(L) Hellsing Ultimate OVA

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by Jarmel

Hellsing Vol.1-5 Blu-ray

8/27 26,250yen

Source:http://muhootsaver.tistory.com/

Against my better judgment and insight, I'm going to order this.

Cool, thanks for the heads up.

I really want to order this, but it's pretty pricey for a re-release, especially since I already own the DVD LEs for 1-5, and the BD LEs for 6-7. I think I'll wait to see if FUNimation announces anything within the next few months. If there's going to be a US version of the BDs for much cheaper, I'll just get those, and continue buying the JP BD LEs for 8+.

[orion]

Originally Posted by duckroll

Cool, thanks for the heads up.

I really want to order this, but it's pretty pricey for a re-release, especially since I already own the DVD LEs for 1-5, and the BD LEs for 6-7. I think I'll wait to see if FUNimation announces anything within the next few months. If there's going to be a US version of the BDs for much cheaper, I'll just get those, and continue buying the JP BD LEs for 8+.

You mean Geneon Universal . They're prob the reason why the US hasn't had a release in a while. Maybe Anime Expo will shed some light from them this year.

[monir]

Originally Posted by duckroll

Cool, thanks for the heads up.

I really want to order this, but it's pretty pricey for a re-release, especially since I already own the DVD LEs for 1-5, and the BD LEs for 6-7. I think I'll wait to see if FUNimation announces anything within the next few months. If there's going to be a US version of the BDs for much cheaper, I'll just get those, and continue buying the JP BD LEs for 8+.

I know I'm not spending 300 US dollars for Blu Ray Discs and I am a super fan of Hellsing. How much was your DVD LE for those 5 episodes? I was hoping there would be R1 release here in the states, but it seems it is better not to expect anything until the OVA finishes its run.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Jarmel

Hellsing Vol.1-5 Blu-ray

8/27 26,250yen

Source:http://muhootsaver.tistory.com/

Against my better judgment and insight, I'm going to order this.

HOLY GUACKAMOLE! I went and checked, double checked, triple checked the conversion even... 300 bucks for 5 movies? DAMN! I knew Japan had same crazy prices for blu-ray releases some times but 60 bucks for each movie is very much on the expensive side of things... dang :|

[Jarmel]

Originally Posted by Dextro

HOLY GUACKAMOLE! I went and checked, double checked, triple checked the conversion even... 300 bucks for 5 movies? DAMN! I knew Japan had same crazy prices for blu-ray releases some times but 60 bucks for each movie is very much on the expensive side of things... dang :|

Trust me, this is relatively cheap in comparison to some other series.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Dextro

HOLY GUACKAMOLE! I went and checked, double checked, triple checked the conversion even... 300 bucks for 5 movies? DAMN! I knew Japan had same crazy prices for blu-ray releases some times but 60 bucks for each movie is very much on the expensive side of things... dang :|

Well Kanon and Clannad are close to $500 for the series on BD. Haruhi-chan and Nroyan-san $120 for both series on one BD.

R1 would have paid $150 for the 5 movies on DVD.

It all balances out.

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by monir

I know I'm not spending 300 US dollars for Blu Ray Discs and I am a super fan of Hellsing. How much was your DVD LE for those 5 episodes? I was hoping there would be R1 release here in the states, but it seems it is better not to expect anything until the OVA finishes its run.

The DVD LEs are 7800yen each, and the BD LEs are 8900yen each. So technically the BD boxset is "cheaper", but since I already own the series, I'm not going to spend so much money to buy a bunch of episodes again at that price. Lol.

[Jarmel]

Originally Posted by orion

Well Kanon and Clannad are close to $500 for the series on BD. Haruhi-chan and Nroyan-san $120 for both series on one BD.

R1 would have paid $150 for the 5 movies on DVD.

It all balances out.

And that's after the discounts too. To be fair though, it's really only Kadokawa who is just absolutely insane with the prices.

@duckroll

They supposedly redid alot of the scenes so that is a added bonus( mostly likely the CGI though). I'm also interested in the Nazi soundtrack. I hope it's in English so I can play it to my Jewish friends for the lulz.

