The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by peppapigstan

It's early 00s 35mm so the grain is fine but present, the FUNi BD probably just has bad encoding.
Also you do realize Q-TEC did the Xabungle, Giant Gorg, & Might Gaine BDs right? Any Sunrise 16mm production will be handled by Q-TEC as far as remasters go, they're Sunrise's go to restoration house

Wouldn't be a case of Q-TEC doing the raw scan and Victor doing the colour correction\grain reduction, then?

Q-TEC have botched so many releases, I will never understand how it kept happening. Maybe I have placed too much blame on them, when it should all be on the publisher. I dunno. I think the Crying Freeman BD looks like arse, that was Q-TEC, right? I thought it was a Discotek funded scan, but it seems they had no say in the final result. Goku looks much better. I wonder if TOEI will release Freeman in Japan as they are doing for Goku? I figure that could be the reason for the ugliness.

There is a "making of the BD master" extra in the first Wataru box. Quite interesting to see how it goes from the raw scan to the final product. It does show the "noise reduction", but much like the Victor boxes, there is still plenty of texture. Again, I wish Dirty Pair was like that.

I wonder what Sunrise's next BD will be? Still a fair few big names with no BD. L-GAIM, Dougram, Ryu Knight etc. I just re-watched my Starship Troopers LDs. Now there is a Sunrise OVA I would love to see on BD.

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by SpaceDandy

If you're not too picky, the FR/ES/DE release delivers acceptable PQ according to (video) reviews. It is in MPEG-2 but the bitrate is sufficiently high to work around the codec limits.

That sounds pretty good, actually. The original Victor DVDs look great, but suffer from "Old DVD Encode Syndrome" in that they have a lot of jaggies, shimmering etc. Plus, surprisingly, they are not progressive. The higher bitrate and better encode should help a lot there. Would still love to know how the Victor box is, though. As already stated, any softness issues etc with the UD BD is probably down to crappy encoding and compression.

[peppapigstan]

Shippū! Iron Leaguer - Happinet BD



Metadata for Disc 1 where I grabbed most of the screencaps from (each episode is about 5.5 GB):

Disc Label: Iron Leaguer BD Disc 1
Disc Size: 48,435,059,984 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00002.MPLS
Size: 47,807,981,568 bytes
Length: 2:59:22.209
Total Bitrate: 35.54 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 32000 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit

Metadata for Disc 8 which contain the OVAs, which the last 2 screencaps are sourced from (each episode is about 7.2 GB):

Disc Label: Iron Leaguer BD Disc 8
Disc Size: 39,776,989,164 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00002.MPLS
Size: 39,164,663,808 bytes
Length: 2:02:32.678
Total Bitrate: 42.61 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 39000 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit

Comments:
Watched episode 1 in full, as well as taking a look at the extras & OVA. This is an obscure (in the West at least) early 90s Sunrise TV anime so I don't know too much about it, but it seems fun and I shall watch more when I have the chance. The scan is amazingly crisp, probably the most sharpest scan of a 16mm anime I've seen from Q-TEC, if it is even 16mm. It's so crisp that it's hard to tell if it's just softer 35mm, but when looking at the OVAs & NCOP/EDs, those were even crisper, so the show was probably carefully shot in good 16mm, or not. Maybe it is some sort of cheaper 35mm, who knows. According to amazon.co.jp page for the listing, these were scanned straight from the original negatives in 2K so perhaps scanning the OCNs instead of making new interpositives/dupes can make a huge difference even though it's not always the case (i.e. Char's Counterattack's UHD looks good despite using an IP):https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0BG2WYYC6
As usual, Q-TEC's color grading is top notch & should match the cels perfectly. There is moderate usage of DNR but the film grain is still quite visible, if not sharpened actually. The crispness of the TV series footage might stem from having sharpening applied, but it's not really noticeable until you look closer at the screen. Also, one gripe about the encode is that the grain becomes visibly compressed so there are some weird artifacts around the characters in certain moments. Nevertheless, a very well done scan for a 52-episode series is certain no joke as far as effort goes, so this a well done remaster. The audio isn't too bad either, being sourced from the original tapes, so it sounds clear and nice, decent encoding too. I hope more Sunrise remasters are like this, and there are actually! Vifam is a bit softer, but also uses the OCNs.

