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Miyazaki Region 1 DVDs at Last?
PinkStainlessTail writes " Ain't It Cool has a "story" (or baseless rumor, it is AIC after all) claiming that Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY, CASTLE IN THE SKY (aka LAPUTA), and KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE will be released on 2 disc region 1 DVD sets from Disney in April of this year. The original story comes from comic artist Steve Bissette's message board. " Here's hopin'
Man do I feel stupid. I had some idea about DVD Regions when I got my player a year or so ago, but didn't give it much thought. This article forced me to go look-up a few sites that offered information on exactly what the mention of DVD Regions in the
Sometimes
--- have you healed your church website?
If, like me, you live in Region 2 (Europe and Japan; handy, that), you don't care. But then, you haven't cared for a long time, cos they're all available at cdjapan.co.jp. Two-disk sets of Totoro, Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, Laputa, Spirited Away, Whispers and probably others are currently residing on the DVD case.
Note: even though they're region 2, they're also NTSC, so you'll need compatible equipment. That's not a problem for Americans with multi-region players, though.
The films are in Japanese with optional english sub and dub, and the second disk is all in Japanese.
In case you're interested, I'm a big fan of cdjapan, especially now that the exchange rates are going my way. They're extremely efficient at getting the stuff out, and my first stop for those hard-to-find films that aren't generally available elsewhere.
Is it posted on nausicaa.net yet? No? Probably BS then.
Miyazaki's stuff is pure genious. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest directors that ever lived. This is good for everyone, not just anime fans.
Ive already imported all these movies, and I will probably wind up buying the r1s as well. I sure hope that they have all the extras that were on the japanese dvds. Tons of cool stuff on the dual disk sets.
no
I'm holding in my hand a boxed set called "Archives of Studio Ghibli", published by Anime Cartoon International. It's got 6 DVD's, each with two films. It doesn not include the newest film, or Castle Cagliostro (which is separately available). The DVDs have Japanese menus, and offer English or Chinese subtitles with the Japanese soundtracks.
Actually Japanese TVs use a lower black level (0 IRE as opposed to North America's 7.5 IRE, which isn't nearly so much of a problem), and the only color shifted Japanese R2 dvd was Spirited Away, which has a noticeably red tint on every set in Japan. There's actually a lawsuit regarding that very issue brought about by a few Japanese people (see this article at animenewsnetwork).
-- Your IP is showing
IIRC, part of Disney's deal with Miyazaki is that they won't alter a single frame of the films for distribution. Pan-and-scanning is obviously changing the film-- so at the very least I'm sure Disney has to offer both options.
I read this around the time Princess Mononoke came out, but I'm sure the same applies. It's why Disney (through Miramax) was willing to release a 2:20 animated film, instead of their usual 1:25-- it was that or nothing. (And that's why nothing could be done about Mononoke's glacial pacing, but that's opinion, I suppose.)
As for the language tracks, there was some hubbub when it came to the Mononoke DVD-- Disney was originally going to release it with only the English language dub, but there was considerable fan outcry (spearheaded by the folks at AICN, I believe), and so the disc was delayed so they could get language clearances and have both versions.
Personally, I enjoyed Spirited Away much, much more than Mononoke, and would look forward to a comparably well-done release, with widescreen, both language options, etc. Hopefully Disney's learned their lesson-- that Miyazaki's fan base can be downright ornery in their devotion, and will demand quality.
Here's the article from Anime News Network, just posted about half an hour ago, with more concrete news on the Kiki and Castle in the Sky DVDs. As you can see, there's nothing said about a Spirited Away DVD release, though :/