Top 10 Anime Blu-Ray Discs

A friend and I were talking one day and he was telling me about some of the anime he had picked up and was thinking of picking up next. We then proceeded to talk about the upcoming Dragon Ball Kai and this is when I asked him: “Are you going to get the Blu-ray?” He then looked at me like I was crazy and said: “Now why would do that?” It dawned on me that many people think that Animation doesn’t benefit from Blu-Ray format. This troubled me and I dug into the furthest part of my brain to all the high definition anime I have watched to make a Top 10 list of the top Anime Blu-ray discs. This list will focus on not only how good of a movie it is, but moreso the picture quality and extras packaged within the Blu-Ray. Let us kick off the list with the number 10 entry:

Summer Wars
Date Released: Feb 15, 2011
Studio: FUNimation Entertainment

Review: http://japancinema.net/2010/01/08/summer-wars-review/

Picture Quality:
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 28Mbps), Summer Wars looks superb in high definition. Overall, detail is strong, but there is a soft diffuse look to the image, almost like a thin translucent veil has been placed over it.

Blu-Ray Extras:
I like the supplements offered up on the Summer Wars Blu-ray and fans of the film should as well.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Interview with Ryunosuke Kamki (Kenji Koiso) (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:06.14)
  Interview with Nanami Sakuraba (Natsuki Shinohara) (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:02.21)
  Interview with Mitskui Tanimura (Kazuma Ikezawa) (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:04.57)
  Interview with Ayumu Saito (Wabisuke Jinnouchi) (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:03.19)
  Interview with Sumiko Fuji (Sakae Jinnouchi) (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:05.32)
  Interview with Mamoru Hosoda (Director) (1.78:1; 480i/60; 0:13.04)
  Collectible Avatar Card
  Teaser Trailers (1.33:1; 480i/60)
  Teaser TV Spot (1.33:1; 480i/60)
  Original Trailer (1.33:1; 480i/60)
  TV Spots (1.33:1; 480i/60)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Part 3
Date Released: Dec 28, 2010
Studio: FUNimation Entertainment

Picture Quality:
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 33Mbps), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood appears decent enough. Overall the image looks a bit stronger than the previous editions on Blu-ray, with sharper line art and a little less video noise.

Blu-Ray Extras:
The two audio commentaries are the only truly worthwhile supplements in this release.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Episode 36 Commentary
  Textless Opening Song — “Golden Time Lover”
  Textless Closing Song – “Tsunaida Te”
  Trailers:
  One Piece
  Gun X Sword
  Sands of Destruction
  Tower of Druaga
  Birdy the Mighty: Decode
  S.A.V.E.
  Kaleido Star

Rin-Daughters of Mnemosyne: The Complete Series
Date Released: Jul 20, 2010
Studio: FUNimation Entertainment

Picture Quality:
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 20Mbps), Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne registers as a fairly solid visual presentation for an upconverted anime series. In the end, this release from FUNimation falls between their best to average anime upconversions, likely ranking somewhere in the 80th percentile.

Blu-Ray Extras:
There are enough extras here to satisfy most anime fans. Of particular interest will be the Japanese cast interviews and the audio commentary on Episode 02.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Japanese Cast Interview (1.33:1; 480l/60; 0:13.43)
  Original Funimation Trailers:
  Censored (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
  Uncut (1.78:1; 480i/60)
  Commercial (1.78:1; 480i/60)
  Promotional Videos (1.78:1; 480i/60)
  Textless Opening Song — Alsatia
  Textless Opening Song — Cause Disarray
  Trailers:
  My Bride is a Mermaid
  Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
  Black Blood Brothers
  Full Metal Panic! Season 1
  Master of Martial Hearts
  Burst Angel
  Romeo X Juliet

Afro Samurai: Complete Murder Sessions
Date Released: Jul 22, 2010
Studio: FUNimation Entertainment

Reviews:
http://japancinema.net/2009/08/27/afro-samurai-season-one-review/
http://japancinema.net/2009/03/20/afro-samurai-resurrection-review/

Picture Quality:
Encoded in AVC and averaging about 20 Mbps, Afro Samurai looks quite impressive on Blu-ray. Much of the film’s color palette is purposely monochromatic and starkly shaded. In short, i can’t think of many other blu-rays that compare to this one. And that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Blu-Ray Extras:
This Blu-ray release of Afro Samurai comes supplied with a fair amount of extra features. By no means exhaustive, the material gives an overview of the story’s origins and development.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Interview with the creator, Takashi Okazaki
  Afro In-Depth
  Afro Samurai East Meets West Part 1: GONZO studio interviews and behind the scenes
  RZA music production tour
  Character commentary
  Animation production

Paprika
Date Released: Nov 27, 2007
Studio: Sony Pictures

Review: http://japancinema.net/2009/03/24/paprika-review/

Picture Quality:
The look of Paprika is purposely softened and ethereal, but the transfer perfectly captures the film’s wonderful color palette – from the cooler indoor and laboratory color tones to the vibrant palette of the more surreal dream sequences. Using an MPEG-2 encode, the bitrate averages around 25 Mbps, and looks fantastic.

Blu-Ray Extras:
The Blu-ray edition of ‘Paprika’ ports over all of the supplemental material from the concurrently-released standard DVD. Note that with the exception of the trailers, all of the features listed below are presented in Japanese with optional English subtitles. All of the featurettes are presented in 4×3, standard definition 480p with Dolby stereo.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Filmmakers Commentary
  The Making of Paprika (SD, 30 minutes)
  A Conversation About the Dream (SD 29 minutes)
  The Art of Fantasy (SD, 12 minutes)
  The Dream CG World (SD, 15 minutes)
  Trailers (HD, 8 minutes)

Freedom
Date Released: Nov 11, 2008
Studio: Honneamise

Picture Quality:
Presented in one of the finest high definition transfers I’ve seen to date, Freedom is encoded using the AVC codec, with a bitrate that hovers around a healthy 30 MBPS. To my relief, I also didn’t encounter any heavy-handed post-production meddling, transfer-related artifacting, or troublesome source noise.

