[JP] Mai Hime series [HiME - EngDub/Sub][Otome - EngDub/Sub]

[muhootsaver]

http://www.my-zhime.net/bdumd/index.html

0〜S.ifr〜 Sept. 25th, Zwei Oct. 27th. Both 6,300yen. Other ones coming soon.


TV Series info updated

Mai HiME (First TV series) January 27/2010, Mai Otome (Second TV series) March 26/2010. 30,450 yen each. 6 discs and 4:3 1080i

[Hayate Kurogane]

http://www.my-zhime.net/bdumd/index.html

0〜S.ifr〜 Sept. 25th, Zwei Oct. 27th. Both 6,300yen. Other ones coming soon.

THIS IS RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS

[stfram]

0〜S.ifr〜 Sept. 25th, Zwei Oct. 27th. Both 6,300yen. Other ones coming soon.

Too bad the original series (and Otome? Gah...don't have the discs handy to check) aren't in anamorphic widescreen.

[Hayate Kurogane]

0〜S.ifr〜 Sept. 25th, Zwei Oct. 27th. Both 6,300yen. Other ones coming soon.

Too bad the original series (and Otome? Gah...don't have the discs handy to check) aren't in anamorphic widescreen.

Correct, both TV series are 4:3.

[Draneor]

0〜S.ifr〜 Sept. 25th, Zwei Oct. 27th. Both 6,300yen. Other ones coming soon.

6,300 yen for the entire OVA series is kind of cheap by R2 standards. At least compared to the original price. I need to pick 0〜S.ifr〜 up, but I'm still hoping that BEI might license it at some point.

[Njr Scrawl]

http://www.my-zhime.net/bdumd/index.html

0〜S.ifr〜 Sept. 25th, Zwei Oct. 27th. Both 6,300yen. Other ones coming soon.

THIS IS RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS

*twitch* mine too *twitch*

Otome is sure to follow....

[Geno]

0〜S.ifr〜 Sept. 25th, Zwei Oct. 27th. Both 6,300yen. Other ones coming soon.

6,300 yen for the entire OVA series is kind of cheap by R2 standards. At least compared to the original price. I need to pick 0〜S.ifr〜 up, but I'm still hoping that BEI might license it at some point.
I'd be surprised if they didn't release considering the fact they released everything else. The only problem is that Bandai seems to avoid Blu-Ray releases of non theatrical anime. (.hack G.U. Trilogy for example.)

[Shiroi Hane]

I'm not sure what surprises me more - the relative cheapness of the blurays, the fact that you can get it on UMD instead for a steal, or the fact that they're releasing it on UMD at all.

[DeadlyMessiah]

I only care about the original Mai-Hime series, so Otome coming to Blu-Ray does me no good.

[seattlescotsman]

Does anybody know if 0〜S.ifr〜 will have English subs?

[Roujin0308]

Does anybody know if 0〜S.ifr〜 will have English subs?

I don't see anything at the official site or the retailers I checked that indicates it does. As with anime DVDs, the inclusion of English subs on current Jp anime blu-ray discs is an exception rather than the norm.

[Hayate Kurogane]

Does anybody know if 0〜S.ifr〜 will have English subs?

I don't see anything at the official site or the retailers I checked that indicates it does. As with anime DVDs, the inclusion of English subs on current Jp anime blu-ray discs is an exception rather than the norm.

And it's usually dependent upon there being an existing release in an English-speaking country with English subs from which said subs can be taken. Unfortunately, S.ifr has not yet been licensed outside of Japan.

I'm sure there are exceptions where the Japanese have produced or paid for English subs for something on their own, for whatever reason, but I can't think of any. So it's unlikely that English subs will appear for this release (I own the R2Js, and none of those discs have subs in any language).

[Betenoire]

I'm sure there are exceptions where the Japanese have produced or paid for English subs for something on their own, for whatever reason, but I can't think of any.

Someone I knew ordered a Region 0 Animation Runner Kuromi off CD Japan (so prob not a boot) back around 2001 before CPM signed it.

Checked the Reviews, and Chris Beveridge (http://www.mania.com/animation-runner-kuromi_article_74036.html) also had a copy and reviewed it (but the review says region2-now I'm curious as to if the version I watched back then was legit...). But that is the only one I can think of.

I don't know if CPM used the original subs or if they did their own when they got the license.

[DiGiKerot]

I'm sure there are exceptions where the Japanese have produced or paid for English subs for something on their own, for whatever reason, but I can't think of any.

Someone I knew ordered a Region 0 Animation Runner Kuromi off CD Japan (so prob not a boot) back around 2001 before CPM signed it.

Checked the Reviews, and Chris Beveridge (http://www.mania.com/animation-runner-kuromi_article_74036.html) also had a copy and reviewed it (but the review says region2-now I'm curious as to if the version I watched back then was legit...). But that is the only one I can think of.


If I remember correctly, there was more than one release of Kuromi in Japan. The initial release was incredibly limited to the point where I'm not even sure if CDJapan carried it (since I remember getting mine from AmoTokyo). This is the disk Chris has reviewed, and was region 2.

When the show eventually got a more general release, that disk release was a region 0 affair.

On the subject of other Japanese releases that have had English subtitles in the absence of an existing foreign release, the original Saishu Heiki Kanojo TV release was subtitled, and FLCL sported subtitles after the first episode. That's all what springs to mind, though.

[Shiroi Hane]

Brave Story had subtitles (although I have a feeling only on the DVD, not on the Bluray version) prior to any foreign release, and they were completely different (and inferior to) the subtitles on the UK DVD. There's a whole thread of Japanese releases with subtitles in the R2 forum, but I don't think there's been any blurays with subtitles except for re-releases where one already exists as Hayate said.

