What Do You Want in Anime Release?

[cicada88]

If you could have the "ultimate" version of whatever release, what would you want included?

Here are some of my thoughts:

-Source Material Scanned at HD or Higher (no upscales)

-Max Bitrate possible

-Prefer Original Grain on film sources

-Lossless Original Audio (anything else is extra, I don't covet 5.1 conversions etc)

-English Subtitles that can be turned on or Off

-Original Japanese Opening/Ending Credits

-Japanese Subtitles (this is rare but an amazing resource for studying/understanding Japanese, wish every disc had it)

-Resume Function Coded into Blu-ray

-No auto previews even if skippable

[BigOnAnime]

-Good disc art
-Good inside art
-Good cover art
-Credits done the Sentai Filmworks way with NO missing names. *Glares at FUNimation* (BTW, keep in mind the credits on the ED changes every episode (OPs have the more permanent staff that won't change), so the "make it an extra" method causes more trouble than you think)
-JP physical extras (mainly the booklets when present)
-JP video extras beyond clean OP/ED when present
-More digipaks
-Chipboard as a standard, no cardboard
-Remasters for cel-animated anime
-Good upscales or if possible recomposites for digitally-animated anime, no smeary Q-TEC trash
-Ability to play subtitles on the English dub on locked-discs (on most locked-sub releases you can't play the subtitle track on the English dub)
-6-7 episodes max for Blu-rays on BD-50s and with someone competent doing the authoring. You can't expect a monkey to make fantastic discs if they don't know how, the data goes to waste.
-Using this pattern for chipboard boxes, it makes peeling less likely. *Glares at FUNimation again*
-Dubs that are more faithful to the JP script instead of having unnecessary memes (unless the JP script did have memes, so for Steins;Gate it was okay)
-Good translations that aren't full of TL-errors
-DVD-sized releases except when the JP release was BD-sized (it's kinda rare for a JP release to be BD-sized)

Hopefully I didn't miss anything.

[NLScavenger]

-Max Bitrate possible

A high bitrate doesn't necessarily equal good compression, as the compression issues on Criterion Collection blu-rays such as Thief (1981) have proven.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

-DVD-sized releases except when the JP release was BD-sized (it's kinda rare for a JP release to be BD-sized)

Just about every single one of my Japanese imports respectfully disagree.

[mrclt1994]

Originally Posted by Naiera

Just about every single one of my Japanese imports respectfully disagree.

Yep, none of the imports from JP I have are DVD-sized (K-ON BD boxes, RahXephon, Unicorn BDs, Kanon BD Box, Soul Eater BD boxes, Anthem of the Heart LE, Baccano BD Box, Durarara!! BD Box, Haruhi BD Box and more).

[Naiera]

The subbed Oreimo set is DVD height, but no actual DVD covers are involved.

[Sleee]

Welp. My power went out twice, so this makes my third attempt. Alright, super-condensed version; will edit later:

- Original Japanese art, including disc. If you want original art, then actually get some talent and spend money. Don't disrespect Yamamuro or any artist with this crap:



- Original order sequence - most are like this - only one I can think of: Dragon Ball; American Dragon Boxes failed to meet this.

- Original audio - if the Japanese recorded in stereo, then the American dub should follow suit.

- Marathon Features. More of these, I don't want just the super-popular shows to get this treatment.

- More pre-order bonuses. I feel like we are getting more and more, but I can't honestly tell. Maybe more partnerships?

- CDs. Attempt to releases CDs alongside the blu-rays/dvds. It can get expensive importing with these shipping rates.

- Final/Every volume bonuses - outer boxes. Funimation had the right idea with Shingeki. More of it.



- No more than 6 episodes per blu-ray.

- More tangible features. I don't like simple blu-ray cases. Appeal to both the average and collector.

- Commentaries - I love hearing about the creation process, in general. Kill la Kill's was a treat. Try to get Japanese commentaries. Hearing Bakemonogatari's Senjyogahara's commentary just proves how you'll never be close to fluent in Japanese; I love it.

- Separate blu-rays and dvds.

- I like DVD-Sized cases. For example: Battle of Gods Blu-Ray limited Japanese edition. It's DVD-sized but houses the blu-rays.

[darkness2918]

I'm not to picky really, as long as it has a dub & maybe a nice chipboard box I'll be happy.

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by Sleee

Welp. My power went out twice, so this makes my third attempt. Alright, super-condensed version; will edit later:

- Original Japanese art, including disc. If you want original art, then actually get some talent and spend money. Don't disrespect Yamamuro or any artist with this crap:

Just to note, Toei makes new art for FUNi in many cases. The One Piece Voyage covers and the newer DBZ releases, that art came from Toei themselves.

- More pre-order bonuses. I feel like we are getting more and more, but I can't honestly tell. Maybe more partnerships?

We aren't, really. It was mainly only on FUNi stuff years ago.
http://www.fandompost.com/oldforums/...ull=1#post4766

Aniplex USA had some of that stuff at Animate USA, but then Animate USA shut down.

