Night on the Galactic Railroad coming to Blu-ray in November 2015 from Discotek

[blaizevincent]

I thought I would post my Review here since the one on the site is unreadable and I don't know how to fix it.

Based on the 1927 short story of the same name by Kenji Miyazawa, this Group TAC animated feature is one of the best Anime film's of the 1980's. Reminding any viewer of a certain age of a mix between Fantasia and Galaxy Express 999 (the latter of which was heavily influenced by the original short story). This film balances a somewhat dark tale with beautiful uplifting set piece moments and a truly peaceful ambient soundtrack that offers viewers a journey that is both captivating and relaxing. The film is about as charming as can be. As for Discotek's new Blu Ray release overall it's a solid package.

The Video presentation is staggeringly detailed but at times does show the age of the print which while it has clearly been well cared for does on occasion show a significant amount of dust and a few scratches, most notably in darker scenes. It doesn't deter from the viewing experience though and is never a problem even at it's worst. In comparison to the Old Central Park Media DVD releases it's simply a no contest, this Blu Ray is one of the best looking for a Classic Anime film that I've seen.

The Audio options offered are English 2.0, Japanese 2.0 and Japanese 5.1, I don't have the setup to really offer a great opinion on the quality of the audio but having checked out all 3 options I found nothing at fault.

The English Dub offers decent performances and while some casting choices are considered debatable by fans (Crispin Freeman as Campanella sounding slightly too old for his role, but I personally enjoy his performance) and a few voices being perhaps too similar to other roles. Specifically Veronica Taylor (Giovanni) who was the original voice for Ash Ketchum in Pokemon and does little to change her voice for this performance so big fans of Pokemon may find her performance distracting. The Voice actor for Professor Oak from Pokemon also appears as the Light House keeper and again does little to differentiate his voice for this role. But despite all this I believe this to be a perfectly adequate English adaptation that stays remarkedly true to the Japanese script.

The Extras include a good commentary by Anime Network's and all around Anime super fan Mike Toole who once again offers great insight and history on those who made the film. He is joined by Justin Sevakis who worked at Central Park Media when they made the English Dub back when and he also authored the Discotek release, he is clearly a big fan of the original story and offers some interesting insight to the original creation of the English version as well as lot's of information on Kenji Miyazawa and once again the film itself. It's a good listen and is paced just well enough that despite the long running time of the film both are seldom silent for long. It's a laidback commentary but it matches the film in that regard and is certainly a worthwhile listen.

The rest of the Extras are 3 trailers, two of Japanese origin (in HD) and the original Central Park Media Trailer for their English version (in SD). Unfortunately there are a couple of Extra's missing from the original Central Park Media release including an Art Gallery (which was mostly screenshots) and History (which in this case is mostly covered in the commentary) so neither are a big loss but a shame that perhaps the History extra was ported over in some form.

Overall this is a great release from Discotek of a true Classic of Japanese cinema and animation. Those interested in classic Anime would be foolish not to add this to their collection and those who own the old Central Park Media release should immediately upgrade as the quality of this Blu Ray against the old DVD (which I wouldn't be surprised if it were a VHS transfer) is simply a no contest. Definitely a worthwhile purchase for all Anime fans.