[kakugo]

I think in the case of Brave Story, they're actually dubtitles to the English dub found on the UK release, which Warner Brothers seems to have made themselves for the purpose of marketing the title internationally. As there's still no US release, they're clearly doing a bang up job. :)

Not sure why they put subtitles on the DVD and not the Blu-ray/HD DVD, though. That one always left me scratching my head.

[Buster Darkwings]

It's too bad since the Brave Story Blu-ray looks great, despite being one of the very first animation titles released. It's a high-bitrate MPEG-2 encode and looks much better than Warner's other anime titles like Gotham Knight. Since it was done specifically for Japan and isn't a recycled HD DVD encode, I suspect they outsourced the encoding.

[muhootsaver]

TV series info update: http://www.my-zhime.net/bdumd/index.html

Mai HiME (First TV series) January 27/2010, Mai Otome (Second TV series) March 26/2010. 30,450 yen each. 6 discs and 4:3 1080i

[Buster Darkwings]

Hmm, it doesn't mention use of an HD master unlike the descriptions for Zwei and S.ifr, it just says "HD quality". So I'd expect these to be an upscale. Might still get them.

[Skywise]

AV watch confirms:

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20090701_298768.html

[Hayate Kurogane]

Joined cover art for Zwei and S.ifr (http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m330/saragallagher/zweisifrbluray.jpg). I'd buy a poster of it for sure. Funny that Ribbon-chan makes the cover for Zwei. And that Lena's garbed in her Artemis-generated uber-Robe rather than her regular one (which then, when seen next to Arika, just highlights how much harder Arika needs to try, and how lucky Lena was that she was able to skip over the two pink not-as-cool proto-Robes that Arika wears in Otome and Zwei).

Anyway, I'd like it to be September now. Or maybe October, because then that means I'd have both.

[Fencedude]

Joined cover art for Zwei and S.ifr (http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m330/saragallagher/zweisifrbluray.jpg). I'd buy a poster of it for sure. Funny that Ribbon-chan makes the cover for Zwei. And that Lena's garbed in her Artemis-generated uber-Robe rather than her regular one (which then, when seen next to Arika, just highlights how much harder Arika needs to try, and how lucky Lena was that she was able to skip over the two pink not-as-cool proto-Robes that Arika wears in Otome and Zwei).

Anyway, I'd like it to be September now. Or maybe October, because then that means I'd have both.

That is quite fantastic.

Also Lena didn't get saddled with the crappy pink robes because she's THE BESTEST OTOME EVERS IN THE HISTORY OF EVERYTHING

[DeadlyMessiah]

What is Sifr?

[Fencedude]

What is Sifr?

Prequel OVA focused on Arika's mom, Lena.

[hissatsu]

I got the Blu-ray box for My-Hime today. Thanks Amazon, very early delivery - release date is 1/27 - tomorrow.

....

ENGLISH FUCKING SUBTITLES!

Japanese, English, and Chinese(!) LPCM audio!

In fact it has the same startup option the Honneamise releases had, with the Japan/International choice before the feature starts playing.

The subtitles are not dubtitles. Though I no longer have the US DVDs to compare, I imagine they're the same translation as the DVD subtitles.

Oh, and aside from that, it's not an upscale! Yes, really. Probably the usual soft looking 720P level of detail. 1080i video, but who cares at this point.

I am pleased!!!

If you like this show, this is the best release it's likely to get.

[Buster Darkwings]

Hmm, I wonder if they plan on releasing it in the US as well. Then again, the Patlabor movies also had the dual startup but didn't get a US release. Or did they just have the subs/dub with regular Jp menus?

I have Otome on pre-order, was planning on getting this set somewhere down the line after I get through some of my backlog.

[hissatsu]

Hmm, I wonder if they plan on releasing it in the US as well. Then again, the Patlabor movies also had the dual startup but didn't get a US release. Or did they just have the subs/dub with regular Jp menus

Well, if it got announced by Bandai Entertainment, the release date would be delayed at least 3 times, then they'd probably manage to screw something up anyway. They can go right ahead now, don't care anymore. :)

The Patlabor movies do have the dual startup.

For a 2 cour show, this show is quite affordable by Japanese standards. <cough>Kanon, Clannad<cough>

[Buster Darkwings]

Heh, heard that (although I'd gladly pay more for HiME if I loved it as much as Kanon).

But if it had dual language start up I assume BV would be doing all the disc manufacturing anyways, so BE would only need to distribute them or whatever it is they did with Akira, etc.

[ilmaestro]

If you like this show, this is the best release it's likely to get.
Awesome news. ^_^

Totally looking to pick this up once I can get out of Q1 and the too many series I need to finish off.

[muhootsaver]

Thanks for the info hissatsu. I saw the screenshots and I thought damn, that's a good upscale, but after I read your comment, I compared it with other upscales and I too think it's not an upscale.

[Rhodes]

I got the Blu-ray box for My-Hime today. Thanks Amazon, very early delivery - release date is 1/27 - tomorrow.

....

ENGLISH FUCKING SUBTITLES!

Japanese, English, and Chinese(!) LPCM audio!

In fact it has the same startup option the Honneamise releases had, with the Japan/International choice before the feature starts playing.

The subtitles are not dubtitles. Though I no longer have the US DVDs to compare, I imagine they're the same translation as the DVD subtitles.

Oh, and aside from that, it's not an upscale! Yes, really. Probably the usual soft looking 720P level of detail. 1080i video, but who cares at this point.

I am pleased!!!

If you like this show, this is the best release it's likely to get.

Hmmm can you post the catalogue item code for your item or a link to the Amazon JP page? If it contains English audio and English subs... well. I think I'll import :)

[muhootsaver]

Hmmm can you post the catalogue item code for your item or a link to the Amazon JP page? If it contains English audio and English subs... well. I think I'll import :)

I have the link on my blog&twitter, but since it's affiliated, I'll just post the catalogue number =p
B002FRG7GC

[hissatsu]

Thanks for the info hissatsu. I saw the screenshots and I thought damn, that's a good upscale, but after I read your comment, I compared it with other upscales and I too think it's not an upscale.

