Low quality visuals of older anime on DVD...

ayase said:
I downloaded Gundam F91 in HD because Bandai's DVD (which I bought) had such a horrible interlaced non-anamophic picture. Whatever you think of Blu-ray, at least the jump to high definition might mean some older series get the re-mastering they deserve.
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But F91 is a movie, not a series... it actually has detail worth bringing into focus through an HD picture (and of all things, visuals are surely most important in F91. You can't HD a screenplay that awful!).

Decent DVD masters of older series are what we need, not another excuse to watch low-fi 80s anime on a new technology just for the sake of it. And just because the UK distributors are getting another go at mastering them, doesn't mean they're going to manage anything any more satisfactory. Many early DVDs seemed to be the smallest step up from VHS here. I wouldn't put it past some companies to release Blu-Ray discs of similarly antiquated masters.
 
kupoartist said:
Many early DVDs seemed to be the smallest step up from VHS here. I wouldn't put it past some companies to release Blu-Ray discs of similarly antiquated masters.
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I suppose it's possible, but it was easier get away with using a VHS master for DVD as there wasn't much difference in resolution. But there's no way they could get away with upscaling a VHS master for Blu-ray. If there's demand for older series in HD (in Japan, I hasten to add) they'll have to remaster some of the older series which were never properly done for DVD.

F91... I'll leave alone in order not to drag this thread off topic. ;)
 
ayase said:
I suppose it's possible, but it was easier get away with using a VHS master for DVD as there wasn't much difference in resolution.
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I should say that's open for debate. Quality VHS to Quality DVD was a huge leap: it just looks less so in retrospect because of how many thousands of points more HD allows, and because DVD looks so poor on a cutting edge TV (when the good old cancer tubes blurred it up just fine). I still think bad masters will slip through on the back of good old ignorance and wishful thinking. So long as the disc comes in a pretty blue plastic case, the placebo is in place.
 
Aion said:
Why is that? What allows the visuals of old stuff to be improved so much on Blu-ray over DVDs?
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Very simple, they've taken a copy from the film master, not some worn out old video version. Its got nowt to do with the final delivery medium.

kupoartist said:
So long as the disc comes in a pretty blue plastic case, the placebo is in place.
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Bingo! Its the 'phwoar!! HD!!' effect. I picked up Gunbuster on BD, my word its bad. And the fact it suffers from gate judder....
 
Project-2501 said:
kupoartist said:
So long as the disc comes in a pretty blue plastic case, the placebo is in place.
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Bingo! Its the 'phwoar!! HD!!' effect. I picked up Gunbuster on BD, my word its bad. And the fact it suffers from gate judder....
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I don't like some aspects of Blu-ray (the region coding or the fact they're still releasing multiple versions for different countries when they could get all the audio and sub tracks on one release and just slap different covers on it) but a move to high definition can't be anything but a good thing. For one it banishes NTSC and PAL to the dustbin of history.

If some people want to buy a disc without reading reviews that tell them what the picture quality is like, then more fool them. I'll continue to read reviews and make an informed decision on whether something's worth buying or not.
 
ayase said:
If some people want to buy a disc without reading reviews that tell them what the picture quality is like, then more fool them. I'll continue to read reviews and make an informed decision on whether something's worth buying or not.
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More the fool who assumes anything labled 'HD' is actually High Definition.

Look at Paprika, pretty much everything on one disc. And given that about 2/3rds of current BD releases are region free really negates the 'its still region coded' moan. The fact they release several different versions has nothing to do with the media. Its the distros.
 
Just posting to say that, 1.5 hours in, Honneamise is one of the most boring and seemingly pointless films I've ever watched in my 20 years on Earth. Nothing seems to have happened so far.

Shiro volunteers to be the first man to go into space, Shiro prepares for his journey, Shiro gets to know a religious woman who tells everyone the world will end if it keeps going the way it is, Shiro gets depressed when people start to question why so much money is being spent on going into space when people are starving, Shiro very randomly attempts to rape the religious woman (and then gets apologized to...) and... /dies from boredom

It has terrible pacing. The story could've been interesting but it's too uneventful, too straightforward and too little is shown of the world for me to care about the troubles of the people. And I don't care for any of the cast at all... I can't remember most of the names.

Like I have no idea why Manna keeps staring blankly at Shiro, I have no idea why Shiro attempted to rape the religious woman after waking up. Up until that point he seemed like a semi-decent guy; not the sort to try something like that. It was as if it was thrown in so boobs made an appearance and something dramatic occurred. The religious chick reacting by apologizing to Shiro for stopping him raping her made what happened even more bizarre.

