The Boy and the Heron 4K UHD (2023) (GKIDS / Studio Ghibli)

[brownstones19]

The steelbook art is great but I do wish it matched the rest of their steelbooks

[Misioon_Odisea]

Originally Posted by brownstones19

The steelbook art is great but I do wish it matched the rest of their steelbooks

It kind of does, actually. If you look at it a little more carefully, it still has the plain color background characteristic of this Ghibli SteelBook line, this time a marine blue, and the spine matches the rest of the line too, so it can match on the shelves. I'm sure the back cover will be just as plain as the others, too. Y'all just being thrown off here 'cause the front cover is a wee bit more ornate than usual

[Bsiwbekenenej]

Does anyone know if the 4k and the Blu-ray will be region locked? I've no idea how long it's gonna take for us to get a release in the UK. I don't have a 4k TV so I'd like to be able to play Blu-ray, but if just the 4k is region free I might get that anyway so I can still watch the film, if a little dim and washed out.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Bsiwbekenenej

Does anyone know if the 4k and the Blu-ray will be region locked? I've no idea how long it's gonna take for us to get a release in the UK. I don't have a 4k TV so I'd like to be able to play Blu-ray, but if just the 4k is region free I might get that anyway so I can still watch the film, if a little dim and washed out.

The 4K should be region free, though GKIDS (or Shout?) did region lock the 4K release of Weathering With You. The Blu-ray will very likely be region A locked. I wouldn't order it until it's confirmed to be region free.

[Hyro]

Hopefully this really does have Dolby Vision/HDR. Was really upset when GKIDS released Evangelion 3.0+1.1 on 4K UHD without any HDR at all. It's my only UHD disc without it.

[themp3000]

Originally Posted by Hyro

Hopefully this really does have Dolby Vision/HDR. Was really upset when GKIDS released Evangelion 3.0+1.1 on 4K UHD without any HDR at all. It's my only UHD disc without it.

With regard to Evangelion, it didn’t have HDR/DV on the Japanese release either to begin with so there was never any chance the US or any other release would have it.

[Misioon_Odisea]

Originally Posted by Misioon_Odisea

The SteelBook listing at the GKIDS Store only mentions HDR10 in the product description at the moment, but I'm sure it's just a mistake that they'll fix soon if they're called out on it. The Standard Edition listing is corrected to reflect the inclusion of Dolby Vision.

They fixed it! The product description for both listings should now properly read that the movie features "Dolby Vision plus Dolby Atmos for the ultimate home entertainment experience."

[PonyoBellanote]

I honestly don't even know why I'm surprised this movie is not native 4K.. but who knows, maybe it's as ''native 4K'' as Pixar's, if you catch my drift... I mean, doesn't seem like Japan or anyone has the power to make anything native 4K that isn't a live action film (and without heavy effects!).. I don't know I digress..

Thank you for those very informative posts, @professorwho. Glad to know both the 4K and BD will probably be amazing. I worry more for the GKids. I know the JP one will always surpass it, they tend to max out their stuff (most of the time) but I know the GKids one will be the only better English friendly UHD out there. And I don't have the money nor storage to bother with remuxes..

I didn't have an idea about all that info on how Ghibli does their stuff!! That'd explain why their stuff is taking so so long to release in 4K, I assume this may be a test. I knew they had done 4K of their stuff because the catalogues I believe, did advertise about 4K scans.

I think Ghibli on 4K would be amazing, particularly because how the way their movies look could benefit from a good HDR/DV grade, that is, if done well.. they're bright and colourful. But what I'm worried most, besides, as you say, the sketchy colour that may be used, it's the DNR. Ghibli mostly grain managed all of their movies, some lesser, some not as noticeable.. I'm worried if they decide to do it even more and make the movies be smeary ugly mess. But either way I hope we get a Ghibli 4K soon other than this one and that it is good.

[legends of beyond]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

I honestly don't even know why I'm surprised this movie is not native 4K.. but who knows, maybe it's as ''native 4K'' as Pixar's, if you catch my drift... I mean, doesn't seem like Japan or anyone has the power to make anything native 4K that isn't a live action film (and without heavy effects!).. I don't know I digress..

Thank you for those very informative posts, @professorwho. Glad to know both the 4K and BD will probably be amazing. I worry more for the GKids. I know the JP one will always surpass it, they tend to max out their stuff (most of the time) but I know the GKids one will be the only better English friendly UHD out there. And I don't have the money nor storage to bother with remuxes..

I didn't have an idea about all that info on how Ghibli does their stuff!! That'd explain why their stuff is taking so so long to release in 4K, I assume this may be a test. I knew they had done 4K of their stuff because the catalogues I believe, did advertise about 4K scans.

I think Ghibli on 4K would be amazing, particularly because how the way their movies look could benefit from a good HDR/DV grade, that is, if done well.. they're bright and colourful. But what I'm worried most, besides, as you say, the sketchy colour that may be used, it's the DNR. Ghibli mostly grain managed all of their movies, some lesser, some not as noticeable.. I'm worried if they decide to do it even more and make the movies be smeary ugly mess. But either way I hope we get a Ghibli 4K soon other than this one and that it is good.