At first I thought it looked very good for an upscale as well, since I was almost sure it would be an upscale, but after watching more I realized there was no way it could be an upscale. Now I just hope Otome will nice enough to have the same audio/subtitle options.


Hmmm can you post the catalogue item code for your item or a link to the Amazon JP page? If it contains English audio and English subs... well. I think I'll import :)

muhootsaver posted the item code, but here's the link anyway.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B002FRG7GC/

[something]

Huh, with all the features and good comments about the video, this is actually a little tempting. Especially since I have the screwed up singles with no time codes that are really annoying for me to try to watch. The price is also, for R2, unexpectedly good. But to be honest I don't think I can justify another ~$250 for HiME after spending ~$120 on the R1s, one of my favorite shows though it may be.

Now, Otome, that's even more tempting. I guess it's safe to assume it will have English subs as well. Damn... still, I've seen both series multiple times already and don't know how many more times I'll rewatch them, realistically. I suppose Otome at least is a lot more rewatchable for me since I like the ending much better.

Too bad I wouldn't get anything for my R1s if I sold them. Probably like $20.

[DiGiKerot]

The price is also, for R2, unexpectedly good. But to be honest I don't think I can justify another ~$250 for HiME after spending ~$120 on the R1s, one of my favorite shows though it may be.


I really shouldn't be able to justify it either, particularly given that I've already got the show twice over (both the R1s and the R2Js, plus the R2E for the first volume), and some of those disks are still in shrink-wrap...

But, god dammit, I've just gone and ordered the thing. Here was me thinking I'd finally gotten over buying HiME merchandise as well...

[something]

But, god dammit, I've just gone and ordered the thing. Here was me thinking I'd finally gotten over buying HiME merchandise as well...
Heh, I never had any doubt that it'd trap you.

Hm, I just remembered that Otome (nevermind the earlier HiME) was a 4:3 show. Darn (almost) square anime. I keep forgetting that even shows as relatively young as as Otome were still from an era where widescreen wasn't the norm. That actually makes it a bit easier to talk myself out of this. I hope.

[ilmaestro]

The price is also, for R2, unexpectedly good. But to be honest I don't think I can justify another ~$250 for HiME after spending ~$120 on the R1s, one of my favorite shows though it may be.
Mai-HiME was one of the first regular TV shows I bought the R2s of, so I'll decline from adding up what the series would have cost me if I buy the BD set, too. In fact, with HiME, Otome, the two OVA series and the summary movie boxset, it must be easily the franchise I've spunked the most money on, even without buying the BDs. Thinking about it like that has actually encouraged me more to buy them, funnily enough.

[Njr Scrawl]

Almost irresistible! I want to know if Bandai used the R1 subs first though.

[hissatsu]

Almost irresistible! I want to know if Bandai used the R1 subs first though.

Give me lines and the times and I can check. It pretty much has to be the DVD subs. They're not dubtitles, and they're not some horrid R2 only subs. Don't think they'd spend extra money on a new translation.

[Njr Scrawl]

BTW Otome has a BD release too.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%88%9E-%E4%B9%99HiME-COMPLETE-Blu-ray-%E5%B0%8F%E5%8E%9F%E6%AD%A3%E5%92%8C/dp/B002FRG7GM/ref=pd_sim_d_1

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%88%9E-%E4%B9%99HiME-Zwei-COMPLETE-Blu-ray-%E5%B0%8F%E5%8E%9F%E6%AD%A3%E5%92%8C/dp/B002A3BDHE/ref=pd_sim_d_2

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%88%9E-%E4%B9%99HiME-0~S-ifr~-%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AA%E3%83%88%E3%83%A1%E3%8 2%B7%E3%83%95%E3%83%AB-COMPLETE-Blu-ray/dp/B002A3BDH4/ref=pd_sim_d_3

Seductive...

[DiGiKerot]

But, god dammit, I've just gone and ordered the thing. Here was me thinking I'd finally gotten over buying HiME merchandise as well...
Heh, I never had any doubt that it'd trap you.


:sweat:

I did manage to skip Zwei on Blu-ray, though. That's got to count for something...

[Draneor]

I'm considering picking up My-Otome, provided it also has English subtitles and isn't an upscale.

Mai-HiME was one of the first regular TV shows I bought the R2s of, so I'll decline from adding up what the series would have cost me if I buy the BD set, too.

It's still less than what some of us will end up paying for Clannad. I agree it's best not to do accounting when it comes to these kinds of things.

[hissatsu]

I'm considering picking up My-Otome, provided it also has English subtitles and isn't an upscale.


You might want to place that pre-order.

From Bandai Visual's page for the Otome Blu-ray box
http://product.bandaivisual.co.jp/web_service/shop_product_info.asp?item_no=BCXA-0211

英語字幕付（ＯＮ・ＯＦＦ可能）
※日本語・英語音声を収録

English subtitles, Japanese/English audio - No Mandarin this time. It's weird that none of the online retailers list the audio or subtitle options for either release. It's a pleasant surprise.

I think the likelihood that that would go back to SD for a sequel is vanishingly small.

The 4 minute new animation they made for the Hime blu-ray box is amusing. Not subbed, though it's pretty easy to understand Japanese, and you'd probably get the gist of it even without that. A bit of revenge on Reito for the girls and a convenient excuse to get them all at the beach.

[ilmaestro]

Mai-HiME was one of the first regular TV shows I bought the R2s of, so I'll decline from adding up what the series would have cost me if I buy the BD set, too.

It's still less than what some of us will end up paying for Clannad.
I didn't by any means say you guys weren't even more insane. :P

[Buster Darkwings]

Heh, they're actually doing an exchange program for disc 4 of HiME because they forgot to put the "舞-HiME next step" graphic on one of the next-episode previews: http://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/support/info/2010.html

I personally wouldn't have bothered if I were them (and I have a feeling that no R1 distributor would have, either), but major props to them for living up to the mistake.

