Forum - View topicNEWS: Section23 Adds Sola, Shigofumi, Tytania Anime
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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6-7 episodes per disc is becoming the industry norm, like it or not. When Media Blasters starts putting out first run sets, I fully expect them to do the same. Even Nozomi's new El Hazard set is only four discs, so 6-7 eps per disc. Just be glad they aren't doing what many of the major Hollywood studios are doing. Paramount's recent release of Daria has 9 episodes per disc, as do several of Disney's releases of the X-Men, Iron Man, and Fantastic Four from Marvel. Though sadly some of those releases do look better than the 6 episode discs we get from Funimation and others (though they are still quite bad.) http://www.amazon.com/Daria-Complete-Animated-Tracy-Grandstaff/dp/B0019N8P2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1274479780&sr=8-1 |
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bayoab
Posts: 831 |
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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Very true, and Sentai "usually" does pretty well with this many episodes. They may not look as clean and crisp as their Sojitz era singles, but they generally look much better than the sets from Funimation. (Hidamari Sketch and X365 are the two notable exceptions.) |
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Reaper gI
Posts: 299 Location: UK |
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There was a license issue (I assume, it certainly apeared that way), that's why it got sub only when originaly it was getting dubbed, as did True tears. Oh god yes someone licensed Shigofumi, another of the few bishoujo shows with serious narative and a developed setting. falls into a few cliches but still diferent enough to watch anyway. |
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Almaz
Posts: 134 |
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Sorry. My previous post was focusing on the fact that even Funimation's quality is (while not perfect) not bad as people have said. Technology has gotten better over the years. Video encoding and authoring tools have allowed companies to do more with less. I do not have a problem with Funimation, Sentai, or others putting all of the episodes they can on a disk (provided it does have good qualtiy.) Every title is different so quality can change on the fact of what the studio is given to work with. Go find some early DVD movies that Hollywood put out and see some bad quality that even I can be picky about. Some DVDs looked worse than VHS tapes. The point you quoted was me reflecting the prices of Sentai titles are going up in price and countering a previous statement of (more or less generalization) that only Funimation is the wolf and others are good little sheep. I do have to say that I am spoiled on the fact that I use my PS3 for video playback which helps fix many video problems. Another thing that is great about Sentai getting the shows is I can get to sample them on their online network. Something Bandai has been too slow in implementing. I have not seen these shows yet so I can check them out to see if I like them. By the way, the title says Section 23 acquired these titles. Isn't Sentai the branch of the company for new titles, and Section 23 is for previous ADV titles? |
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agila61
 Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
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I quite like the 5 and 2 4's for a 13-episode season. If they can put 6 episodes on a disc, they can put 5 episodes and extras. Though if its a single box rather than thinpack in an artbox, I'd rather the kind with the pair of discs on opposite sides of a hinged insert than the two discs laid over each other in the folder that I've seen Funimation use. |
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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I must also apologize. I wasn't in particular responding to you, but more to the general group of people that complain when new titles get announced in the 6 episode sets. Sentai, and before them ADV, put out some very good looking DVDs with 6 or 7 episodes per disc. Even the "mainstream" series I've seen with 9 episodes didn't look too terrible, so 6 episodes can easily be done well. Also, Section 23 is the distribution company. They handle titles for Sentai, who handles new anime and so far 1 live action Japanese title, Switchblade, which specializes in J-horror and pink cinema titles along with Maiden Japan, and AeSir Holdings. AeSir is the company that retained all of ADV's licenses that have no expired. |
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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lol, already owning the Bandai boxset of Sola, my initial reaction was
As far as the prices go, as mentioned above, the street price is always significantly less than MSRP. However, you can still get the Bandai version now for $26.99 at rightstuff .... Shigofumi -- finally! after being stuck in limbo after that initial Bandai announcement neo-ADV is definitely becoming my fav R1 licensor. I just wished for two things: 1) Bluray releases, aside from Appleseed, like Tayutama, Tears to Tiara 2) A single, lower priced, compact or thin box set for the multi-volume releases. Would definitely help for the longer shows like Glass Mask and Gintama. |
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Almaz