[SpaceDandy]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

A Place Further Than The Universe - GBR/USA BD [...]

Authored by VDMS.

Originally Posted by peppapigstan

Shippū! Iron Leaguer - Happinet BD
[...]
The scan is amazingly crisp, probably the most sharpest scan of a 16mm anime I've seen from Q-TEC, if it is even 16mm. It's so crisp that it's hard to tell if it's just softer 35mm, but when looking at the OVAs & NCOP/EDs, those were even crisper, so the show was probably carefully shot in good 16mm, or not. Maybe it is some sort of cheaper 35mm, who knows.
[...]

It is not uncommon for OVAs and OP/EDs to use 35mm while the show is on 16mm.

[BigOnAnime]

Neil reviewed the third Naruto Shippuden set and it's uh, interesting...
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Narut...356078/#Review
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Narut...8/#Screenshots

What the heck happened here?
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...078&position=2
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...78&position=19
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...78&position=20

Also, here's this for laughs, and more frustration.

Naruto Shippuden: Set 3 Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras 0.5/5

The release includes a nice o-card slipcover. The slipcover is provided on the initial print run. The slipcover features the same artwork as the key art highlighted underneath the slipcover. A nice supplement to the package design, the slipcover helps the set look nice on a shelf.

On disc supplements include:

Storyboards includes 5 click-through pages of storyboards from episode 74.

Art Gallery includes 17 click-through illustrations.

Clean Opening and Ending Videos:

Opening Credits (HD, 3:02)

Ending Credits (HD, 3:01)

Trailers (HD, 00:41)

The supplemental package could have been improved significantly. The set could have been more well-rounded with audio commentaries, behind the scenes featurettes, cast/crew interviews, photo galleries, and more. The release is lackluster in the supplemental department and isn't even as rounded out as the previous box-set (which at least included a bonus interview). By comparison, the third set takes a step backwards with fewer extras instead of adding more into the mix.

>Includes an art gallery
>Includes storyboards

Two things he asked for, gets 0.5/5.

>Reviews Beast Tamer on the same day
>Gets a 1/5 for a higher score despite having less video extras

Beast Tamer: The Complete Season Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras 1/5

The first print run of the release comes with a nicely designed o-card slipcover. The slipcover is well designed and features unique key art that is different from the artwork highlighted underneath the slipcover. The effect creates a sense of "dual art" with additional illustrations showcasing the series animation and style. Fans of the series will especially appreciate the extra detail added to the quality packaging.

On disc extras include:

Promo Videos (HD, 3:41)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

Crunchyroll dropped the ball with the supplementals. The release could have benefited by having a more robust supplemental package with audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast and crew interviews, photo galleries, and more. Unfortunately, the release offers next-to-nothing of any real substance and fans will find the average by-the-numbers extras to be underwhelming.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Beast...343897/#Review

I'm begging you, please learn more about Japanese anime releases. I don't take issue with the score or disappointment, but "Crunchyroll dropped the ball with the supplementals", I do take issue with. They included *everything* video extra wise from the Japanese release. How good a release here turns out is often heavily dependent on how the Japanese release turned out. Anime releases were never like Hollywood movies in terms of video extras, especially as far as stuff from the Japanese production side is concerned (when we got behind-the-scenes stuff, it was typically for the American side (Ex: The making of extra for Colorful showed only what was going on at ADV Films, not Triangle Staff in Japan)). The chaotic nature of anime production doesn't allow much for those extensive behind-the-scenes extras. They usually put more emphasis on physical extras (Ex: Booklets) than on video extras. I own multiple Japanese anime releases, they are not filled to the brim with video extras like old Hollywood releases.

