Offical Neon Genesis Evangelion Info/Update Thread

[BigOnAnime]

Originally Posted by Xtempo

It would be nice to have the Jacket from the pipe dream ADV set

Really wonder what happened to make that get cancelled.

ADV Films has announced a limited edition 10th Anniversary Edition of Neon Genesis Evangelion, the classic angst-ridden giant robot series of the 1990s. The multi-DVD box set, which will be available late this summer, will include every video extra ever prepared for the NGE series as well as a wide variety of premium items ranging from bumper stickers to an embroidered jacket (accessible to fans via a mail-in card on which they can designate the correct size).

The 10th Anniversary Edition, which carries a hefty SRP of $299.98, is a true limited edition -- it will never be remanufactured and it won't be available for long.

ICv2 asked why ADV is releasing yet another edition of Evangelion. ADV Senior Vice President -- Creative Development Matt Greenfield replied. 'The reason for re-releasing the series in a 10th Anniversary Edition is to restore all the commentaries and extras that were left out of our Platinum Thin-Pack Edition, so that the true disciple can completely immerse themselves in the total EVA experience,' he said. 'Plus they get a cool jacket.'

Asked about the reasons for the series' continuing popularity, Greenfield expounded: 'What makes EVA unique is that in many ways it is a macrocosm of animes all existing at the same time but in many universes, using a basic framework of conventional anime characters and archetypes. Anno and the Gainax team have fashioned a work of art that changes with each repeat view. Layers upon layers of meaning and symbolism mean that every time you watch it a new facet is revealed, which changes the perception of the whole.'

https://icv2.com/articles/merch/view...th-anniversary
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/enc...es.php?id=7073

[Xtempo]

Originally Posted by kevers7290

There is a new 4K player from "Reavon" that I believe is cloned from an OPPO but I know next to nothing about it or if it is capable of supporting external subtitles. I would suggest following this thread for information:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=337548

These are just getting into people's hands so information is trickling in slowly. They are not cheap but definitely better than aftermarket prices on OPPO players.

I wish OPPO was still in the game. They could have been like Pioneer and keep discs alive like Pio did with LDs.

[svenge]

Originally Posted by SpaceDandy

[URL="https://tower.jp/article/feature_item/2015/08/10/2501"]The ES/IT/FR & KR releases opt for 9 discs, while US/UK/AU (and German?) release only 6. With more than two hours of bonus footage, it does feel a bit crammed together for 6 discs.

Here's the six discs from the Japanese BD set that the primary content for the US set is coming from. Note that all six discs in question have minimal bonus content on them and use two audio tracks: Japanese LPCM 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 audio (both uncompressed 16-bit audio).

• Disc 1 (Ep 1-6) 45.1 GB
• Disc 2 (Ep 7-12) 45.1 GB
• Disc 3 (Ep 13-18) 45.1 GB
• Disc 4 (Ep 19-22, 21'-22') 44.7 GB
• Disc 5 (Ep 23-26, 23'-24') 44.4 GB
• Disc 8 (Revival of Evangelion) 44.6 GB

If we subtract the ~30 GB used by the four "OA" versions of 21-24 that won't be on the US set, we're looking at about 240 GB of content. Were GKIDS to use a lossless codec for the Japanese and English 5.1 audio tracks, I would think that the total audio bitrate used would be about the same (i.e. 6 Mbps).

From there if we were to assume that GKIDS would fill their discs to 46-47 GBs of data and not change the video bitrate for the TV episodes and movies, that would only leave one disc for the "Video Format" version of EoE, Genesis 0:0 and 0:0', and the multiple episodes' worth of AR Rush "animatics" along with other bonus content that is shorter in length. I'll ignore all the other bonus features from here on out though since they're relatively short.

Seeing that the AR Rush episodes on Disc 10 of the Japanese BD set take up the full 45GB disc by themselves, obviously something has to give. Genesis 0:0 and 0:0' (total combined runtime: 1 hour) are natively in standard def and could be encoded as such on the GKIDS release, but the same can't be said for the "Video Format" version of EoE. Even if that version were only in Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio (to match the VHS/LD/DVD releases that were only in stereo), it would still take up a lot of disc space.

