Studio Ghibli on DVD

[manicsounds]

The Japanese / Asian releases looked horrible, and glad that the US DVD fixed the red tint issue.
The windowboxing was an issue with Studio Ghibli DVDs, but all the BD releases have been fine without windowboxing.

The US / UK DVDs and many other international releases had much better extras than the Japanese release, which is very strange that Ghibli's biggest moneymaker and Oscar winner gets no new extras, and nothing much of substance for the new Japanese BD.

The Japanese BD will have full length storyboards, script, trailers. Same as the old DVD.
No making of, no interviews, no commentary, nothing. Pretty sure when the US or UK disc is released they will include better extras.

[Michael Kerpan]

Although I got all the Japanese DVDs as they appeared, I've restrained myself from buying any of the Japanese Blu-Rays, just too expensive. Insofar as I upgrade to Blu-Ray, I'll depend on alternate releases.

[David M.]

That, and it's lowpass filtered into oblivion with almost no fine detail left.

[EddieLarkin]

Although I got all the Japanese DVDs as they appeared, I've restrained myself from buying any of the Japanese Blu-Rays, just too expensive. Insofar as I upgrade to Blu-Ray, I'll depend on alternate releases.

Do you not have Omohide Poro Poro then? I watched it for the first time last night via the Blu-ray, and was shocked that it does not garner more praise. Other than in this thread, the only way I've seen it described is "boring" or "the worst Ghibli". Well I felt I was in for a treat right from the Ozu like opening credits (though I don't know if the burlap/tatami thing is historically unique to Ozu). It was pretty much the perfect mix of "home drama", romance and expressionistic flourishes (which came completely unexpected, being absent from Grave of the Fireflies). As much as I love Fireflies, I thought this topped it and I'll revisit frequently.

The disc is a standout, with one of the best sounding Dolby Stereo tracks I've heard, featuring some very well matrixed surround effects. I'm not aware of any reviews of the disc or screencaps, so I made a small album of full rez caps, here. (number 10 is a dupe btw)

Also, I would now really like to watch some episodes of Hyokkori hyotan-jima (Floating Gourd Island), but am unable to find any clips on YouTube

[Michael Kerpan]

Only Yesterday is my favorite animated feature film (topping even Pinocchio). I have the Japanese DVD, which is subbed -- and looks quite good. Before this, we had to rely on the unsubbed Japanese video, plus the annotated script from Nausicaa.net (still findable via Google -- and really close to essential for its footnotes). If an affordable Blu-Ray shows up, I might upgrade, but its not urgent. My children laugh at me when we watch this, knowing I will collapse into a puddle of (happy) tears at a certain point of the epilogue.

[StevenJ0001]

Only Yesterday is my favorite animated film also (hence my avatar), and one of my favorite films period. Eddie's Blu-ray screen captures are beautiful! I have the Japanese DVD but I really feel I need to upgrade after seeing those.

[Michael Kerpan]

Yep, those ARE lovely. A _big_ improvement over our ancient video (and even better than the DVD). ;~}

[tenia]

There is an available French BD, often sold at Amazon.fr at 15€, but unfortunately, it only has French subs (and I believe it's Region B locked thoguh I'd need to check that to be sure).

[Nadsat]

Only Yesterday is also available in a more affordable edition from Hong Kong with english subtitles

[EddieLarkin]

I loved the ending, my favourite Ghibli closing sequence so far (Totoro comes close). Oddly, the Bette Midler cover at the end is subtitled to show the original English lyrics, rather than the somewhat different Japanese lyrics (the gist is the same, of course)!

The HK Blu-ray is the way to go if the JP is out of the question. StudioCanal commented via Twitter not so long ago about the films chances of a BD release in the UK, giving the impression it wouldn't happen. And I'd say there's even less chance of Disney putting it out in the US.

The screencaps are an okay representation of the disc, but some haven't survived my crude method of capture very well. Cap 9 looks particularly bad up close. No match for the real thing!

[Feego]

Is there a chance of any other company releasing Only Yesterday on Blu in the U.S.? Disney seems to primarily release the Miyazaki-directed Ghibli films. Grave of the Fireflies and From Up on Poppy Hill both received Blu releases in the U.S. by companies other than Disney.

[EddieLarkin]

Assuming that Disney own the rights to Fireflies and licensed them out, then I guess so (as they definitely have the rights to Only Yesterday). But then you wait for something like that, and it comes with dubtitles only* (like the Fireflies U.S. BD does), or the transfer gets messed with. I got sick of trying to figure out which discs were safe to buy and just decided to put away around £700 for the lot from Japan. A bit ridiculous but 6 titles in it's feeling more and more like it was worth it.

*That said, Only Yesterday never got a dub, so this isn't likely to happen. But at the same time, it's probably the main thing that is holding it back from a U.S. release. No existing dub, and the film isn't popular enough to be worth spending the money to do one. Someone should do a Kickstarter.

[Michael Kerpan]

Disney did not acquire the rights to Grave of the Fireflies or Castle of Cagliostro (as these had already been sold) and it passed on the acquisition of Ocean Waves. It got the rights to everything else (then in existence) for US distribution. The long-time rumor (never really contradicted by Disney, I believe) is that it wouldn't release Only Yesterday in the US because of the section that dealt with menstruation (presumably it wanted the right to edit away the problems -- and Takahata said "no way").

