×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more
You are welcome to look at the talkback but please consider that this article is over 17 years old before posting.

Forum - View topic
NEWS: RahXephon Film Goes HD in Japan


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Josh7289



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 1252
PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:23 pm Reply with quote
HD-DVD, I see. In which direction is the anime industry leaning more for HD in Japan, since we all know it's non-existent over here?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Area88



Joined: 26 Jan 2006
Posts: 374
PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:26 pm Reply with quote
Josh7289 wrote:
HD-DVD, I see. In which direction is the anime industry leaning more for HD in Japan, since we all know it's non-existent over here?


Not at all. Japan is more leaning towards Blu-ray.

Anyone this is more of an experiment to test the market. Notice how only the movie in in HD while the TV series is not.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
icepick314



Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 486
Location: Back in the Good Ol' US of A
PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:23 pm Reply with quote
i don't think any particular format is set...

although i saw more blu-ray releases with Brave Story and Air TV series being on blu-ray so far...probably from release of PLAYSTATION 3...

i bought Air TV on blu-ray just to have it in collection...somewhat dissapointing since for $250, figure there was lot better packaging than this...but still first TV series that was released on blu-ray...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger ICQ Number
WEKS



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 82
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:30 pm Reply with quote
Well I don't know how many HD-DVD players have been sold but with the Playstation 3 there is over a million BluRay players world wide.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website AIM Address MSN Messenger ICQ Number My Anime My Manga
Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:35 pm Reply with quote
It would seem as though Blu-ray is doing better in Japan, but that might be due to the relative popularity that HDDVD has earned in the US. There are definitely still more Blu-ray anime titles than HDDVD in Japan, and they share the US region code to boot! Warner announced plans on encoding DVDs with both Blu-Ray and HDDVD so you can play the DVD in either player. LG has also (not the first time) announced that they will release a player that will play both formats in Q1 of this year. More info is currently being announced since CES is going on this weekend.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime
dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 11:52 pm Reply with quote
WEKS wrote:
Well I don't know how many HD-DVD players have been sold but with the Playstation 3 there is over a million BluRay players world wide.

There are more BD anime only because anime fans have a large overlapping with PS3 users, not to mention many BD manufacturers (Sony, Pioneer) are also anime producers themselves. However, see how abysmal the sale of PS3 is:

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger ICQ Number My Anime My Manga
Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 5:35 am Reply with quote
dormcat wrote:
WEKS wrote:
Well I don't know how many HD-DVD players have been sold but with the Playstation 3 there is over a million BluRay players world wide.

There are more BD anime only because anime fans have a large overlapping with PS3 users, not to mention many BD manufacturers (Sony, Pioneer) are also anime producers themselves. However, see how abysmal the sale of PS3 is:
Pioneer don't do animes since they sold that branch to Geneon.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Vir



Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 33
Location: Central European
PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:21 am Reply with quote
Hm. I'd much rather that they test the waters with a HD-DVD or BD volume 01 of the series rather than the movie... Granted, the effects were a bit more pumped up, but not by much, and the story is different in many ways...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 7:41 am Reply with quote
Vir wrote:
Hm. I'd much rather that they test the waters with a HD-DVD or BD volume 01 of the series rather than the movie... Granted, the effects were a bit more pumped up, but not by much, and the story is different in many ways...


There wouldn't be much point in releasing something in HD that wouldn't take advantage of the technology. If memory serves the RahXephon tv series only had a 2.0 Japanese audio track and was presented in 3:4. I never did a side by side comparison, but I would imagine that the transfer for the film would be really nice if it was intended to be presented on a 35mm print, as compared to a NTSC monitor. Even so, a good percentage of the animation was intended for television and lacks the detail that many theatrical releases have. Unless a tv series is mastered in HD like Samurai 7 or GITS (which also have nice 5.1 mixes) it would be silly to release it on HD. The real difference is when we see films mastered for theatrical release like Metropolis or Steam Boy, both of which are slated for Blu-Ray releases.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime
dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:53 am Reply with quote
Mohawk52 wrote:
Pioneer don't do animes since they sold that branch to Geneon.

