[JP] Akira (BV Japan) finally re-schedudled for 2/20

[Buster Darkwings]

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20080926/bandai.htm

24bit/192kHz audio... That is frickin' awesome for Bandai to do, even though it might not cause a huge leap in quality. I hope it sets a standard.

Looks like the English dub (probably the newer one) and subs are still included.

Edit: A US release is also scheduled for 2/24 with a MSRP Of $49.98.

[Quarkboy]

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20080926/bandai.htm

24bit/192kHz audio... That is frickin' awesome for Bandai to do, even though it might not cause a huge leap in quality. I hope it sets a standard.

Looks like the English dub (probably the newer one) and subs are still included.

Edit: A US release is also scheduled for 2/24 with a MSRP Of $49.98.

Well sounds like AVWatch just stole Bandai's thunder at NYAF.

[SneakerPimp]

About time! :beatingheart:

[Njr Scrawl]

That cover is the best Akira one I've seen. So Geneon's dub & not Macek's?

Any mention of English subtitles? Be nice to have a FULL bitrate subbed Akira!

[Pyocola]

Great news about the US release. I am not a huge fan of the film version but would probably buy given a good enough discount. I can only hope that this means they'll release some of the other Honneamise titles for $50 as well.

[Buster Darkwings]

Forgot to mention, the article states that Akira will use a new HD Telecine. Since the Hollywood live-action remake still seems a ways off, the new remaster was probably the reason for the long delay.

[Quarkboy]

Did you notice the product number? BCXA-0001?

Are they starting a new line or something, why is the number 0001?

[Buster Darkwings]

That was the product number when it was supposed to be released in the first wave of BV Blu-rays along with Royal Space Force and Patlabor.

[Quarkboy]

That was the product number when it was supposed to be released in the first wave of BV Blu-rays along with Royal Space Force and Patlabor.

Ah, I see. Good piece of trivia than :)

[kanechan]

I was wondering if this would ever be picked up for US release again after the Geneon pullout, so I'm grateful for its reissue, especially on Blu-ray. This'll supplement my previous copies quite well. Thanks Bandai! :bowsmiley:

[danth78]

I wonder in which way they will cripple the US release to prevent reverse importation.

[Danime]

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20080926/bandai.htm

24bit/192kHz audio... That is frickin' awesome for Bandai to do, even though it might not cause a huge leap in quality. I hope it sets a standard.

Looks like the English dub (probably the newer one) and subs are still included.

Edit: A US release is also scheduled for 2/24 with a MSRP Of $49.98.

YUM!!!! This is epic!

Hmm, is 24bit audio uncommon for anime releases? I've only started looking into audio properly since I saw "24-bit master" printed onto the case of a music album I own (from Italy). This shall be good.

EDIT: Where is the US release confirmed? I can't find anything on it, not on Bandai's website either, but either way this is an EPIC announcement!!! Once I get a Blu-ray player I'm going to have so many nice treats in store! (albeit all old movies)

[Pyocola]

I wonder in which way they will cripple the US release to prevent reverse importation.
Well, the Japanese edition is released a couple of days earlier, but otherwise they seem to be identical.

[Pyocola]

EDIT: Where is the US release confirmed? I can't find anything on it, not on Bandai's website either, but either way this is an EPIC announcement!!!
It's in the AV Watch article, moreover there's an English language press release here (http://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/e/ir/press_2008/epr080926.pdf).

[chronoclast]

Hell yes. I'll definitely be getting this.

[Skywise]

Hmm, is 24bit audio uncommon for anime releases?

It's a first. Even most music releases on BD have been 24/96. It kind of makes me wonder if they really used a full 24/192 throughout the production chain, because of the complications it involves. I also think it's overkill - 24/96 would have more than sufficed and taken up less bitrate.

[Danime]

Hmm, is 24bit audio uncommon for anime releases?

It's a first. Even most music releases on BD have been 24/96. It kind of makes me wonder if they really used a full 24/192 throughout the production chain, because of the complications it involves. I also think it's overkill - 24/96 would have more than sufficed and taken up less bitrate.

Ah the 192 is kHz, I thought the vast majority of music (non anime at least) have 44kHz. This increase is ridiculously massive! I'm impressed. Does it matter if it takes up more bitrate? Surely it won't be more than 8GB, which is the maximum size possible for audio on a dual-layer BD, along with all the other music tracks.

