The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

I opened the item and watched the whole movie already, so I don't think I can send it back. Maybe I'll sell it, but it feels bad to inflict the pain of a bad Blu-ray to someone.

[Show spoiler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCkY3hRb58M

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by Yuripa

Not PQ related but the subs on Madman release for Violet Evergarden are the same as Netflix.
Aka : Trash.

https://twitter.com/kyoanisbiggestf/...55919115866117

I hate how learning Japanese is now becoming a requirement these days because we have an epidemic of problematic translations. Doesn't help the pay and working conditions for translators are absolute garbage. Please tell me the Anime Limited release will turn out better because we're unlikely to see a physical release whatsoever here in NA.

[professorwho]

As someone who has actually just recently worked on an official anime release in regards to subtitle corrections and checks (yes, really, I’m not joking- I’ll reveal the full details when the project is announced officially) and one other thing, knowing Japanese isn’t good enough. Take this from a Japanese speaker (albeit one who needs to look at a dictionary for certain words and phrases) 実は日本語を話します。 Yes, it’s the most important thing, but you need to be a decent to good writer in English.

Japanese is grammatically very different than English, so if you did a more literal translation, it would be very stilted and phrased awkwardly in English. As such, you need to take liberties in how you phrase the dialogue while retaining the same meaning. That’s the key- keep the same meaning, yet make it flow better in English. You’re limited to two lines for normal subtitles, so obviously you may have to cut down on your word count, but that further elaborates on my point- you need to be able to take it then cut it down. I would give an example, but it would take a while to think of one and write it then explain it.

If a translator is working on stuff that is not fictional, and in the real world, then literal translations may be the best choice. However, with fictional content, an adaptive translation is the best solution. That said, do not stray far from the original meaning with memes and nonsense like that, unless the work calls for it.

In the case of Violet Evargarden, and all Netflix translations, they are nearly verbatim the dialogue of the English dub with minor changes, so they are very close to being dubtitles. Aniplex does the same thing, last time I checked- Fate/Zero’s English dub is nearly identical to their official subtitles in terms of dialogue. It’s really weird.

[dan2026]

I wish i was surprised that dubtitles are still a thing in 2019 but I'm not.

[Lambadelta]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

I hate how learning Japanese is now becoming a requirement these days because we have an epidemic of problematic translations. Doesn't help the pay and working conditions for translators are absolute garbage. Please tell me the Anime Limited release will turn out better because we're unlikely to see a physical release whatsoever here in NA.

I highly doubt AL is going to shell out for a new master disc (and ofc go through the approval process for new subtitles) just because some people notice the issues.

[Yuripa]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

I hate how learning Japanese is now becoming a requirement these days because we have an epidemic of problematic translations. Doesn't help the pay and working conditions for translators are absolute garbage. Please tell me the Anime Limited release will turn out better because we're unlikely to see a physical release whatsoever here in NA.

AL will more than probably go the easy/cheap way and use Madman discs for their release.

[Thedoctor2016]

Hanners said they dont know as they are working on it. So ill say its madmans, till proven otherwise.

[UseY0ur1llusi0n]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Still, it looks like the restoration done was great, so even if these were taken "wrongly," then we're in good hands in regards to the Discotek BD.

A few highlights (all from Episode 1):

[Show spoiler]

Filtered flat = "great"?

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by UseY0ur1llusi0n

Filtered flat = "great"?

Bugger off already.

And by “restoration,” I mean simply the scan done. It’s very possible the compressionist at Aniplex applied filters over it. Japanese Patlabor TV/OVAs is the prime example.

[UseY0ur1llusi0n]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Bugger

Originally Posted by professorwho

And by “restoration,” I mean simply the scan done. It’s very possible the compressionist at Aniplex applied filters over it. Japanese Patlabor TV/OVAs is the prime example.

Weren't the Patlabor's a one-off though? I don't get the impression that this will not have filtering applied when released in the States other than wishful thinking... Do we have any instances of this occurring with previous Aniplex titles?

The wording in your original post seemed misleading (like a lot of your posts). You could've said "underlying scan" (before it was hit with inane NR) which would've elaborated.

[BoscoTheMan82]

Here's a bitrate scan of episode 1 of Madman's Violet Evergarden

Episode 1


Each episode is between 6.0-6.5 GB, Case says DTS-HD Master for audio but its actually LPCM. The episodes are encoded using x264 and the encoding settings are left in.

[professorwho]

What’s the audio bit-depth? 16 or 24-bit?

[BoscoTheMan82]

16 bit

[themp3000]

Originally Posted by Yuripa

Not PQ related but the subs on Madman release for Violet Evergarden are the same as Netflix.
Aka : Trash.

https://twitter.com/kyoanisbiggestf/...55919115866117

Fortunately, I thought the dub was pretty good. And I can’t say I recall the outrage over episode 2’s subs and the context going on there. At least the stats for the disc look pretty good enough.

[NLScavenger]

Has anyone picked up the Madman sets of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders? I was wondering how the PQ is. These sets have less discs than the US sets, so the encodes should be different. Hopefully without the annoying color space issue.

[Thedoctor2016]

Originally Posted by themp3000

Fortunately, I thought the dub was pretty good. And I can’t say I recall the outrage over episode 2’s subs and the context going on there. At least the stats for the disc look pretty good enough.

Just checked the basic mistranslation is still there. Its now "cause you wanted a different girl" Which makes no sense why wouldn't he want her to call him by his name. The your parents wanted a girl makes sense why he doesn't want to be called Claudia. I never noticed as I just never thought about it but it is a massive error.

[slerch666]

Originally Posted by Logan Jones

Ey, if its too much trouble you don't have to. Its just that I can't think of any animated movies that are mastered in true 4K, and I was wondering if this movie had any advantages in that regard.

I still owe you this.

Been busy at work and too afraid to come back to see how much I've missed in the time I've avoided the site.

Will see about this tomorrow.

[slerch666]

Just received Those Who Hunt Elves SD on BD.

I think, but will check more tomorrow with more time, that Sentai... may have FIXED their encoding issues!

Fired up JRiver Media Center and the first episode. While it IS from a composite source with zero filtering (and the Op/Ed are the English versions that were on the DVDs), there are NO frame issues present.

If I watch in Power DVD, I can see interlace issues as it kinda seems to not know what to do with it, but that's normal for them.

Going to put this in the Oppo and check it out for real on my setup.

So far, cautiously optimistic that Sentai fixed their issues and we may have another Anime company in North America treating classics properly finally.

[Nostalgic Twilight]

Those Who Hunt Elves, eh? I haven’t seen that show in ages. I kind of want to pick up the SD-BD and watch it again now.

[slerch666]

Originally Posted by Nostalgic Twilight

Those Who Hunt Elves, eh? I haven’t seen that show in ages. I kind of want to pick up the SD-BD and watch it again now.

Let me make sure it looks good. Didn't get it in the Oppo tonight as I had hoped.

Fair warning, even if it doesn't have encode issues, it's from a composite source and all the lovely video issues we expect from that source type are present.