Posts: 134 |
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It's cool. The way I state things can be dyslexic. I have not seen, lately, any DVDs that I would considered bad quality with the exception of the botched up encoding (?) Bandai did with numerous titles. Hayate the Combat Butler, in my opinion, could have been enhanced better that it did. Not being a person in film or animation, I would be an amateur in these critiques. I have been content with Funimation and Sentai with video quality. The thing about MSRP going up on Sentai titles means street prices have to go up. Of course, you can wait until the product is discontinued, and the price will be dirt cheap. I was interested in Bluray until I read about people saying that the product is basically an enhanced upconverted DVD. Not that is really the R1 company fault for not being able to get something to make a true HD transfer. My PS3 does a good job up-converting DVDs. I am sure a good studio can do a better job than an algorithm program. I find the qualtiy of DVDs to be good enough and DVDs more universal at this point. Bluray is not a good format for laptop computers / portable players due to the drain of the battery. |
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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There definitely are true HD Bluray anime out there. However, even the upscaled releases, which are from original masters, still look better than upscaling yourself from DVD. That said, some are better than others. |
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ZenErik
 Posts: 392 Location: Boston |
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Bad quality? Well, my Funimation version of Le Chavelier d'Eon really did look like a YouTube video from 3 or 4 years ago, at times. Now that I have the ADV version it looks a lot better with the exception of the OPs and EDs. If I'm remembering correctly, the average bitrate is about 7 mbps for the ADV discs and seemed to be about 4.5 mbps for the Funimation version. I've noticed the low bitrate from them with other series as well. like Mushi-shi and Moonphase. There are no other region 1 releases of the show to compare to, but the amount of noise and artifacts can be atrocious at times. Of course, I have no idea what Japan sent Funimation to work with on these DVDs; it may not be their fault at all. On the other hand, I can note that the ADV and Funimation versions of Air look exactly the same, despite the ADV version being on 4 discs compared to Funimation's 3. I also remember problems with Fruits Basket, which isn't so recent, although I did have the newest release of the show. With the amount of times Funimation re-releases shows, you'd figure they might try to fix the picture issues. Aside from that, I have noticed how poor Sentai's Hidamari Sketch releases look. I'm not sure of the right word to explain what's going on, but it just looks awful sometimes. I should also note that the aspect ratio often changes slightly with each "camera" view change. At least on x365. But I love the series, so I will stick with them hoping that Sentai releases season 3 and does a better job of it. Clannad's bitrate can be pretty low at times too, but it still seems to have come out pretty well. Maybe because there isn't that much actual animation in a show like that. 
The only other issue I have had is with a disc in the Fantastic Children Anime Legends release skipping between and also sometimes half way through chapters. As for the PS3, it is an effective, but not great, upscaler. That is what I am currently using. I used to use a very nice Yamaha upscaling DVD player, which looked noticeably better, but it seems to have compatibility problems with my monitor. Some Blu Ray discs, even from Funimation, look pretty damn good. I can't really complain about their releases of Evangelion 1.11, Ouran Host Club, or Shigurui. My Gunslinger Girl Blu Ray looks a bit suspect, but it's an upscale. Overall, I think it probably looks about as good as the DVD version would look upscaled on a PS3, but I have no actual experience with the original DVDs. The advantage to the Blu Ray is that it has a 5.1 Japanese track, where as, the DVD only has stereo. |
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karvelot
 Posts: 28 |
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I miss the good ol' days where almost every anime title had both English and Japanese dubs. And I also am starting to feel concerned about the current state of Bandai licencing anime in the US.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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Shigofumi was one of the titles on BVUSA's slate and BE inherited the lot when they were merged. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7985 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Well, it's good to know I'm not going nuts and flashing back to last year.....or seeing things when I look at the Sola collection already on my shelf but put out by Bandai instead.
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Ktimene's Lover
 Posts: 2242 Location: Glendale, AZ (Proudly living in the desert) |
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For me to get more into the vein of space operas like Tytania, perhaps I should try GE999 and Harlock since they are among the ones that really pioneered modern space opera. Mobile Suit Gundam also would be good.
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