[Danime]

EDIT: Where is the US release confirmed? I can't find anything on it, not on Bandai's website either, but either way this is an EPIC announcement!!!
It's in the AV Watch article, moreover there's an English language press release here (http://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/e/ir/press_2008/epr080926.pdf).

Ah thanks for the link, that's too cool. Poor Bandai, there was only like an hour left on their countdown clock : P.

[Quarkboy]

Pardon me if I'm wrong,but isn't the range of human hearing only 40 Khz or so (depending on the person).

Now I can understand why maybe 96 would be a noticeable improvement (same reason that half-pixel refinement is an improvement in video codecs: smooths rounding error and better polish), but 192? Furthermore, how high end speakers are even able to accurately reproduce such sound...

[Skywise]

20 kHz, if you're young. You need twice that when sampling though, which is why you have 44kHz audio on CDs. There's an explanation on the origin of 44 vs 48 here:

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/cd-recordable/2-35-Why-44-1KHz-Why-not-48KHz.html

With newer and more advanced equipment they went with higher sample rates because once you start mixing the audio together you start affecting the quality noticeably.

The switch from 16-bit to 24-bit is because it directly affects the dynamic range when mixing. It also allows for a lower noise floor.

The reason for putting those formats on the final audio product is precisely because what you mentioned - less "aliasing" and rounding errors compared to downsampling it. As for playing it back - the speakers and the like will get an analog signal remember, so don't need to be able to go up to 40000 Hz etc. (even though some do, but that's for a different reason).

[Pyocola]

Pardon me if I'm wrong,but isn't the range of human hearing only 40 Khz or so (depending on the person).
The upper limit is usually quoted as being around 20 kHz, but you need twice as high a sampling rate to accurately represent the signal (Nyquist theorem), hence the 44.1/48kHz sampling rate for CDs/DVDs/etc.

The merits of 96/192kHz playback have been questioned time and again, and personally I think the benefits are probably minuscule if that, but then I'm not an audiophile and would never be able to hear the difference anyway.

[Quarkboy]

Pardon me if I'm wrong,but isn't the range of human hearing only 40 Khz or so (depending on the person).
The upper limit is usually quoted as being around 20 kHz, but you need twice as high a sampling rate to accurately represent the signal (Nyquist theorem), hence the 44.1/48kHz sampling rate for CDs/DVDs/etc.

The merits of 96/192kHz playback have been questioned time and again, and personally I think the benefits are probably minuscule if that, but then I'm not an audiophile and would never be able to hear the difference anyway.

Ah yes, that's right. I knew the CD standard was based on it but I'd forgotten that even 44K was 2x the human frequency spectrum.

Personally I think having audio formats based on Hz is silly. They should have it based on _2_ different bit precision measures: The usual one and then a bit precision for the Fourier transform of the signal.

[TheLaughingMan]

Wow, that's a fuc*ing Epic announcement! Complete greatness this is. Well, another awesome Blu-Ray under the Honneamise label. Price is fine too. The wait's gonna be kinda long though...

[FnordChan]

I don't care if it's overpriced (even by Blu-Ray standards), I'll be buying this as soon as possible. I'm totally stoked.

[Skywise]

Title is good, but it seems to be rather anemic extra wise, like all the other Honneamise BDs. I'll definitely be getting it, but not selling off my old tin yet.

[Danime]

Title is good, but it seems to be rather anemic extra wise, like all the other Honneamise BDs. I'll definitely be getting it, but not selling off my old tin yet.

I'd prefer the Japanese DVD boxset, that looks absolutely epic, that is the most extensive and epic collectors release I've ever seen in Japan I think. Or at least it's up there with the top.

[zipCode]

Nice, if it's a new transfer it was worth the delay. The last one was pretty bad, as shown by the broadcast in the US HDtv. For a while I thought they might be pulling a Fox. I suspect the audio should be rerecorded too for those specs to be anything less then marketing numbers. Back in the day I doubt the audio was recorded at more then 16bit, 48khz. According to what I read, only in recent years hollywood movies are real 24 bit (no idea about the sampling rate).

