Italian anime BD recommendations

[Naiera]

I hear that they have some good anime Blu-rays down there. I know they won't have subs, but that doesn't mean much to me anyway. I do just fine with an MKV file and a downloaded SRT file.

So, does anyone have any recommendations? Video quality similar to Japan but a lower price point and no customs crap makes me want to explore this market.

[Mangaranga]

I seem to remember reading that the Italian Madoka Blu-rays are supposedly better than the JP ones.
I believe Psycho Pass also falls under that category too.

Having a look around on Amazon it, Gurren Lagann has the same number of discs and episode count matches that of the AoJ/AoA releases.

[Naiera]

Thanks for your input. I'm quite satisfied with Aniplex/Japanese quality, so I'm thinking more about stuff that's really expensive in Japan and/or doesn't have a proper release anywhere else.

I guess I should just do my part and order F91 and Scar's Scounterattack

[NLScavenger]

The Italian Penguindrum release is supposedly 1080p and not 1080i like the Sentai release. It received a priced down re-issue earlier this month containing all 4 volumes plus the storage box that came with the first volume.

I've been really wanting to get Gurren Lagann for a while now but I'm a bit short on cash lately.

[Sylontack]

It's the ones from Dynit that you want to look out for. I can confirm that to include Madoka and Penguindrum (I've been thinking of picking them up myself just because they're my two favourites that I own like 3 times).

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by Sylontack

It's the ones from Dynit that you want to look out for.

Yes, I am aware

They also have Kaze crap. I will stear clear

[Naiera]

Bummer; all the Go Nagai stuff is by Koch Media and not Dynit.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by Naiera

Bummer; all the Go Nagai stuff is by Koch Media and not Dynit.

The Go Nagai stuff is from Yamato Video. Koch handles distribution.

I wonder how their quality is because they have some interesting titles in their catalog such as their upcoming release of the 4K remastered Giant Robo OVA.

[mp3dom]

Feel free to ask if you have any specific question, I'll try to answer whenever possible. I can't speak for other italian companies, but I can answer about technical questions regarding Dynit's blurays. Cheers.

[Mangaranga]

Originally Posted by mp3dom

Feel free to ask if you have any specific question, I'll try to answer whenever possible. I can't speak for other italian companies, but I can answer about technical questions regarding Dynit's blurays. Cheers.

What's the deal with Dynit? Do they use the Japanese encodes or do they just have someone who knows what they're doing? Any irregularities with things like brightness/contrast etc?

[mp3dom]

There are no irregularities like brightness/contrast/colors alteration ^^
Those problems are due to wrong settings applied at the encoding stage (not due to the source itself which is fine most of the times).

[Sylontack]

Originally Posted by Mangaranga

What's the deal with Dynit? Do they use the Japanese encodes or do they just have someone who knows what they're doing? Any irregularities with things like brightness/contrast etc?

I hear that their encoder/s figured out how to store 10-bit or 10-bit equivalent video onto a BD disc where other companies can only manage 8-bit. (The major difference between the two being that 10-bit is higher quality/better colours with less banding etc. at a lower file size).

[mp3dom]

Uhm, no... Bluray are always 8bit by specs (excluding MGVC discs made by Panasonic that uses a "hack" of the 3D-BD specs and allows to store up to 12bit but require a bd player that support MGVC, otherwise you get plain 8bit).
The main differences are when you encode the source (usually 10bit). You can decide to "truncate" the 2 bits or take them into account and "dither down" to 8bit.

Still, the brightness/contrast/color problem doesn't depend on this.

[zrdb]

This guy knows what he's talking about-he does the encodes for Dynit. I've seen his posts on other websites.

[vincentric]

I wish Funimation and Sentai had someone like mp3dom working on their encodes.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by mp3dom

Those problems are due to wrong settings applied at the encoding stage (not due to the source itself which is fine most of the times).

What I don't get is that people are paid money to do this and still manage to screw up all the time. And they're the ones doing 90% of all anime Blu-rays released in the west!

The brightness and compression issues we see on practically every release not by Aniplex, for example. Even with only around 65 gigs for 12/13 eps, I don't think it needs to be this bad. How freakin' hard can it be?

[OrlandoEastwood]

I see Ocean Waves came out in Italy. I might need to pick it up.

[Sylontack]

Originally Posted by mp3dom

Uhm, no... Bluray are always 8bit by specs (excluding MGVC discs made by Panasonic that uses a "hack" of the 3D-BD specs and allows to store up to 12bit but require a bd player that support MGVC, otherwise you get plain 8bit).
The main differences are when you encode the source (usually 10bit). You can decide to "truncate" the 2 bits or take them into account and "dither down" to 8bit.

Still, the brightness/contrast/color problem doesn't depend on this.

Sort of what I meant when I said 10-bit equivalent as I know you can't technically put 10-bit onto BD but thank you for clarifying.

[kuroshi]

Is there any (more) info on the upcoming Giant robo oav?

I wonder how their quality is because they have some interesting titles in their catalog such as their upcoming release of the 4K remastered Giant Robo OVA.[/QUOTE]

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by kuroshi

Is there any (more) info on the upcoming Giant robo oav?

There isn't much info unfortunately. They've confirmed a release way back in 2013 and they've reposted a Youtube WIP video from 2013 on their facebook page quite recently in February.

GIANT ROBO - Remastered BD e DVD edition - YouTube