I know there is some interest on anime titles on HD and some questions have been asked about recent releases.

Here is a quick summary (relating to the release I have on blu-ray):

Royal Space Force: Wing of Honneamise: Very nice picture but shows it's date. Comparison shots show a great improvement despite some source damage. Dolby True HD Japanese track with English subs or an English 2.0 dub. Region Free. Expensive Blu-ray/DVD double pack approx $100AUD. Also on HD DVD.

Patlabor: A far better picture than WoH. A significant upgrade from DVD. Dolby True HD Japanese track with English subs or a 5.1 English Dub. English Dub sounds as good as the Lossless. Region Free. Expensive Blu-ray/DVD double pack approx $100AUD. Also on HD DVD.

Patlabor 2: Stunning picture. I don't think this movie could look better. Dolby True HD Track with English subs or 5.1 English Dub. Region Free. Expensive Blu-ray/DVD double pack approx $100AUD. Also on HD DVD.

Patlabor 3: WXII: Verdic Pending

Ghost in the Shell: Picture looks average, but when compared to original there is a lot more detail. PCM 2.0 Japanese track with 2.0 English Dub. Region Free. Very disappointing release. Expensive Blu-ray/DVD double pack approx $100AUD. Only on Blu-ray. Edit: Tartan has gone into liquidation. All US rights have been sold off and the UK situation is unknown. Could have just become a collectors item.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Stunning Picture. Some of the bet non-cgi (and cgi) animation I have seen. 6.1 Japanese track with English Subs. Region Locked to A. Expensive Blu-ray only release approx $80AUD. Only on Blu-ray

Steamboy: Gorgeous transfer. NO ENGLISH SUBS OR DUBS. I got caught on this one. All the other Bandai releases are English Friendly but this one isn't. PCM 5.1 Japanese track. Region Free. Expensive Blu-ray/DVD double pack approx $100AUD. Only on Blu-ray

Paprika: Stunning picture quality and the audio is exquisite. Some of the best yet. Japanese PCM 5.1 Track with no English subs (Japan release). Japanese PCM 5.1 Track with English subs or English 5.1 Track. (French Release). Japanese and English Dolby True HD (US Release and Aus Release). Japan - Region Free, France - Region Free, Aus/US - Region Free. Japan approx $60, France (my copy) approx $45, Aus $42.98. Only on Blu-ray.

Tekkonkinkreet: Best Blu-ray I own. Perfect Transfer. Japanese PCM 5.1 Track, English 5.1 Dub. I have the US release that was $27US and is Region Locked to A. Aus release is $43. Exclusive to Blu-ray

Afro Samurai: My Review. Japanese release region free and in English (Original English voice cast). Dolby True HD and DTS HD MA audio. Picture 1080i

Appleseed: Ex Machina: Verdict Pending.

Ghost In The Shell - The Laughing Man, The Individual Eleven, Solid State Society: Pending delivery - Due June

Sky Blue: Great animation but the print suffers from banding issues. UK release has English Dolby Digital, Dolby True HD and DTS HD MA all on a BD25. US release due June 2009. Approx $18 pounds from UK. Exclusive to Blu-ray.

I'll update the missing bits and add more info as I can an hopefully get some reviews done.

They are quite a few more titles available such as Air, but these do not have subs. I was planing on getting Jin Roh, WXIII and Akira but will now wait for subtitle confirmation in future.

Great work again Mo

Some great titles there. Any word on Akira or Ninja scrolls?

Akira was supposed to be releases last month but was pulled. I suspect it is probably to do something special with it being the 20th Anniversary next year. Haven't heard anything on Ninja scroll unfortunately.

I have found while some older titles don't look on the amazing scale of modern animation and cgi, they certainly get a big boast in the removal of artifacts and a great boost in sharpness and resolution.

Am desperate for Ghibli to get on the highdef band wagon.

Great job mo. *crosses fingers that region coding info will be a furphy and all are region free*

I'm not really into Anime, but some great info their mo.

Except Ghost in the Shell 2. I confirmed it was region locked with my own copy. In fact I confirmed the region status of all of them with my own copies (well except the new ones which I will check tomorrow. Got the day off and am gonna hijack the evil inc region B player for my own personal ends mu ha ha).


