starts with the awful Disney created English Opening Credits sequence, with English Subtitles that repeat everything that is on-screen. It concludes, with the Disney created English Closing Credits sequence, which are merely white text scrolling-up a black screen! Again, the on-screen subtitles repeat much of what you can see. Why has StudioCanal UK NOT used the Japanese Opening and Closing Credit sequences, which were how the film originally appeared in Japan? After all, this is a Japanese animation, and as such, you've basically bastardised this monumentally amazing film, and altered it!

To make matters worse, the US Blu-Ray release included the 90-minute documentary ISAO TAKAHATA AND HIS TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA, as the extra, in Hi-Def. What do we get in the UK? A 40-minute announcement that THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA has been completed, and some trailers. Now, you can buy the documentary separately, but it's on DVD only, which means you have to enjoy it in Standard Definition only! Very cheeky of StudioCanal UK to do this!

The write-up on the back of the Collector's Edition, is inaccurate too. It states:

"From the legendary Studio Ghibli, comes the visionary tour de force THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA. Based on one of Japan's oldest and most beloved folktales, this hand-drawn masterpiece is the extraordinary final film from co-founder and director Isao Takahata".

...er, except it isn't. Isao Takahata hasn't finished with Studio Ghibli as a director, writer or producer. Nor has Studio Ghibli finished film-making either! Hayao Miyazaki, has finished directing - with Ghibli's previous film THE WIND RISES - but even he is only stepping-down as a director, and not as the head of Ghibli itself. So, whoever wrote this blurb, is clueless!

On top of this, this Collector's Edition, comes with five postcards. Normally, they are of a very high standard. Not here! Nope, what we get are five random images from the film, none of which are very good, and one has been horizontally-stretched to fit the size of the postcard! What really annoys me, is that when the film was released in cinemas, StudioCanal UK gave-out for free a set of six postcards to may cinemagoers. These featured the UK poster, plus five additional images: all of which are better looking, clearer, and more attractive to fans of the film.

But the problems don't end their. The printing of the outer sleeve/case is blurred, and the text bleeds into the cardboard that's been used! Why? Poor production quality checks! And, the sleeve isn't wide enough to actually hold the postcards, and the two discs (one Blu-Ray, one DVD). It's so tight, it makes it almost impossible to get the thing out!

All of these issues, faults and problems, destroy what should have been an amazing release of this beautiful film. Considering this is a Collector's Edition, and cost me £19.75 from Amazon, it's appalling in practically every aspect! I am so angry with StudioCanal UK. If you have the choice, and are Region A (USA) compatible, import the US Blu-Ray instead: the cover art's not so impressive, but I've been told you do get the original Japanese opening and closing credits, plus the 90-minute documentary, but it is Region A locked and NOT completely Region Free as Amazon lists it as!

If you can't do that, then stick to the standard UK Blu-Ray or DVD release. Simply put, this is one of the worst Ghibli releases I've ever owned! It's an insult to fans and Studio Ghibli!
 
That does sound disappointing. It's funny that most of the Ghibli releases have some kind of issue (even if it's just dubtitles) considering that they're kind of the biggest and best known anime. I suppose that's maybe the problem though, leaning towards a mainstream release and not taking fans into account. Still, I'm not sure that explains it since I can't think of a good reason that dubtitles should be more mainstream friendly (so that the two versions seem the same to the casual viewer maybe?).
 
Guy's a moron. There are 2 sub tracks. One for the dub and one for the sub. Just checked it and they are identical to the JP BD.

Perhaps Pooch should check his BD remote control more often.
 
Some of his review is a little unfair, the 90 minute doc is in SD on a separate DVD for the US release too. All Studiocanal have done is separated the disc out of the main set.

If the BBFC database is correct, the documentary was given a separate theatrical run over here, so my guess is Studiocanal considers it an entirely different film not associated with the main film.
 
NormanicGrav said:
Invisible Crane said:
I think I may have spoke too soon about Manga UK actually improving. Seems their BD release of Samurai Bride is missing the english dub audio for the mini OAVs. Since reviews I've seen claim they were dubbed but not on the UK BD I have

It took me a while to find evidence on this and you are correct, the Sentai release does have an English dub for the shorts. Epic fail on Manga's part once again.
It could be that they sourced their material from madman and they removed the english audio from the shorts (or never had the English audio track for the shorts to begin with), or someone was a total idiot and only sent English audio assets for the main series part and not the shorts.
 
Back
Top