Yu-Gi-Oh! DVD/Blu-ray releases

[vertigop1ayer]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

The biggest issue preventing DM from getting a Blu-ray is who would distribute it. Is Cinedigm even involved with the franchise anymore? They've let nearly every release go out of print over the years and haven't put anything new out in forever.

I would've liked to see GX and 5Ds get "complete" collections similar to what DM received. The packaging may not be ideal but it is a big space saver over the first releases.

In my view there are a number of distributors in the US who'd be a good fit for licensing the series if Cinedigm doesn't release them. Several movies/shows have been released by multiple companies over the years. A much bigger complication is various rights issues which can hold something up, such as was seen for a long while with Evangelion or allegedly continues holding up Godzilla 1985. As far as is known, no such issues afflict Duel Monsters.

Available materials are another thing worth considering. If it's accurate that the show will already have the content in HD (cropped or otherwise), that makes it far more practical.

Some companies appear to believe they'll maximize their profit by releasing shows in volumes/seasons, but I think this is often a mistake. Doing the opposite, releasing a LE box and making it the exclusive means of buying it on Blu-ray for a period of time will attract the most passionate fans willing and able to pay the higher price tag. Later on a regular release and individual volumes can be used to bring in audiences who weren't interested in a premium release. I think said companies believe since the price-per-episode/season is lower in boxes, even premium ones, that it's less profitable.

[Kyle15]

DM would be released by whoever Konami administers the right to, as they're the master rights owner far as I'm aware. Not really a "license issue" to speak of.

[ps3bd_owner]

Hi.

Has or will the original series be released uncut and remastered in HD? It's something I've always wanted to watch.

The 4Kids version is probably really good for what it is, but I'd prefer the original.

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by ps3bd_owner

Hi.

Has or will the original series be released uncut and remastered in HD? It's something I've always wanted to watch.

The 4Kids version is probably really good for what it is, but I'd prefer the original.

The series was digitally composited in SD. There was a badly done upscale and crop that aired on Japanese TV awhile back. In theory they could recomposite in HD but that takes a lot of time/resources and isn't a common practice, especially for long series like Yu-Gi-Oh. I'd wager a recomposite is probably not on the table.

The short answer is the series isn't natively HD and the process to make it presentable in HD probably won't happen.

[vertigop1ayer]

Originally Posted by Kyle15

DM would be released by whoever Konami administers the right to, as they're the master rights owner far as I'm aware. Not really a "license issue" to speak of.

I think you're saying the same thing. The distributor (Section23, for example) licenses the rights to the series (owned by Konami) for home video (with any specifics/rules/term as part of said contract).

What I was saying is that there are franchises, shows, or movies with certain complications, but that this does not affect Duel Monsters or YGO generally that I am aware of, so it's a relatively simple matter of Konami and a distributor coming to an agreement when the show is available - that is, if we aren't factoring in what is and is not available in HD, etc.

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by vertigop1ayer

I think you're saying the same thing. The distributor (Section23, for example) licenses the rights to the series (owned by Konami) for home video (with any specifics/rules/term as part of said contract).

What I was saying is that there are franchises, shows, or movies with certain complications, but that this does not affect Duel Monsters or YGO generally that I am aware of, so it's a relatively simple matter of Konami and a distributor coming to an agreement when the show is available - that is, if we aren't factoring in what is and is not available in HD, etc.

Yea that's what I'm getting at. I actually hadn't read your post and wasn't responding to you directly, but the idea that there's apparently a "license issue" afoot. (which, I don't believe there to be)

[InuYashaCrusade]

Yu-Gi-Oh! DUEL MONSTERS - Legendary Monsters - EXODIA THE FORBIDDEN ONE - YouTube

Another "HD" clip. Looks terrible. Yugi's mouth is almost completely cutoff as he's talking at 0:16.

[vertigop1ayer]

Definitely not as ideal as just upscaling the original 4:3.

I really don't think that people checking out what is probably already considered a "classic" anime are going to abandon it immediately because it isn't widescreen. Messing with that seems so unnecessary at this point.

[SpazeBlue]

Yeah, the HD quality is pretty good, but that cropping...

[Mikezilla3k]

STOP CROPPING!

Why the hell is this BS returning?

[mysticwaterfall]

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

STOP CROPPING!

Why the hell is this BS returning?

Because the same idiots who made full screen a thing back in the day when we all had 4:3 sets are complaining about the black bars again now that we all have 16:9 sets.

[BigOnAnime]

Fill mah big tv!

[Kyle15]

Ppl want their screen filled and DNR slathered images and brickwalled audio; so then that's what they get.

