Akira?

[EpsilonX]

can anyone tell me info about this blu ray? I've read reviews of it, but I like hearing opinions of the people here

Is the PQ good? is the newer dub really as bad as i hear? Is it worth buying

[Ace_of_Sevens]

New voicetrack? Is this a third English version after the Streamline from the laserdisc and VHS and Pioneer from DVD?

Edit: it seems to still be the Pioneer dub. What are you on about?

[Space_Butler]

Did you even TRY to use the search function?

[Brodieb]

I just watched a Netflix rental of it on Blu Ray and the picture quality was OK - not great and not bad - just OK. There were times when the image looked unstable to me and the prints age really showed in some scenes and not at all in others. It was head and shoulders above the regular DVD - but not as good as I had hoped.

The sound was great - with both the English DD True and Japanese DD True tracks sounding really nice.

Overall, I was glad I rented it instead of a blind buy - and may pick it up on sale someday but it is no longer on the top of my to get list like it was before.

[EpsilonX]

New voicetrack? Is this a third English version after the Streamline from the laserdisc and VHS and Pioneer from DVD?

Edit: it seems to still be the Pioneer dub. What are you on about?

well the new-er one. I hear the second dub sucks compared to the first one.

Did you even TRY to use the search function?

Why yes, yes I did. there's no review

[Arkadin]

there's no review, BUT there is a thread asking this EXACT question.

[SoupRKnowva]

its not that the pioneer dub is any "worse" than the streamline dub, its just that everyone heard it first for the most part and are therefor used to it. not only that, the japanese track is the only one should be listening to on this release due to the 192KHz 24bit resolution of the track, it sounds better than the english track.

and while the video doesnt look as good as say kung fu panda, not by a long shot, but then again neither does scarface, but it does look as good as it ever will. Great in comparison to the dvd.

[cheez avenger]

Fuck dubs.


The audio is reference, and the picture looks as good as it ever has.


Japanese audio with 192/24 sound is the way you should experience this movie.

[EpsilonX]

I don't know why, but I don't like japanese voices when i watch an anime. I can watch foreign movies with subtitles, but i can't watch anime.

thanks to the guys who actually helped instead of complained that this topic already exists.

[Mandrake]

Can't really comment on the difference between the dubs since the last time I heard the first one was about 12 years ago and the first time I heard the newer one was about 3 years ago. Maybe that's a plus, since I'm not in a position to say: "Mutant old-child #2 sounds so different! How can I enjoy this now?"
Without literally re-coloring and re-animating the entire film, I can't imagine it looking much better than it does now. The animation techniques are over 20 years old; there's no getting around that. But the good news is that Akira remains one of--if not the best-executed 2D animated film ever created, from a technical, artistic, and creative standpoint. The scenes of destruction, along with Tetsuo's transformation, stand out in my mind as high-water marks. The overall improvement in picture quality from the DVD is significant, though not miraculous because like I said you can only go so far without messing with the actual content.
The newly-remastered sound is maybe even a step beyond the picture. I've only listened to the English Dolby TrueHD track. For some reason--maybe because of my amp--I wasn't able to get the Japanese 192kHz/24 bit Dolby TrueHD track to work. Fortunately that doesn't really matter because when I'm watching Akira, I want to SEE it and not read about it. I'd rather have my peepers sucking in every square inch of the animated glory than darting frantically from subtitle to screen. If I spoke Japanese, I'd still be trying to figure out how to get the superior Japanese track to work. The new English TrueHD track sounds awesome compared to the 5.1 track; much crisper and clearer.

Of course the bummer is the lack of special features. Oh well. Pending the inevitable re-issue, fans of the film will want this in their library.

[EpsilonX]

so basically the only faults in the PQ are based on the anime itself, not the transfer or anything?

[Dr Kain]

can anyone tell me info about this blu ray? I've read reviews of it, but I like hearing opinions of the people here

Is the PQ good? is the newer dub really as bad as i hear? Is it worth buying

The video is freaking phenomenal, but it is the audio on the Japanese side that steals the show. My god I have never heard so much coming out of my rear speakers before.

As for the English dub, do not believe what people say. Most people do not like the Pioneer dub because it is not the one they grew up with, they grew up with the Streamline dub. The Streamline dub was decent, but the Pioneer dub had better voices for many of the characters, stuck closer to the original script, as pronounced the names properly.