And you thought I was not aware of that... Rolling Eyes Although Pioneer does not produce anime itself anymore, it is very natural if Geneon's anime products favor Pioneer's hardware over Toshiba's.

Now we'll have to wait if Toshiba will start shipping its anime titles with HD. The live-action Mushishi would also be a perfect water-tester.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger ICQ Number My Anime My Manga
Area88



Joined: 26 Jan 2006
Posts: 374
PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:11 am Reply with quote
Randall Miyashiro wrote:

but I would imagine that the transfer for the film would be really nice if it was intended to be presented on a 35mm print, as compared to a NTSC monitor.


Did Rahxephon use cel animation or digital ink?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Vir



Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 33
Location: Central European
PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 1:18 pm Reply with quote
Area88 wrote:
Randall Miyashiro wrote:

but I would imagine that the transfer for the film would be really nice if it was intended to be presented on a 35mm print, as compared to a NTSC monitor.


Did Rahxephon use cel animation or digital ink?


I imagine that they used digital colouring, but I don't know. They certainly used a lot of digital effects.

RahXephon was touted by bones to be a "High Definition animation", so the source material might be in high enough definition to justify a HD release. After all, when ADV had plans for a HD DVD release, RahXephon was among the three shows selected. (The realization of that plan was delayed indefinitely.)

Randall Miyashiro wrote:
There wouldn't be much point in releasing something in HD that wouldn't take advantage of the technology. If memory serves the RahXephon tv series only had a 2.0 Japanese audio track and was presented in 3:4.


The English track was in 5.1 over here, so I was under the impression that the TV series had a 5.1 track in Japan, but it seems that this impression was incorrect.

If they still have the mix project files, it's a simple job of replacing the English dialogue with Japanese in the already existing 5.1 audio and watching through the show once to check that it turned out OK.

If they don't still have the mixes, then a HD release would entail a lot more work. On the bright side they might get a better baby cry sound this time. Wink But re-doing the audio for an entire 26 episode show is a lot more work than just making a HD release of existing audio and HD video. So I guess I'll have to wait untill the format wars are over and then some; if it'll ever happen. Oh, well, there are plenty of new shows and movies to look forward to in HD.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:17 pm Reply with quote
dormcat wrote:
Mohawk52 wrote:
Pioneer don't do animes since they sold that branch to Geneon.

And you thought I was not aware of that... Rolling Eyes Although Pioneer does not produce anime itself anymore, it is very natural if Geneon's anime products favor Pioneer's hardware over Toshiba's.
Just as natural that they may not too. Just because Dentsu bought out the anime production branch doesn't necessarily mean they have to produce an HD format to suite any Pioneer product, unless of course the CEO of Dentsu plays golf with the CEO of Pioneer. Wink We might find that Geneon, as well as the others, start putting out both until a clear winner has been decided by the consumers, much like the old Betamax / VHS war.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Randall Miyashiro



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2451
Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park
PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:08 am Reply with quote
Don't forget Disney who releases all of the Gibli titles is firmly in the Blu-ray camp. So far the only anime company besides this recent Bones addition has been Gonzo who announced that they would release titles on both formats. LG has just confirmed their HDDVD/Blu-Ray combo player since there is no clear winner in the format war anytime soon. Most of the early adopters have given up on the wait and see approach and have ended up buying both. You can currently get the 2nd gen. Toshiba HDDVD player for about $400 and the Samsung BR for under $600. Thinking back to ten years ago my first DVD player cost me more than both of these put together.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime
Steventheeunuch





PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2007 1:32 am Reply with quote
Vir wrote:

If they still have the mix project files, it's a simple job of replacing the English dialogue with Japanese in the already existing 5.1 audio and watching through the show once to check that it turned out OK.


I'd rather they do their own 5.1 mix and not rely on what ADV does. Not because I'm being snarky and saying the Japanese should do their own work, but because they have a tendancy to make better 5.1 mixes (from what I've been told) than ADV.
Back to top
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group