Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets) Collection Oct 29

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by horroru

From what I'm seeing on various blogs (with some posts from Anime dealers) the delay was due to the replicator (JVC) being swamped with disc production for the holidays, and these are big multi disc sets. So no issues with the discs, just production back up. Looks like the blu rays will be replicated and shipped first, followed by the DVD sets, but again it's just what I'm seeing posted on the net.

Thanks! Glad to hear there shouldn't be any issues with the discs themselves. That's always comforting.

[reason108]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Thanks! Glad to hear there shouldn't be any issues with the discs themselves. That's always comforting.

Let`s hope that there are not any issues. It might take a while to find one if there is due to the number of discs involved.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by reason108

Let`s hope that there are not any issues. It might take a while to find one if there is due to the number of discs involved.

Good point. Let's cross our fingers. Like you said, with so many hours and discs, it could take weeks or months to stumble onto any issues.

[reason108]

Well, I just received my blu ray discs today from Rightstuf. Off hand, I am not seeing any image improvement over the original dvd box set. However, there are some color differences. Well, it may be that one of my monitors is not set up correctly. I am watching the first episode and the yellow tint that was present during the introduction of the team is no longer yellow. Now, its just a natural color. And, it appears that some of the purplish colors of the dvd are now more bluish. On the dvd, the English credits play over the ending of the episode. Now, the English credits play after the episode. Also, the image does appear a little brighter. At this point, I don`t think it will be an easy decision for me to sell off the original dvd box set like I thought that I might be able to do. I need to spend a little more time with it and decide what I think about the changes.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by reason108

Well, I just received my blu ray discs today from Rightstuf. Off hand, I am not seeing any image improvement over the original dvd box set. However, there are some color differences. Well, it may be that one of my monitors is not set up correctly. I am watching the first episode and the yellow tint that was present during the introduction of the team is no longer yellow. Now, its just a natural color. And, it appears that some of the purplish colors of the dvd are now more bluish. On the dvd, the English credits play over the ending of the episode. Now, the English credits play after the episode. Also, the image does appear a little brighter. At this point, I don`t think it will be an easy decision for me to sell off the original dvd box set like I thought that I might be able to do. I need to spend a little more time with it and decide what I think about the changes.

No image improvement over the DVDs?!? If this is the case then I'm very disappointed to hear this.

[reason108]

Originally Posted by mar3o

No image improvement over the DVDs?!? If this is the case then I'm very disappointed to hear this.

I hope that my little mini-review does not come off as too negative. If you do not own the original dvd box set then the blu ray set is the one to get. So far, after about 4 episodes, all that I am seeing is some color differences and maybe an slight clearer/cleaner image. I doubt that most would notice it. I would`t say that I regret spending the $100 for this set but I realize now that I really don`t need it. I think that I was expecting an better improvement.

[mar3o]

Are the extras in HD? The DVD extras discs contained lots of galleries, audition footage, etc. - are those just SD?

I was really hoping to hear there would be a big improvement over the DVD. Anybody who has seen any of the Japanese blu-ray release of Space Battleship Yamato knows what an astounding job they did with the remastering - far, far better than any DVD release ever. Of course that set is profoundly expensive. I was hoping this release would be a similar improvement over the DVDs.

[reason108]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Are the extras in HD? The DVD extras discs contained lots of galleries, audition footage, etc. - are those just SD?

I was really hoping to hear there would be a big improvement over the DVD. Anybody who has seen any of the Japanese blu-ray release of Space Battleship Yamato knows what an astounding job they did with the remastering - far, far better than any DVD release ever. Of course that set is profoundly expensive. I was hoping this release would be a similar improvement over the DVDs.

I haven`t had a chance to check out the extras yet. I was lucky to make it through 6 episodes which were on the first disc. The only extras on that disc are some commentaries but I believe that it is all the same stuff from the original dvd set.

[mar3o]

So then are these just upscales? I'm surprised that these don't look noticeably better than the DVDs. Doesn't the improved compression help with these in HD? I've seen plenty of animation on blu-ray and even older titles that aren't treated so well look great, unless it's Disney with their smoothed-over releases they've been putting out lately. The 1978 Lord of the Rings animated film is packed full of dirt and debris on the blu-ray, but it's still quite an improvement over the DVD. Even Heavy Metal, which is pretty basic animation, looks much better on blu-ray than DVD.

I'm just trying to figure out why these aren't much of an improvement over the DVDs. If they went from the original sources I would have expected a noticeable improvement. I guess it will be a awhile before we start seeing reviews and screenshots since it isn't officially released for a while yet.

[Batmon77]

If these were cleaned up for the DVD how much of an improvement would there be?