Sacrilege

Bugger. Sounds like that's one to really watch as well. I might be the only one but I really loved the sequal. Totally different to the first but excellent. I know it's different again but I enjoyed the first series of SAC. The second has been driving me nuts. They seem more interested in showing lady parts than anything else - not that I have any fundamental objections to lady parts but this isn't were I go to for that kind of thing.

Good work there Mo. I love my anime. Probably have over 1200 DVDs!!!! :ph34r:
Unfortunately I'm not quite ready to shell out 100 odd dollars for individual movies, but as far as I'm concerned I can't wait for a flood of releases. With Funimation dipping their toes in the water with a DBZ double movie feature and Bandai bringing out more & more hopefully it wont be too long until we see prices come down to the levels of movies. Then I'll jump on the bandwagon.

Solid State Society is the best one so far in my opinion. A solid (no pun) story interspersed with good action. And I thought I had it figured til it threw me a curve ball. Can't wait for that one on HD.

What has been driving you nuts about 2nd Gig (beside lady parts - see my personal message )?

Did you like the new avatar then?


yeah funimation have some great stuff. Full Metal Alchemist would be tops.

Kam's into animels :ph34r:

Seems the US release of Wings Of Honneamise is a 4:3 crop as opposed to the 16:9 Japanese release. (for the record the original aspect ratio is 1.85:1 not 1.66:1 as the below review suggests). It also appears the US release is plagued with dirt and other nasties. I can say this is not the case with the Japanese release

High Def Digest Review

IMDB info

Good info but like AndrewW not into Anime.

My last venture into Anime was Voltron and Astro Boy!!

I was planning on buying the slightly cheaper US version fairly soon. Well, there goes that idea.

Morons.

I brought up in the forum on the review that the JP version was full 16:9 and he told me I was wrong and was obviously stretching the picture to fit my TV. After a good laugh I pointed him to a review of the JP version confirming the aspect ratio and mentioned there was nothing wrong with my equipment.

I'm waiting for Appleseed to come out on HDDVD,

For anybody interested, JB have Paprika in stock now. 30 odd dollars from memory.

ezydvd have it too

I got mine from France. Very nice print. Default to everything in english as well.

I quite enjoyed it.

$42.95 at ezydvd .

Anyone here getting Ex Machina?

Being a Warner US release it will be region free. I imagine this will be a pretty spic transfer, hopefully reference quality. And the price way better than the Japanese releases... Amazon have it for U$24. Out next month.

I was going to wait on a review first but there's a fair chance I'll grab this I reckon.

do you have to ask?

march....so far away *sigh*

I'm pretty excited about the Ex Machina release actually, even though I don't know much about the film - bit I liked the previous Appleseed movie. I'm just seeing a reference quality CG Anime film with lost of fighting I can't wait!

Momaw, you mention Ghost in the Shell has an English dub. Does it have English subs?

Thanks

Ouch. $100 each. Its like LD has returned.

Thank God I'm not much of an anime fan.

Well, in Japan, LD prices never really left. Some studios films were cheap, but in general Japanese DVDs were always hideously expensive. Although recent releases seem a lot better - there is a couple of Japanese artists I buy concert DVDs of. Earlier ones were around $50, now they are around $30. But the previous Patlabor DVD only releases - $50 for the bare bones single DVD, $100 for the collector box.

Well, I might have answered my own Q on the Ghost in the Shell. According to CDWow, it has English subtitles too.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCXA-5

Thanks Momaw for your help on the Patlabor Blu Ray. I just watched Patlabor 1 on my 46W and boy, that is a world above all other releases (and I have them all bar the UK releases). The detail was just incredible. I had to pause a few times and have a close look at the screen. It was something to behold.

I'm wanting to get GITS and WXIII now.

Highly recommend these 2, these looked and sounded fantastic, and the stories are great too.

Also looking forward to appleseed.

I wish you could get some studio ghibli movies on blu-ray. Have almost a dozen on dvd I'd love to 'upgrade'

was just reading a review of SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers: The Next

Actually sounds quite interesting, but US$65 for a US release with no English dubs and a runtime of 45 minutes

Ouch!!!

What's the word on Akira? I'd love to see this title released in HiDef. Preferably Blu - as I don't want to have to buy a Tosh to play it.

