UK Anime Distributor Crunchyroll/Funimation/Manga UK Discussion Thread

Bakemonogatari US BD has it subbed with the cast in character narrating over them however even though they continue in the jp sets they were never subbed again, and now my SAO Alicisation from AoA has them too but just for ep 1 and 24 so it seems only AoA can afford to bring them over.
 
That's interesting, I enjoyed watching the Made in Abyss live interviews. I've been debating for a while if it's worth upgrading my MVM Monogatari sets to the AoA sets as it's one of my favorite shows and I wouldn't mind having it in CE format and that's a nice little carrot. (If I do I probably won't bother upgrading Kizu though).
 
while we're on the subject of extras there's seiyuu discussion stuff on the umaru-chan blu-rays that i don't think i've seen with other series, kinda surprised they weren't cut from the uk release to cheapen BBFC fees because there's 6 of them and they're like an hour long each
 
Bakemonogatari US BD has it subbed with the cast in character narrating over them however even though they continue in the jp sets they were never subbed again, and now my SAO Alicisation from AoA has them too but just for ep 1 and 24 so it seems only AoA can afford to bring them over.
No, not just AoA. German Kizumono had the cast narration, too. They also released Bakemono, though I don't have that one to check, of they have it. (Having it already 3 times over is enough...)


As for JP voice staff talk. They probably aren't just a pain to subtitle, they are imo actually mostly a pain to even listen too. The way they talk there is distinctly also different to interviews. Kinda like people talk when they are having tea together. Not the clearest voice, even among the better voice trained VAs, who go onto colloquial talk mode. Sometimes really just hard to understand accustically. Usually the content isn't really all that interesting either. Yes you get some trivia over the production here and there, or if some staff liked a character really much. (But that doesn't matter much, if they are just a bunch of names to you, you don't know what they actually do.) But I have found those snippets not really worth the time to listen to, even when I have them.
 
Usually the content isn't really all that interesting either. Yes you get some trivia over the production here and there, or if some staff liked a character really much. (But that doesn't matter much, if they are just a bunch of names to you, you don't know what they actually do.) But I have found those snippets not really worth the time to listen to, even when I have them.

This might very well be true, as I got no real clue as I realised after I posted last night that I actually never heard / seen any Japanese commentary (which, let's face it, is kinda embarrassing considering I started this discussion). You seem to have heard / seen some so you are probably correct.

Still, I like to maintain that the central core of what I originally wrote still stands. Even if these VA / Japanese staff commentary discussions are mostly informal flapdoodle, I still prefer that kind of gibberish over that of a dub cast. I rather listen to the Yunas, Rins or Inosukes speak about anime that they been part of the production in rather than the Josephs, Marks or Ashelys from LA, who produced the dub, speak about said anime. Even though both, as you say, might be rather pointless and boring, I still prefer one over the other. Let me also be clear that I don't think this due to some boneheaded dedication to the weeb ideology of the kind that MAL seem to be saturated in. It is just that if there is this Croatian art-house film I really like, I rather listen to the actual Croatian creators commenting the movie rather than some random Paraguayan professor of letters, who had a hand in subbing it into Spanish, doing the same. To return to Hellsing Ultimate (and perhaps try not to deviate this thread all too much from its original topic), I would have loved to listen to how the director envisioned Alucard or how his VA tried to encapsulate the spirit of the character. Listening to how the dub director or Alucards dub VA thought about these kinds of things isn't all that interesting IMO.

Though I might be biased since I never watch anything dubbed (even P&S, which most people suggest to be a better watch dubbed rather than subbed, I watched subbed) and thus, the premise of this whole discussion might very well be defective from the beginning!
 
The only Japanese commentary track I know of is on the Nausicaa Blu-ray with Hideaki Anno and Kazuyoshi Katayama.
I'm not particularly a fan of Nausicaa, but I bought the BD specifically for the commentary, and the interview with Anno and Toshio Suzuki.

Yeah, I don't recall any examples of Japanese commentaries.
. . .
do Manga have any other release with descent extras on them (other than aforementioned dub cast stuff) or was that an isolated case?
Some examples of Japanese commentary tracks off the top of my head are:
  • Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Manga, select episodes)
  • Dead Leaves (Manga, OVA)
  • Dusk Maiden of Amnesia (MVM, all episodes)
  • FLCL (MVM, all episodes)
  • Ghost in the Shell: Innocence (Manga, movie)
  • The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Manga, movie)
  • Nerima Daikon Brothers (Anime Limited, all episodes)
  • Ninja Scroll (Manga, movie)
  • Paranoia Agent (MVM, select episodes)
  • Time of Eve (Pied Piper, movie)
At least one of these (Dead Leaves) is out of print now, mind.


Some Manga releases beyond those ones listed above that also have notable Japanese extras (cast and staff interviews, behind-the-scenes and the like) would be:
  • Appleseed XIII
  • Black Rock Shooter
  • Blame!
  • Darling in the FRANXX
  • 5 Centimetres per Second
  • Freedom
  • Ghost in the Shell
  • Ghost in the Shell: The Laughing Man, Individual Eleven and Solid State Society
  • Ghost in the Shell: Arise + movie
  • Journey to Agartha (w/ Kaze)
  • Mardock Scramble (w/ Kaze)
  • The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya season 2 + movie
  • Redline
  • She, the Ultimate Weapon
  • Summer Wars
  • Trigun: Badlands Rumble (w/ Kaze)
  • Otogi Zoshi
  • Wolf Children
Again, some of these will be out of print by now.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the list, much appreciated!

