And so the turn finally comes to Patlabor [Archive]

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Pyocola

01-05-2007, 08:37 AM

The Great Bear

01-05-2007, 08:50 AM

The per disk price is actually not that bad (¥80,000 ÷ 14 disks = c.5700 per disk, normal for R2).

But that's a hell of a lot to spend on a single purchase :sd:

I liked Patlabor, but not that much.

Gersen

01-05-2007, 09:01 AM

Here's hoping Sunrise did as good a job on this as on Outlaw Star, City Hunter etc.

They did a good job on Outlaw Star ? I remember earing (but I am definitely not sure) that there was some issues with OS re-measter, similar to what happens to the CCS one.

Gersen

Pyocola

01-05-2007, 09:05 AM

From what I gathered it was pretty much perfect. I don't think a single Sunrise remaster has had the aliasing problem (at least of the ones from the last couple of years.)

Gersen

01-05-2007, 09:39 AM

From what I gathered it was pretty much perfect. I don't think a single Sunrise remaster has had the aliasing problem (at least of the ones from the last couple of years.)

Interesting, guess I confused OS with the Nadesico remaster.

Gersen

KShinjo

01-05-2007, 10:37 AM

Darn it, I already have the original box set releases of the TV series and 2nd OAV series...

Black Jack

01-05-2007, 11:46 AM

They did a good job on Outlaw Star ? I remember earing (but I am definitely not sure) that there was some issues with OS re-measter, similar to what happens to the CCS one.

Gersen

Nope. The only issue with Outlaw Star remaster was that in Episode 25 it would randomly switch between the remastered footage and what looked to be unremastered footage from the older composite masters. Other than that it was perfect.

Black Jack

01-05-2007, 12:05 PM

Black Jack

01-05-2007, 12:25 PM

Never mind me, I just checked Bandai Visual's product page and it mentions the new masters. Now I'm excited again!

Pyocola

01-05-2007, 12:26 PM

I thought it said that on the first line on neowing, did I get it wrong? Comparing the disc count to the old releases it does seem to match up perfectly though, hopefully that's just a fluke. :(

Black Jack

01-05-2007, 12:28 PM

I thought it said that on the first line on neowing, did I get it wrong? Comparing the disc count to the old releases it does seem to match up perfectly though, hopefully that's just a fluke. :(

I ran the neowing page through babelfish and it didn't come up with anything saying new masters, but I checked Bandai Visual's site and it mentions them.

"OVA series all the 7 stories, TV series all the 47 stories and new OVA all the 16 stories in all in one specification of new master urgent release decision! !"

Pfil

01-05-2007, 02:41 PM

Mobile Police Patlabor Memorial Box (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCBA-2917)

Includes the first OVA, the TV series and the second OVA, from new masters. Here's hoping Sunrise did as good a job on this as on Outlaw Star, City Hunter etc.
Excellent news. I'm really glad that so many worthy shows are already being prepped (at least potentially) for a future HD release. There's just one problem - do I get the DVDs now (which may have aliasing problems like Eva and CCS) and hope they're someday released in my HD format of choice, or do I wait (could take a long time, and I'd lose out on limited stuff for the DVDs, and maybe the HD version won't look that much more amazing anyway). I just wish they'd announce the HD versions simultaneously with the DVDs. They probably do it on purpose too, just to taunt me. * shakes fist *

I guess it's just too soon to hope for simultaneous releases, but that doesn't make the current choice any easier... oh well.

Currently I have (from memory, may have missed one or two) the following remasters on my future buy list:

Patlabor
Kimagure Orange Road
Mahoutsukai-tai
AiKA

And I'll have to rebuy these on HD though I already own the remastered DVDs...
Evangelion
CCS

Anyway, remastered Patlabor should look great as long as they don't screw anything up. :) Especially the first OVA, which was excellently animated.

Njr Scrawl

01-05-2007, 02:59 PM

Too much for me. I've got all KOR & Aika on my list, but KOR is KOR & Aika is a small set.

Maybe if they ever get released as individual volumes I'll go for it one at a time, but only then

mcarocks2003

01-05-2007, 03:02 PM

Maybe if they ever get released as individual volumes I'll go for it one at a time, but only then

I'm sure they will.

I only want the first OVA series which as already stated has the best animation.

Black Jack

01-05-2007, 03:20 PM

I'm sure they will.

Wouldn't bet on that. Considering the original 2 TV boxes never got singles I don't really see a high chance of them doing it for this box.