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by Jarmel

They supposedly redid alot of the scenes so that is a added bonus( mostly likely the CGI though). I'm also interested in the Nazi soundtrack. I hope it's in English so I can play it to my Jewish friends for the lulz.

They did put a substantial amount of work into the BD box. But it's still not enough for me to buy it all again at almost full price. For something I already own, I probably wouldn't pay more than half of what I originally did for a re-release, that's all. If the box was 15,000yen I would grab it in a heartbeat.

As for what they redid for the BD release, there are about 200 cuts (each continuous animation sequence is called a cut) which were reanimated. This is not CGI, but more like corrections and enhancements. Not new scenes but stuff they felt needed touch ups when presented in a higher resolution.

They also mentioned that several thousand cuts were completely rephotographed, which translates to me as the entire collection being digitally rephotographed in HD, frame by frame, with all CGI rerendered in proper resolution. How do I reach this conclusion? Because in total, Vol1-5 should have about 3300-3500 cuts, based on the scene numbering on the keyframe artbooks that came with the LEs. So several thousand cuts being rephotographed for the set would mean all the cuts, as opposed to specific scenes only. It's basically a longwinded way of saying "this is definitely not an upscale".

I think it's a very good effort on their part for sure, it's just a bit too pricey for me to justify buying the 5 volumes again.

[Jarmel]

Originally Posted by duckroll

They did put a substantial amount of work into the BD box. But it's still not enough for me to buy it all again at almost full price. For something I already own, I probably wouldn't pay more than half of what I originally did for a re-release, that's all. If the box was 15,000yen I would grab it in a heartbeat.

As for what they redid for the BD release, there are about 200 cuts (each continuous animation sequence is called a cut) which were reanimated. This is not CGI, but more like corrections and enhancements. Not new scenes but stuff they felt needed touch ups when presented in a higher resolution.

They also mentioned that several thousand cuts were completely rephotographed, which translates to me as the entire collection being digitally rephotographed in HD, frame by frame, with all CGI rerendered in proper resolution. How do I reach this conclusion? Because in total, Vol1-5 should have about 3300-3500 cuts, based on the scene numbering on the keyframe artbooks that came with the LEs. So several thousand cuts being rephotographed for the set would mean all the cuts, as opposed to specific scenes only. It's basically a longwinded way of saying "this is definitely not an upscale".

I think it's a very good effort on their part for sure, it's just a bit too pricey for me to justify buying the 5 volumes again.

That's really quite impressive and should show as an example for other companies to follow in how to release a BD. The additional good news I get from this is that they also can devote more resources to additional episodes now that the past ones are taken care of so hopefully further episodes might come at a slightly increased pace(a man can dream).

[orion]

Originally Posted by Jarmel

That's really quite impressive and should show as an example for other companies to follow in how to release a BD. The additional good news I get from this is that they also can devote more resources to additional episodes now that the past ones are taken care of so hopefully further episodes might come at a slightly increased pace(a man can dream).

It was a redo of this magnitude prob because they didn't like Satelight's work. If Madhouse had done it from the beginning, they wouldn't have to have gone that far to release the BD.

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by orion

It was a redo of this magnitude prob because they didn't like Satelight's work. If Madhouse had done it from the beginning, they wouldn't have to have gone that far to release the BD.

Erm, this is not true at all. I'm willing to bet a ton of the fixes will probably be in Vol5, which was Madhouse's first episode. That's the worst episode in the entire series. I should also point out that I'm not sure who "they" is in this case. The animation director of the series is Ryoji Nakamori. He is the animation character designer and animation director of the series from the start, and is still on board. He would be the one in-charge of any animation correction, so basically if he is correcting anything for the BD box set, he is correcting his own work.

The actual animation for the series is mostly entirely Korean. It was that way with Satelight, and it is the same way with Madhouse. The main difference between Madhouse and Satelight's productions is the actual director of the series, as well as the episode directors and storyboarders. Those are not going to change in any way. They're not remaking the series. They're just correcting sequences to make them look better.

[CuXe]

^ Wow, I am not as up-to-date about the work of the production houses involved in H.U. as some of you guys are .... I just hope they don't take far too long to release the BR Dubbed versions after the OVA is through cause I am dying to see whats going to happen next ....