I guess my hope would be that the video bitrate for the TV episodes & Revival would only take a small hit from the 30-35 Mbps that the Japanese release uses, while severely cutting down on the bitrate for the AR Rush versions. Personally I'd go as far as reusing their standard-def video encodes from the 2003 Japanese "Renewal" DVD box set and saving about 35-40 GB in total as compared to the Japanese BD box set.

[Spoofer]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Nothing will be changed at all if ripped. I see people ask stuff like that all time, but nothing will be changed. It’s just a simple rip with 1:1 data, just in a different container depending on how it’s done.

Also, there have been subtitles synced to the JP BDs ever since it came out, so no need to sync anything… if you go that route.

If you choose not to, Oppo is the best known for adding subs through the player, though there are other ones I’m not familiar with.

General question for anyone, in case they have any links handy before I dive into Google, but are there any guides on how to replace/splice audio once ripped (like I imagine some people did for DBZ and the broadcast audio), so that I could reburn domestic Eva with FMttM onto BD-Rs? I imagine it'd be so complex as to be beyond my ability or worth my time, but I figured I'd ask to see what might be involved.

[mysticwaterfall]

Originally Posted by Spoofer

General question for anyone, in case they have any links handy before I dive into Google, but are there any guides on how to replace/splice audio once ripped (like I imagine some people did for DBZ and the broadcast audio), so that I could reburn domestic Eva with FMttM onto BD-Rs? I imagine it'd be so complex as to be beyond my ability or worth my time, but I figured I'd ask to see what might be involved.

The how is beyond me, but if you don't care about the dub it would seem much easier to just get the Japanese blus, add subs, then burn that to BD-Rs instead of needing to replace every different version of FMttM.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by kevers7290

There is a new 4K player from "Reavon" that I believe is cloned from an OPPO but I know next to nothing about it or if it is capable of supporting external subtitles. I would suggest following this thread for information:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=337548

These are just getting into people's hands so information is trickling in slowly. They are not cheap but definitely better than aftermarket prices on OPPO players.

They’re not Oppo clones. They’re more like rebadged Chinese GEIC (I believe is the name) players. How good they really are regarding support and such remains to be seen.

[SpaceDandy]

Originally Posted by svenge

Seeing that the AR Rush episodes on Disc 10 of the Japanese BD set take up the full 45GB disc by themselves, obviously something has to give. […]
I guess my hope would be that the video bitrate for the TV episodes & Revival would only take a small hit from the 30-35 Mbps that the Japanese release uses, while severely cutting down on the bitrate for the AR Rush versions. Personally I'd go as far as reusing their standard-def video encodes from the 2003 Japanese "Renewal" DVD box set and saving about 35-40 GB in total as compared to the Japanese BD box set.

That was my point, with only 6 discs for 26eps, three movies and 2 hours of bonus footage, some compromise had to be made somewhere. A bit bitter for a >200£ set. Was the additional BD25 that expensive to add?
And "eeek". Re-using DVD (SD) MPEG-2 encodes for such a pricey boxset would be disrespectful, even for some silly bonus material. We don't need another Cyber City Oedo 808.

[svenge]

Originally Posted by SpaceDandy

That was my point, with only 6 discs for 26eps, three movies and 2 hours of bonus footage, some compromise had to be made somewhere. A bit bitter for a >200£ set. Was the additional BD25 that expensive to add?.

Three movies? It's effectively one single film (i.e. "Revival of Evangelion") even if Death[True]² (as part of "Death & Rebirth") and EoE have been marketed separately in the West to this day due to historical licensing practices, plus a very slightly changed version of of EoE as a "bonus feature" in its own right.

In terms of Japanese retail releases, "Revival of Evangelion" has been the single canonical version of what D&R and EoE originated as for the last 18 years now. That's why the 2003 Japanese "Renewal" SKU was named "Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Feature Film" and the disc's menu displayed "Revival of Evangelion: The Motion Picture".