Black Jack

01-05-2007, 03:25 PM

leongsh

01-05-2007, 04:09 PM

Black Jack

01-05-2007, 04:53 PM

Mobile Police Patlabor Memorial Box (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCBA-2917)

Includes the first OVA, the TV series and the second OVA, from new masters.
NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! One my personal favourite series. I just searched for the article in Amazon Japan and they are giving a 25% discount off the list price, i.e. ¥60,000 only (excluding the 5% Japanese sales tax) - that's a whole ¥20,000 off the list price! I'm so tempted but that'll still eat up a good chunk of my limited budget for anime DVDs this year :cry:

I'm torn... :(

DO IT! DO IT! :D

I'm just glad I can finally get a version of the first 2 OVAs that aren't complete blended messes. I had less of a problem with the quality of the TV series (though the masters seemed to take a hit in quality near the end) but I had always thought this series had deserved a proper treatment like this to begin with. Never could figure out why the first 2 movies got remastered yet the OVAs and TV series were released from old composite masters.

Njr Scrawl

01-06-2007, 06:13 AM

Too much for me. I've got all KOR & Aika on my list, but KOR is KOR & Aika is a small set.

Maybe if they ever get released as individual volumes I'll go for it one at a time, but only then

Yeah but the KOR sets aren't marked as being limited releases (except the figures) while the Patlabor box is. And again I wouldn't bet too much on seeing singles for this.

Seems strange to me that in these cases all the trouble & expense of re-mastering is for exclusive sales of a limited amount of expensive units for sales over a relatively short period of time.

Greboruri

05-10-2007, 09:31 PM

Would anybody be able to tell me what the extras (http://product.bandaivisual.co.jp/web_service/shop_product_info.asp?item_no=BCBA-2917) are on this box set? There seems to be quite a lot of stuff and it seems that there are some commentaries on selected episodes.

Black Jack

05-15-2007, 05:40 PM

For anyone interested I found a site that seems to have some really nice pics of the set. Looks like BV is again using the same cases like in the First Gundam and 08th MS Team boxes that don't close you just fold it shut which I don't really care for but the covers look quite nice especially compared to CPM's covers which were just screencaps photoshopped up.

http://www.jbook.co.jp/p/p.aspx/3264083/s/

Also found another site that seems to have screens from the DVDs and if these are indicative of the quality it should be quite an impressive step up.

http://eg.nttpub.co.jp/news/20070507_07.html

ObiKenobi

05-23-2007, 04:01 AM

Well my package is marked as shipping soon and if DHL is as speedy as normal I should hopefully have it either Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. Can't wait! :D

And I'll post a thorough review once it arrives for anyone interested unless someone else gets their box first.

hikaru004

05-23-2007, 08:31 AM

I wish that could come to R1. :) But not at $652. :sd:

mcarocks2003

05-23-2007, 09:25 AM

Looking forward to the review ObiKenobi.

ObiKenobi

05-23-2007, 01:47 PM

I wish that could come to R1. :) But not at $652. :sd:

$652? I have 3 other DVDs shipping with it and the cost hadn't even broken the $600 mark. :P

hikaru004

05-24-2007, 06:07 AM

That's cdjapan's current price (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCBA-2917). YesAsia isn't any better (http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/code-j/section-videos/pid-1004621024/).

ObiKenobi

05-24-2007, 05:48 PM

Ugh, Amazon apparently left out some vital information when the package was picked up by DHL and it's now stuck on hold in Tokyo. And with DHL not delivering anything on Monday this may be a longer wait than I was expecting. Stupid Amazon. Argh!

ObiKenobi

05-24-2007, 05:49 PM

That's cdjapan's current price (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCBA-2917). YesAsia isn't any better (http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/code-j/section-videos/pid-1004621024/).

Only chumps pay full retail: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/switch-language/product/B000M7XQM0/ref=dp_change_lang/503-9044793-8751942?ie=UTF8&language=en%5FJP

About ~520USD before shipping.

mighty_vespa

05-28-2007, 09:53 AM

For anyone interested I found a site that seems to have some really nice pics of the set. Looks like BV is again using the same cases like in the First Gundam and 08th MS Team boxes that don't close you just fold it shut which I don't really care for but the covers look quite nice especially compared to CPM's covers which were just screencaps photoshopped up.

