Comparison of Studio Ghibli Blu-ray Releases

[CatBus]

Originally Posted by Norbie

No, the subs aren't forced.

Press "enter/ok" button on your remote while the film is playing. It will take you to a menu where you can turn off the Japanese subs.

Thanks, I'll try that. I've also heard the "Return" button gives a simpler menu in this particular scenario.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

How's the HK release for Kiki? Anybody know?

And as it seems the Taiwan BDs port over the Japanese a/v, where's a good place to buy them online that is perhaps comparable to DDDHouse's prices? (To help decide whether I go with the HK or TW Blu-rays.)

[Shingster]

I use JSDVD Mall for my Taiwan purchases, but you have to make sure you order at least 3 titles or so if you don't want to be hit hard by their shipping prices (I believe this is an issue with all Taiwanese etailers though). I'd recommend waiting until you have a good 5 or 6 titles in mind to purchase.

[JavaJulien]

Originally Posted by Lnds500

Princess Mononoke + The Cat Returns have been announced for Japan.

Only question now is who is picking up the NA distribution rights for Mononoke?

With that announced, that only leaves Porco Rosso, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Spirited Away to go.

[FREYMAX 3D]

FYI - A new Anime sub-forum was just created today in this forum - was thinking the OP might like this thread moved over for better visibility?

[varmintx]

Originally Posted by FREYMAX 3D

FYI - A new Anime sub-forum was just created today in this forum - was thinking the OP might like this thread moved over for better visibility?

How would moving it to the subforum improve its visibility if by "visiblity" you mean the opportunity to be seen by more people?

[Mr.F]

Originally Posted by JavaJulien

Only question now is who is picking up the NA distribution rights for Mononoke?

With that announced, that only leaves Porco Rosso, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Spirited Away to go.

Disney has the rights to Mononoke. They've released the DVD under their Studio Ghibli collection banner. They still own the US video rights to every Studio Ghibli film they've had them for except Only Yesterday.

[FutureDays]

Originally Posted by Mr.F

Disney has the rights to Mononoke. They've released the DVD under their Studio Ghibli collection banner. They still own the US video rights to every Studio Ghibli film they've had them for except Only Yesterday.

From the Only Yesterday Wiki, it says Disney has the rights for Only Yesterday as well but is just sitting on it. I don't know how accurate the wiki is but I've decided to pick up the HK version rather than waiting to see if Disney releases it on Blu. Even if Disney eventually releases it, I'm thinking it will be years away.

From the wiki..
"The film's home video release and distribution rights in North America belong to Disney. As of September 2011, it was not scheduled for release to the North American home video market."

[FREYMAX 3D]

Originally Posted by varmintx

How would moving it to the subforum improve its visibility if by "visiblity" you mean the opportunity to be seen by more people?

Well, yeah, it would show up on the first page in the anime forum, and be highly visible to visitors looking for anime threads, rather than buried somewhere in the Blu-ray Movies - North America forum, which is 100+ pages deep...

[Freeza]

Originally Posted by varmintx

How would moving it to the subforum improve its visibility if by "visiblity" you mean the opportunity to be seen by more people?

If this was moved to an anime subforum I'd never see it again. I'm not going to check a forum filled with 99.99% content I'm not interested in just to see if something was added to a Ghibli thread.

And maybe it's just me, but though they technically are 'anime', I've never really associated them with that. They're Ghibli films. Just like classic Disney isn't a 'cartoon'.

[Lnds500]

Originally Posted by FREYMAX 3D

Well, yeah, it would show up on the first page in the anime forum, and be highly visible to visitors looking for anime threads, rather than buried somewhere in the Blu-ray Movies - North America forum, which is 100+ pages deep...

I don't have a problem with that idea.

It also seems more appropriate given the subject.

[varmintx]

Originally Posted by FREYMAX 3D

Well, yeah, it would show up on the first page in the anime forum, and be highly visible to visitors looking for anime threads, rather than buried somewhere in the Blu-ray Movies - North America forum, which is 100+ pages deep...

Originally Posted by Freeza

If this was moved to an anime subforum I'd never see it again. I'm not going to check a forum filled with 99.99% content I'm not interested in just to see if something was added to a Ghibli thread.

And maybe it's just me, but though they technically are 'anime', I've never really associated them with that. They're Ghibli films. Just like classic Disney isn't a 'cartoon'.

And here's the problem I mentioned the first time the subforum idea was brought up. The people looking for anime in general are going to find the Ghibli and other high-profile anime releases, but those who do not follow the medium but would otherwise have interest in these titles are not going to do so, and as such, they're going to simply get lost.

If an anime subforum is going to be used, it should be restricted to titles that would otherwise never get a thread of their own here anyway. I believe Akira's thread should be moved back.

[FREYMAX 3D]

Originally Posted by varmintx

And here's the problem I mentioned the first time the subforum idea was brought up. The people looking for anime in general are going to find the Ghibli and other high-profile anime releases, but those who do not follow the medium but would otherwise have interest in these titles are not going to do so, and as such, they're going to simply get lost.
If an anime subforum is going to be used, it should be restricted to titles that would otherwise never get a thread of their own here anyway. I believe Akira's thread should be moved back.

Well I don't believe that's really true - how are they going to get lost?

If someone new to the forum is looking for Ghibli threads, they're going to do a Forum Search for the word "Ghibli" and find all the Ghibli threads just fine, no matter what section the threads are located in. Then if they see that it's in the anime section, they can easily see other Ghibli or non-Ghibli anime theads there they may be interested in.

