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Answerman - Are UK and Australian Anime DVDs & BDs Any Different?


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Ashen Phoenix



Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 2907
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 1:50 pm Reply with quote
Really envious of the region-free blu-ray player, as I'd love to own some titles under Australia's publishing belt (KuroBas and Chihayafuru for sure).
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Ushio



Joined: 31 Jul 2005
Posts: 630
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 1:54 pm Reply with quote
While the dubs or subtitles may not be different the disc mastering can be very different.

I've rebought US versions of series enough to replace my previously purchased UK versions and the difference is like going from VHS to DVD in picture quality.
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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 1:54 pm Reply with quote
These days we seem to belucky if the UK distributors are able to release a title on schedule, let alone things like exclusive content, dubs etc.
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RoverTX



Joined: 17 Dec 2008
Posts: 424
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 2:17 pm Reply with quote
Ashen Phoenix wrote:
Really envious of the region-free blu-ray player, as I'd love to own some titles under Australia's publishing belt (KuroBas and Chihayafuru for sure).


Buy a PC Blu-ray player
Install VLC
Install a Few Library Files
--------
PROFIT!
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 2:37 pm Reply with quote
Honestly, as a UK fan, the only things worth going out of your way to get if you're not based here are Anime Limited's releases. Manga UK's quality is terrible, and MVM's discs are usually jointly mastered with a foreign company anyway. AL actually care about their releases and put effort into making them good.
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2633
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 2:57 pm Reply with quote
I own a lot of imported DVDs although I buy them specifically because they are not released in the US not because of a different dub (I've considered buying Aniplex titles from the UK as well because of the price but so far I haven't done that).

Dennou Coil- Australia
Chihayafuru- Australia
Rurouni Kenshin Live Action- UK
Only Yesterday- UK (although I will be buying the R1 BR release soon).

Okay not much anime but I have bought a few others things mainly from the UK that never got releases here or is OOP and cheaper to get from the UK (a lot of Classic Doctor Who).


I have not imported any BR yet. I still need to get a BR player. In fact I am looking for one that will play imported DVDs (if it is plays imported BR that will be a bonus but I don't think I need that) so any suggestions would be helpful. I figure this is the thread to ask. Smile
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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:02 pm Reply with quote
st_owly wrote:
Honestly, as a UK fan, the only things worth going out of your way to get if you're not based here are Anime Limited's releases. Manga UK's quality is terrible, and MVM's discs are usually jointly mastered with a foreign company anyway. AL actually care about their releases and put effort into making them good.

£41 for standard Ping Pong release in "collectors" packaging! Top value for money, that. Not to mention their big fudgeup with Durararara last year.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:11 pm Reply with quote
Lemonchest wrote:
Not to mention their big fudgeup with Durararara last year.


Yes, but the way they're fixing that is by just sending people a free copy of the standard edition to replace the dodgy discs. Can't think of any other company which would do that, certainly not in the UK.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:14 pm Reply with quote
The only thing keeping me from importing a ton of AZ releases that we don't have in the US is that I can only play in them on my own player, or PC. I can't take them anywhere because 99% of my friends don't have a region free player. It's sort of nitpicky, but it's annoying to me.
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consignia



Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Posts: 392
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:22 pm Reply with quote
No mention of the PAL/NTSC difference? UK and Aus DVDs are PAL encoded converts from NTSC source. And they are frequently not done well.

Not that anyone would bother importing the DVDs from R2/4 to R1, but you may have trouble playing them, because some older equipment can't display it.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:53 pm Reply with quote
consignia wrote:
No mention of the PAL/NTSC difference? UK and Aus DVDs are PAL encoded converts from NTSC source. And they are frequently not done well.

Not that anyone would bother importing the DVDs from R2/4 to R1, but you may have trouble playing them, because some older equipment can't display it.


Not all UK DVDs are PAL these days. Modern PAL equipment can play NTSC no problem so they don't tend to bother as much as they used to.
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 3804
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:23 pm Reply with quote
"Region-free" Blu-ray players are a dicey proposition from what I've read. There ones at Amazon all have third-party firmware. If you let the device update its firmware over the Internet, you'll get the manufacturer's version and lose the region-free feature. Read the reviews here before investing in one of these devices.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=region+free+bluray

No major manufacturer like Sony, Samsung, or Toshiba makes a region-free BR player.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5312
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:33 pm Reply with quote
st_owly wrote:
Honestly, as a UK fan, the only things worth going out of your way to get if you're not based here are Anime Limited's releases. Manga UK's quality is terrible, and MVM's discs are usually jointly mastered with a foreign company anyway. AL actually care about their releases and put effort into making them good.


MVM are not to bad, I commend them for taking chances with niche shows like they do. Usually if a show has been given a sub only release in the US, that means we don't get it over here. But MVM have brought use, Bunny Drop, Monogatari, Captain Earth and other similar titles.

Though personally I still think the best publisher we ever had was Beez.
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Tempest_Wing



Joined: 07 Nov 2014
Posts: 305
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:34 pm Reply with quote
RoverTX wrote:
Ashen Phoenix wrote:
Really envious of the region-free blu-ray player, as I'd love to own some titles under Australia's publishing belt (KuroBas and Chihayafuru for sure).


Buy a PC Blu-ray player
Install VLC
Install a Few Library Files
--------
PROFIT!


Last I checked, VLC doesn't work with blu-ray discs.
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consignia



Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Posts: 392
PostPosted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:36 pm Reply with quote
st_owly wrote:

Not all UK DVDs are PAL these days. Modern PAL equipment can play NTSC no problem so they don't tend to bother as much as they used to.


That's a very recent thing though, PAL equipment has been able to play NTSC since pretty much the birth of DVD, but anime DVDs have been PAL until the last couple of years. I think Manga and at least one of the Aus distros are still PAL only.

Tempest_Wing wrote:


Last I checked, VLC doesn't work with blu-ray discs.


It does, but they need to be decrypted. And I think most of the decrypters are on dodgy legal ground.
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