[peppapigstan]

Originally Posted by SpaceDandy

It is not uncommon for OVAs and OP/EDs to use 35mm while the show is on 16mm.

I mean of course, but the crispness of the show is what caught me off-guard, I expected something softer

[jd213]

Originally Posted by peppapigstan

I hope more Sunrise remasters are like this, and there are actually! Vifam is a bit softer, but also uses the OCNs.

I saw some of the raws for Vifam, didn't see any film grain (which is slightly worrying for a 16mm show) but otherwise looks pretty good. Might pick up the BDs once I get through some of my backlog.

[MasterJeff]

Originally Posted by SMD88

What is the Flying Dog NOIR BD box like, quality wise? I completely forgot that it was released in Japan and expected the finishit release to be an upscale.

Here are some caps I took, as others have mentioned the grain is fine but clearly present.
Episode #1 screenshots:

[Mangaranga]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

Also, here's this for laughs, and more frustration.

That's literally every post from our favourite AI review bot.

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by peppapigstan

Shippū! Iron Leaguer - Happinet BD



Metadata for Disc 1 where I grabbed most of the screencaps from (each episode is about 5.5 GB):

Disc Label: Iron Leaguer BD Disc 1
Disc Size: 48,435,059,984 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00002.MPLS
Size: 47,807,981,568 bytes
Length: 2:59:22.209
Total Bitrate: 35.54 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 32000 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit

Metadata for Disc 8 which contain the OVAs, which the last 2 screencaps are sourced from (each episode is about 7.2 GB):

Disc Label: Iron Leaguer BD Disc 8
Disc Size: 39,776,989,164 bytes
Protection: AACS
Playlist: 00002.MPLS
Size: 39,164,663,808 bytes
Length: 2:02:32.678
Total Bitrate: 42.61 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 39000 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Japanese / LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit

Comments:
Watched episode 1 in full, as well as taking a look at the extras & OVA. This is an obscure (in the West at least) early 90s Sunrise TV anime so I don't know too much about it, but it seems fun and I shall watch more when I have the chance. The scan is amazingly crisp, probably the most sharpest scan of a 16mm anime I've seen from Q-TEC, if it is even 16mm. It's so crisp that it's hard to tell if it's just softer 35mm, but when looking at the OVAs & NCOP/EDs, those were even crisper, so the show was probably carefully shot in good 16mm, or not. Maybe it is some sort of cheaper 35mm, who knows. According to amazon.co.jp page for the listing, these were scanned straight from the original negatives in 2K so perhaps scanning the OCNs instead of making new interpositives/dupes can make a huge difference even though it's not always the case (i.e. Char's Counterattack's UHD looks good despite using an IP):https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0BG2WYYC6
As usual, Q-TEC's color grading is top notch & should match the cels perfectly. There is moderate usage of DNR but the film grain is still quite visible, if not sharpened actually. The crispness of the TV series footage might stem from having sharpening applied, but it's not really noticeable until you look closer at the screen. Also, one gripe about the encode is that the grain becomes visibly compressed so there are some weird artifacts around the characters in certain moments. Nevertheless, a very well done scan for a 52-episode series is certain no joke as far as effort goes, so this a well done remaster. The audio isn't too bad either, being sourced from the original tapes, so it sounds clear and nice, decent encoding too. I hope more Sunrise remasters are like this, and there are actually! Vifam is a bit softer, but also uses the OCNs.

Looks like another winner from Happinet! They have been putting out some fantastic Sunrise shows over the past couple of years. Even better that they are putting out fantastic releases for shows that had LD dumps on DVD such as Vifam and Dragonar. I hope to see L-GAIM and Dougram, soon. Dougram will be scary though as it will be about the same price as VOTOMS, eek. I wish they would hurry up with Ryu Knight, too! They missed anniversaries for all 3 of these shows (40th for Dougram and L-GAIM, 30th for Ryu Knight), so I guess they will come when they come. I thought L-GAIM would have been released years ago. I doubt Chouja Raideen will get the BD treatment. The cheapo DVD release was just LD dumps.