I'd like to think it's the sort of film that improves the more you watch it, but I don't think I could stomach sitting through the film again - I'm half-asleep as a result of watching it for the first time! The only plus points I can see are the animation and serious tone that most anime lacks.

Fabio: Since you instantly assumed I might call it boring, is this film known for sending some viewers to sleep?

Edit: I couldn't be bothered to finish it, stopping at 1:32. Instead of giving it the 4-5/10 score I was tempted to give, I've given it a rather generous 6/10 because A) I didn't watch the last half hour and B) I get the feeling it's the sort of film you need to watch a couple of times to like. It was even more of a let down than Akira.
 
Aion said:
Fabio: Since you instantly assumed I might call it boring, is this film known for sending some viewers to sleep?
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Heh. Well, as you pointed out, Honneamise is a film largely without action, and you youngsters tend to get bored when ****'s not being blown up every five seconds ;) All the action is, in fact, crammed into the last half-an-hour, so you picked a bad place to stop watching.

What I love most about the film is the visual creativity. Everything, right down to the most mundane everyday object, is meticulously designed, vaguely recognizable yet distinctly alien. But also because it's a classic coming-of-age story about an ordinary man who overcomes his doubts and fears to achieve something incredible and unprecedented. His development as a character is something I found fascinating to watch.

As for the rape, I admit that I don't know. But I found these thoughts from editor and author Carl Gustav Horn.
 
devilrules666 said:
if it's a good show it dosen't matter if it dosen't look great! the storyline should matter!
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Also, there are plenty of things that looks great, but are simply terrible. Speed racer movie comes to mind.
 
So, your argument is that people who dislike the film are stupid/inexperienced and shouldn't be listened to? That's a great, one-sided way of looking at it.

Your other point, about it being a good anime despite you admitting it's more appealing to non-anime fans, is also fairly amusing. Surely it should be fans of anime who judge anime?


I'm not trying to start an argument but the way you wanted to fix the picture I'd painted of something you like stunk of disrespect. I'm fine if people like it, like I'm fine with people who like Riding Bean despite the fact I rated it 1/10, but I'm not fine with people putting their opinion on top of mine.

I'll never understand why films such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Howl's Castle, Spirited Away and WoH are regarded so highly by some. But, at the end of the day, I just have to accept that everyone is different and ignore my inability to understand others.
 
Akaten said:
chaos said:
devilrules666 said:
if it's a good show it dosen't matter if it dosen't look great! the storyline should matter!
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Also, there are plenty of things that looks great, but are simply terrible. Speed racer movie comes to mind.
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On the general issue animation and formal qualities, the production values and what not are important things, not the only thing (especially with low budget tv animation) but if it is well drawn and animated, as Honneamise is, I fail to see why someone cannot praise the film for the money and effort that went into creating a well realised alternative world, its part of what makes the film such as remarkable work.
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I'd just like to point out that the "low quality visuals" in the thread title is specifically referring to the transfer/video quality, not the art and animation (which, I'm sure all of us can agree, is of a very high standard).
 
Yes, 'Low quality DVD transfers...' would've been a more adequate thread title. I must apologize for the confusion caused by Akaten reading the title and not the content.


Talking of DVD transfers, the remastered DVD-rips of Gundam: 08th MS Team looked lovely, the colours looking vibrant and the image free of the transfer 'dirt' I often expect when watching older releases.
 
I'm in the minority with my views on WoH, I'm not denying that, but it's clear if you browse (for example) through Amazon reviews that a number of people found the same problems with the film that I did. It isn't too often that I stop watching a 2 hour film before the end. I find it a bit difficult to imagine a film that induces sleep selling to most non-anime fans but, like I said, I'll never understand others.

It looks great and it's grounded in some realism, which is nice when most anime tends to be too far-fetched for my tastes, but it moved far too slowly and, despite its slow pace, still failed to make me care for any of the characters. It wasn't a complex film, yet I was still left feeling like I'd need to go to the trouble of watching it again in order to fully grasp a few scenes, with the infamous (and seemingly randomly inserted) attempted rape scene being top of the list. After watching 90 minutes I could only assume that people who love the film only care for it because of the visuals because, no matter how great it looks and how much people love the setting, there were far too many needless scenes that made the film seem like it dragged on forever.
 
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