The root of this situation is that at the time that Manga Entertainment released Death & Rebirth and EoE in 2002, the only corresponding Japanese release available was of the two films separately (albeit with Death being replaced by Death[True]² even at this early date) so those would have been the materials Gainax / King Records would've provided them.

[Obento]

Originally Posted by svenge

Here's the six discs from the Japanese BD set that the primary content for the US set is coming from. Note that all six discs in question have minimal bonus content on them and use two audio tracks: Japanese LPCM 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 audio (both uncompressed 16-bit audio).

• Disc 1 (Ep 1-6) 45.1 GB
• Disc 2 (Ep 7-12) 45.1 GB
• Disc 3 (Ep 13-18) 45.1 GB
• Disc 4 (Ep 19-22, 21'-22') 44.7 GB
• Disc 5 (Ep 23-26, 23'-24') 44.4 GB
• Disc 8 (Revival of Evangelion) 44.6 GB

Hi Svenge, this my first post here on these forums. Firstly, a big thank you for all your work on your website detailing the different Eva releases, it's really a great resource.

I just had a look at the file sizes of my lossless MKV rips from that JP BD set, and most episodes hover around the 7.4GB mark inc both stereo and surround audio tracks (I haven't looked at every single episode, but at least two of the DC episodes are over 8GB each). At 6 episodes/disc, that's around 44.4GB per disc + space for menus, copyright videos etc.

With 7 videos per disc + an English soundtrack, then I can't see how they can keep the file sizes the same on the GKids/ATA releases if they use 50GB Blu Rays? So presumably that means a different video encode and all that comes with it? Someone who is much more knowledgeable than me can hopefully help me out here.

As a side note, do you know if there's any differences between the End of Evangelion that comes on Disc 7 of the JP BD set and the one on Disc 8 as part of "Revival of Evangelion"? I haven't watched both yet, just seems a little odd to include it twice if it was the exact same video file.

[Obento]

Originally Posted by Catbug

If I was interested in picking up a Japanese Blu-ray release of the series and the movies (that includes FMtTM) what would be the best option? Did the latest Japanese collection come out recently? I know the 3rd and 4th rebuild movies are coming out on 4K, so is it fair to think that maybe Japan will do a 4K collection soon?

3.333 is being released in 4k shortly, but it's hard to see the TV series coming out in 4k any time soon. The 1080p version was only released in 2015, after 5 whole years of remastering work (apparently the longest time period ever spent remastering an anime). The JP BD set, single BDs and new DVDs based off the 1080p master were released in 2019. The 2019 edition is called the "Standard Edition" and is less than half the price of the 2015 release, the only difference being it doesn't have the extended booklet and the packaging is different.

I reckon they'll cash in with the current editions and all the buzz around 3.0+1.0 for the next few years before coming out with a 4k edition in 10 years' time or so to cash in all again, if indeed they ever do release one (it's hard to imagine how much better they could make a 16mm anime film look).

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Obento

With 7 videos per disc + an English soundtrack, then I can't see how they can keep the file sizes the same on the GKids/ATA releases if they use 50GB Blu Rays? So presumably that means a different video encode and all that comes with it? Someone who is much more knowledgeable than me can hopefully help me out here.

Indeed. I said on the previous page that this will feature a new encode, and it will not disappoint. Eva is in good hands.

[rayeknor]

Will be interesting how episode 16 looks in 1080 vs the platinum discs. Also if End of Evangelion has that very soft filtering as it did on the Japanese renewal dvd. Have not seen any of the Japanese bluray releases so this will be a fresh view for me since the dvd days.

[kevers7290]

Originally Posted by Naiera

They’re not Oppo clones. They’re more like rebadged Chinese GEIC (I believe is the name) players. How good they really are regarding support and such remains to be seen.