They only thing I DETEST about Happinet's releases is the packaging! Too cheap to even do a nice digi-pack these days. Vifam and Dragonar's BD's remind of Taiwanese DVD sets I have for Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter, G.T.O and Master Keaton (plenty of others, too, but they have normal sized multi disc cases with flimsy box). A multi disc plastic case inside a decently stiff box. Except of course, the Taiwanese releases were dirt cheap. Japan still charges a premium for box sets but the level of packaging is that of cheap Taiwanese, Korean and US releases. Very, very sad.

[SMD88]

Originally Posted by MasterJeff

Here are some caps I took, as others have mentioned the grain is fine but clearly present.
Episode #1 screenshots:

Thank you! It looks great! Big step up from the original Victor DVDs. I assume the remastered DVDs look much closer to this. Is this the Victor set or funi? I may have to go against my principals and buy the funi set until I can afford the Jp box.

[SpaceDandy]

Could you please NOT double post with quotes of large messages filled with images ? Thank you.

[MasterJeff]

Originally Posted by SMD88

Is this the Victor set or funi? I may have to go against my principals and buy the funi set until I can afford the Jp box.

This is the JP Victor, I'm not sure about the funi besides it having 5.1 Japanese audio (which I assume is the adv upmix since no JP release had 5.1 for the original audio).

[SpazeBlue]

Originally Posted by SMD88

What is the Flying Dog NOIR BD box like, quality wise? I completely forgot that it was released in Japan and expected the finishit release to be an upscale. Looking at the review for the US version, it mentions DNR and softness. Victor have fairly good with not killing grain (apart from IDEON!), so especially as it was a BD from before grain had to be eradicated from the world of anime BDs, I am curious about the quality.

It is not cheap to buy used, but i would rather spend AU$500 on a Jp set than give than give that bastard US company money.

Originally Posted by SMD88

Thank you! It looks great! Big step up from the original Victor DVDs.

Yeah, the Noir remaster is great. There's still grain, nothing to worry about there. Check this video here:

NOIR（ノワール）Remastered BD-BOX TVCM - YouTube

"Newly telecined from the original 35mm negative, this is a full HD remaster." Has comps to the DVDs too. FUNi did their own trailer too that showed off more comps, but it seems to be taken down as I can't find it anymore.

Originally Posted by MasterJeff

This is the JP Victor, I'm not sure about the funi besides it having 5.1 Japanese audio (which I assume is the adv upmix since no JP release had 5.1 for the original audio).

FUNi's disc is slightly cropped and DNR'd, but it's not a huge difference.

As for the audio, the 5.1 isn't just an upmix, it's a full-on remix. For example, voices will often echo in open rooms. I guess for more realism, which is nice. However, in addition to that, the sound effects are hugely boosted in volume. Not sure if that was done for realism or not, but I'm not a fan.

[BigOnAnime]

The ADV Films DVDs for Noir had 5.1 Japanese audio, so it was them that made it 5.1, not FUNimation. ADV used to do 5.1 upmixes back in the day when it was viewed as a selling point (See also: Bandai Entertainment putting a rather big bright yellow "5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound" sticker (not my pic, one I saved from an eBay auction years ago) on new copies of Stratos 4). Note that some titles that got re-released under Maiden Japan, Sentai Filmworks and even under ADV Films lost their 5.1 upmixes (Ex: Angelic Layer (Blu-ray only, DVD still has English 5.1), Godannar (same situation as Angelic Layer), Ruin Explorers, Mezzo DSA), though some of them still have them (Ex: Kino's Journey).

