Ok, AKIRA is definitely one of the anime classic titles that should help kick off Blu-Ray interest in anime fans.
Now, if Disney can just get off its arse and release the Studio Ghibli films (ie. Miyazaki), then I'll be one ultra-happy fan.
naitram
09-26-08, 04:55 PM
hell.yes.
Giles
09-26-08, 04:59 PM
hooray :banana:
clckworang
09-26-08, 05:09 PM
I'm not a huge anime fan or anything, but this is one that I know I'll pick up.
kms_md
09-26-08, 05:22 PM
this will increase my double dip (HD:SD) ratio.
Josh Z
09-26-08, 05:22 PM
This is a title in desperate need of a remaster. The DVD is Edge Enhanced to hell.
Sweet Baby James
09-26-08, 05:43 PM
The price might turn some of the casual anime fans off-
The Japanese release will cost 8,190 yen (about US$77.90), while the American version will cost US$49.98 (without sales tax).
fausti
09-26-08, 05:47 PM
This is a title in desperate need of a remaster. The DVD is Edge Enhanced to hell.
In the forum thread on animeondvd...er...mania forums (or whatever you want to call it now), it was mentioned that the Japanese article states that AKIRA will use a a new HD telecine. Hopefully, it's all that it can be.
The only thing I'm disappointed by is the rather lacking extras. At least put the old Akira Production Report with the title!
GizmoDVD
09-26-08, 06:00 PM
The price might turn some of the casual anime fans off-
The Japanese release will cost 8,190 yen (about US$77.90), while the American version will cost US$49.98 (without sales tax).
Ouch
clckworang
09-26-08, 06:05 PM
That is mighty expensive. Definitely not one that I'll be buying without a pretty massive sale. Just a question, but why are so many anime titles priced so high? Is the answer just because a core select group will still buy them regardless of price? I've always found it interesting how much pricier many anime titles are.
Giles
09-26-08, 06:28 PM
I thought anime titles were expensive so parallel importing would roughly be the same price.
Suprmallet
09-26-08, 06:32 PM
Anime titles are always expensive. That price is no shock to me.
Zen Peckinpah
09-26-08, 06:49 PM
The Japanese release will cost 8,190 yen (about US$77.90), while the American version will cost US$49.98 (without sales tax).
There is an update in the original link which says that the distribution will be done in the US by Bandai and the the price is now lower because is going to be a blu ray disc as opposed to the original plans of releasing a combo BD/DVD. I imagine that the extras from the previous release done by Pioneer will not be included, right?
Geddlo
09-26-08, 10:13 PM
Maybe we'll get a new dub as well? I for one really disliked the new dub they had for the dvd release. Maybe I just like the original dub too much.
The original Japanese dialogue is great also (didn't not want to mention that).
tonymontana313
09-26-08, 11:02 PM
Ouch
Akira is well worth that price and then some. If Wings of Honnemaise can be sold for 80 dollars, getting Akira for 50 is a bargain.
TRC
09-26-08, 11:18 PM
That is mighty expensive. Definitely not one that I'll be buying without a pretty massive sale. Just a question, but why are so many anime titles priced so high? Is the answer just because a core select group will still buy them regardless of price? I've always found it interesting how much pricier many anime titles are.
The cost of licensing anime can be really expensive. Japan has quite a different viewpoint about what things should cost. You'd be surprised what they pay for certain items.
Also anime has a niche audience in North America. Anime DVDs are distributed in relatively low amounts and they have to charge more to make a profit. Few anime receive a TV broadcast over here and in fact a lot of shows have aired on North American television for the sole purpose of promoting the DVD release.
Actually in recent months the prices have been coming way down. The market is being flooded with inexpensive boxsets.The major exception seems to be the Hommenaise label and their hi-def releases.
Still we're getting Akira on Blu-Ray just four days after the Japanese and for $28 less. I can't complain too much.
Eric F
09-27-08, 01:19 AM
Going to have to break out my Dark Horse US graphic novel series. Quite possibly the best graphic novel of all time (too bad it wasn't all in color). Yes, I think it's even better than Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns.
candyrocket786
09-27-08, 09:53 AM
Maybe we'll get a new dub as well? I for one really disliked the new dub they had for the dvd release. Maybe I just like the original dub too much.
