The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[SpaceDandy]

Depends of how the Blu-Ray is programmed. Some will return to the selection menu, others will just continue to the next title.

SDBD in a way is a good thing, as the video footage is not subject anymore to the very limited bitrate the DVD had (and MPEG2...). Plus everything fits on one disc generally. Of course it means selecting the episode can be a bit troublesome if the menu is poorly designed.

[jd213]

Originally Posted by Rosenkreutz

It is, as are most of the DVDs iirc, but I simply wanted to know if there were any issues with the Blu-ray since as mention before, Sentai Filmworks isn't always the most reliable distributor.



I decided to go back and screenshot the specific shot that you posted just to be sure, (https://imgur.com/270r5oc) as far as I can tell there still doesn't seem to be any dot crawl, so I guess that means the Funimation release must be using the component master, therefor making it the superior release?

The ADV Essentials clean OP/ED are also component, so you only have to worry about dotcrawl when watching the OP/ED during the episodes.


I assume the compression is better on the ADV Essentials (especially since FUNi uses more eps per disc), but it's no Blu-ray either way, so whatever.

[AreaFive]

Are there any quality differences between the AllTheAnime Your Lie in April Region B releases and Aniplex's Region A releases?

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by AreaFive

Are there any quality differences between the AllTheAnime Your Lie in April Region B releases and Aniplex's Region A releases?

I believe they’re the exact same encodes, but just re-authored onto less discs, but I can’t confirm that for sure.

[AreaFive]

Originally Posted by professorwho

I believe they’re the exact same encodes, but just re-authored onto less discs, but I can’t confirm that for sure.

Thank you.

[Dino-Killer 912]

Has anyone got the new release of Shirobako from Sentai? Is there video improvement than the 2016 two-volume edition, particularly of which the first 12 episodes on the one disc?

[chronoclast]

I have a similar question about Sentai's Moribito BD, has anyone picked it up yet that can say how the video quality compares to Viz's BD?

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by Dino-Killer 912

Has anyone got the new release of Shirobako from Sentai? Is there video improvement than the 2016 two-volume edition, particularly of which the first 12 episodes on the one disc?

No, but there should be as there is no 12 episodes on a disc. The distribution this time goes 9/9/6 (1-9, 10-18, 19-24), and there's a new dub on there. They also touched up the subs from the original release.

Originally Posted by zoid9000

It was hard to keep my mouth shut about this! Glad it finally got announced. I did some tweaks to the TL and worked with the director to make sure name pronunciations were all right. It's gonna be a great dub!

https://twitter.com/zoid9000/status/1288879012312473601

[Rosenkreutz]

Apparently only the OVA on Funimation's release of Record of Lodoss War is on BD while Chronicles of a Heroic Knight is only on DVD. I take it that probably means that in typical Funimation fashion the BD is an improvement from the old DVDs, but the DVDs are probably a downgrade from their previous release. Then again I think this release has the same amount of DVDs as the older release so maybe they're around the same in terms of quality, does anyone know offhand?

Also, I've been debating on whether or not I should keep a few of my older sets which have received BD or remastered DVD releases. For example, I own all of the original Cowboy Bebop DVDs including the art box, but I'm questioning if I'm ever gonna watch the DVDs over the BDs once I get it. Granted, the DVDs do have some features exclusive to them such as some slightly extended scenes and dialogue and I think different music in a few scenes, but overall the changes featured in all releases after the original DVDs are pretty negligible and I'm not really sure if they're enough to outweigh the superior visual quality provided in the BD.

Another example I can think of is the original Pioneer Trigun box set when compared to the Remix DVDs. Overall the Remix DVDs seem to be the obvious choice having superior visuals and being the only NA release to feature the dynamic openings. The only downside is the Remix release lacks regular 2.0 audio in favor of 5.1 (at least for the dub,) but then again a lot of anime releases lately seem to be exclusively 5.1 and even if we ever got a BD release for it, it would probably only have 5.1 audio as well anyway.

Lately I've been saving up so that I can binge on Rightstuf's next Winter Sale, so I figured I could potentially sell my Cowboy Bebop and Trigun box sets not only in order to acquire some extra funds towards said binge, but to clear up some space as well. However, I'm on the fence about it as these are two series I really love, but there probably isn't many practical reasons for keeping both them and their more updated releases.