*whistles appreciatively*

It's too bad that I'll never see a re-packaging of Patlabor like that in R1 and at an reasonable price. Yes. I know, I shouldn't think "never", but this is Patlabor, not Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop. Although, I sometimes wish it had the same level of North American love those two other franchises have gotten.

Buster Darkwings

06-02-2007, 06:31 AM

Got my set the other day and just watched OVA ep 1. First of all, there was some minor edge enhancement visible in brightly colored areas, but I've kind of gotten used to it from watching the Gundam 0083 and 08th MS Team remasters, so not that big a deal.

The video is completely progressive, but it seems the HD masters were bobbed as there was aliasing all over the place. Checked out a couple points in the 1st ep of the TV series and new OVA, and it was still there. So unless it's only in the early eps of each part of the franchise, BV Japan majorly dropped the ball on this release.

My set's going up for sale on Yahoo Japan. I really hope stuff like this won't ever happen on a BV release again, especially not their Blu-Ray releases.

ObiKenobi

06-03-2007, 09:27 AM

The video is completely progressive, but it seems the HD masters were bobbed as there was aliasing all over the place. Checked out a couple points in the 1st ep of the TV series and new OVA, and it was still there. So unless it's only in the early eps of each part of the franchise, BV Japan majorly dropped the ball on this release.

Well the aliasing is really only a problem if you watch stuff on your computer. When watching it on my TV I didn't even notice it due to the DCDi. Not that that makes it right, but still. The set blows away any previous version in terms of clarity, colors, shadow detail, and the lack of the ghosting which makes a far noticeable difference when watching it for me than the aliasing. So overall, the aliasing is not good, but during playback on my TV it's completely masked the and positives of this set far outweigh that one negative aspect for me. I've dumped the CPM releases and won't ever look back.

Greboruri

06-03-2007, 04:26 PM

Could someone confirm for me if the full length "Patlabor the Live Action Movie" is included as an extra? Wasn't mentioned on Banadai's product page on their site, but the stickers on the copies being sold on Yahoo Japan!
seem to indicate it is. The full length version of the movie is about 2 mins by the way (previously only a 30 sec clip was released on the Playstation game a few years back).

Pyocola

06-03-2007, 05:54 PM

Disappointing to hear about the aliasing, and it had to be on Patlabor too...

Most of the recent Bandai Visual remasters have been brilliant, why would they drop the ball suddenly? Not to mention that most of them have looked pretty similar and I wouldn't be surprised if they had used the exact same process on all of them, so why the change?

I think the most logical explanation would be that they remastered it a long time ago, before they had the process down, but for some reason never got to releasing it. I wondered why they touted "HDリマスター" even for stuff like Brain Powerd, but Patlabor only got "ニューマスター", maybe this is the explanation.

Buster Darkwings

06-04-2007, 02:21 AM

Ah, good catch. That probably means that no Blu-Ray release, with or without aliasing, will ever be sold unless they're willing to re-remaster it or upconvert it.

ObiKenobi

06-05-2007, 11:15 PM

Most of the recent Bandai Visual remasters have been brilliant, why would they drop the ball suddenly? Not to mention that most of them have looked pretty similar and I wouldn't be surprised if they had used the exact same process on all of them, so why the change?

Their HD remastered Dirty Pair releases also had the aliasing problem as well. So it looks like it's just a random occurence.

I think the most logical explanation would be that they remastered it a long time ago, before they had the process down, but for some reason never got to releasing it. I wondered why they touted "HDリマスター" even for stuff like Brain Powerd, but Patlabor only got "ニューマスター", maybe this is the explanation.

Actually, considering that their Dirty Pair releases had the same aliasing problem, I'm inclined to believe that Patlabor was HD remastered and whatever was done to the Dirty Pair releases was also done with this. I will admit I could be completely wrong, but I doubt they would have created completely new masters only to sit on them for years.

Not to mention the fact that this aliasing problem has only ever cropped on releases that have been from HD masters, again, makes your explanation seem less likely to me.

ObiKenobi

06-05-2007, 11:21 PM

Ah, good catch. That probably means that no Blu-Ray release, with or without aliasing, will ever be sold unless they're willing to re-remaster it or upconvert it.

Just because it wasn't explicity marked as being remastered from HD masters doesn't mean it wasn't. I'm still not willing to believe they would have created new masters sometime between 2000 and 2007 and just sat on them for years and years. From a purely financial stand point that would make absolutely no sense.