The original Japanese dialogue is great also (didn't not want to mention that).
I don't think we'll see the "Streamline" dub on this one. I need to pick-up the R4 DVD for that. I believe a lot of us grew up watching the original.
I actually like the new dub with John Bosch.
rexinnih
09-27-08, 11:46 AM
It's been so long since I've watched my DVD. Need to watch again to see if this would be in my upgrade queue. Price is a deterrent but this is a seminal piece of anime.
eedoon
09-28-08, 03:17 AM
about time. My tin DVD needs an upgrade! :D :D :D
mmconhea
09-29-08, 10:51 AM
I don't think we'll see the "Streamline" dub on this one. I need to pick-up the R4 DVD for that. I believe a lot of us grew up watching the original.
I actually like the new dub with John Bosch.
I like the Streamline dub just because it was a good localization rather than a straight translation, which killed the new one. a good example of this would be the name CANADA vs KANEDA- something that irked most fans. A good localizer would not go with Canada as it conflicts with an already common name (not to mention already having an established, familiar name in the US). There are a ton of examples of this in the new dub.
HumanMedia
09-29-08, 08:46 PM
Going to have to break out my Dark Horse US graphic novel series. Quite possibly the best graphic novel of all time (too bad it wasn't all in color). Yes, I think it's even better than Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns.
I agree. And the individual comics were in color to the very end, wernt the compiled volumes also?
Also this is the full epic story of Akira. The movie is only the first half of the story, with a couple of later scenes jammed in to conclude it early. And those who have only seen the movie have always wondered why it is so coherent for the first 2/3 and then becomes a little messy story wise, well this is why. Anyone who loves the movie definitely needs to read the graphic novels for the complete story, which increases its scope by an order of magnitude.
Eric F
09-30-08, 12:05 AM
I agree. And the individual comics were in color to the very end, wernt the compiled volumes also?
Also this is the full epic story of Akira. The movie is only the first half of the story, with a couple of later scenes jammed in to conclude it early. And those who have only seen the movie have always wondered why it is so coherent for the first 2/3 and then becomes a little messy story wise, well this is why. Anyone who loves the movie definitely needs to read the graphic novels for the complete story, which increases its scope by an order of magnitude.The movie is not quite like the books at all. The movie was produced when when the manga series weren't even completed. Here's the Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_(film)#Differences_between_the_anime_and_manga) page denoting the differences between the manga and the movies.
As for the English compilation. Unfortunately, no, the latest Dark Horse (http://www.amazon.com/Akira-Vol-1-Katsuhiro-Otomo/dp/1569714983) release only had the first few pages in color and the rest in B&W, but it doesn't take away anything from the quality of the story. I suggest you grab this 2000pg story up as you can, it's OOP so some of the volumes on Amazon reseller are expensive while others can be found for <$10.
Two live action movies (http://movies.ign.com/articles/853/853820p1.html) are slated for release some time next summer (but IMDB shows 2011).
HumanMedia
09-30-08, 06:42 AM
The movie is not quite like the books at all. The movie was produced when when the manga series weren't even completed.
As for the English compilation. Unfortunately, no, the latest Dark Horse (http://www.amazon.com/Akira-Vol-1-Katsuhiro-Otomo/dp/1569714983) release only had the first few pages in color and the rest in B&W, but it doesn't take away anything from the quality of the story. I suggest you grab this 2000pg story up as you can, it's OOP so some of the volumes on Amazon reseller are expensive while others can be found for <$10.
Yes but the full manga story was already planned and already past the movie when the movie came out. And the individual Dark Horse graphic novels (all 38) were color to the very end. You are getting confused with the 6 books which compiled the monthly graphic novels, which must not have carried the color through.
Ralph Jenkins
09-30-08, 11:56 AM
Yes but the full manga story was already planned and already past the movie when the movie came out. And the individual Dark Horse graphic novels (all 38) were color to the very end. You are getting confused with the 6 books which compiled the monthly graphic novels, which must not have carried the color through.