BTW, Anyone has any idea about the release date of OVA 8? I think we should be very close now...

[orion]

Originally Posted by duckroll

The actual animation for the series is mostly entirely Korean. It was that way with Satelight, and it is the same way with Madhouse. The main difference between Madhouse and Satelight's productions is the actual director of the series, as well as the episode directors and storyboarders. Those are not going to change in any way. They're not remaking the series. They're just correcting sequences to make them look better.

Except that Satelight was constantly late with releasing the title. So basically, it's correcting a few screw ups. Like what KyoAni did with Haruhi season 1.

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by orion

Except that Satelight was constantly late with releasing the title. So basically, it's correcting a few screw ups. Like what KyoAni did with Haruhi season 1.

Madhouse is no better than Satelight as far as release schedule is concerned.

Vol 1 = Feb 2006 (50 mins)
Vol 2 = Aug 2006 (46 mins) [6 months]
Vol 3 = April 2007 (49 mins) [8 months]
Vol 4 = Feb 2008 (56 mins) [10 months]
Vol 5 = Nov 2008 (45 mins) [9 months]
Vol 6 = July 2009 (42 mins) [8 months]
Vol 7 = Dec 2009 (42 mins) [5 months]
Vol 8 = Sometime after Aug 2010 (probably 42 mins) [more than 8 months]

Can you really say that Satelight was constantly late with releasing the title when Madhouse is taking about just as long and releasing volumes which are shorter? I don't think that's fair at all. If Madhouse could suddenly deliver the same quality as Satelight, with 50 min long volumes, at 5-6 months consistently, then yes. But no, they're taking about just as long.

The fastest volume was Vol7, which was actually produced back-to-back with Vol6 as a two-parter. As expected, right after the two parter, bam, release schedule is back to hell. The BD box set was announced last year, before Vol7 even came out. Whoever is working on it (could be Madhouse, could be Satelight themselves, who knows) has been working on it for over 6 months. The release window was promised to be either early 2010, or Spring, or at worse early Summer. The end of August is hardly "early Summer".

So I'm sorry, I don't buy this thing about Satelight being worse than Madhouse. In fact, as a proud owner of all the OVAs released so far, I can safely say that Satelight worked on the two best episodes (Vol4 and Vol2), while Madhouse worked on the worst episode (Vol5) so far. That's not to say that Madhouse is bad, I really enjoyed Vol6 and 7, but there clearly isn't a huge gap where Satelight is bad and Madhouse is good.

Geneon decided to change animation production companies for various reasons I'm sure, but the development process has not improved in any significant way since the switch. :P

[Jarmel]

Just would like to comment that the CG in episode 5 was atrocious. Anyway yea that sounds about right however if Madhouse has been working on the boxset recently after finishing 7 then that might explain the delay for 8 but yes it's a little too early to say that Madhouse is faster than Satelight.

[CuXe]

After Aug 2010? So it is a 3 month wait at best? Yikes!

[orion]

Originally Posted by duckroll

Geneon decided to change animation production companies for various reasons I'm sure, but the development process has not improved in any significant way since the switch. :P

But Madhouse had met their deadlines. People and stores know that on this day product will be sold. Whereas, Satelight had announced delays. There's the problem. You have to make the deadlines. On top of whatever screw ups are in vol 1-4 that prompted them getting the boot.

[duckroll]

Originally Posted by orion

But Madhouse had met their deadlines. People and stores know that on this day product will be sold. Whereas, Satelight had announced delays. There's the problem. You have to make the deadlines. On top of whatever screw ups are in vol 1-4 that prompted them getting the boot.

I think you're confusing the animation studio with the production company. None of the release dates announcements and marketing were handled by Satelight. Hellsing is a Geneon production, and all that is handled by Geneon. The producer Ueda is a Geneon producer and he is a HUGE Hellsing fan. He is solely to blame for ANY of the delays and announcements. The reason why they are "meeting" the release dates now is because they stopped announcing any date until they know production is pretty much done.

[duckroll]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdUr_vCZ7J4

This is the HD trailer for the Vol1-5 Blu-ray release. It's meant to show off a few sequences they've corrected, as well as how much better the scenes look in HD.