Pyocola

06-06-2007, 04:57 PM

Their HD remastered Dirty Pair releases also had the aliasing problem as well. So it looks like it's just a random occurence.
Are you talking about the two OAVs released last year?

Actually, considering that their Dirty Pair releases had the same aliasing problem, I'm inclined to believe that Patlabor was HD remastered and whatever was done to the Dirty Pair releases was also done with this. I will admit I could be completely wrong, but I doubt they would have created completely new masters only to sit on them for years.

Not to mention the fact that this aliasing problem has only ever cropped on releases that have been from HD masters, again, makes your explanation seem less likely to me.
I didn't necessarily mean that it wasn't from an HD master. For example it could be that they knew the process used for this was inferior to the one they've used on most of their other shows marked with "HD", and they thought people would get pissed if they were expecting the same kind of quality. I was just wondering why they would suddenly use a different term to market the product.

And I was under the impression that Patlabor was fairly popular in Japan. If the remaster was done recently, why would it get the s(c)haft when even Brain Powerd seems to be getting a proper treatment? (Of course that remains to be seen.)

And about the timeframe, it's all of course just speculation, but I don't think it's entirely impossible. It seems to be fairly common in the movie industry; on movie boards I've several times seen people say that a certain movie was remastered a while back but not released, or that someone saw the newly restored print of this and that movie and it still hasn't been released.

ObiKenobi

06-06-2007, 05:49 PM

Are you talking about the two OAVs released last year?

Yes, Flight 005 Conspiracy and Affair on Nolandia.

I didn't necessarily mean that it wasn't from an HD master. For example it could be that they knew the process used for this was inferior to the one they've used on most of their other shows marked with "HD", and they thought people would get pissed if they were expecting the same kind of quality. I was just wondering why they would suddenly use a different term to market the product.

If that were true they wouldn't have marked the Dirty Pair stuff as being from HD masters. Neither would have CCS or Nadesico by their respective distributors.

And I was under the impression that Patlabor was fairly popular in Japan. If the remaster was done recently, why would it get the s(c)haft when even Brain Powerd seems to be getting a proper treatment? (Of course that remains to be seen.)

As I said, it seems to just be a random thing. Other HD remastered stuff they have done has come out decent and Dirty Pair and Patlabor have the aliasing problem. There doesn't seem to be any consistent thing, so it's really nothing but speculation on why it's happening.

And about the timeframe, it's all of course just speculation, but I don't think it's entirely impossible.

Well you're whole speculation is based on faulty premise which is the problem. The aliased Dirty Pair releases work against your entire premise.

It seems to be fairly common in the movie industry; on movie boards I've several times seen people say that a certain movie was remastered a while back but not released, or that someone saw the newly restored print of this and that movie and it still hasn't been released.

A fairly common thing? I doubt that. Most companies if they go out and spend the money to restore/remaster something they don't just sit on it. Even if it isn't released on a home video format they will usually give the movie a limited theaterical run after doing the work (e.g. Gone With the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia). I seriously doubt it's a common occurence that they plunk down big cash to restore/remaster something, and any good restoration/remaster job isn't cheap, and don't try to recoup the costs in some way in a timely fashion as that just doesn't make any sense.

Pyocola

06-06-2007, 06:24 PM

Are you talking about the two OAVs released last year?

Yes, Flight 005 Conspiracy and Affair on Nolandia.
Well, that certainly changes things then, I thought you might have been talking about some older release.

So in the end, Patlabor got a second-rate remaster and that's that. Perhaps Tomino was hogging the main setup, that would explain Brain Powerd. :P

ObiKenobi

06-07-2007, 11:13 AM

So in the end, Patlabor got a second-rate remaster and that's that.

Huh? The remaster they did was fabulous. The detail level, colors, shadow detail, etc are many many times improved over the older releases. It's not quite as dramatic as going from Manga's Patlabor movie releases to BV's own releases but there was nothing second rate about the remastering job. The problem arose from when they actually encoded from the source master and introduced the aliasing by bobbing deinterlacing the source material. It's highly unlikely the source material has the aliasing. It's no different than the bobbed Warner HD DVDs. The source masters they used didn't have the aliasing. The aliasing was introduced later in the encoding phase by bobbing the source.

So in conclusion, the encoding was flawed, the remastering they did was flawless. In fact the transfer looks so vibrant and clean, if it wasn't for the somewhat dated at times animation it'd easily pass as a show straight from the late 90s.