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The Akira DVD is THE talked about anime at the mo- and has been since the end of 2000. Why? Well, not only is it about time the film was officially digitally transferred and made widely available (the only existing versions on the DVD format were Chinese subbed later followed by an English sub), but Pioneer, the company that now has the rights to it, have invested one million US dollars in it's restoration and a new English dub. The DVD was released 24th July 2001 in the US in two editions- the 'regular' one disk DVD with the new dub and original Japanese language and a limited 2-disk edition which includes a lot of bonus material (see info below). The cover of the regular DVD sports Kaneda walking towards his bike and the navy blue Metal Collector's Case (which appears black) is limited to 75,000 units. Some stores were giving away a replica celluloid from the film with a purchase- showing Yamagata on his bike. The UK release was released on 18th March 2002. Detailed info can be found on the UK DVD Page. |
Click pics for large image |
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So what is special about this restoration? What has actually been done? The original film has been cleaned up, frame by frame, whereby dirt and scratches have been digitally removed. Along with this the colours have been enhanced and I found it really noticeable compared to the original Orion VHS. The whole audio track has been THX digitally mastered making it more dynamic sounding- especially for those with home cinema setups and again, this makes a pleasurable difference. All the music is still there but parts have been emphasized and sound effects added/enhanced. The new dub is also good- an improvement in some areas but die-hard fans will probably favour the original. For info on the extras and details on these points read the relative sections below. |
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Gimme more details!
The 2-Disk DVD is well worth the money. On disk 1 you get the original Japanese language version AND the new English dubbed version, but not the original English dub. On disk 2 you get: |
Here's some info on the Restoration process as taken from the DVD documentary
Picture Restoration-
The original negative was transferred to IP (Inter Positive Film) where scenes could be
colour corrected to High Definition.
"The difference between standard definition and high definition- High has more
resolution, it's sharper, clearer, and has better colour space to allow more vivid
colour." - Mark Nakamine, Telecine Colourist
After this process was complete the film underwent a DRS (Digital Restoration
Service) treatment, a process which has been used in big-budget film since 1994.
What happens here is that all scratches and dirt are digitally removed from the footage.
Audio Treatment, The English 5.1 mix-
"5.1 is really the modern soundtrack delivery format whether it's in the Theater,
for digital TV, DVD. It's becoming commonplace for consumer audio.
Three channels at the front, stereo surround at the back and a subwoofer
channel; it really lets the mixers, creative staff and sound staff place the listener
in the environment and involve them in the picture so that it adds/enhances the
experience of enjoying the movie." - Steve Thompson, Creative Director, POP Sound
"Most importantly, absolutely nothing would be eliminated that the original
creators had given us. We'd just add to that blending it in." - Les Claypool III,
Supervising Sound Editor, Magnitude 8 Post
Voice Overs-
Johnny Yong Bosch - Kaneda
Wendee Lee - Kei
Joshua Seth - Tetsuo
"I wanted it to have that feeling of real people in extraordinary circumstances.
That this was really happening to them no matter how unbelievable the
circumstances may be, the pain is real, the insanity is real, the fear is real.
I hope I brought that across." - Joshua Seth, Tetsuo
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My thoughts on the new DVD I have seen it twice, and viewed the entire 2nd disk. Christ it's well worth the money! New Voice Over- There are a lot of discrepancies between fans on what they think on the new English dub. I'd like to say I though the new dub was good. I though the best thing was not 'how' the actors said their lines but just 'what' was said. The dialogue had been changed around a LOT and this was for the better. The story was actually easier to follow because the words flowed easier and there was more clear/concise info. I was looking out for some of my favourite quotes but they never came- almost every line was changed and this was OK as the lip sync didn't look bad. It seemed that it followed the Epic Manga translation a lot more (I remembered some of this because I'm currently re-reading it) and this was for the better. A note on the acting, I thought it was overall good. Not brilliant, but then as I've got the original in mind I'm basing my judgment on that. The pronunciation of names is different- 'Karn-ee-dar' instead of 'Kan-aid-er' but this is probably closer to the original language anyway (or is it?) Kaneda's voice is OK. I must admit I preferred Jimmy Flinder's original effort as I thought he sounded too old here. Kei (Kay) too. That's something the US voice acting circuit has still to realize. The actor playing Kei looks as though she's in her 40's so her 17 y.o. chara sounds a little odd. Tetsuo's voice was really good. I know a lot of you seem to prefer the old one, but I thought this was good- didn't seem out of place. The Colonel has lost a lot of his 'grrrr' and he sounds too clean now. Really like a voice actor who's trying too hard. I thought all the smaller charas were great- the Professor sounds like the original, Kai, Yama and Kaori are brilliant (esp Kaori), and the overall extra voices were enhanced. The Espers- I kinda missed Masaru's rasping smokers voice which I though fitted him well. Why did they have the voices of kids? The Esper 'kids' are 40 years old! '0__0' Nezu's voice was too 'light' too but that's another minor point, it's not how I imagine him to sound. I think the music has been enhanced too- there were a few parts where I heard music that I hadn't noticed before. One was with the Spy and Takashi running down the street in an early scene; the 'Battle Against the Clowns' music plays and I don't recall this from the original. Maybe my memory's bad or the VHS sound wasn't as good, but it was nice to be able to hear this nonetheless. It added a little more cinematic depth. I've found another bonus is hooking your DVD up to your Stereo system. I've only done this recently and it really helps the experience! Of course, by doing this you get the full benefit of the 5.1 digital sound ^__^ Picture- The film is visually stunning. It was good in the first place but the picture restoration has improved it noticeably. The colours really are much more vibrant and the annoying dirt, which was prevalent on the original film, has been completely removed. I even like the graphically designed animated sequences on the startup menus. Very contemporary and vivid. This DVD has the most extras I've ever seen on an animated release- even on par with the best, big-budget live-action titles too. The addition of the 4,500 odd stills was a brilliant addition *damn, and I've already got the Continuity books, heh heh*. I even noticed a few cels/pencils from sequences I own one of them is the exact same celluloid!! (G-6 The Guy drinking in the Harukiya)! A brilliant DVD release, well worth your hard earned pennies. |
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Original 48 minute Production Report on the making of the film (with subtitles- not
the poor US dub).