On the opposite side of the spectrum you have something like The Big O where I mainly see myself watching the DVDs over the BD solely on the basis that it feels wrong not having the original openings, though I'll likely still get the BD anyway simply because I've noticed that some Sentai releases seem to go out of print and never come back. On a similar note I'd probably keep my DVDs for Magic Knights Rayearth even once I get the BD just because I have way too much nostalgia for the dubbed opening and closing themes. If we ever get a BD release for Rurouni Kenshin I might have to consider keeping the DVDs for those too since I doubt they'll keep the alternating English/Japanese op/eds, but that's only assuming we ever actually get one in the first place.

Regardless, what do you guys think, is it worth it to keep the older DVDs of Cowboy Bebop and Trigun in addition to the updated releases for any reason other than mere collector's value?

[Raye]

Originally Posted by Rosenkreutz

Regardless, what do you guys think, is it worth it to keep the older DVDs of Cowboy Bebop and Trigun in addition to the updated releases for any reason other than mere collector's value?

I recently had to pack all my Blu-rays and DVDs in boxes since we changed our carpet, so the cabinets and shelves containing all my media needed to be moved. In total, I used 8 large boxes to store my collection. While I don't have as many things compared to some others here, that event made me realize I have way too many things. If you have that same mentality or think you're running out of shelf space, then you may want to consider departing with your older releases.

I sold my Cowboy Bebop DVDs a few months before the Blu-ray initially released. There was no reason for me to hold onto them as the space saved from 6 DVDs down to one Blu-ray case was plentiful. I don't think there's a single DVD in my collection that I retained when a Blu-ray release came around. Gurren Lagann, Rayearth (had the original and anniversary DVDs), and Chobits are just to name a few, along with Evangelion and Hajime no Ippo which are pending American Blu-rays.

If you're wanting just one thing on the disc like an extra or a dubbed OP/ED, you could always just rip it and retain it. I mean, it's not illegal because you own the disc. I had a bunch of wrestling DVDs that took up a ton of space and only kept the matches I wanted rather than hundreds of them that I'd never rewatch.

[HyugaKojiro]

Originally Posted by Rosenkreutz

Apparently only the OVA on Funimation's release of Record of Lodoss War is on BD while Chronicles of a Heroic Knight is only on DVD. I take it that probably means that in typical Funimation fashion the BD is an improvement from the old DVDs, but the DVDs are probably a downgrade from their previous release. Then again I think this release has the same amount of DVDs as the older release so maybe they're around the same in terms of quality, does anyone know offhand?

The Funimation release of Chronicles of a Heroic Knight is surprisingly well done. A Discotek or Aniplex release would probably look marginally better but this is one of those rare instances where Funimation released a decent looking DVD release.

[Rosenkreutz]

Originally Posted by HyugaKojiro

The Funimation release of Chronicles of a Heroic Knight is surprisingly well done. A Discotek or Aniplex release would probably look marginally better but this is one of those rare instances where Funimation released a decent looking DVD release.

That actually is quite surprising to hear, is it by chance a better looking release than the Central Park Media one, or at the very least about the same? I'm just curious as to whether I should keep an eye out for the old box set or not.

[HyugaKojiro]

Originally Posted by Rosenkreutz

That actually is quite surprising to hear, is it by chance a better looking release than the Central Park Media one, or at the very least about the same? I'm just curious as to whether I should keep an eye out for the old box set or not.

It's been over a decade since I sold it so I can't say for certain but I doubt the CPM release looks better than the current release by Funimation.

[Rosenkreutz]

I've been thinking about getting some of the older Type-Moon animes, those being Fate/Stay Night (2006,) Canaan & Lunar Legend Tsukihime. I'm assuming that the video compression on the Generon release of Tsukihime is better than Sentai's as it was on 3 DVDs as opposed to Sentai's which was only on 2.

However, I'm not so sure about FSN as I've heard some negative things regarding the BDs for Collection 1 & 2 as well as the Complete Collection. From what I've gathered the separate collections are 1080i and the complete one is 1080p, however visually they apparently look the same. I've read that the second disk of chapter 1 lacks any chapter stops, but I don't know if that was ever fixed on the complete release or not. There's also at least one subtitle typo in the 1080i release which was fixed in the 1080p release. Apparently the Complete Collection has IVTC issues and allegedly has a lot of dropped frames during the OP/ED. With all that said I'm led to believe that the two 1080i releases are probably the best version of the series currently available, but I wanted a second opinion in order to be sure.