Any one who already posting consistently in a Ghibli thread is most likely going to be subscribed to the thread, so it readily shows up in their User CP and moves to the top of their subscription list every time a new post is added to the thread.

And, in the same way, the thread will show up at the top of the New Posts list everytime it someone adds a post to the thread, so it will be visible there fairly readily as well.

The only way someone might miss a Ghibli thread would be by just browsing the Blu-Ray Movies - North America forum, but then they're going to see the big Anime sub-forum link right at the top of the forum page above the sticky section, so it would only be normal for them to check there...

Not sure how anyone would get "lost" unless they don't understand how to use Search or Subscription functions in a typical forum... and how would you "lose" a thread you are already posting in, Freeza?

Besides, if this thread were in the Anime Sub-forum, it would most likely be a candidate for a Sticky at the top of the forum...

[Freeza]

Originally Posted by FREYMAX 3D

Well I don't believe that's really true - how are they going to get lost?

If someone new to the forum is looking for Ghibli threads, they're going to do a Forum Search for the word "Ghibli" and find all the Ghibli threads just fine, no matter what section the threads are located in. Then if they see that it's in the anime section, they can easily see other Ghibli or non-Ghibli anime theads there they may be interested in.

Any one who already posting consistently in a Ghibli thread is most likely going to be subscribed to the thread, so it readily shows up in their User CP and moves to the top of their subscription list every time a new post is added to the thread.

And, in the same way, the thread will show up at the top of the New Posts list everytime it someone adds a post to the thread, so it will be visible there fairly readily as well.

The only way someone might miss a Ghibli thread would be by just browsing the Blu-Ray Movies - North America forum, but then they're going to see the big Anime sub-forum link right at the top of the forum page above the sticky section, so it would only be normal for them to check there...

Not sure how anyone would get "lost" unless they don't understand how to use Search or Subscription functions in a typical forum... and how would you "lose" a thread you are already posting in, Freeza?

Besides, if this thread were in the Anime Sub-forum, it would most likely be a candidate for a Sticky at the top of the forum...

Here's a jumble of my thoughts on the matter.

They'll be lost in the sense that they'll be seen far less. Most people reading this site, and others, do just what you started with in your 'The only way' paragraph, they come in, they browse a bit, they leave.

As for subscribing... Look at my collection (and that's not even counting the DVDs I own), do you think I'm going to subscribe to any thread that pops up that may contain a film I'm interested in? My inbox would be filled to capacity on a daily basis. Again, even without a large collection, most people pop in, browse, and leave. This talk of seeing "ANIME" and of course jumping right into the sub-forum will only apply to a very small set of regulars (which I mention in the next paragraph), but long story short, for the majority, those big Sub-Forum links you mention, yeah, those are like elevator music... You frequent a page enough and you don't even see them.

Also, these spin-off subsections are mostly just the same few people posting/reading, stagnating. ...Just look at the collectibles, gaming and other such sub-sets.

It's not a given that there are consistently new posts, so after the initial move, folks that are just interested in Ghibli, and not anime in general, will look a few times, see nothing new, then the thread will be forgotten. These Ghibli titles come out at a rate of 2 or so a year, so as I said, the odds of consistent, new, useful information showing up pertaining to them enough times throughout the year to keep that sub-forum fresh enough in my mind that I'm compelled to enter it, is frankly laughable.

These are films, they warrant a spot in the main forum.

As for your calling me out as to how I'd "lose" the thread... I never used the word "lose" in my initial post, that was Varmintx, I rather, commented and explained how it would deter from it's "visibility", which was the topic at the time.

[FREYMAX 3D]

You stated "If this was moved to an anime subforum I'd never see it again" which totally baffles me. That infers that you would "lose" the location of the thread, that's all I meant by that, and why I put "lose" in quotes.

In any event, I only came here to post a suggestion; I have nothing to do with moving the thread, as I am not a mod. It would be the choice of the OP whether he wishes the thread to be moved or not. He may contact a Mod if he desires to have the thread moved. Have a great day, everyone!

[MifuneFan]

If this is moved to the anime subforum, it should be sticked. I'd prefer it just say right here though as I think it will get more visibility than if it was put in the subforum.

[Freeza]

Originally Posted by FREYMAX 3D

You stated "If this was moved to an anime subforum I'd never see it again" which totally baffles me. That infers that you would "lose" the location of the thread, that's all I meant by that, and why I put "lose" in quotes.

And that was followed by, "I'm not going to check a forum filled with 99.99% content I'm not interested in just to see if something was added to a Ghibli thread.", in the very same post. My comment explained itself, not sure how it could be baffling. In two sentences I was very clear that I'd never bother to look for it there. ...and nothing about losing it or its location. You inferred incorrectly.

[Lnds500]

Updated the "From Up On Poppy Hill" entry (added and refined PQ/AQ/Extras/Subtitles/Region coding for US + UK)

From Up On Poppy Hill - Collector's Edition Packaging (UK)

I found this comparison on the net. I'm just putting it here to showcase the negligible difference between the low bit-rate of the US release compared to the JP release.

*IF ANYONE HAS ANY PROBLEM WITH THIS COMPARISON, I CAN MAKE ANOTHER* (I just don't have the time right now)

Screenshots: JPN (1080P @ 33,587 Kbps) vs USA (1080P @ 19,985 Kbps)

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Kinda shows that bitrate doesn't mean everything. Smart compression will do the job right and save some space for other things.

[ricster]

The Spanish digibooks arrived yesterday. Very nice additions to my growing Ghibli collection.

ESP - Howl's Moving Castle

[Show spoiler]

ESP - Totoro

[Show spoiler]