I assume the exchange program is for Japan only, so if anyone here wants to exchange their disc I can probably do it for you.

[Fencedude]

Heh, they're actually doing an exchange program for disc 4 of HiME because they forgot to put the "舞-HiME next step" graphic on one of the next-episode previews: http://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/support/info/2010.html

I personally wouldn't have bothered if I were them (and I have a feeling that no R1 distributor would have, either), but major props to them for living up to the mistake.

I assume the exchange program is for Japan only, so if anyone here wants to exchange their disc I can probably do it for you.

Hah...thats actually pretty funny.

I'm pretty sure I would manage to live with it.

[hissatsu]

Heh, they're actually doing an exchange program for disc 4 of HiME because they forgot to put the "舞-HiME next step" graphic on one of the next-episode previews: http://www.bandaivisual.co.jp/support/info/2010.html

I personally wouldn't have bothered if I were them (and I have a feeling that no R1 distributor would have, either), but major props to them for living up to the mistake.

I assume the exchange program is for Japan only, so if anyone here wants to exchange their disc I can probably do it for you.

I checked, and it's definitely missing. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!! But I think I'll live, it's a relatively inconsequential error. If I were in Japan I might do it, but it's not worth shipping a single disc to/from Japan, along with the probable few weeks wait before the replacement is shipped. With my luck the replacement disc would probably get crunched in the mail. Then I'd really have something to complain about.

I've only done one exchange for an import defective disc. Of all things, the End of Evangelion CAV LD Box. One of the LDs had a major pressing defect - totally messed up video for several minutes. Just my box though, not the release in general, so no single disc exchange. I lucked out @_@. That box was absolutely huge. Shipping it back and forth was so much fun!

[Hayate Kurogane]

Wheee! I have My-HiME on Blu-ray! Hayate is a happy panda!

Almost irresistible! I want to know if Bandai used the R1 subs first though.

The subtitles are identical to the subtitles produced by Ocean for Bandai's R1 DVD release, with all of Ocean's typical stylistic choices: doubled-up English and Romaji for songs, italics for emphasis, sign subs at the top of the screen, persistent usage of "gonna" and "wanna," and so on. Even the occasional typos are still present. :sweat:

[DeadlyMessiah]

Okay, I was looking at the cover art and wanted to know, WHY is Mai always pictured witha scarf that she never wears?

Anyway, I was thinking about getting this, but not at $300. CDJapan also states there are no subs, so I'm confused on that aspect. Oh yeah, plus the audio is just in standard 2.0 anyway, which I think kind of ruins the purpose of Blu-Ray, as it should be remixed into 5.1 HD audio, especially for a show done in the last 10 years. I still do not understand why the Jp have not come into the modern age when it comes to audio in a TV series.

[hissatsu]

Anyway, I was thinking about getting this, but not at $300.

There's no reason to pay list price, unless if you insist on buying it from CDJapan. You do realize this release is priced rather low compared to most Japanese releases of this length, right? You have unrealistic expectations if you think the price should have been much lower.


CDJapan also states there are no subs, so I'm confused on that aspect.

What's the confusion? You doubt there are subs? I must have imagined seeing them. Bandai Visual's page (http://product.bandaivisual.co.jp/web_service/shop_product_info.asp?item_no=BCXA-0210) lists the subtitle and audio options. Think they're wrong too?


Oh yeah, plus the audio is just in standard 2.0 anyway, which I think kind of ruins the purpose of Blu-Ray, as it should be remixed into 5.1 HD audio, especially for a show done in the last 10 years. I still do not understand why the Jp have not come into the modern age when it comes to audio in a TV series.

Oh yes, it's totally ruined. I can only suggest you stop watching anime, as almost all TV anime is 2.0, and will probably continue to be so for some time to come. Your whole post comes down to "Too expensive, I doubt the subtitles exist, and the audio sucks."

[something]

Okay, I was looking at the cover art and wanted to know, WHY is Mai always pictured witha scarf that she never wears?
To cover the one part hissatsu missed: Because the scarf is fuckin' awesome. <3

[Hayate Kurogane]

Anyway, I was thinking about getting this, but not at $300. CDJapan also states there are no subs, so I'm confused on that aspect. Oh yeah, plus the audio is just in standard 2.0 anyway, which I think kind of ruins the purpose of Blu-Ray, as it should be remixed into 5.1 HD audio, especially for a show done in the last 10 years. I still do not understand why the Jp have not come into the modern age when it comes to audio in a TV series.

If you're paying $300 for this set, you're clearly not spending intelligently.

If you're trusting CD Japan's listed info, you're clearly not looking hard enough for information.

If you're still harping on that same audio issue, then you have a choice: there's a button on your receiver that can simulate the sound you want, or you can wait longer and pay more while the Japanese construct a new 5.1 audio track.

[something]

Got this in today. Box is nice, even if art is only on one side. The picture quality looks great to my eyes, way better than I remember the DVDs looking. And this being the first BD I've bought with subtitles, I was amazed to see subs that weren't hideous colors and insultingly low resolution and all the other stuff that has always defined DVD subtitles. Good stuff all around.

One thing is strange though. It looks like it's... oh whatever the correct term is, some variety of letterboxing? Basically, the total video area for lack of a better term is in a 16:9 aspect ratio, but of course the actual show itself is 4:3. What this means is that the video does not properly touch the top and bottom of my (16:10) monitor, wasting I guess 120 pixels of height. Like, normally if I have the player at something less than fullscreen, the borders of the playback software will hug the actual video on all four sides. It's so expected that I don't even think about it. But when Otome is less than fullscreen, the black bars stay. So like, it's being handled as 1920x1080 even though the actual show would be, what, 1440x1080?

I've never ever owned a 4:3 disc that did this so I was rather surprised. I'd probably get over it after a few minutes of watching but it's just weird seeing video with black bars on all four sides. For those with HiME, was that the same way?

This happens in both the ever crappy PowerDVD as well as various other players used to play the ripped m2ts itself so I don't think it's related to the software. And I can't zoom in with PowerDVD (if there's a way to do it, I sure can't find it). I can of course get it to display correctly if I rip the BD and reencode it to MKV so I can play it in KMPlayer (or any player that lets you zoom in), but that'd be ~1hr/disc to rip and probably, oh, ~7h/disc to reencode. Which I can certainly do, if I really feel like it, but it's still a pain in the ass and a good two full days of messing around even if I keep on top of switching discs... not that I need to rewatch Otome right now (did so last year).

[hissatsu]

Got this in today. Box is nice, even if art is only on one side. The picture quality looks great to my eyes, way better than I remember the DVDs looking. And this being the first BD I've bought with subtitles, I was amazed to see subs that weren't hideous colors and insultingly low resolution and all the other stuff that has always defined DVD subtitles. Good stuff all around.


Blu-ray subtitles and DVD subtitle formats have next to nothing to do with one another, so this is normal.


One thing is strange though. It looks like it's... oh whatever the correct term is, some variety of letterboxing? Basically, the total video area for lack of a better term is in a 16:9 aspect ratio, but of course the actual show itself is 4:3. What this means is that the video does not properly touch the top and bottom of my (16:10) monitor, wasting I guess 120 pixels of height. Like, normally if I have the player at something less than fullscreen, the borders of the playback software will hug the actual video on all four sides. It's so expected that I don't even think about it. But when Otome is less than fullscreen, the black bars stay. So like, it's being handled as 1920x1080 even though the actual show would be, what, 1440x1080?

I've never ever owned a 4:3 disc that did this so I was rather surprised. I'd probably get over it after a few minutes of watching but it's just weird seeing video with black bars on all four sides. For those with HiME, was that the same way?


This is known as pillarboxing. It is the correct way to display 4:3 video on a blu-ray. When you say you never owned a 4:3 disc that did this, I assume you've never viewed any 4:3 material on blu-ray. All blu-ray video is 16:9 with square pixels. There is no provision for anamorphic 4:3 since no new 4:3 HD displays will be made.

[Hayate Kurogane]

One thing is strange though. It looks like it's... oh whatever the correct term is, some variety of letterboxing? Basically, the total video area for lack of a better term is in a 16:9 aspect ratio, but of course the actual show itself is 4:3. What this means is that the video does not properly touch the top and bottom of my (16:10) monitor, wasting I guess 120 pixels of height. Like, normally if I have the player at something less than fullscreen, the borders of the playback software will hug the actual video on all four sides. It's so expected that I don't even think about it. But when Otome is less than fullscreen, the black bars stay. So like, it's being handled as 1920x1080 even though the actual show would be, what, 1440x1080?

I've never ever owned a 4:3 disc that did this so I was rather surprised. I'd probably get over it after a few minutes of watching but it's just weird seeing video with black bars on all four sides. For those with HiME, was that the same way?

It sounds...like you're describing hardcoded pillarboxing, in which case, yes, My-HiME is also like that.

I guess you're talking about the pillarboxing interacting with your playback software in such a way as to prevent you from zooming in to maximize the vertical of the video to your monitor height, yes? Or, to put it another way, your player software won't let the edges of the video exist "outside" your monitor's sides, in order to zoom and meet that "fill vertical" requirement?

I guess that sort of question wouldn't come up unless this is the first time you've encountered a 16:9-formatted, 4:3 pillarbox hardcoded video release. Since, if I understand you correctly, your player software shouldn't let you zoom in on any 16:9 video, but one would normally never think to do that since you'd be voluntarily removing the edges of the picture for any original 16:9 material, so you might never have noticed it before.

[something]

Blu-ray subtitles and DVD subtitle formats have next to nothing to do with one another, so this is normal.
Well, yes, I'm just quite happy that that's the case. I knew they had to be better to some extent, I just had never actually seen any before. The nasty subs on DVDs were always one of my pet peeves and I'm glad they're gone.

This is known as pillarboxing. It is the correct way to display 4:3 video on a blu-ray. When you say you never owned a 4:3 disc that did this, I assume you've never viewed any 4:3 material on blu-ray. All blu-ray video is 16:9 with square pixels. There is no provision for anamorphic 4:3 since no new 4:3 HD displays will be made.
Right, first 4:3 on BD. I only watch anime so my only BDs are anime and that basically means my imports, which are all of new 16:9 shows except for this.

I guess the "square pixels" is the important part there? Because I was surprised by the hard limit imposed on the vertical resolution. After all, I've viewed countless 480 vertical DVDs at 1050 or 1200 vertical (depending on the monitor), so I didn't expect BD to literally stop at 1080 when I've got 1200 on my monitor. I'm sure there are all sorts of sound technical reasons for it but unfortunately I'm still stuck looking at an image that's smaller on my screen than every other 4:3 video I've ever seen.

Since, if I understand you correctly, your player software shouldn't let you zoom in on any 16:9 video, but one would normally never think to do that since you'd be voluntarily removing the edges of the picture for any original 16:9 material, so you might never have noticed it before.
Well, my main player is KMPlayer, and it will let you zoom in, out, shift the video up and down and left and right etc however you want. Even off the screen entirely if you want (...for some reason). Of course, I only rarely have any use for that feature, because as you note zooming in on actual 16:9 video would chop the ends off, and all 4:3 I've played in it before was anamorphic.

But with Otome it'd be nice to be able to get that extra room on my screen back, provided zooming didn't degrade the video quality. And in testing with KMPlayer, it didn't, not to any degree that my non-videophile eyes noticed anyway. Of course there's also no audio when KMPlayer plays raw m2ts files so it's not like I can use it (hence where the lengthy reencoding comes in... don't feel like doing it right now).

PowerDVD does have an option to "fill" but all it does it stretch vertically, and that's obviously bad for the aspect ratio, so no thanks.

Anyway I guess if that's just how 4:3 is on BD, then that's that... I've never seen a 4:3 BD before this (nor had any reason to believe I ever would until I decided to buy this release) so it never even occurred to me that such a practice existed. I have a 24" monitor (which is plenty big when you're 2-3 feet away from it) so it's not the end of the world...

...it's still kind of annoying though.

[hissatsu]

Right, first 4:3 on BD. I only watch anime so my only BDs are anime and that basically means my imports, which are all of new 16:9 shows except for this.

I guess the "square pixels" is the important part there? Because I was surprised by the hard limit imposed on the vertical resolution. After all, I've viewed countless 480 vertical DVDs at 1050 or 1200 vertical (depending on the monitor), so I didn't expect BD to literally stop at 1080 when I've got 1200 on my monitor. I'm sure there are all sorts of sound technical reasons for it but unfortunately I'm still stuck looking at an image that's smaller on my screen than every other 4:3 video I've ever seen.


BD is no more "limited" than DVD in vertical resolution. Blu-ray video can be 720x480, 1280x720, or 1920x1080, but unlike DVD it is always 16:9. Any content that is not originally 16:9 is going to be encoded as 16:9 with black bars of some sort on part of the screen. Your display is 16:10 so something has to give.

[Fencedude]

BD is no more "limited" than DVD in vertical resolution. Blu-ray video can be 720x480, 1280x720, or 1920x1080, but unlike DVD it is always 16:9. Any content that is not originally 16:9 is going to be encoded as 16:9 with black bars of some sort on part of the screen. Your display is 16:10 so something has to give.

You are missing his point.

Edit: This is only an issue because his display is 16:10, not 16:9.

[something]

BD is no more "limited" than DVD in vertical resolution. Blu-ray video can be 720x480, 1280x720, or 1920x1080, but unlike DVD it is always 16:9. Any content that is not originally 16:9 is going to be encoded as 16:9 with black bars of some sort on part of the screen. Your display is 16:10 so something has to give.
Er, yes, but you're misreading my point about the limits. Because it can only be 16:9 and not anamorphic, it is certainly in effect "limited" in ways that DVD is not. I.e., "something has to give" for 4:3 on BD that most certainly did not "have to give" on DVD. This is obviously by design, for some no doubt quite technically sound reason that intelligent people decided was absolutely necessary to the BD standard. I accept that set of facts.

Unfortunately the bottom line is that it looks silly to me like that on my monitor, and gives me a smaller viewable picture, with no real benefit to me. It doesn't make me regret the purchase but it is important to me to ask about it so I can understand why it happened. I can definitely say it does leave me less likely to consider a BD purchase for any other 4:3 material in the future, as I doubt I will ever own a 16:9 display (I don't own or want a television, for example). I don't think it's unreasonable for me to be a little dismayed to discover this particular difference between BD and DVD given the effect it has on my display.

My situation is uncommon I suppose, as I assume most people are watching BDs on 16:9 TVs, and many others might be using 16:9 monitors. But it's still my situation and thus what I have to react to. I've always much preferred 16:10 over 16:9 for my computers because the extra vertical resolution is quite helpful for all other applications.

[hissatsu]

Er, yes, but you're misreading my point about the limits. Because it can only be 16:9 and not anamorphic, it is certainly in effect "limited" in ways that DVD is not. I.e., "something has to give" for 4:3 on BD that most certainly did not "have to give" on DVD. This is obviously by design, for some no doubt quite technically sound reason that intelligent people decided was absolutely necessary to the BD standard. I accept that set of facts.

Unfortunately the bottom line is that it looks silly to me like that on my monitor, and gives me a smaller viewable picture, with no real benefit to me. It doesn't make me regret the purchase but it is important to me to ask about it so I can understand why it happened. I can definitely say it does leave me less likely to consider a BD purchase for any other 4:3 material in the future, as I doubt I will ever own a 16:9 display (I don't own or want a television, for example). I don't think it's unreasonable for me to be a little dismayed to discover this particular difference between BD and DVD given the effect it has on my display.

My situation is uncommon I suppose, as I assume most people are watching BDs on 16:9 TVs, and many others might be using 16:9 monitors. But it's still my situation and thus what I have to react to. I've always much preferred 16:10 over 16:9 for my computers because the extra vertical resolution is quite helpful for all other applications.

There is no real technical reason for any of this. It's all about numbers. You're in the same boat as owners of 2.35:1 projectors. Why doesn't the blu-ray spec allow for 2:35:1 anamorphic video? The answer is the same for them. You make up such a small portion of the market that from the standpoint of the BDA you don't matter. It may suck, but that's how it is. DVD was introduced at a time when TVs were beginning to transition from 4:3 to 16:9. That time has passed. Any home video format at this time is going to be intended for 16:9 displays, and it's not like any switch to another aspect ratio is being planned. You might as well complain that all 16:9 video shows small black bars at the top and bottom when displayed on a 16:10 display. It's fruitless.

[Fencedude]

You might as well complain that all 16:9 video shows small black bars at the top and bottom when displayed on a 16:10 display. It's fruitless.

THIS IS WHAT HE IS COMPLAINING ABOUT.

SPECIFICALLY

Edit: And the fact that PowerDVD doesn't have a zoom function.

[something]

There is no real technical reason for any of this. It's all about numbers. You're in the same boat as owners of 2.35:1 projectors. Why doesn't the blu-ray spec allow for 2:35:1 anamorphic video? The answer is the same for them. You make up such a small portion of the market that from the standpoint of the BDA you don't matter. It may suck, but that's how it is. DVD was introduced at a time when TVs were beginning to transition from 4:3 to 16:9. That time has passed. Any home video format at this time is going to be intended for 16:9 displays, and it's not like any switch to another aspect ratio is being planned. You might as well complain that all 16:9 video shows small black bars at the top and bottom when displayed on a 16:10 display. It's fruitless.
K. Great. I'd already noted in the very post you quoted that I understand that my situation is likely uncommon. Not sure when a lecture on how totally insignificant I am to the market became necessary.

Well, whatever. It still seems reasonable to me for "anamorphic" to be a completely basic feature built into any standard regardless, but oh well.

[hissatsu]

K. Great. I'd already noted in the very post you quoted that I understand that my situation is likely uncommon. Not sure when a lecture on how totally insignificant I am to the market became necessary.

Well, whatever.

I apologize if it came off as a lecture, because that wasn't my intent. The situation is obviously not ideal, but the reality is that companies rarely make any effort to serve the needs of a small minority, even if the effort involved is trivial. It would have been better in the blu-ray spec supported video in various aspect ratios, but in the end it didn't. Therein lies the only sort of technical reason I can find for not supporting aspect ratios other than 16:9 - most blu-ray players have pretty poor hardware scaling of video, I assume as a cost cutting measure. There's absolutely no technical reason why blu-ray doesn't support 1080p30 video either when HD-DVD did, but it's not there. Likely because the only people who care are those that complain about dropped animation frames in OPs, even though having support for 1080p30 would probably have involved zero added cost.

[Quarkboy]

If you are playing it on your computer, one "solution" if you have an nvidia card is to
adjust the display for 120 pixels worth of overscan.

The image might be a bit blurrier because the display pixels won't match the video pixels, but you can get rid of the black bars on the top and bottom at least without distorting the video.

(won't be able to hit the "start" button, though :)

[hissatsu]

If you are playing it on your computer, one "solution" if you have an nvidia card is to
adjust the display for 120 pixels worth of overscan.

The image might be a bit blurrier because the display pixels won't match the video pixels, but you can get rid of the black bars on the top and bottom at least without distorting the video.

(won't be able to hit the "start" button, though :)

Even simple than that is to just change resolution to 1920 x 1080. Native resolution on my monitor is 1920x1200, but I can still go to 1920 x 1080. Yeah, everything's slightly blurrier and the pixels are no longer square, but at least I can still hit the start button. :)

[Quarkboy]

If you are playing it on your computer, one "solution" if you have an nvidia card is to
adjust the display for 120 pixels worth of overscan.

The image might be a bit blurrier because the display pixels won't match the video pixels, but you can get rid of the black bars on the top and bottom at least without distorting the video.

(won't be able to hit the "start" button, though :)

Even simple than that is to just change resolution to 1920 x 1080. Native resolution on my monitor is 1920x1200, but I can still go to 1920 x 1080. Yeah, everything's slightly blurrier and the pixels are no longer square, but at least I can still hit the start button. :)

However that would introduce aspect ratio distortion of around 10%.

[hissatsu]

Even simple than that is to just change resolution to 1920 x 1080. Native resolution on my monitor is 1920x1200, but I can still go to 1920 x 1080. Yeah, everything's slightly blurrier and the pixels are no longer square, but at least I can still hit the start button. :)

However that would introduce aspect ratio distortion of around 10%.

Ah, you're right. Forget what I said.

[Pyocola]

I actually e-mailed CyberLink to complain about this, and they said something along the lines that they're not allowed to do that kind of zooming/manipulation with Blu-ray video (which is stupid since it's apparently fine to just stretch it.)

Anyway use MPC-HC (with AnyDVD HD), then you can stretch and zoom to your heart's content (you can even add quick profiles for exact zooming of various ratios), it's what I use for 1.33:1 and 1.66:1 discs, and discs with overscan like Paprika. Both audio and subtitles should work straight from the .m2ts files on the disc, no re-encoding needed, though you might want to rip the files to HDD if performance isn't perfect.

[something]

Anyway use MPC-HC (with AnyDVD HD), then you can stretch and zoom to your heart's content (you can even add quick profiles for exact zooming of various ratios), it's what I use for 1.33:1 and 1.66:1 discs, and discs with overscan like Paprika. Both audio and subtitles should work straight from the .m2ts files on the disc, no re-encoding needed, though you might want to rip the files to HDD if performance isn't perfect.
It's the audio that seems to be tricky. Both KMPlayer and MPC-HC do video off the m2ts files (ripped to hdd with AnyDVD HD) just fine. But no audio. I know it can be done, but any time I search around on it it I tend to come upon threads with one person saying it works and ten more saying they can't get it to work. :sd: Unfortunately I know even less about audio codecs and such than I do about video.

[something]

It's the audio that seems to be tricky. Both KMPlayer and MPC-HC do video off the m2ts files (ripped to hdd with AnyDVD HD) just fine. But no audio. I know it can be done, but any time I search around on it it I tend to come upon threads with one person saying it works and ten more saying they can't get it to work. :sd: Unfortunately I know even less about audio codecs and such than I do about video.
Oh wow, I got it to work somehow. I really should have taken notes on exactly how (time to export and save my settings...), but I tried a million things before finally succeeding. But now I can play audio, video, and even subtitles, straight off the disc (don't even need to rip to HDD) in MPC-HC, as long as AnyDVD is running. While I do prefer KMPlayer, I'll take MPC over PowerDVD any day, no question. And the zooming works great too.

Obviously MPC can't handle BD menus, but eh, no big deal for regular watching. I'll just use PDVD there if I absolutely need to access an extra. Commentaries and other audio tracks as well as subs are more easily controlled through right click or hotkeys anyway.

Well this simplifies things enormously. Awesome.

[Pyocola]

It's always difficult to know what the problems are since everyone has different players and codec packs installed. Generally though MPC-HC should work fine with most stuff as long as you check everything under the "Internal Filters" option. For Blu-ray the biggest problem is that you won't get lossless TrueHD or DTS-HD MA audio, though you will get the core audio for both, so it should be fine as long as you're happy with just sound coming out of the speakers.

[something]

It's always difficult to know what the problems are since everyone has different players and codec packs installed. Generally though MPC-HC should work fine with most stuff as long as you check everything under the "Internal Filters" option. For Blu-ray the biggest problem is that you won't get lossless TrueHD or DTS-HD MA audio, though you will get the core audio for both, so it should be fine as long as you're happy with just sound coming out of the speakers.
Yeah, I don't have a "sound system" to speak of, just some $25 PC speakers, so as long as I get plain old stereo sound I'm good.

I think what did it for me was 1) checking something for LPCM in ffdshow and 2) using VMR9 Renderless for my video renderer so the subs would display. There was some other stuff but those seemed to fix the audio and enable the subs which is what I needed. Then zooming was just a matter of the hotkeys on the numpad.

[a4840639]

It's always difficult to know what the problems are since everyone has different players and codec packs installed. Generally though MPC-HC should work fine with most stuff as long as you check everything under the "Internal Filters" option. For Blu-ray the biggest problem is that you won't get lossless TrueHD or DTS-HD MA audio, though you will get the core audio for both, so it should be fine as long as you're happy with just sound coming out of the speakers.
TrueHD is supported by FFMPEG and directshow, FFDSHOW/MPC-HC INTERNAL AC3 DECODER can decode it.
However, for DTS-HD, the only choice is to use something like HD5000 series to output its bitestream into a receiver

[russ869]

Anyway use MPC-HC (with AnyDVD HD), then you can stretch and zoom to your heart's content (you can even add quick profiles for exact zooming of various ratios), it's what I use for 1.33:1 and 1.66:1 discs, and discs with overscan like Paprika. Both audio and subtitles should work straight from the .m2ts files on the disc, no re-encoding needed, though you might want to rip the files to HDD if performance isn't perfect.
MPC-HC plays subtitles from .m2ts files? Did not know that...

[something]

MPC-HC plays subtitles from .m2ts files? Did not know that...
I was testing off the disc but... ::checks:: Yep, it works. Just need to be in VMR7 or 9 Renderless so it can display the subs (or at least I can't get them in other modes). The subs won't be on by default but the Subtitle option in the menu should be accessible for toggling them on.

Oh, while I'm here: the 6th disc is an extras disc. for some reason I didn't realize that. Maybe because I didn't look!

Only looked now because I realized that it ought to have a special made just for this release like HiME got. And it did (easy to tell since it's widescreen). Erstin and Arika are students at Fuuka Gakuen, post-HiME. You see the bridge that was blown up being rebuilt and all that.

Unfortunately they didn't do subs for this. Bit of a shame, it's only a few minutes of material to get a TL for, but ah well. Most of it is easy enough to understand but I'll have to rewatch when I can get hold of a translation to catch a bit more of the opening and ending conversations.

[Fencedude]

Unfortunately they didn't do subs for this. Bit of a shame, it's only a few minutes of material to get a TL for, but ah well. Most of it is easy enough to understand but I'll have to rewatch when I can get hold of a translation to catch a bit more of the opening and ending conversations.

Holy crap I just watched this.

The implications are...just wow.

[something]

Holy crap I just watched this.
The implications are...just wow.
I caught a brief mention of "otome" in the beginning, and then there's that interesting scene at the end. I'll be checking out the TL when I get home. Sounds like there were indeed important things in what I didn't get.

(Also, most ridiculous looking cat ever.)

(Except for Aria-shachou.)

[Fencedude]

Holy crap I just watched this.
The implications are...just wow.
I caught a brief mention of "otome" in the beginning, and then there's that interesting scene at the end. I'll be checking out the TL when I get home. Sounds like there were indeed important things in what I didn't get.

(Also, most ridiculous looking cat ever.)

(Except for Aria-shachou.)

The bringing of Chun-Mei into things, and explicitly connecting her to Nina, Arika and Erstin is just...something I never expected to actually see.

And there's some interesting things going on in the background as well...

[something]

Okay, watched this with tl.

The bringing of Chun-Mei into things, and explicitly connecting her to Nina, Arika and Erstin is just...something I never expected to actually see.
And there's some interesting things going on in the background as well...
That locket floating in the water, I assume that was Nina's, although how it got down there is another question. It's interesting how this is basically set up as the Otome world way in the future, a world that's come to look just like HiME's. And presumably be the same world, since old Fuuka was always there. And lol, Mashiro and Nagi as elementary school students.

And of course neo-Arika's astrological sign is "Otomeza", Virgo.

[stfram]

The implications are...just wow.

*COUGHsequelCOUGH*

Crossing my fingers. :)

[Draneor]

It looks like the boxset sold 2,314 in the first week (http://yunakiti.blog79.fc2.com/blog-entry-4949.html), which isn't bad at all for a re-release.

[WTK]

@ Amazon Japan

My-HiME BD-BOX (http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B002FRG7GC): ￥ 21,130 (31% off)
My-Otome BD-BOX (http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B002FRG7GM): ￥ 21,130 (31% off)

[Njr Scrawl]

I'm sorely tempted. Was hoping for a US release, but after the disappointing news of K-On's lossy audio on the US release, Bandai Jp BDs with Eng subtitles are now first choice, especially when reduced.

[Razzuel]

Do the My Otome Zwei and S.ifr Blu-rays also have English subtitles?

[nakimushi]

Do the My Otome Zwei and S.ifr Blu-rays also have English subtitles?

No, they do not.

[WTK]

@ Amazon Japan

My-HiME BD-BOX (http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B002FRG7GC): ￥ 21,130 (31% off)
My-Otome BD-BOX (http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B002FRG7GM): ￥ 21,130 (31% off)
Both BD-Boxes are 35% off now.