Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls on Blu-ray

[Jackson_H]

Hope it's ok to make a new thread for this; I haven't seen discussion on it online (guess most people don't care or not enough people have noticed yet)

I recently bought the first Basilisk series on Blu-ray from Funimation; pre-ordered it months ago and it shipped recently (July 2)

This is the "Classics" release.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Basil...lu-ray/243550/

The show was previously released on Blu-ray in 2009

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Basil...-Blu-ray/6688/

and in 2015 as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack under the former "Anime Classics" label

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Basil...lu-ray/132290/


Pre-ordering things is apparently a huge risk these days because if there are any picture, audio or packaging issues if may take months or years for a company like Funimation to fix the problems (and sometimes they don't) which is why I'm glad I held off pre-ordering Dragon Ball Super: Broly

I bought the Classics 2019 Blu-ray because I already owned the show on DVD (so the 2015 combo pack would give me extra DVD discs I don't want) and the 2009 BD-only release is out of print.

More importantly as a fan of both the English dub and original Japanese audio (one of the first anime I ever watched and bought) I was disappointed that the 2009 and 2015 Blu-ray releases only had lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 audio for the Japanese track.

The 2019 Blu-ray however promised a new lossless Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Japanese track plus a third Dolby TrueHD 2.0 English track (Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English seems good enough but I'm not complaining about options)

As you see on Funimation's website the Main Feature Audio states:

Dolby TrueHD: English 2.0
Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1
Dolby TrueHD: Japanese 2.0


https://www.funimation.com/shop/home...-bd-blr-00403/


However after receiving my copy and testing the discs I was disappointed to learn that there are only 2 audio tracks; the exact same as the 2009 and 2015 releases which were Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English and Dolby Digital 2.0 Japanese


False advertising or just incompetence?


I assumed Funimation would press new discs to include the 3rd English audio track and upgrade the quality of the Japanese audio but apparently being hopeful was silly of me.

Pretty sure Funimation reused the existing stock/template from the 2009 discs because the logo intro on each disc still says

Funimation Entertainment
A Navarre Corporation Company

https://youtu.be/izu0Qmmwyf4?t=95


and all trailers are for old DVD releases; nothing recent or upcoming


Doing some research here's some history of this anime on Blu-ray.

Funimation did their own Blu-ray release for it before Japan did.

Since HD materials didn't exist I suppose the 2009 release can be excused for not having lossless Japanese audio.

However in 2010 Sony Pictures (and studio Gonzo) released a limited edition Blu-ray in Japan which had lossless LPCM 2.0 Japanese audio

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Basilisk-Blu-ray/106808/


A fan I spoke to who owns the 2010 Japanese release told me the picture quality of Funimation's and the Japanese releases aren't perfect but apparently Funimation's remaster is the lesser of two evils

Site reviewed the 2009 Funimation BD (3.5/5 for video quality)

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Basil...y/6688/#Review


Funimation had a chance to improve their Japanese audio for their 2015 release (5 years later) but apparently no...


Didn't stop the 2014 French release and 2016 German release from having lossless Japanese audio

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Basil...lu-ray/118198/

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Basil...lu-ray/183315/


In 2017 Basilisk was re-released on Blu-ray as a standard edition for Japanese fans and I believe it's the same as the limited edition 2010 release (lossless LPCM 2.0 Japanese audio)

http://www.gonzo.co.jp/2017/10/04/3179/

リニアPCM(2.0ch)

So either Funimation has wasted 9 years of not choosing to upgrade the audio despite having 2 opportunities to do so (2015 and 2019 releases) or there was miscommunication in their video production department.

Website's product page and even the info on the back of the Blu-ray case says

Dolby TrueHD: English 2.0
Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1
Dolby TrueHD: Japanese 2.0

Also could've used to the opportunity to get rid of the banding, aliasing that the 2009 review noted (though apparently aren't very noticeable unless you're concentrating on them specifically) 2015 release maybe fixed those issues but if the same discs were reused back then as well I'm assuming the 2019 release still has them too.


I contacted Funimation on their support page but assuming they receive hundreds of emails daily I wouldn't be surprised if my message gets ignored

https://help.funimation.com/s/contactsupport

Maybe the issue can get more attention if more fans emailed also or @ them on social media?

https://twitter.com/FUNimation

https://www.facebook.com/funimation/


I think feedback@funimation.com is still valid

When Funimation set up their disc replacement program for Re:ZERO Part 1

https://www.funimation.com/blog/2019...ement-program/

Fans were asked to email funimationstore@funimation.com


If Funimation plans to fix this mistake and send out new discs eventually I will keep my copy. If not I may have to consider returning it to the retailer I bought it from to get a refund before I'm no longer eligible.