J-POP/Japanese music Blu-ray releases

[KAT]

Is the editing pretty good and are there many camera angles?

If I remember correctly there were 15 people listed as camera operators on the disc. The concert is done very well. Most of the audience shots are either filmed from the audience looking towards the stage or from the stage looking onward from behind the band members. The only time you see the camera focus on the audience that I remember is during sing along parts which I don't recall happening very often. In other words, this is not one of those concerts that uses the audience reactions to pump you up.

The show clearly focused on Chatmonchy, not the audience. The editing is very well done also. Some of the faster paced material recieve more cuts than the slower ones, but it is unobtrusive. This is not a concert that suffers from Mtv style jump cuts.

Also I should have mentioned more about the audio. Despite the one audio option, the audio is pretty much perfect for the main show. The bass and drums sound great. Both are pretty heavy. And the mix makes sure that none of the instruments or singing are drowned out. Next to the Police Certifiable Blu-ray, I think this is my second favorite audio mix for a blu-ray. The bonus feature audio is a little more raw, but still very good.

As I said before, if you like Chatmonchy, you'll enjoy this. This blu-ray made a fan out of me. And if they release another blu-ray in the future, I'm sure I'll be picking that one up as well. I am more into the rock side of Japanese music than the pop bands, but I am very happy with this blu-ray and I have already watched it several times.

I don't know how much longer the sale lasts, but right now HMV Japan is having a sale and Chatmonchy's blu-ray is selling for 4,689 yen if you buy two dvds,cd's or blu's. If I didn't have this one, I would probably bundle it with the Asian Kung-fu generation blu-ray which would be 4,851 yen. The rate for both of these at normal price is a little over $60 each, so this is a pretty good deal.

Also, I noticed that Chatmonchy has a new dvd, so maybe another blu isn't far behind. If this is a sign of things to come, you might want to purchase the blu sooner rather than later.

[kndy]

Originally Posted by KAT

I don't know how much longer the sale lasts, but right now HMV Japan is having a sale and Chatmonchy's blu-ray is selling for 4,689 yen if you buy two dvds,cd's or blu's. If I didn't have this one, I would probably bundle it with the Asian Kung-fu generation blu-ray which would be 4,851 yen. The rate for both of these at normal price is a little over $60 each, so this is a pretty good deal.

Thanks for the info! I only own one Chatmonchy single and it's "Last Love Letter" from February but yeah, thanks for the info on the Blu-ray and also the HMV sale!

[Fergubond]

Just finished watching Angela Aki's 2007-2008 concert "Today". The sound and picture were great IMHO. I can't compare to other since this is only my first disc, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of her music. Too bad they cost so much or I'd buy more, but I have to pull in the reigns for the time being.

[kndy]

Originally Posted by Fergubond

Just finished watching Angela Aki's 2007-2008 concert "Today". The sound and picture were great IMHO. I can't compare to other since this is only my first disc, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of her music. Too bad they cost so much or I'd buy more, but I have to pull in the reigns for the time being.

Hi Fergubond,

Cool! Curious...how are the camera angles (are there many? And are there a good amount of camera shots on audience participation/reaction? And are there any special features?

[Fergubond]

There was a fair amount of crowd participation, but compared to an american concert I would say it was minimal. Many of the shots of the crowd were from the stage and had Angela in the shot so they were not obtrusive. Fortunately the camera men focused on Angela throughout most of the concert. There were not a lot of camera angles. I actually enjoyed watching quite a bit. To be honest with you, I did not think to look at special features. This was the first concert I've watched on DVD or BD that was focused on a piano player, and as a result the action remained focused on a specific area for much of the time. The one time that changed was during "Every Breath You Take". Angela moved a lot and tried to get the crowd to interact.

[Cordre69]

Nami Tamaki, Ayumi Hamasaki, KOTOKO, and Utada all have amazing concerts that would be phenominal Blu Ray releases!

I do want to check out Aki's releases. I have a few songs and I enjoy them

[kndy]

Originally Posted by Cordre69

Nami Tamaki, Ayumi Hamasaki, KOTOKO, and Utada all have amazing concerts that would be phenominal Blu Ray releases!

I do want to check out Aki's releases. I have a few songs and I enjoy them

Nami's awesome... actually have video of her during her concert and when I interviewed her a few years back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9YuE9bUwAM

I think with Hamasaki, there would be a very good chance for the year end releases but it seems like they bundling a lot of her concerts with her album releases. Avex is really trying to pump up merchandise sales since Japan is now being dominated by mobile sales.

Utada would be awesome... I remember being in Japan and she first came out with "Automatic" and man...those were good times...and then she had the VHS of her clips and then the DVD 5.1 release of "Wait & See". Saw her recent appearance in NYC and LA at Sephora though...she looks very different now.

[Blufan11]

I would love to see hikkis united tour O_O on blu... its already amazing.