Was supposed to be released 6 months ago and disappeared a few weeks before release. Rumor has it something may be planned for this year - 20th anniversary.

You know I thought the visuals were awesome the first time I watched it on a crummy rental VHS vid and old school tv. Imagine how amazing it's going to look on the big screen - remastered....

Afro Samurai is now on it's way to me on blu-ray. Will let you guys know how it turns out. Already have the DVD so thats a good point of reference for comparison.

Can't wait for Appleseed to come out on Blu-ray

Yeh I just saw the new Ex Machina is going to out on Blu-ray shortly

I hope it has a DTS-HD MA Audio mix on it!

The First one has 5.1 DTS Jap on the DVD

Should have my copy in a couple of days

Argh, that Ghost in the Shell box has English Language and subs:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/switch-language...anguage=en%5FJP

"●日本語・英語字幕付(ON・OFF可能)
●音声は日本語と英語版を収録"

The first dot point says Japanese and English subs. The second says Japanese and English voice.

Must resist.. temptation.. Especially as I don't know if it is region free or not. I should just get another player...

I've got a copy on pre-order. Just remember it isn't the full 1st and 2nd series, just the Laughing Man (SAC series re-edit movie), The Individual Eleven (2nd Gig Series re-edit movie) and Solid State Society (Full Original Movie).

Yeah, still it'd be nice to have. Ah well.

I'm still waiting on getting a copy of Patlabor WXIII. For some stupid reason I talked myself out of getting it when I ordered Patlabor 1 & 2, and the prices went up after that. There is no even partially good deal on it anywhere at the moment.

I'm trying to decide whether to get the US Wings of Honneamaise. The price isn't too bad, but the HDDigest review doesn't speak too kindly of it.

Ex Machina is not far away now too... A half baked review of it turned up on IGN.

Seriously, what would make my life complete is FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST on HD.

Imagine the cost of a 50 episode box set

LOL yeah, I'd have to get a second job.

I wonder how long it will be until anime series are readily and affordably available on HD. I would honestly pay a lot for a good HD set of all the Patlabor series. The DVD releases were only OK, and nothing to write home about. Probably from the same masters as the LDs I'd guess. It'll probably never happen in my lifetime. It was enough of an effort getting them released on DVD with English subs.

The movies look sweet on blu-ray

Oh yeah, I'd waited soooo long to see the Patlabor films in even a half decent version. I'd had so many versions on DVD. I've been A Patlabor fan for so long. Since the OVA series. In the late 80s. I was in Japan when P2 was in the theatres and missed it (I need English...) and ever since I've been getting different versions hoping for a good one. I even bought the Japanese SEs and put my own subtitles on them. The best prior was a non-de-interlaceable 480 NTSC 3:2 transfer. Then suddenly I have a 1080p24 version. I nearly wept when I first saw it.

i'm just waiting for cowboy bebop... goodbye, space cowboy

No english subs on the upcoming Blu-ray Cowboy Bebop release

not that ive got a HD drive/player... but that suxmeh.. I need english subs

Cheers,
NoSubtitley

Well, I broke down and ordered Jin Roh and Honnemaise (the US versions) so will let you know what my thoughts are on these.

Very interesting that the US releases were Blu Ray plus Books where the Japanese versions were Blu Ray plus DVD. I decided to try the US versions for the books. I know Honnemaise is probably flawed, but I got it for a reasonable price.

I will still get WXIII... Once HMV JPs crappy "25% off" "sale" ends and the price for a single buy goes back down. That sale just sucks. They put the prices up 10% and then give a total of 20% off (NOT 25%) full retail if you buy two... Pathetic, really.

BTW Momaw, you are showing Ex Machina on your collection. Do you have it already?

What sort of book do they come with? The japanese versions come with a "booklett" with pics and stuff but obviously is in Japanese. I'm concerned about the US Wings oF Honnemaise. The guys at highdef digest say it is a 4:3 transfer and that is the correct aspect ratio, but it isn't and my Japanese version is 16:9 (see post 12 in this thread). What did the US versions end up setting you back? I still need Jin Roh and WXIII.

I move titles to my owned list once they have been paid for shipped to me, so I was hoping Ex Machina would arrive today but no, so I am still waiting. It is in transit.