[kakugo]

Potential new HD remaster is tempting, but it's breaking the cardinal rule:

Thou shalt not neglect special features from the previous DVD release, without coming up with those of equal or greater value. (~Kakugo, 3:16)

I've said 'no' to a great many nice looking releases because of this nonsense... but I do own both the Pioneer SE and Criterion LD, because the film is just that damn good. Wither I do or don't, it'll be a tough decisions.

The fact that the storyboards will be included (via PiP like FREEDOM, I assume?) is pretty cool. But dropping the Production Report and Sound File seems an unfair trade-off.

[Fencedude]

The usual one and then a bit precision for the Fourier transform of the signal.

Don't use that word!

(also you are probably right, but since when have the standards for stuff like this ever made sense?)

[Quarkboy]

The usual one and then a bit precision for the Fourier transform of the signal.

Don't use that word!

(also you are probably right, but since when have the standards for stuff like this ever made sense?)
Fine I'll say "sinusoidal wave integral transform coefficients" instead. Happy?

[Fencedude]

The usual one and then a bit precision for the Fourier transform of the signal.

Don't use that word!

(also you are probably right, but since when have the standards for stuff like this ever made sense?)
Fine I'll say "sinusoidal wave integral transform coefficients" instead. Happy?

Only because I decided to drop my Discrete Time Systems class, since I realized I hated it (I should have realized that already, I hated it in college too) and I discovered that I don't actually need it for my planned track, so sayonara!

(also the professor sucked hard)

[ObiKenobi]

Pardon me if I'm wrong,but isn't the range of human hearing only 40 Khz or so (depending on the person).
The upper limit is usually quoted as being around 20 kHz, but you need twice as high a sampling rate to accurately represent the signal (Nyquist theorem), hence the 44.1/48kHz sampling rate for CDs/DVDs/etc.

The merits of 96/192kHz playback have been questioned time and again, and personally I think the benefits are probably minuscule if that, but then I'm not an audiophile and would never be able to hear the difference anyway.

Obviously no one is going to hear the difference. The benefit of the higher bit-depth and sampling rates is during the mixing and processing of the audio itself. Anyone who tells you they can hear the difference between 96kz and 192khz is full of shit.

[JINROH]

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20080926/bandai.htm

24bit/192kHz audio... That is frickin' awesome for Bandai to do, even though it might not cause a huge leap in quality. I hope it sets a standard.

Looks like the English dub (probably the newer one) and subs are still included.

Edit: A US release is also scheduled for 2/24 with a MSRP Of $49.98.



Reasonable price,I just wish the original dub was inlcuded as well as the remake(Not a fan of the remade dub at all).

[WTK]

via muhootsaver (http://twitter.com/#!/muhootsaver/status/60369639003262976)
So priced down Akira BD appeared again. 6/22 3990yen. Eng sub incl. 192kHz audio, new HD telecine(same as Bandai?): LINK (http://forest.kinokuniya.co.jp/ItemIntro/667802)

EDIT: Amazon Japan link (http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B004UID0NW/)

[Terence]

via muhootsaver (http://twitter.com/#!/muhootsaver/status/60369639003262976)
So priced down Akira BD appeared again. 6/22 3990yen. Eng sub incl. 192kHz audio, new HD telecine(same as Bandai?): LINK (http://forest.kinokuniya.co.jp/ItemIntro/667802)
Would like to know why the manufacturer has been changed to Universal instead of Bandai Visual. So weird.

[WTK]

via muhootsaver (http://muhootsaver.tistory.com/1438)
AKIRA 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray will be released on 1/27. Amazon Exclusive. Open price. Currently 9240yen.

Specs:
- Steelbook (package pics available at amazon (http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B005XSSEDE?tag=muhootsaver-22&link_code=as3&creativeASIN=B005XSSEDE&creative=3999&camp=767))
- Audio:JP Dolby True HD 5.1 (24bit/192kHz), JP DD5.1, JP LPCM, English Dolby True HD.
- Subtitles: Japanese and English

Main movie will be using the same master as the previous edition but this edition will include more special features including AKIRA visual Archive (same as the one from 2001 AKIRA DVD Special Edition - AKIRA production report, trailers, TV spots, Interview, Quick action recorder library, artworks). Booklet will be the same as the previous BD. This edition will include 3 post cards as well.

[WTK]

The Amazon JP exclusive (http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B005XSSEDE) is now 53% off.

EDIT: back to 26% off now.