I have one of mikas blurays and im ordering namies best fiction later this week


i also need some ayu on blu im a huge fan of hers

[Blufan11]

btw why don't the people here on bluray.com review any of these concerts.. they should have someone who Likes this stuff a member.

or at least list them! so that users can review them

[kndy]

Originally Posted by Blufan11

btw why don't the people here on bluray.com review any of these concerts.. they should have someone who Likes this stuff a member.

or at least list them! so that users can review them

Not sure about the Blu-ray.com staff but in my case (I'm one of the few people outside of Japan who receives review copies from the Japanese music labels) unfortunately, Blu-ray is handled by different departments from the music division, so the only thing a few of us are able to get are the CD's, CD+DVD's and DVD's, no Blu-ray

[Blufan11]

Originally Posted by kndy

Not sure about the Blu-ray.com staff but in my case (I'm one of the few people outside of Japan who receives review copies from the Japanese music labels) unfortunately, Blu-ray is handled by different departments from the music division, so the only thing a few of us are able to get are the CD's, CD+DVD's and DVD's, no Blu-ray

you should give us reviews then! haha :P

[kndy]

Hopefully with the success of Amuro Namie's DVD and Blu-ray releases, this would be a positive for more Blu-ray's to be released. Especially like artists such as Koda Kumi and Hamasaki Ayumi and others.

[note: Some news sites have reported 1.55 million copies of the DVD/Blu-ray were sold but that is incorrect]
=========================================
Singer Namie Amuro’s new live DVD, “namie amuro Best Fiction Tour 2008-2009,” has topped the Oricon weekly charts for the week of Sept 15-21 in DVD and Blu-ray sales.

This is Amuro’s first time to hit the No. 1 spot on these two charts. She has also achieved record sales of a DVD from a female artist, having sold 155,000 copies since the DVD went on sale Sept 9

[blueberryroses]

"I came in with high expectations for this Blu-ray disc. Unfortunately, it is encoded in 1080i, not 1080p. The good news is the audio is 5.1 uncompressed. The bad news is the video quality. Darks are not as deep as they should be, but worst of all, the crew that shot the concert keeps blurring shots to fade in and out every few seconds. One moment Namie is in focus and another second, she's not. This goes on for the duration of the concert and it is very annoying. Why bother with a Blu-ray release if we are not going to get clear sharp pictures of the concert? I'm sure this looks a lot better than the normal DVD release, but really with all the new Blu-rays coming out, I expected a lot better from Avex Trax."

This was my initial review of the Blu-ray disc. As I have now seen it three times, I still hold to my initial review about the annoying production of this concert. That is too bad because the concert itself is really top notch. The good news is as the concert goes along, the annoying blur in and out lessens. If you are a Namie fan, this is a no brainer. Otherwise, you can just borrow it from a friend.

Final judgment: Picture quality: 3/5 Sound Quality 3.5/5

[kndy]

ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION - Eizo Sakushin Shu Vol.6 - Tour 2009 World World World - October 7

DEEN at Budokan - Live Joy Special - October 28

Kimura Kaela - GO!5!KAELAND - November 4

Macross F (Frontier) Character - FINALin Budokan - November 27

[KAT]

New Chatmonchy Blu-ray coming on November 25th.

Chatmonchy - Wash The Livehouse '09 at zepp Tokyo.

They also have a 6 dvd set coming out Dec. 23. 6 dvds!!!

[Blufan11]

Originally Posted by kndy

ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION - Eizo Sakushin Shu Vol.6 - Tour 2009 World World World - October 7

DEEN at Budokan - Live Joy Special - October 28

Kimura Kaela - GO!5!KAELAND - November 4

Macross F (Frontier) Character - FINALin Budokan - November 27

whats the setlist for kaela concert?

[dso]

Hi! Does some of you know if Japanese Jmusic BD's are only region A, or are region-free?
Because CDjapan states all of them as region-free, but I wasn't sure about that when first chatmonchy BD came out, and I emailed them. Then, they changed it to region A but I'm still not sure about that...

So, if anyone can confirm me if it's region-free or not... thx

PS: I'm from Spain, region B

[KAT]

Sorry, I looked all over the case, slipcover, disc and booklet and I couldn't find any region information on the Chatmonchy blu-ray.

I want to order their new blu-ray, but the dollar is so weak right now, I'm more than likely going to wait. Christmas is coming up and that means personal spending has to take a hit.

[kndy]

Originally Posted by Blufan11

whats the setlist for kaela concert?

The setlist is:


1.OPENING
2.Magic Music
3.Level 42
4.You know you love me
5.L.drunk
6.はやる気持ち的 My World
7.TREE CLIMBERS
8.マスタッシュ
9.dolphin
10.You
11.どこ
12.Snowdome
13.Whatever are you looking for?
14.Ground Control
15.ワニと小鳥
16.Butterfly
17. STARs
18.1115
19.BEAT
20.Yellow
21.BANZAI (アンコール)
22.Honey B
23.リルラ リルハ
24.Jasper
25.Circle
26.happiness!!

[dso]

Originally Posted by KAT

Sorry, I looked all over the case, slipcover, disc and booklet and I couldn't find any region information on the Chatmonchy blu-ray.

I want to order their new blu-ray, but the dollar is so weak right now, I'm more than likely going to wait. Christmas is coming up and that means personal spending has to take a hit.

Ok thanks for trying anyway ^^
And yeah the dollar is pretty weak right now, the euro is almost 1.5 dollars this last days o.O