Relevant Answerman:
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ans...-07-02/.133672

Oh yeah, ADV Films was going to upmix Noir to 7.1, but they cancelled the release.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/enc...es.php?id=4027
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pre...inition-format
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...ys-hd-releases

[SMD88]

I have a few questions about some different series' releases.

With Gundam Seed/DESTINY, is there a difference between the 4 individual BD boxes BV released VS the Memorial Boxes? The complete boxes are pricey compared to the original releases. I read there were issues with the HD remaster, but I never read up on it.

Staying on Gundam, is there any difference in transfers for any of the U.C Library BD boxes vs original releases? I know they added Eng/Kor/Chi/Jp subs, but I have no idea if the transfers changed. I am wondering especially in regards to Z and ZZ. Zeta was a very early BD and slightly lackluster as it was not a new, fresh HD scan to my knowledge. Any advantages of the U.C releases vs originals?

Now, Zillion. What are the issues with the BDs? Is it both the US and Jp releases?

Samurai Troopers, is this better on DVD? I saw a bit of the TV BD and it looked awful, but it was online I saw it. Turned me right off buying the BDs and thought of sticking to the Aniplex box sets instead.

[Mangaranga]

The Funimation BD for Mob Psycho 100 III is relatively poor. It's absolutely full of banding to varying severity, and weird horizontal lines (which I believe were theorised to be an issue with poorly dithering the masters down to 8bit?). Some comparisons to CR web from episode 4. I have no idea what's been going on with their encoding as of late as there's been some really poor BDs from them like Chainsaw Man. A weird example of their encoding f***ery I noticed towards the end of the episode is that in certain scenes, when there's text on screen the frames look okay, yet when they fade out banding rears it's head, only to go back to okay frame 1 of a text fade in. It probably doesn't help that they cheaped out and didn't give this two BD50s, with the average episode being 26mbps, and one random episode on each disc being 21mbps.

On the topic of Chainsaw Man, Funimation actually did the Blurays for France and ran new encodes for them, which still have issues, but are significantly less problematic than those on the UK/AU release where it constantly falls apart with major blocking and banding. Just a few comps, with the second showing how the French encode still has some bad frames. Part of the improvement may just solely be down to being higher bitrate though (35mbps vs 28mbps for Episode 2).

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by SMD88

Staying on Gundam, is there any difference in transfers for any of the U.C Library BD boxes vs original releases? I know they added Eng/Kor/Chi/Jp subs, but I have no idea if the transfers changed. I am wondering especially in regards to Z and ZZ. Zeta was a very early BD and slightly lackluster as it was not a new, fresh HD scan to my knowledge. Any advantages of the U.C releases vs originals?

0083 U.C. Library release fixed the corrupted frames in episode 12.

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by Mangaranga

The Funimation BD for Mob Psycho 100 III is relatively poor. It's absolutely full of banding to varying severity, and weird horizontal lines (which I believe were theorised to be an issue with poorly dithering the masters down to 8bit?). Some comparisons to CR web from episode 4.

Reminds me of the crap I used to see on FUNimation's streams. Like here's this from The Heroic Legend of Arslan Season 2 Episode 4. I was also noticing it on a few other shows like Cop Craft (other names escaping me and the screenshots are buried in my unsorted folder atm) when I was finishing that before the FUNimationNow shutdown.

Originally Posted by Mangaranga

It probably doesn't help that they cheaped out and didn't give this two BD50s, with the average episode being 26mbps, and one random episode on each disc being 21mbps.

Guess that time period of them using BD-50s more often is over? I thought say Date A Live IV doing the BD-50/BD-25 split when Date A Live III used 2 BD-50s was just a one off. Side-note, that's one of their final releases to actually credit their authoring staff, info visible on here on ANN.

[Gowho]

Originally Posted by SMD88

Now, Zillion. What are the issues with the BDs? Is it both the US and Jp releases?

Same issues as Dirty Pair TV with the excessive DNR.