[battlechateau]

On the one hand, I would absolutely love to own the original YGO in high definition but I seriously can't understand why they're doing this cropping nonsense. Like, how is it going to be handled for scenes where the LP/ATK/DEF graphic is too far away from a character or monster to execute a proper crop balance? Now I know how the DBZ crowd felt!

I've given it some thought, and I think I'd be able to stomach the cropping if they at the very least fixed the coloring issue plaguing the Season 2 dub masters. Otherwise I'm more than content with my Cinedigm discs.

[InuYashaCrusade]

Originally Posted by battlechateau

On the one hand, I would absolutely love to own the original YGO in high definition but I seriously can't understand why they're doing this cropping nonsense. Like, how is it going to be handled for scenes where the LP/ATK/DEF graphic is too far away from a character or monster to execute a proper crop balance? Now I know how the DBZ crowd felt!

I've given it some thought, and I think I'd be able to stomach the cropping if they at the very least fixed the coloring issue plaguing the Season 2 dub masters. Otherwise I'm more than content with my Cinedigm discs.

I'd probably still buy a cropped Blu-ray of the series. I'm glad I bought the complete series DVD to have 4:3 as an option in case it does go OOP. But I wouldn't mind a Blu-ray, even if it looked terrible. I'm nostalgic enough for the series that I'd have it twice in my collection.

I wasn't even aware Battle City had coloring issues. Do you have any screenshot comparisons? All these years and I had no clue about it.

[battlechateau]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

I'd probably still buy a cropped Blu-ray of the series. I'm glad I bought the complete series DVD to have 4:3 as an option in case it does go OOP. But I wouldn't mind a Blu-ray, even if it looked terrible. I'm nostalgic enough for the series that I'd have it twice in my collection.

I wasn't even aware Battle City had coloring issues. Do you have any screenshot comparisons? All these years and I had no clue about it.

Sure! I wish I had a better example since the daylight scenes, especially with shots of Yugi and Joey, are the best comparisons but I got these two shots of Episode 97 saved on my phone:

Japanese master:


English master:


Colors, especially yellow and purple, are notably off-color for the majority of Season 2. I say majority because it actually doesn't start with Episode 50 but Episode 55 instead. Also, the issue carries over into the first few episodes of Season 3 until Episode 101. Even stranger, I recently discovered there are odd episodes in between Episodes 54 and 101 that are unaffected. Episodes 85-87 have the correct colors only for it to change back in Episode 88.

Most importantly, this doesn't seem to be an issue from 4Kids' end because the colors of all the edited card images and borders remain consistent, meaning this is ultimately the fault of the masters they were sent over. While it's not necessarily the worst, it becomes pretty distracting once you notice it and realize how superior the colors look in the Japanese version. Reminds me of how the first couple of episodes for CWi's Sailor Moon S used a different master from the rest of the season.

[xXx$uicide_Ma$terxXx]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

I'd probably still buy a cropped Blu-ray of the series. I'm glad I bought the complete series DVD to have 4:3 as an option in case it does go OOP. But I wouldn't mind a Blu-ray, even if it looked terrible. I'm nostalgic enough for the series that I'd have it twice in my collection.

I wasn't even aware Battle City had coloring issues. Do you have any screenshot comparisons? All these years and I had no clue about it.

Thanks bro. I'm glad we have people like you supporting shit releases because of 'muh nostalgia'.

[InuYashaCrusade]

Originally Posted by xXx$uicide_Ma$terxXx

Thanks bro. I'm glad we have people like you supporting shit releases because of 'muh nostalgia'.

Happy to be of assistance.

[battlechateau]

Got some more examples, this time taken from Episode 57; the top being the correct colors and the bottom being the incorrect colors.










From the Rare Hunter's skin color to Yugi's jacket color, you start to see where I'm coming from when I point out this bizarre coloring issue. But because these are issues with the actual masters supplied and not the paint edits applied on top of them, this can't be fixed with a simple color correction without making the card images off-color as well. The hue is ever so slightly changed, barely enough to notice on a casual viewing but enough to notice when you put it side-by-side like this.

Here's another example; both of these taken from the English masters this time. This specific shot was from Episode 98, but the top image is a flashback to it from Episode 101 while the bottom image is actually from Episode 98.




Jarring, right? The flowers are a completely different shade of pink!

[InuYashaCrusade]

It's interesting because I genuinely didn't notice this on my own last month while doing a rewatch of these episodes. Now that I've seen side by side comparisons I recognize it. It was the same thing with VIZ's InuYasha Blu-ray releases. I didn't notice the color issues (or frame rate issue) until it was mentioned on here.

Not quite as bad as the ugly blue tint on Pokemon Heroes but still a weird issue.