As for Canaan I've heard that the release for it isn't particularity great either way, but unless there's some major issues with the BD that I haven't heard about yet then I imagine it should still be at least a little better than its DVD counterpart.

Speaking of Sentai, does anyone know if there's any issues with their BD release of "Cobra the Animation?" both the DVD and BD came out in 2016 and if I recall correctly their BD releases apparently started getting better at some point after 2014 so maybe there's no need for worry, but then again they released Princess Tutu in 2018 and I heard that there might be some ghosting in that release. It's too bad that Discotek didn't get the rights to it like all of the other Cobra stuff, at least with them I don't feel like I need to look into every one of their releases beforehand.

Originally Posted by HyugaKojiro

It's been over a decade since I sold it so I can't say for certain but I doubt the CPM release looks better than the current release by Funimation.

Indeed, Central Park Media releases were never especially great iirc, then again Funimation released a "remastered" version of Salyers, but when I saw it I immediately noticed that some segments actually looked worse in their release. Most notably in this part of the first opening where the colors were really washed out and you couldn't even make out one of the trolls in the background. However, I should mention that the CPM/Software Sculptures image featured in that comparison shot was taken from youtube, I'm fairly certain that it was less blurry on the actual DVD.

[Naiera]

Don't bother with the original Fate/Stay. It's not very good and the Blu-ray releases are lacking one way or the other.

[BigOnAnime]

I personally love the original Fate/stay night (which also remains the only time the Fate route was adapted in animated form, but it mixed in elements from Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel) and honestly think it's still worth watching today despite its flaws. Though the animation even for the time period was terrible. Like it aired the same year as shows like Code Geass, Haruhi, IGPX, and Kanon (2006) which are all very well-animated. Like one of the only things it was better animated than in all likelihood was Musashi Gundoh.

As for Canaan, the Blu-ray should be better than the DVD that was released at the same time, but it likely has problems. That is a rather early Sentai Blu-ray release, it's from 2010 and was authored by David Williams who again authored most of Sentai's most problematic releases, which also includes the 1080i Fate/stay night Blu-rays (Joel McCray likely did the complete set as DLW wasn't doing BDs anymore by then).

BTW, should be noted with Slayers, if you at all care about extras, FUNimation is missing a bunch from the CPM DVDs.

[kk1]

Watching the original fate makes you appreciate just how much better the later shows are.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by Rosenkreutz

However, I'm not so sure about FSN as I've heard some negative things regarding the BDs for Collection 1 & 2 as well as the Complete Collection. From what I've gathered the separate collections are 1080i and the complete one is 1080p, however visually they apparently look the same. I've read that the second disk of chapter 1 lacks any chapter stops, but I don't know if that was ever fixed on the complete release or not. There's also at least one subtitle typo in the 1080i release which was fixed in the 1080p release. Apparently the Complete Collection has IVTC issues and allegedly has a lot of dropped frames during the OP/ED. With all that said I'm led to believe that the two 1080i releases are probably the best version of the series currently available, but I wanted a second opinion in order to be sure.

The 23.976fps 1080p release drops frames because the series uses a variable framerate. The only way to present the series without dropping frames is in 1080i.

[Mangaranga]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

As for Canaan, the Blu-ray should be better than the DVD that was released at the same time, but it likely has problems. That is a rather early Sentai Blu-ray release, it's from 2010 and was authored by David Williams who again authored most of Sentai's most problematic releases, which also includes the 1080i Fate/stay night Blu-rays (Joel McCray likely did the complete set as DLW wasn't doing BDs anymore by then).

Whilst I can't comment on the quality of BD release itself, iirc Canaan is one of those weird 720i productions like the first season of Spice & Wolf, so 1080i may well have been the correct choice in that regard (assuming it's mixed 24/30fps).

[BoscoTheMan82]

Checked out my discs for Canaan, it is a little soft looking. Found out the reason for the bad 1080i encode and its that they used VC-1 for video at the time and VC-1 does not do interlaced encoding well at all.