I might bite if the audio is deeper and more expansive, but flat animation getting "upgraded" to blu seems to be daunting.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Batmon77

If these were cleaned up for the DVD how much of an improvement would there be?

I might bite if the audio is deeper and more expansive, but flat animation getting "upgraded" to blu seems to be daunting.

Well, as I said above, I have seen animation on blu-ray that blows away the DVD counterparts. The Space Battleship Yamato blu-rays are amazing, and are a huge improvement over any DVD release I have ever seen of it, but they are very expensive to import. Even something like the 1978 Lord of the Rings, which has a ton of dirt and debris, because it wasn't cleaned up for the blu-ray, still looks much better than the DVD. So flat 2D animation can still be quite an improvement over the DVDs. Early Disney Blu-rays of their classic animated films look amazing, before they started wrecking their releases with their heavy DNR filters.

[chronoclast]

Screenshot comparisons for both the TV series and OVAs, the Blu-rays for both are a huge improvement over the DVDs. (Thanks to WTK and GWOtaku for these)

You'll need to click on the images to enlarge them.

TV (ADV Films R1 DVD | Blu-ray)

• 1 | 1
• 2 | 2
• 3 | 3
• 4 | 4
• 5 | 5
• 6 | 6
• 7 | 7
• 8 | 8

OVA (Urban Vision R1 DVD | Blu-ray)

• 1 | 1
• 2 | 2
• 3 | 3
• 4 | 4
• 5 | 5
• 6 | 6

[Thomas Guycott]

I'd say that's a remarkable and superior difference.

[LegacyCosts]

I could weep at those comparison screen shots. Now if only I had the money for this.

[al cos.]

Yes it's definitely improved over the DVD.

[reason108]

Originally Posted by chronoclast

Screenshot comparisons for both the TV series and OVAs, the Blu-rays for both are a huge improvement over the DVDs. (Thanks to WTK and GWOtaku for these)

You'll need to click on the images to enlarge them.

TV (ADV Films R1 DVD | Blu-ray)

• 1 | 1
• 2 | 2
• 3 | 3
• 4 | 4
• 5 | 5
• 6 | 6
• 7 | 7
• 8 | 8

OVA (Urban Vision R1 DVD | Blu-ray)

• 1 | 1
• 2 | 2
• 3 | 3
• 4 | 4
• 5 | 5
• 6 | 6

Those pictures describe what I was seeing. There are certainly color differences. I went back and re-watched episode 1 and also found Battle of the Planets episode 1 on youtube and compared the colors. So, it would appear that if the Sandy Frank production and the original Japanese production were using the same colors then the 2005 dvd had some serious issues with its color correction. I can never understand how these things can be so off base. Its not like there is not a previous reference point. If the blu ray is more correct then that certainly eases my worries on this.

And, with those pictures, I am seeing more of an difference in the quality of the image between blu ray and dvd than I did on my setup. I watch my blu`s on PS3 and dvd`s on the computer. I watched them both at the same time so I could compare differences. For whatever reason, I could not detect this big of an difference when I was watching them. Its possible that my computer is upscaling, but I don`t know. Its good to get some more opinions coming in on this.

What about the difference between the box that the dvd`s came in and what the blu ray`s come in? I prefer the old harder boxes. Seems a lot sturdier.

[Batmon77]

all i see is a washed out look. thats an improvement?

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by chronoclast

Screenshot comparisons for both the TV series and OVAs, the Blu-rays for both are a huge improvement over the DVDs. (Thanks to WTK and GWOtaku for these)

You'll need to click on the images to enlarge them.

TV (ADV Films R1 DVD | Blu-ray)

• 1 | 1
• 2 | 2
• 3 | 3
• 4 | 4
• 5 | 5
• 6 | 6
• 7 | 7
• 8 | 8

OVA (Urban Vision R1 DVD | Blu-ray)

• 1 | 1
• 2 | 2
• 3 | 3
• 4 | 4
• 5 | 5
• 6 | 6

Excuse me, but why the background in screenshots 3, has changed from DVD to Bluray?
Did they alter the animation in places?

[horroru]

Originally Posted by Thomas Guycott

I'd say that's a remarkable and superior difference.

Completely agree. Looks like the color saturation was cranked up on the original DVDs, looks much more natural on the Blu Ray.

[Batmon77]

Originally Posted by horroru

Completely agree. Looks like the color saturation was cranked up on the original DVDs, looks much more natural on the Blu Ray.

I'd question the natural look. If i recall, seeing them as a kid, the tv show was supposed to be colorful and post 60's early 70s POP. Not flat and washed out. Isnt Speed Racer is the same way...colorful? Just wondering aloud.