Pixar’s 4K isn’t native? I thought they’d been doing native 4K since TS4?

[cuau_cg]

I was expecting the bonus features to include the documentary of the making of the movie that they did for TV.
But I guess it will have a separate release maybe?

[gwfb5]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

You get this fold-out poster for a limited time, at least when ordering from GKIDS

[Show spoiler]

Edit: Should be with every release. It's also mentioned at Amazon

[Show spoiler]

Is it safe to assume the poster will just be folded up inside the case?
I suppose the only other option would be to shrinkwrap it directly to the outside of the case with the slipcover over both, like GOTG2 4K did.

Originally Posted by professorwho

Having seen it twice theatrically (first in Japanese in IMAX and second dubbed in a normal cinema), the localised credits were in the dubbed screening, so it’ll be seamlessly branched on disc. Hopefully it’s competently authored this time, as Weathering With You has an actual pause due to layer transitions because the placement of the files was poorly thought out (and that disc is shit anyways, but Duplitech have really stepped up their game since then, it seems).

The 4K master itself seems to have been rather decently upscaled, which is a good surprise considering IMAGICA’s involvement (their 4K anime upscales tend to be on the rather sharpened side), but, knowing how Miyazaki is rather particular on the visual side of things, it’s not too horribly surprising, even if he didn’t personally oversee it, nor the HDR conversion.

Are you just talking about the 4K disc of WWY, or does the GKIDS Blu-ray have that issue too?
I've only watched the film once so far, but I don't remember noticing any weird pauses during playback. Looked pretty good from what I remember.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by gwfb5

Are you just talking about the 4K disc of WWY, or does the GKIDS Blu-ray have that issue too?
I've only watched the film once so far, but I don't remember noticing any weird pauses during playback. Looked pretty good from what I remember.

The layer transition issue applies to both the GKids UHD and BD, as I recall it happening when I watched the BD again last year. Specifically the issue popped up at the end credits of the film, which are branched (JP and EN; I watched in Japanese, so perhaps the location of the JP credits on disc is the cause).

The 1080p Blu-ray looks good, but the UHD is a sharpened mess (and is encoded in the wrong colourspace on the shared encode betwixt NA, UK, FR and AU).

[birdztudio]

wow, can't wait, will this be first Studio Ghibli UHD?

[peppapigstan]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

Wow, this is a major surprise - I was expecting this would come out, but not in the same month as Japan! They usually take a while on letting these come out out of Japan. I'm glad to hear. Crossing fingers for a decent encoding. It'll be the only English friendly 4K UHD for a while.

As for this opening the floodgates for more classic Ghibli - I hope so! I've always loved how good the Ghibli movies looked in Blu-ray though they started degraining heavily the more time went on, which makes me very very afraid for the classic ones..

IMO the teal overcast in the BDs for these older films are more egregious to me
Anyways, digipaint anime on UHD tends to have a decent track record in my opinion, especially since the standard for anime movies now is 2K resolution (higher than 1080p), and some BDs are even inferior downscales of 4K upscale (Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0, and Suzume)

[SmittysGelato]

Blind buying this one. If I don't like it after the first viewing I am going to assume I'm the problem and not Mr. Miyazaki. Repeat viewings will surely cure me of my stupidity.

[Deciazulado]

The Boy and the Heron 4K Blu-ray

The Boy and the Heron 4K Blu-ray Steelbook

[Medality]

As much as I can't wait getting my hands on this latest Miyazaki movie, and as great as it is that it's releasing on 4K, I am a bit disappointed by the lack of a French audio track. Indeed, it means I won't be able to watch it with my kids (subtitles won't do it).

What's confusing is that the Japan Ghibli releases seem to have many dubbed tracks, as if they're being sold worldwide.

Is that why they cost an arm and a leg?

[Jafar]

4K steelie is currently #1 top seller in Movies on amazon and Standard edition at #2

[Ben_C]

Originally Posted by SmittysGelato

Blind buying this one. If I don't like it after the first viewing I am going to assume I'm the problem and not Mr. Miyazaki. Repeat viewings will surely cure me of my stupidity.

I was a tad underwhelmed on my first (and so far only) viewing of the film, and that comes from a big long time fan of Miyazaki and Ghibli as a whole.
It felt a tad too long at a bit over two hours (certainly didn’t have that epic feel like Mononoke to justify the runtime imho), and it just didn’t feel fun in the way that something like Laputa was, or even particularly magical like Spirited Away.

On the plus side, unsurprisingly it looked stunning.

I’ll still get it, whether it’s importing the US release or hanging back to see if we get a UK release in Blighty, as I’m sure repeat viewings might improve my lukewarm feelings about it.

Good to see it getting a 4K release, and I do hope we get more 4K Ghibli, although my wallet is already cowering with fear at the thought

[Bubbles-11]

Originally Posted by Jafar

4K steelie is currently #1 top seller in Movies on amazon and Standard edition at #2

Will this be another Oppenheimer or Cameron 4Ks where the studio can't keep up with high demand? I can certainly see the same happening with Dune Part 2