Mostly logged in again to write...

  • Otogi Zoshi

WOOT. This got a UK release by Manga?

Remember watching it back in the day on some barely functioning bootleg VHS. Those were "the days", when you were watching stuff and suddenly one episode could cut away to some random behind-the-scene footage starring Michael Jackson... No, thank god for legit AL, MVM and Manga releases 😅

I assume it is OOP though?
 
WOOT. This got a UK release by Manga?

I assume it is OOP though?
It did. It's long out of print, though, yeah. My local CEX had a couple of copies of the boxset some years ago for something like £8, so I bought one. It's in amazing condition, too, still having its glitzy gold slip cover with barely a blemish.

when you were watching stuff and suddenly one episode could cut away to some random behind-the-scene footage starring Michael Jackson...
Wow. I mean, Otogi Zoshi has a big time jump in it and an accompanying change in style, but... that's a bit too much of a jump! 🤣
 
I'm not particularly a fan of Nausicaa, but I bought the BD specifically for the commentary, and the interview with Anno and Toshio Suzuki.


Some examples of Japanese commentary tracks off the top of my head are:
  • Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Manga, select episodes)
  • Dead Leaves (Manga, OVA)
  • Dusk Maiden of Amnesia (MVM, all episodes)
  • FLCL (MVM, all episodes)
  • Ghost in the Shell: Innocence (Manga, movie)
  • The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Manga, movie)
  • Nerima Daikon Brothers (Anime Limited, all episodes)
  • Ninja Scroll (Manga, movie)
  • Paranoia Agent (MVM, select episodes)
  • Time of Eve (Pied Piper, movie)
At least one of these (Dead Leaves) is out of print now, mind.


Some Manga releases beyond those ones listed above that also have notable Japanese extras (cast and staff interviews, behind-the-scenes and the like) would be:
  • Appleseed XIII
  • Darling in the FRANXX
  • 5 Centimetres per Second
  • Freedom
  • Ghost in the Shell
  • Ghost in the Shell: The Laughing Man, Individual Eleven and Solid State Society
  • Ghost in the Shell: Arise + movie
  • Journey to Agartha (w/ Kaze)
  • Mardock Scramble (w/ Kaze)
  • The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya season 2 + movie
  • She, the Ultimate Weapon
  • Summer Wars
  • Trigun: Badlands Rumble (w/ Kaze)
  • Otogi Zoshi
  • Wolf Children
Again, some of these will be out of print by now.

More Japanese commentaries on


Planetes
Mahoromatic (actually a six minute actor interview)
Eureka Seven
Infinite Stratos S1
Hakkenden - Eight Dogs of the East S1

Japanese staff and cast interviews

Witch Hunter Robin
Wolf's Rain
Burst Angel (subtitled radio shows)
Blade of the Immortal
Otogi Zoshi
Fruits Basket original series DVDs (not UK Blu-ray)
Morbito Guardian of the Spirit (US DVD Release)
Infinite Stratos S1
Full Metal Panic all three series
Utawarerumono (US S1 DVD)
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou DVD
 
It did. It's long out of print, though, yeah. My local CEX had a couple of copies of the boxset some years ago for something like £8, so I bought one. It's in amazing condition, too, still having its glitzy gold slip cover with barely a blemish.


Wow. I mean, Otogi Zoshi has a big time jump in it and an accompanying change in style, but... that's a bit too much of a jump! 🤣
Unfortunately it was released during Mangas dubtitle phase alongside Noein and a few others including parts of Naruto.
 
Last edited:
Woah, seem to be more common than what I initially thought. Granted I own quite a few of these releases mentioned yet must have missed these extras so there is a reason to re-watch some stuff! (That Burst Angel radio shows sounds fairly amazing, though I don't own it). Thanks for every list provided!

As I scroll through these lists I have a question that might be related to Manga. I been searching for a The Hakkenden (not to be confused with the Hakkenden - Eight Dogs of the East series) release for quite some time now. I tend to now days only buy Blu-ray releases, but since The Hakkenden seem to not even have a JP Blu-ray release (correct me if I am wrong here) I figured a DVD collection have to do. To my dismay I cannot find any UK release of it anywhere and the only European release I seem to be able to find is a German one. Was there ever an UK release or am I chasing rainbows here? (Reason why I am asking here is that based on your lists it seem that if it was released than it feels like something Manga might have released)
 
Woah, seem to be more common than what I initially thought. Granted I own quite a few of these releases mentioned yet must have missed these extras so there is a reason to re-watch some stuff! (That Burst Angel radio shows sounds fairly amazing, though I don't own it). Thanks for every list provided!

As I scroll through these lists I have a question that might be related to Manga. I been searching for a The Hakkenden (not to be confused with the Hakkenden - Eight Dogs of the East series) release for quite some time now. I tend to now days only buy Blu-ray releases, but since The Hakkenden seem to not even have a JP Blu-ray release (correct me if I am wrong here) I figured a DVD collection have to do. To my dismay I cannot find any UK release of it anywhere and the only European release I seem to be able to find is a German one. Was there ever an UK release or am I chasing rainbows here? (Reason why I am asking here is that based on your lists it seem that if it was released than it feels like something Manga might have released)
That ova version of Hakkenden nor it's tv version, Shin Hakkenden were never released in English afaik.
 
Back
Top