This certainly wasn’t what I intended for my first update in over a year, but right now my sinuses are getting besieged by a brigade of goopy-yellow mucus, which isn’t helping my brain focus on finishing a review of the final volume of the Hellsing manga (hopefully I’ll have this done in a day or two).
So instead of my patented overly wordy critiques of the dreadful world of Japanese comic book entertainment, I’m dishing out a quick alert on the video issues plaguing the first two anime DVD releases from NIS America, namely the relatively wonderful animated adaptation of light-novel series, Toradora!, and the fairly awful quasi-related-to-the-video-game series, Persona ~ Trinity Soul ~.
Before getting into the more meaty portions of this post, let me prefix by saying: you might want to hold-off on buying either Toradora! or Persona, as the inceptive DVD releases of both shows will be getting remastered to cure some serious visual ailments.
Wanna know more, keep reading…
For the blissfully unaware (and those who no longer care about legally procuring products), NIS America—you may know them as the USA-based arm of the outfit that keeps finding horrific new ways to port their Disgaea games onto any device that connects in some fashion to a video screen—announced back in February they’d be entering into the capsizing domestic anime market, riding on a wish and a handful of new products.
Toradora! and Persona were the initial shows on-deck, each series designed to be released over two beefy DVD collectors’ sets, loaded with artbooks, posters, and other stuff that sits on your shelf and becomes a home for dust mites. Technically, the premier DVD volumes of both anime aren’t slated to hit stores until July 6, 2010, but thanks to the magic of the Internets, people started receiving their bounties this week.
What many of these intrepid pioneers soon discovered was the encoding on the sets was far less than adequate. While various theories have been proffered concerning the cause, the end result is discs that can show an abundance of ghosting (or after images) and aliasing (or jagged edges). The issue is further complicated, though, because the severity of these issues largely depend on one’s A/V setup or computer software (for those who never like to leave their captain’s chair).
Seeing is believing, of course, so here are two links offering proof of the problems in action: Linku 1, Linku 2.
Keep in mind these are still frames. The ghosting may look extreme, but in motion and depending on the hardware/software used to watch the discs, it won’t be as noticeable (and for some, the phantom bodies apparently go by completely undetected).
Thankfully, NIS America has in the span of three days put most other US anime distributors to shame. Instead of barricading themselves in their Santa Ana-based tower with covers over head, waiting for the hoard of angry anime trolls to stop pounding on the digital doors, the usually upstanding company has already announced the sets are being remastered and that a replacement program is in the works.
Those (like myself) who haven’t yet partaken of their animated offerings can follow the quest for remastering on the following webpage: Linku.
And those with faulty discs and giant collectors’ box in-hand can get an early jump on the replacement process: Linku.
It’s always unfortunate when a young horse breaks its stride right out of the gate, but I’m glad to see NIS America isn’t calling it a day. I’m sure their quick response—to what really is a major problem in a largely hobbyist-supported market like anime DVDs—will win them much good tidings and greater financial support in the long-run.
Courtesy of JunkerWoland
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