The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[AreaFive]

A similar question with Jujutsu Kaisen: I'm aware that the UK release has subtitle improvements and, if I recall correctly, visual improvements as well over the US release.

How do the US and UK releases of its movie (Jujutsu Kaisen 0) compare?

[jala12]

Originally Posted by nyaa

The broadcast version didn't have either the opening credits or the regular ending credits roll that the other episodes did, the version off the jpbd had both restored and had some minor scene additions. USbd ep.13 was 23 minutes 47 seconds, jpbd ep.13 was 26 minutes 51 seconds going off my bd files.

Right, but what were these scene additions specifically? Some sort of animation changes or story additions?

[Mangaranga]

Originally Posted by AreaFive

A similar question with Jujutsu Kaisen: I'm aware that the UK release has subtitle improvements and, if I recall correctly, visual improvements as well over the US release.

How do the US and UK releases of its movie (Jujutsu Kaisen 0) compare?

For the first season, the best release by far is the UK BD as it's a high bitrate encode by a competent encoding house with CR subtitles rendered to BD compliant PGS subs. Viz is worse than CR web in regards to both video and subtitles. For Jujutsu Kaisen 0 the discs are identical between regions, as CR has the home video rights to it and Season 2.

[AreaFive]

Thanks again. I'm always impressed with how knowledgeable you all are.

[kevers7290]

Looking for a more subjective opinion from those that own the 4K UHD of Royal Space Force. Did you find the upgrade worthwhile? I have found 4K anime to be hit or miss and this is one of my all-time favorites so I am trying to decide if it is worth the hefty price tag.

[nyaa]

Originally Posted by jala12

Right, but what were these scene additions specifically? Some sort of animation changes or story additions?

Most of the additional time was in the restoration of the opening and ending credits, as for the rest my advice would be to watch both versions of ep.13 and find out for yourself. None of these extra scenes (added for the Blu-Rays release) are important.
They are just some shots at a biplane and at characters from CH Postal.
They add a little bit more "It's the end." feeling to the episode , but nothing much.

[peppapigstan]

Originally Posted by kevers7290

Looking for a more subjective opinion from those that own the 4K UHD of Royal Space Force. Did you find the upgrade worthwhile? I have found 4K anime to be hit or miss and this is one of my all-time favorites so I am trying to decide if it is worth the hefty price tag.

Very much not. Bandai rushed this UHD out, so half of the movie is scanned out-of-focus unlike the old BD

[kevers7290]

Originally Posted by peppapigstan

Very much not. Bandai rushed this UHD out, so half of the movie is scanned out-of-focus unlike the old BD

Thanks for your impressions. I'll stick to my old Bandai Blu-ray until it gets a proper restoration (if ever).

[Rosenkreutz]

I have a question about the Japanese blu-rays for Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal & Reflection. I'm aware that these releases include both English subtitles and the English dub, but I wanted to know if the versions featured on these were the original or the director's cuts. Additionally, was there a standard release for The Motion Picture like there was for Trust & Betrayal and Reflection or was it only the limited edition digipak?

[Rosenkreutz]

Originally Posted by peppapigstan

Very much not. Bandai rushed this UHD out, so half of the movie is scanned out-of-focus unlike the old BD

Would you recommend any particular release of it over the others?

[peppapigstan]

The original JPBD from 2007.

[Citizen Bane]

Between these three complete versions of Excel Saga which one is best, ignoring price?


The first one seems like the most complete as far as a collector set, but it was also printed 21 years ago. The Funimation one is the most basic but being the newest may last the longest? I'm also curious if there's any quality difference between these prints.

[PGW]

The first one has ADV's "AD Vid-notes" feature, which is always fun.

[Gowho]

The Funimation set used less discs and from what I remember, didn't look that great.

As for extras...

The second set is from that time period when they stripped all extras from most of their thinpaks.

The Funi set brought back the text extras that the original ADV discs had but are missing the AD-Vid Notes which was no surprise since the same thing happened with their Sojitz-era ADV rescues like Pani Poni Dash.

[BigOnAnime]

Also, the FUNimation release likely looks a bit worse. FUNimation's license rescues on DVD generally looked a bit worse than the previous releases.

[BigOnAnime]

Month late on this bringing this here as it would have been off-topic for the Discotek thread (where this came from) if it went on longer, but what are some other anime that looked better on LaserDisc than DVD and/or Blu-ray? It's something that's rarely ever discussed. Also are there any good comparisons showing the LaserDiscs vs. the JP DVDs for Kare Kano?

Originally Posted by SpaceDandy

As much as I would like this show to be licensed by a competent distributor, it is an Enoki Films title and MediaOCD staff had made it clear they (Discotek) would never work with that licensor again.

Also, a proper Kareshi Kanojo release would upscale the LaserDiscs. The DVDs are of a lesser quality.

[CrashOveride95]

Comparison of most of the BD/UHDs of Galaxy Express 999 (1979 film): https://slow.pics/c/j9o7EJLE

Despite the grain reduction I think the 4K remastering looks way better than the junky 2009 scan and Discotek's attempts to polish it

[SpaceDandy]

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

[...] are there any good comparisons showing the LaserDiscs vs. the JP DVDs for Kare Kano?

Kare Kano DVD vs LD
The BD is out of shape with its egregious noise reduction. The DVD and the LD share the same master (same tapes, untouched), but the LD has the advantage to not suffer from MPEG-2 compression. Kare Kano has some intense scenes which can only suffer, and some very badly, from DVD compression and bitrates.

[CrashOveride95]

Star Musketeer Bismark - R2JDVD vs. USBD

USBD remaster looks really really good

[CrashOveride95]

UFO Robo Grendizer: R2JDVD vs 2025 JPBD: https://slow.pics/c/wLUd9oOM

With this company it feels like when we take one step forward we take two steps back sometimes man

In a strange decision unlike every other TV anime Toei has remastered so far, this BD appears to use an old, early 2010s scan that they have attempted to polish with overaggressive filtering

Ironically, the encode is much better than Voltes V, which had a really bad encode but a mostly nice and sharp remaster

My only point of praise is that I think the color correction is nice and whoops the DVD but that's about it

It is quite irritating when NoName Shows Nobody Cares About™ gets a new beautiful modern scan and shows that are actually popular get this treatment