AKIRA was first published by Marvel Comics (under the Epic Comics brand) as 38 prestige format comic books. These books were colored by Steve Oliff (AKIRA was a B&W series in Japan with only a few color pages). The Marvel version also had the speech balloons redrawn to look more like those in American comics. It was collected in a number of limited edition hardcovers, but to my knowledge, they never released all of it in that format. The Dark Horse version, while also flipped (so that it reads from left to right), more closely mirrors the original Japanese version. While Marvel was publishing the series in the U.S., Dark Horse was serializing it in the U.K. (in B&W). The 6 B&W graphics novels reprint the Dark Horse version. These are the same size and have the same color pages as the Japanese volumes.
Eric F
09-30-08, 01:50 PM
The Dark Horse B&W collected manga (the one without the balloons) is considered one of the best mangas ever made. That's why I didn't even bother mentioning the color editions (it's all there on the Wiki page), plus it's almost impossible to get the color version as well.
You'd do better just picking up the Dark Horse B&W versions off eBay or Amazon Resellers.
Eric F
09-30-08, 01:50 PM
The Dark Horse B&W collected manga (the one without the balloons) is considered one of the best mangas ever made. That's why I didn't even bother mentioning the color editions (it's all there on the Wiki page), plus it's almost impossible to get the color version as well.
You'd do better just picking up the Dark Horse B&W versions off eBay or Amazon Resellers.
RocShemp
09-30-08, 07:44 PM
Now, if Disney can just get off its arse and release the Studio Ghibli films (ie. Miyazaki), then I'll be one ultra-happy fan.
Only after first doing a complete restoration and/or remastering of them first. I just finished watching my DVD copy of Mononoke Hime and I couldn't believe how many glaring print flaws were all over that thing. :(
Now I'm gonna have to check my DVD of Porco Rosso.
toddly6666
10-01-08, 04:38 PM
I hope they transfer all of those extras from the Akira DVD to the Blu Ray version. Out of all my 600+ DVDs, I have only been really impressed with extras from two DVDs - The Lord of the Rings Extended Trilogy and the AKIRA 2-disc DVD.
Bob330i
10-02-08, 08:06 PM
AKIRA was first published by Marvel Comics (under the Epic Comics brand) as 38 prestige format comic books. These books were colored by Steve Oliff (AKIRA was a B&W series in Japan with only a few color pages). The Marvel version also had the speech balloons redrawn to look more like those in American comics. It was collected in a number of limited edition hardcovers, but to my knowledge, they never released all of it in that format. The Dark Horse version, while also flipped (so that it reads from left to right), more closely mirrors the original Japanese version. While Marvel was publishing the series in the U.S., Dark Horse was serializing it in the U.K. (in B&W). The 6 B&W graphics novels reprint the Dark Horse version. These are the same size and have the same color pages as the Japanese volumes.
Thanks for the confirmation. I wasn't able to complete the entire series for some reason but I know I have 1-30 something. Any thoughts on how to get the last handful from the Epic series? Been looking on and off at comic book stores but as expected, it's a niche item.
EDIT: ok, seems to be fairly available on Ebay. I'll go that route unless others can suggest other options.
Bonus Features:
Teaser #1 & # 2 / Trailers #1 & #2 / TV Commercial /
Complete Storyboards / Initial Pressing includes Original
32-page booklet & slipcase
Specifications:
Color / Approx. 124 minutes / Japanese Language Audio
Dolby TrueHD (5.1ch, 192kHz, 24bit), Dolby Digital 5.1ch & Linear PCM Stereo / English Language Audio Dolby TrueHD 5.1ch / AVC / BD50G / 16:9 (1080p High Definition) / Optional Japanese & English Subtitles
The Bus
12-04-08, 10:30 PM
For $50, it should be a tin. :(
Dan Average
12-05-08, 01:12 AM
Have all widescreen video releases of this been 16:9 or 1.85:1? It was made in 70mm, so shouldn't the AR be 2.2:1? (The storyboards (http://www.bbakira.co.uk/storyb/storyb.htm) are in that ratio, and I'm pretty sure you can see some of the actual 70mm frames in the making-of material on the DVD.) It doesn't look bad in the narrower formats, but it seems weird they would animate in 2.2:1 only to chop off the sides for video.
Buy: