[US DVD] Hayate the Combat Butler Part 1

[Chris Beveridge]

http://cdn-www.mania.com/content_pics/000005/83/50/a40b9dcc31e3651a_thumb.jpgReview by Chris Beveridge (http://www.mania.com/hayate-combat-butler-part-1_article_114839.html)

Mania Grade: B-
* Audio Rating: B
* Video Rating: B
* Packaging Rating: B
* Menus Rating: B
* Extras Rating: B-
* Age Rating: 13+
* Region: 1 - North America
* Released By: Bandai Entertainment
* MSRP: 39.98
* Running time: 175
* Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
* Disc Resolution: 480i/p
* Disc Encoding: MPEG-2
* Series: Hayate the Combat Butler



In Summary:
With seven episodes and a $40 price tag combined with no English language adaptation, it’s hard to see where Bandai is really trying to target this release. For ten bucks more, other companies are offering nearly twice the content and sometimes a few bucks more will net you a dub as well. Hayate has a lot of episodes in this season alone, never mind the new season that’s airing in Japan as of this writing, and this release format is something that’s a very hard sell. Even during the boom, it would have been very difficult. This is the kind of release that doesn’t please anyone in the end. As for the show itself, it’s cute in its own way but it’s lacking a really strong hook for me so far. The characters are alright, the situation is made a little too “complicated” early on in an effort to bring in more characters and the animation is decent if unexceptional. It’s not a show that I’ll run away from, but it doesn’t grab me and hold me like some other comedies do, and have done for a couple hundred episodes.

[The Great Bear]

I see you noticed the same thing I did about the video. There is a lot of softness, especially around the edges. This is the same as the R2 DVDs, so I think what Bandai have put out here is a direct transfer with no tweaking of any sort. If anything, the R1 might suffer a bit because of the higher episode count (the R2 DVDs had 4 episodes per disc with the 2 audio tracks, though they had LPCM 2.0 audio as opposed to DD 2.0 here which would reduce the size of the audio tracks a bit.

I don't think the colors are any more vibrant on the R2s either.

Did you notice any interlacing? There were visible scan lines at times when objects were moving quickly across the screen.

…

Considering this is a 52 episode series, it's going to be at least a 7 disc release (three volumes will need 8 episodes per disc, the rest 7) at that $40 price point…with no English audio…no extras to speak of…no fancy LE versions or pack-ins to entice those who like such things…

…what exactly is Bandai thinking?

[Zeether]

Considering this is a 52 episode series, it's going to be at least a 7 disc release (three volumes will need 8 episodes per disc, the rest 7) at that $40 price point…with no English audio…no extras to speak of…no fancy LE versions or pack-ins to entice those who like such things…

…what exactly is Bandai thinking?
I'm pretty sure everyone is wondering what they're thinking.

[Suwako Moriya]

…what exactly is Bandai thinking?

Actually, "thinking" is something that I wish they had done. I just don't see the logic in their strategy.:sweat:

[Ingraman]

You mention that Bandai gives no indication of the differences between the two audio tracks. How are they labeled in the DVD menu? #1/#2? Broadcast/Video? Or are they not even in the menu, and depend upon the remote's audio button? ^_^;

I probably won't see my copy of Hayate until next Tuesday or Wednesday...

[james_039]

The dual audio tracks with bleeped/unbleeped was the key feature I was concerned about since they had no indication if they were doing it for the R1 or not.

This release is a tad expensive, but has absolutely everything *I* want in an R1 anime release. Will be picking this up very shortly!

[Njr Scrawl]

Mine on pre-order.

*waits for Fudce's comments on the review*

[Consignia]

It's a pretty poor release, no matter which way you slice. There's so much that could have been with this series, but it's ended up as a barebones, dubless and relatively expensive release. Anyroads, it's on it's way to me now, and I'm looking forward to it, it's been quite awhile.

[Damius]

Mine on pre-order.

*waits for Fudce's comments on the review*

We all waits for it!

[Shirou Emiya]

I'm passing on this, I hope there's a dub eventually.

[King Hippo]

Bandai licensed this show hoping they could get an awesome TV deal. That never happened, and now they're trying to take what they can get out of the series. I doubt they'll make much from this, honestly.

[Sean_Connolly]

I thought Bandai's release format was a little wonky but I didn't realize it was 52 episodes. Ouchie. Then again, I knew nothingabout this series and was disappointed to see it wasn't about a family's kick ass robot butler who battles bad guys to protect them while learning what it means to be human all based on the name alone. =x

[Mateo_home]

Finished watching my copy. Watched it on the PS3 because it seems like my usual DVD player hates Bandai discs. First off I usually don't talk about the packaging/cover art (purdy cover art a-tur-hur-hur-hur), but what's with the color choice of orange on the top of the spine? When I was looking on the shelf I thought I was about to pick up a Nickelodeon DVD. Hpoefully it'll be a different color with each single, and watch vol. 2 will be lime green.

As for the content, turns out I was wrong. It wasn't the first five episodes I've seen back when it aired, but the first six so only one was "new". Bummer. Like not only there's an unbleep track in the DVD version, but the Mr. "Can't Show This" Man is gone in some scenes. Noticeably in the first episode where Hayate was covered in blood and the DVD "extra" when Sakuya got Earl Grey poured on her. Looking back I like the designs in this season more, but season two has a better eye catch style.

Still, I would've preferred 12/13 episodes crammed onto two discs with this release.

[stfram]

Wow, that was a pretty negative review from Chris. My only quibble with the grading is that the packaging should have garnered a C.

At least this rather boring release got both audio tracks. I'm surprised Bandai didn't at least attempt to advertise that fact, as it might have netted them a few more preorders.

Not that I'll be buying Hayate; the price-point is ludicrous.

[Fudce]

The episodes on volume one are a decent, but not full, indicator of why Hayate is so popular with some people at AoD. I enjoyed the first seven episodes, but it wasn't until a short while later that Hayate really took hold of me.

The release itself... shoddy, rushed, and thoughtless.

The price... unforgivable.


I could have forgiven the barebones release had it been priced lower. Likewise, I could have forgiven the price if we were given a more substantial package.


I still love Hayate the Combat Butler, and will be buying every volume as it's released, but the treatment that Bandai Entertainment has given it bad. I wont be as active in recomending the series, even if it is one of my favourites. Instead I'll point people to CrunchyRoll (http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Hayate_no_Gotoku_!!) to watch the second season, which is a semi-reset, and relatively easy to jump right into. Also, people should try the manga, for the best experience possible.

[Zeether]

Agreed. I read the manga and while I would love to watch the anime this is not how I had expected it to be released. If this had all four audio tracks like promised I would have spent the $40 but this just isn't worth it at all. It's almost as much of a gip as BVUSA's volume 1 of GA Rune, which was just ridiculous (1 episode!)

[Betenoire]

Agreed. I read the manga and while I would love to watch the anime this is not how I had expected it to be released. If this had all four audio tracks like promised I would have spent the $40 but this just isn't worth it at all. It's almost as much of a gip as BVUSA's volume 1 of GA Rune, which was just ridiculous (1 episode!)

To be slightly fair, Rune did have extended (over half an hour) concert footage and the SRP was $19.99 or so. I'm not going to argue that was great, but an ep and nearly 2 ep long worth of concert footage...I had no problem paying whatever I did for it (I know it wasn't full SRP, but don't recall what it was). Though due to a number of factors I wasn't able to get the rest.

[Zeether]

Agreed. I read the manga and while I would love to watch the anime this is not how I had expected it to be released. If this had all four audio tracks like promised I would have spent the $40 but this just isn't worth it at all. It's almost as much of a gip as BVUSA's volume 1 of GA Rune, which was just ridiculous (1 episode!)

To be slightly fair, Rune did have extended (over half an hour) concert footage and the SRP was $19.99 or so. I'm not going to argue that was great, but an ep and nearly 2 ep long worth of concert footage...I had no problem paying whatever I did for it (I know it wasn't full SRP, but don't recall what it was). Though due to a number of factors I wasn't able to get the rest.
This is true. Although if you just want it for the anime it is disappointing. :sweat:

[LelouchLamperouge]

Despite the qualms I have for the video quality, I am thankful that Bandai Ent didn't use one of those crappy, cheap white DVD cases. I hate those things with a deep, deep passion.

As for the A/V quality, it's passable ... just barely. I'll still enjoy the series and pay for it. It'll be an 8 volume release, which is perfectly fine by me. I figure if I buy 2 volumes at once, it'll mentally feel alright. It's also interesting that my local Best Buy had gotten 14 copies of Volume 1 and was already almost out (I got the 2nd to last copy). I guess people are still buying it despite sub-only and the price point. I'm used to paying high prices for anime these days (courtesy of Funimation's half-season sets).