Thanks for clarifying on that. I wasn't trying to spread any misinformation, so apologies for that (editing my previous post). And yeah, the fact that this company has no traction as of yet, I would be very hesitant to spend the kind of premium they are asking for their product. Approach with caution.

[Naiera]

I thought they were Oppo clones until like a week ago as well. I still might very well get one, one day, but I don't have the money now and I definitely need to see what people think of them in a few months.

They're secretly region free (switchable, of course) for normal Blu-ray.

[svenge]

Originally Posted by Obento

With 7 videos per disc + an English soundtrack, then I can't see how they can keep the file sizes the same on the GKids/ATA releases if they use 50GB Blu Rays? So presumably that means a different video encode and all that comes with it? Someone who is much more knowledgeable than me can hopefully help me out here.

There will be a different video encode, but it will be from the same source master that the Japanese BD set used.

Originally Posted by Obento

As a side note, do you know if there's any differences between the End of Evangelion that comes on Disc 7 of the JP BD set and the one on Disc 8 as part of "Revival of Evangelion"? I haven't watched both yet, just seems a little odd to include it twice if it was the exact same video file.

The .M2TS stream files for "Air" and "Magokoro wo Kimi ni" are 12.8 GB and 11.0 GB respectively on both Disc 7 (EoE) and Disc 8 (Revival), so I must assume that they use the same encode. As to why the encode would be used twice, my assumption is that Khara wanted to provide separate discs for the three different theatrical runs that Evangelion had in Japan between 1997-98:

• Death & Rebirth - March 1997 (Disc #6)
• The End of Evangelion - July 1997 (Disc #7)
• Revival of Evangelion - March 1998 (Disc #8, consists of Death[True]² + EoE as a single showing with an intermission after Death)

Those three theatrical discs also make for a good tie-in with the "Archives of Evangelion" DVD box set for those wishing to revisit the original Evangelion broadcast experience, as there were minor changes done on even the initial VHS/LD releases.

[SpazeBlue]

Originally Posted by rayeknor

Will be interesting how episode 16 looks in 1080 vs the platinum discs. Also if End of Evangelion has that very soft filtering as it did on the Japanese renewal dvd. Have not seen any of the Japanese bluray releases so this will be a fresh view for me since the dvd days.

:

Originally Posted by vincentric

Have some episode 16 comparisons.

The upscale looks a bit rough indeed but there are nonetheless some minor improvements in clarity and line detail, and a major one that resolves compression blocking (VERY noticeable in the 4th and 5th bloodbath comparison images).

01 ADV PT DVD | JP BD

02 ADV PT DVD | JP BD

03 ADV PT DVD | JP BD

04 ADV PT DVD | JP BD

05 ADV PT DVD | JP BD

EoE comps coming soon.

Originally Posted by vincentric

It seems almost unfair to compare it, even among other poorly encoded DVDs, it looks bad.

And when put up against the JP BD, it's like David vs Goliath only this time David has no chance in hell of winning. I don't even need to go into nerdy detail, just look at that difference. INCREDIBLE:

01 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

02 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

03 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

04 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

05 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

06 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

07 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

08 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

09 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

10 Manga R1 DVD | JP BD

Wish I had a better version to compare but the crappy manga disc is all I have access to.

[GeoffOliver]

If I didn't already know the Manga disc was a disaster, I would've assumed I got a bootleg by mistake. The English audio mix sounded very nice though for the time IMO, but the picture quality looked like VHS, and not even a good one. I'm only keeping it for the commentary. Gainax really trolled Manga by sending them that master after how much they allegedly paid to license the film.

[vap]

Originally Posted by Naiera

Why in the shit would you buy a DVD nowadays?

Because it never has and never will come out on bluray? Why the shit wouldn't I?

[Member-571539]

Originally Posted by vap

Because it never has and never will come out on bluray? Why the shit wouldn't I?

[Warm Gun]

Originally Posted by vap

Because it never has and never will come out on bluray? Why the shit wouldn't I?

People who only buy/watch what's available in HD are suckers and I pity them for hating SD enough that they limit their entertainment so much.