Blu-Ray Extras:
The Blu-ray disc set offers fans a decent collection of new content and extensive featurettes that clearly make this set the one to own. Oh, did I mention everything (even the material shot in SD) is presented in 1080i or 1080p high definition?

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Talking About Freedom (HD, 39 minutes)
  Freedom in the US (HD, 25 minutes)
  Apollo Background (HD, 25 minutes) — Two minor featurettes
  Beneath the Surface (HD, 8 minutes)
  Original Booklet

Sword of the Stranger
Date Released: Jun 16, 2009
Studio: Bandai Visual

Review: http://japancinema.net/2009/03/05/sword-of-the-stranger-review/

Picture Quality:
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate that hovers around 30Mbps), Sword of the Stranger looks absolutely amazing on Blu-ray. Some anime productions only demonstrate a marginal improvement in making the move to 1080p, but I’d consider it a huge disservice to the animation if your watching the film on any other format besides Blu-ray.

Blu-Ray Extras:
The longest supplement is also the best.  The “Production Report” runs close to 50 minutes and it talks with the main players who discuss how the idea come about and how the movie finally got on to the big screen. This disc has a fair amount of bonus items.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Cast Interview (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 17:26 min)
  Production Report (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 49:15 min)
  Pilot Film (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 3:53 min)
  Lastly, there are five TV spots and three theatrical trailers

Basilisk: The Complete Series
Date Released: Dec 15, 2009
Studio: FUNimation Entertainment

Picture Quality:
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 19Mbps), Basilisk isn’t on par with the best television series from Funimation, but still delivers a reasonably smooth presentation that only hits minor hiccups along the way. On the plus side, color reproduction is strong and apart from some banding that appears to be a part of the original source, there are vibrant vermilions, vivid shades of blue and deep blacks.

Blu-Ray Extras:
The bulk of the supplements for Basilisk reside on Disc 3 and they consist mostly of members of the Japanese voice cast discussing their work in certain scenes from the series in various round table discussions.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• “The Onslaught of War” Commentary
  First-Press Extra #7 (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:33.07)
  First-Press Extra #8 (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:32.45)
  First-Press Extra #9 (1.33:1; 480i/60. 0:3.02)
  History of the Ninja
  Cast Auditions
  Textless Songs
  Trailers

Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone
Date Released: Mar 09, 20010
Studio: FUNimation Entertainment

Review: http://japancinema.net/2009/09/02/evangelion-1-0-you-are-not-alone-review/

Picture Quality:
Evangelion arrives on Blu-ray in a 1.78:1 AVC/MPEG-4 high definition encoding. It is one of the strongest transfers I have had the pleasure to view from Funimation in a long while. The Blu-ray supports an incredible level of detail and stunning gradations of color. Evangelion fans are going to be very pleased with the image quality of this release.

Blu-Ray Extras:
When you add all of this up, it’s a pretty paltry assortment of supplements for what should be considered a major release. However, for what is there, and the level of quality the PQ provides, this still gets a high spot on the list. Nothing here offers a lot of re-watch value, but at least they didn’t just release this title as a barebones release.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Rebuild of Evangelion: 1.01 Shiro Sagisu Version (1.33:1; 1080i/60; 0: 14.47)
  Rebuild of Evangelion: 1.01 Joseph-Maurice Ravel Version (1.33:1; 1080i/60; 0:15.47)
  Angel of Doom Promotional Music Video (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:02.20)
  News Flashes (1080i/60)
  Movie Previews
  Trailers

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Date Released: Mar 08, 2011
Studio: Disney / Buena Vista

Review: http://japancinema.net/2009/04/06/nausicaa-review/

Picture Quality:
Disney’s exceedingly respectful 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is almost as striking as the film’s soaring visuals. Nausicaä doesn’t look as if it rolled out of an animation studio yesterday, a fact that will probably elicit apathy from viewers hoping for a water-into-wine redux. But as twenty-seven-year old anime classics go, Disney’s reverent high definition transfer makes it that much easier to sink into Miyazaki’s dazzling vision and float away. There isn’t any significant artifacting, banding, ringing, compression anomalies, aliasing or, really, anything at all that might distract seasoned videophiles from Miyazaki’s remarkable imagery.

Blu-Ray Extras:
The Blu-ray edition of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind features a full-length storyboard presentation, a Japanese television documentary, two featurettes, a trivia challenge and other less notable goodies.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Original Japanese Storyboards (Disc 1, HD, 117 minutes)
  Enter the Lands of Ghibli (Disc 1, HD)
  Behind the Studio: Creating Nausicaä (Disc 1, HD, 12 minutes)
  The Birth Story of Studio Ghibli (Disc 2, SD, 28 minutes)
  Behind the Microphone (Disc 2, SD, 8 minutes)
  Original Japanese Trailers and TV Spots (Disc 2, SD, 8 minutes)

This is the definitive list, up until this day, of the Top anime releases on Blu-Ray. There were MANY selections to choose from and it is quite obvious that there is something out on the shelves for even the most picky otaku. I hope you enjoyed the list and feel free to sound off in the comments with your own selections and/or top 10 lists. Until next time…