[WTK]

Despite the qualms I have for the video quality, I am thankful that Bandai Ent didn't use one of those crappy, cheap white DVD cases. I hate those things with a deep, deep passion.
I guess it wasn't just me. Those DVD cases were awful. IMO it's not as bad as the those eco-friendly cases (http://greenscreenblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/dvd-ultralight-300x203.jpg).
As for the A/V quality, it's passable ... just barely. I'll still enjoy the series and pay for it. It'll be an 8 volume release, which is perfectly fine by me. I figure if I buy 2 volumes at once, it'll mentally feel alright. It's also interesting that my local Best Buy had gotten 14 copies of Volume 1 and was already almost out (I got the 2nd to last copy).
I though this first volume was fairly enjoyable. I will be getting the rest of the series when a sale comes up. And it does look like BB is stocking BEI titles again. I didn't think that this release would have made it in-stores.

[Ingraman]

As for the A/V quality, it's passable ... just barely.

After watching the disc, I was often wondering if I was seeing signs of overcompression in character's faces when they were not in the foreground (when they were small and more in the background, it looked as though I was seeing ghosts of lines or noise in their faces). I'm not generally too picky (Similarly-crammed Funi releases might have the same problem, but I'm noticing that one. Perhaps I'm sometimes distracted by other video problems?), but for some reason the problem seemed to stand out for me with Hayate v1. Is it caused by cramming too many episodes onto a DVD, or a problem with source material? Am I just imagining all this? ^_^; I'm using a PS3 to put the video up onto a 50" TV...

BTW, just how do I find this review from whatever page typing in "www.animeondvd.com" takes me to? I use the anime/manga dropdown menu to go to "reviews" and then the "anime reviews by title" option. I select "H", but where do I go from there?

[Hayate Kurogane]

As for the A/V quality, it's passable ... just barely.

After watching the disc, I was often wondering if I was seeing signs of overcompression in character's faces when they were not in the foreground (when they were small and more in the background, it looked as though I was seeing ghosts of lines or noise in their faces). I'm not generally too picky (Similarly-crammed Funi releases might have the same problem, but I'm noticing that one. Perhaps I'm sometimes distracted by other video problems?), but for some reason the problem seemed to stand out for me with Hayate v1. Is it caused by cramming too many episodes onto a DVD, or a problem with source material? Am I just imagining all this? ^_^; I'm using a PS3 to put the video up onto a 50" TV...

The biggest source of problems with the video is the soft picture (too much digital filter during the animation process) and the stupid edge enhancement applied to compensate. This will "look" different depending on the quality of one's setup; lower-end displays will make the whole thing look soft and/or noisy, while you'll actually be able to clearly discern the EE on higher-end displays. Your comments about background character images (essentially small portions of more detail per unit area) sounds about right; since EE does, in a way, look like extra lines, it's far more noticeable in areas like background character images since lines that are already packed tightly are essentially being outlined again.

Hayate the Combat Butler's EE seems particularly bad among titles in recent memory. Overall, I don't think the disc really suffers that much from including 7 episodes; it still looks better than some of FUNi's older 3- or 4-episode discs that used dual-layer discs. But the EE is not helping.

[Ingraman]

Your comments about background character images (essentially small portions of more detail per unit area) sounds about right; since EE does, in a way, look like extra lines, it's far more noticeable in areas like background character images since lines that are already packed tightly are essentially being outlined again.

Hayate the Combat Butler's EE seems particularly bad among titles in recent memory. Overall, I don't think the disc really suffers that much from including 7 episodes; it still looks better than some of FUNi's older 3- or 4-episode discs that used dual-layer discs. But the EE is not helping.

Yeah, I can see that if the problem is edge-enhancement, then the number of episodes on a disc wouldn't be the problem. I will wait to see what people say about #2 before I place an order, and if it also suffers from it, then I will no longer pre-order the individual discs. I'll wait for a set, or wait for the singles to get cheaper (below TRSI studio sale pricing).

I'll have to go and look at some of those Funi discs. Some people have said that FMP:TSR is pretty bad, so I'll go and look at those. That would encourage me to order the BDs while the studio sale is still ongoing. ^_^