Nezha Conquers the Dragon King - 1979 (WCL Exclusive Limited Edition)

[qw0aszx]

Disk Kino is going to release the classic 1979 animation Nezha Conquers the Dragon King from Shanghai Animation Studio on November 18th.



The BD25 disc will include the feature only, sourced from the HD restoration done by Shanghai Film Studio for the original widescreen version, with additional restoration works done by Disk Kino. Audio will be original Mandarin track in LPCM Mono. Alternative academy ratio version of this film will be included as bonus in SD.

Full cover:

[Show spoiler]

[qw0aszx]

Sadly due to many regulations, Disk Kino can only include what's been provided by studio. The only good news is that the original HD restoration was not altered by some of later AI process from Shanghai Animation Studio and Disk Kino did their best fixing almost 2000 frames with problematic restoration errors. At least such classic animation could be presented on blu-ray disc.

In the meantime, Disk Kino is going to release the new mini-series from Shanghai Animation Studio, Yao-Chinese Folktales (2023).

[IDidItForTheGold]

Sad that they couldn't even include the 4:3 version in HD.

Not to mention the almost complete lack of extras. So many exciting stories about this film. I'd love to see an interview with composer Jin Fuzai. I've heard stories that the bells you hear throughout the film were real artifacts that had just recently been excavated after thousands of years. Soundtrack CD would have been nice (if any of the original recordings still exist).

Another story I read was that the staff at Shanghai Animation had never worked with a widescreen camera before and had to tear down walls and ceilings in their studio so they could fit the camera inside.

[Jr7936]

Will there be a link to purchase this or no

[qw0aszx]

Originally Posted by IDidItForTheGold

Sad that they couldn't even include the 4:3 version in HD.

Not to mention the almost complete lack of extras. So many exciting stories about this film. I'd love to see an interview with composer Jin Fuzai. I've heard stories that the bells you hear throughout the film were real artifacts that had just recently been excavated after thousands of years. Soundtrack CD would have been nice (if any of the original recordings still exist).

Another story I read was that the staff at Shanghai Animation had never worked with a widescreen camera before and had to tear down walls and ceilings in their studio so they could fit the camera inside.

Indeed, a lot of things could be included but the studio only allowed Disk Kino to include what they provided, which is nothing more than the HD restored master of original widescreen version and the SD 4:3 version, even the original audio commentary appeared on old DVD release was not provided. The studio only restored the widescreen version of this film, so the 4:3 version was only included in SD. Since widescreen version was the original intended version and hasn't been seen for a long time (all previous official releases were all the alternative academy ratio version), it's not that bad to be the only HD presentation of the film on disc.

[r32]

Originally Posted by Jr7936

Will there be a link to purchase this or no

https://www.buyoyo.com/buyoyo/Produc...41694&prtype=0

[IDidItForTheGold]

Originally Posted by qw0aszx

all previous official releases were all the alternative academy ratio version

Well, technically the widescreen version did get one official release before.



Shani put out a 60th anniversary box in 2017 (the barcode is 6959456201339), which included not only the widescreen version of Nezha but also the (to my knowledge) first official Chinese release of the complete version of Uproar in Heaven. Of course, true to form, they had to screw up that release as well, by putting watermarks on all the films.

I don't know what it that compels the people at Shanghai Animation to make their home video releases as unappealing as possible.

edit: Oh, I forgot: The 2017 release was non-anamorphic as well. A DVD release. In 2017. Non-anamorphic...

[qw0aszx]

Originally Posted by IDidItForTheGold

Well, technically the widescreen version did get one official release before.



Shani put out a 60th anniversary box in 2017 (the barcode is 6959456201339), which included not only the widescreen version of Nezha but also the (to my knowledge) first official Chinese release of the complete version of Uproar in Heaven. Of course, true to form, they had to screw up that release as well, by putting watermarks on all the films.

Oh, totally forgot that one strange box set, it was released after they did the HD restorations for their catalogue so that's why Nezha was in widescreen and Uproar in Heaven was in its original uncut version. Shanghai Animation Studio did a lot of ridiculous things, I mean they even put watermarks on the DCP of Uproar in Heaven for screenings at Shanghai Film Festival a few years ago.

[IDidItForTheGold]

Welp, I ordered this thing despite the complete lack of bonus content. I'm 60% convinced the main film will come with a bloody watermark or some other thing that will cause me great displeasure. Cross your fingers and wish me luck! I'll report my findings in a moment.





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edit: Ok, I am positively surprised. Which isn't saying much, considering my expectations were that this will be so frustratingly bad I'll end up breaking stuff. But there you have it. No company logos or watermarks, apparently. (Haven't watched it in detail yet, but fast forwarded throughout both versions and neither had watermarks - I'll report back in once I watched the whole film from start to finish).

Picture quality for the main feature (the widescreen version, that is) is excellent. The Film Museum in Beijing has a couple of CELs from Nezha Nao Hai on display and I'd say this is 100% accurate to how it's supposed to look. Another positive surprise is that the music doesn't just cut off at the end in this version, as it does in all other versions, but is allowed to play all the way to the end.

The 1.33:1 version - another matter. Curiously, this isn't the same master that was used for the regular single disc in China (no idea if the Collector's Edition used a different master, since I never happened across it, unfortunately). The good news is, that this also has English subtitles. The bad news is that the picture quality is quite awful and you're probably better off with the regular DVD release: the colors look a teeny bit more natural in this version (the old DVD is rather dark and has a greenish tint), but it's considerably blurrier than the old DVD and the contrast is completely blown out. There are also some color shifting problems. It runs about 4% too fast due to being sourced from a PAL master. It's pretty bad.

All in all, this is about as good as one could have hoped for. It doesn't come with any of the usual Shanghai Animation annoyances. The main feature looks great. But it sure isn't the final word as far as what you could put on a home video version of Nezha Nao Hai if you even put a modicum of effort - a proper restoration of both versions should have been the minimum. But at least we have the widescreen version in acceptable quality now. Baby steps.

Screenshots:

[Show spoiler]

Diskino 1.33:1


Old Shani DVD











Dat contrast... Good lord!










(Note the differing background compared to the 1.33-version. Tried to match this as close as I could.)

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edit 2: See below for comparisons with the old VCD. Note how in the pic of Nezha riding the deer the print damage in the bottom left corner matches the Diskino 1.33 version exactly (it's not on the old DVD). Also note how even the VCD doesn't have a contrast this blown out.

[Show spoiler]

[peppapigstan]

the BD25 disc isn't doing the compression any favors, the grain just looks really abrasive tbh

[qw0aszx]

Originally Posted by peppapigstan

the BD25 disc isn't doing the compression any favors, the grain just looks really abrasive tbh

These HD transfers from Shanghai Animation Studio were done from pretty ancient scanners I think, strange grain patterns and obvious reduced grains in several scenes were baked in the restored master. There're actually multiple serious broken frames due to the auto-restoration software they applied, Disk Kino tried to save many of those frames as I wrote previously. But they could not do anything to reverse those grain managements in certain shots.

[peppapigstan]

woof, well the clarity is still impeccable tbh