[StevenJ0001]

...and it comes with dubtitles only* (like the Fireflies U.S. BD does)...

Do you know if the Japanese Grave of the Fireflies BD has true subtitles?

[Michael Kerpan]

The DVD did.

[EddieLarkin]

...and it comes with dubtitles only* (like the Fireflies U.S. BD does)...

Do you know if the Japanese Grave of the Fireflies BD has true subtitles?

It definitely does. The subs are quite different to the English dub track included elsewhere (the JP Blu-ray, for some reason, doesn't come with an English language option), and match up with the original script.

The only film that is completely unavailable in true subtitles that I'm aware of is Kiki's Delivery Service, the subs for that one matching the old Streamline dub (not present on the Blu-ray). It's a pretty faithful dub for the most part though. Comparing the subtitle track to the original script, there's only a handful of serious discrepancies, none of which really affect the story.

A very comprehensive breakdown of most editions of Ghibli films on Blu-ray and their differences can be found here.

[Michael Kerpan]

Does the older Disney DVD version of Totoro (not the newer BRD.DVD combo) have real subtitles -- or dubtitles?

[jojo]

I believe GKids actually said on their Facebook page a few months ago that Disney does not have the rights to Only Yesterday anymore, after they recently renewed the rights to most of the Ghibli catalogue. They cryptically said that "it *will* see the light of day in the U.S. sooner or later". Whether that means it will see a North American release through them, or that they know some other U.S. company is in negotiation for it, remains to be seen.

I'm skeptical about that, though. I'm pretty sure if Disney had lost it, some other company would have picked it up by now. While it wouldn't do well by Disney's sales standards, for a company like Funimation or Sentai Filmworks, it would move a lot of copies for them.

[EddieLarkin]

Does the older Disney DVD version of Totoro (not the newer BRD.DVD combo) have real subtitles -- or dubtitles?

Never owned it, but this comparison suggests that it has literal subtitles for the original language, and subtitles for the English dub. So both.

I believe GKids actually said on their Facebook page a few months ago that Disney does not have the rights to Only Yesterday anymore, after they recently renewed the rights to most of the Ghibli catalogue. They cryptically said that "it *will* see the light of day in the U.S. sooner or later". Whether that means it will see a North American release through them, or that they know some other U.S. company is in negotiation for it, remains to be seen.

I'm skeptical about that, though. I'm pretty sure if Disney had lost it, some other company would have picked it up by now. While it wouldn't do well by Disney's sales standards, for a company like Funimation or Sentai Filmworks, it would move a lot of copies for them.

Interesting. It really deserves wider exposure.

[EddieLarkin]

Jasper Sharp picks his 5 most essential Ghibli films* in the lead up to the BFI's complete retrospective (with Omohide Poro Poro making the grade). If only I lived anywhere near London

*Erroneously noting that Whisper of the Heart was Ghibli's first film to feature Dolby Stereo. It was of course Dolby Digital 5.1; optical Dolby Stereo featured on all of their films before this. Nausicaa was mono.

[jojo]

Only Yesterday has become my favourite Ghibli film also. I have to thank Michael Kerpan here for part of that, too, as his posts on it encouraged me to look at the film deeper than I originally did. I think there are a few posts somewhere in the past here where I wrote that I was only lukewarm to it at the time.

What I liked most about it is that it's essentially a "second" coming of age film, in that it's about someone who's already essentially lived "one" life and has to find a way to change course and try to start a new one as an adult. It's a pretty inspiring film, especially since it's become vogue to say that people can't change course once they hit a certain age in their lives. I imagine this is especially poignant in Japan, where there's a cultural attitude that once you get past high school, your life is essentially set in stone. And I don't think this kind of story gets told enough in film. We get many mid-life crisis films, but they usually play out like diversions before a return to the "same old, same old".

[Michael Kerpan]

Although the story is obviously quite different, Only Yesterday evokes (for me) a very similar feeling to Jane Austen's Persuasion -- someone whose life seems to be heading into a dead end, reconnects to their past (in a certain fashion) and then is able to embark on a whole, new life (as opposed to a whole-new life). If one looks at Ozu's Early Summer from a slightly slanted perspective, it tells a similar story (at least in part).

[StevenJ0001]

...and it comes with dubtitles only* (like the Fireflies U.S. BD does)...

Do you know if the Japanese Grave of the Fireflies BD has true subtitles?

It definitely does. The subs are quite different to the English dub track included elsewhere (the JP Blu-ray, for some reason, doesn't come with an English language option), and match up with the original script.

The only film that is completely unavailable in true subtitles that I'm aware of is Kiki's Delivery Service, the subs for that one matching the old Streamline dub (not present on the Blu-ray). It's a pretty faithful dub for the most part though. Comparing the subtitle track to the original script, there's only a handful of serious discrepancies, none of which really affect the story.

A very comprehensive breakdown of most editions of Ghibli films on Blu-ray and their differences can be found here.

Thanks!!

[jojo]

Discotek Media has picked up Takahata's Hols/Horus, Prince of the Sun. This is on Hulu already, but it will be nice to have a physical copy in North America. Wonder if they'll do a blu, as it has seen a BD release already in other regions.

[manicsounds]

Diskotek Media has also said they will release the Blu-ray of "Lupin III: Castle Of Cagliostro" which has been in a rights limbo in the US. Hopefully they will use the new remaster being prepped for the Japanese rerelease.