The Anime Blu-ray Video Quality Thread

[StefaanD]

Also from me a big thanks for the stats. Am actually surprised that the Manga UK release comes so close to the AoA release, especially when keeping in mind that Manga UK has a bad reputation with a lot of their releases.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by vincentric

Which leads to another question - how were they able to do this for Blue Exorcist and not for other titles such as Gurren and Fate Zero where the AoA versions for those have a clear advantage?

They must have outsourced the disc authoring to Aniplex. Madman AFAIK rarely authors their own discs and Manga UK probably did the same. As for Fate/Zero Madman+MVM probably authored their own discs probably because they didn't license all of the bonus materials.

By the way, does anyone know how the Viz release of Tiger and Bunny stacks up to the Japanese Bandai release? With the current euro-dollar exchange rate the price difference between the 2 Viz releases and a second hand complete Japanese set isn't that large.

[vincentric]

Posted a quick comparison between the UK and AoA versions of Fate/Zero here.

I'll post the rest of them in here:

1 - UK BD | AoA BD

2 - UK BD | AoA BD

3 - UK BD | AoA BD

4 - UK BD | AoA BD

5 - UK BD | AoA BD

Long story short, AoA transfer is pretty flawless while the UK set has issues with compression macroblocking, and an incorrect brightness setting that leads to banding and washed out colors.

But is it worth passing up the UK version for the much more pricey AoA set? Not an easy one to answer. The vid snob in me would be unhappy with the UK set and say yes. But for the much lower entry price, the UK set isn't all bad and gets the job done, I think most people will be happy with it.

[Naiera]

I guess when they decide to muck up, they just go for broke

[vincentric]

Haha, man, no kidding. It's as if someone pressed the wrong brightness button and they were too lazy to go back and fix it.

[UseY0ur1llusi0n]

The hell does MVM stand for anyway? Mangle Video Murderers?

[Naiera]

To me, their releases of Monogatari and SAO were fine. I switched back to Aniplex releases of the Monogatari series, but not because I was terribly worried about the PQ.

[Sylontack]

Has anyone seen anything on the US and Japanese releases of Blue Submarine? I can't find any reviews on this site (not that I often trust the anime PQ reviews here anyway).

There's only a one disc difference so does anyone know how Discotek fares against Bandai Visual's release? Usually I'd just jump to the JP release but there's only a single disc difference and a large price difference considering this would be a blind purchase.

Alternatively- does it look good on Blu-Ray at all? I don't know how it was animated or when it came out (Again, blind purchase) so for all I know it could look garbage on BD no matter where I buy it from.

Thanks in advance.

(Also I'm considering doing some Penguindrum comparisons because I just got my hands on the JP BD Singles and already own the AUS release, which has already proven to be far superior to the US release for anyone who was following the releases. If anyone is interested let me know otherwise I mightn't bother)

[UseY0ur1llusi0n]

Originally Posted by Sylontack

does it look good on Blu-Ray at all?

Oh god..

[Sylontack]

Originally Posted by UseY0ur1llusi0n

Oh god..

I presume not then? Or was that rather just dismay at the question itself rather than the answer? :P
Because I mean it's a justifiable question to anyone who has seen the Haibane Renmei HD transfer. That was just embarrassing.

[UseY0ur1llusi0n]

I'm sorry man, but I'm done posting about it. It's infuriating and still gives me fits. For those who hate smeary Q-tec upscales like I do you know what I'm talking about.

[Sylontack]

Originally Posted by UseY0ur1llusi0n

I'm sorry man, but I'm done posting about it. It's infuriating and still gives me fits. For those who hate smeary Q-tec upscales like I do you know what I'm talking about.

Ah, sorry- I hadn't realised I hit a nerve
I might just go DVD for it then at some point, thanks.

[UseY0ur1llusi0n]

Originally Posted by Sylontack

I hadn't realised I hit a nerve

Not you, the Blu-ray.

[vincentric]

I wouldn't mind seeing those Penguindrum comparisons.

I was actually interested in picking up the Sentai release until I heard how much of a disaster it is. I wonder if they'll release an improved complete boxset for it like they did with Bodacious and Fate Stay?

[vincentric]

Originally Posted by Naiera

To me, their releases of Monogatari and SAO were fine. I switched back to Aniplex releases of the Monogatari series, but not because I was terribly worried about the PQ.

I might do a comparison of the UK and AoA (the upcoming standard edition) release of SOA. Not sure yet.

[Naiera]

[SeaFox]

Originally Posted by vincentric

I wonder if they'll release an improved complete boxset for [Penguindrum] like they did with Bodacious and Fate Stay?

I think it being a two-cor show helps its chances a lot. I don't expect there to ever be a redo for Canaan or Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 because they've already been mastered for their minimum disc count.

[vincentric]

Originally Posted by Naiera

After some quick research, AoA release seems to have a slight advantage, it uses more BDs for the episodes, though am not sure how much data is provided for each one. Video dork in me wouldn't mind at all if you could quickly check your first UK disc of SAO with MakeMKV to see how many GBs it is using. Whenever you get a chance.

Originally Posted by SeaFox

I think it being a two-cor show helps its chances a lot. I don't expect there to ever be a redo for Canaan or Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 because they've already been mastered for their minimum disc count.

I was thinking that a complete set for Penguindrum would have been released by now since it came out around the same time as the dual 1080i Fate Stay and Bodacious sets but I guess not, hopefully we'll see one soon. I haven't checked out Canaan or TM 8.0, I take it that the PQ for those are pretty bad, as well?

[SeaFox]

Originally Posted by vincentric

I was thinking that a complete set for Penguindrum would have been released by now since it came out around the same time as the dual 1080i Fate Stay and Bodacious sets but I guess not, hopefully we'll see one soon. I haven't checked out Canaan or TM 8.0, I take it that the PQ for those are pretty bad, as well?

Not sure. I've already passed on Canaan because of the overly liberal official subs. TM 8.0 was a good series, but I saw it backed when it was airing and haven't had the urge to watch it since then -- mostly because of the sad ending. They are both on that list of 1080i releases, though.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by vincentric

Video dork in me wouldn't mind at all if you could quickly check your first UK disc of SAO with MakeMKV to see how many GBs it is using. Whenever you get a chance.

No problem. Tonight.