- CDs. Attempt to releases CDs alongside the blu-rays/dvds. It can get expensive importing with these shipping rates.

Unfortunately given how frustrating it is to deal with the Japanese music industry, getting CDs is pretty damn hard usually unless you're dealing with say Media Factory shows (Ex: Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, No Game, No Life, Dusk Maiden of Amnesia, IS: Infinite Stratos S1 (S2 is handled by TBS who was involved with S1 but didn't have international rights, MF wasn't involved with S2 because of the LN author's falling out with them shortly after S1 aired)), or Aniplex (as Aniplex USA is a subsidiary of them, and Aniplex typically handles music for shows they're involved with as they're a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan).

- Commentaries - I love hearing about the creation process, in general. Kill la Kill's was a treat. Try to get Japanese commentaries. Hearing Bakemonogatari's Senjyogahara's commentary just proves how you'll never be close to fluent in Japanese; I love it.

Unfortunately they're almost impossible to get. Too expensive, JP seiyu agency won't allow them overseas, etc. Stuff like that is why Aniplex USA failed to get them beyond Bakemonogatari.

[GearstinCinema]

"Bebop or Disney" level mastered and a ton of extras. Standard packaging is fine.

[SeaFox]

Mostly what I want is what BigOnAnime said. Except I don't care so much about chipboard boxes and DVD-sized releases. Mostly I want no more than 7 episodes on a BD50 and no more than 4 on a BD25, and I want the spit to be as even as possible -- so almost all shows should be at least 2 BD50s standard. Anyone competent in video mastering should be able to deal with that. Do not f*k with video levels, period. Worse case scenario is we get something that looks as bad as the Japanese release. Rarely is a U.S. release better then the JDM one due to anything the mastering person did, so don't even try.

And I'll extend that to audio mastering. No more of these poor-mixing-on-one-track-and-not-the-other-issues, or "oops! The music was mono on this episode by accident and we're not going to do a replacement program".

I want Sentai to change their subtitle font. We aren't watching anime on 27" tube TVs anymore with letter-boxing on 4:3 screens. The dialog does not the need to be that big. I want companies to make more use of the rest of the screen, too. Especially when subbing a music performance and dialog happening at the same time. And more on-screen text translations -- this stuff can be styled better than they are doing despite the much more limited nature of PGS subs.

[ThatOneGuy]

I'm simple, just high quality for both picture and audio with both Japanese and English audio option with an English subtitles option. Slipcover is something I would also love on a standard edition.

[Thomas Guycott]

The best possible transfers with the best possible audio and video with the best possible translation and in the best possible packaging.

And by "best" I don't mean "coolest."

[CommanderShiro]

I'd like for animated shorts or ova episodes to be included with season sets if they exist.

[Girls With Guns]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

-DVD-sized releases except when the JP release was BD-sized (it's kinda rare for a JP release to be BD-sized)

Originally Posted by Naiera

Just about every single one of my Japanese imports respectfully disagree.

Originally Posted by mrclt1994

Yep, none of the imports from JP I have are DVD-sized (K-ON BD boxes, RahXephon, Unicorn BDs, Kanon BD Box, Soul Eater BD boxes, Anthem of the Heart LE, Baccano BD Box, Durarara!! BD Box, Haruhi BD Box and more).

Sorry, you guys simply don't have enough JP imports in your collection to make a valid argument... Counting just JP chipboard Blu-ray Box sets in my collection, the G1 DVD-height Box sets out-number the G2 BD-height Box sets almost 6 to 1 - I have 37 G1 box sets and only 7 G2 box sets - so yeah, BoA's statement about BD-height box sets is correct - they are pretty much a rarity for Japanese releases.

[Naiera]

I have 49 Japanese imports.

[Girls With Guns]

Are you including only LE multi-case or Digipak Chipboard Box sets from your collection? I'm not referring to singles or Standard Edition releases in my comparison, just the LE-type box sets... BoA didn't specifically state it, but I'm guessing that's more what he was referring to - LE Box sets and not standard or single releases. That's one reason I love importing JP LE Box sets - because they're mostly all DVD-height sets, which I actually prefer.

[BigOnAnime]

I was referring to JP releases in general. I see DVD-sized happen more often than BD-sized, and when they use amarays, it's usually DVDs rather than BDs. Heck, WTK posts JP packaging shots on his Twitter pretty often (as well as Fandom Post's JP forum section), and those are usually DVD-sized.

[Girls With Guns]

Interesting to know that a majority of JP standard/singles are DVD-sized as well, since the only DVD height JP single releases I have are the Rurouni Kenshin movies, and even those were basically LE releases. Dang, I wish more of the JP singles I have were DVD-height, then... I bet Japan only makes the English-friendly releases which we all buy BD-height, just to appease their foreign market customers, lol...

[Nothing371]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

I'm not to picky really, as long as it has a dub & maybe a nice chipboard box I'll be happy.

I feel the same way. Just give me a quality dub, some attractive cover art, and hopefully a nice chipboard box for the pantheon releases.

i also appreciate having all of these high-def anime shows that are accessible and affordable. Any one of us could just watch whatever we want for free.