Actar
05-30-2011, 09:09 PM
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Hey there guys!!! It's been awhile, but the Blu-Ray Complete Box Set has finally been released!
I am not one who usually buys BDs and DVDs out of Japan due to their price, but seeing that Lucky Star is my all time favorite series (emotionally), I could not, not get this. Getting this off Amazon Japan (http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B004I8V7CK?ie=UTF8&tag=sidemo-22&link_code=as3&camp=767&creative=3999&creativeASIN=B004I8V7CK) actually saved me close to 10,000 yen off the MSRP which I found amazing.
So here's a short review and some of my thoughts regarding the set. Hopefully this will help you to decide whether or not to take the plunge like I did.
First, let's have a run down of all the included content:
Disc 1, 2, 3 & 4 - All 24 Episodes
Bonus Disc 1 – Special Features - Non-Credit OP (lyrics included)
- Best Scenes
- OVA (Original na Visual to Animation)
- Lucky Star Channel at Shin Tokyo Circuit
- Lucky Racer Digest
Bonus Disc 2 & 3 – Lucky Star in Budokan
Now, my thoughts:
Pros:
- Firstly, the main attracting factor for me were the subtitles. Yes, all 24 episodes do have English and Japanese subtitles. I haven't had the time to watch more than a couple of episodes, but from what I saw, the subtitles are of pretty good quality and do keep the honorifics, which I am exceedingly thankful for.
- It looks simply great in HD. I'm not too clear on the definitions of upscales and whatnot, but for all intents and purposes, it looks good to me.
- It's complete. Meaning to say that those of you who don't have the DVDs (R1 or R2), like me, no longer need to hunt them all down one by one, but can just grab this one set and be done with it.
- The concert is included. Having seen numerous (recent) Anime concerts like the Haruhi, K-On! and Macross Frontier ones, I think that this is the absolute best one out of all of them. The energy is great, the atmosphere is awesome and all in all, a brilliant event. The inclusion of the concert means that all (save Miyuki as her seiyuu was not free to attend) the songs are included as well which is awesome.
- Not really a major 'pro', but I do like the box design. It's neat, compact and features most of the cast on the front which I think is a nice touch. The entire cast is also spread across the covers of the 4 cases inside.
Cons:
- Only the 24 main episodes are subtitled. What does this mean? Everything else does not have subtitles. Including the OVA. I mean, I was expecting the concert to not get subtitles due to the amount of work it would have required, but they could have at least subtitled the OVA...
- No unique material (physical or footage) is included with the set. It would have been nice if they had included a mini artbook, featurettes of behind the scenes, ect...
- Not everything that was on the original R2 DVDs is included. With the original R2 DVDs, we had quite a bit of extra stuff including CMs and behind the scenes of the live-action Minoru endings. These are all not on the set which is really a let down.
- I myself am not that big a fan of the Lucky Racer concept, so I'm not too thrilled about its inclusion.
---------
In conclusion, I think it's a great purchase only if you are a real die-hard fan of the series, don't already own the set on DVD (be it R1 or R2) or just want to watch it on your HDTV in High Definition. Being a huge fan, I would really, really, really like to recommend the set. However, considering the price and the lack of any outstanding or unique bonus features or content, I will have to say give this a pass. Not to mention, not having subtitles for the OVA is a really big strike against it.
Hey there guys!!! It's been awhile, but the Blu-Ray Complete Box Set has finally been released!
I am not one who usually buys BDs and DVDs out of Japan due to their price, but seeing that Lucky Star is my all time favorite series (emotionally), I could not, not get this. Getting this off Amazon Japan (http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B004I8V7CK?ie=UTF8&tag=sidemo-22&link_code=as3&camp=767&creative=3999&creativeASIN=B004I8V7CK) actually saved me close to 10,000 yen off the MSRP which I found amazing.
So here's a short review and some of my thoughts regarding the set. Hopefully this will help you to decide whether or not to take the plunge like I did.
First, let's have a run down of all the included content:
Disc 1, 2, 3 & 4 - All 24 Episodes
Bonus Disc 1 – Special Features - Non-Credit OP (lyrics included)
- Best Scenes
- OVA (Original na Visual to Animation)
- Lucky Star Channel at Shin Tokyo Circuit
- Lucky Racer Digest
Bonus Disc 2 & 3 – Lucky Star in Budokan
Now, my thoughts:
Pros:
- Firstly, the main attracting factor for me were the subtitles. Yes, all 24 episodes do have English and Japanese subtitles. I haven't had the time to watch more than a couple of episodes, but from what I saw, the subtitles are of pretty good quality and do keep the honorifics, which I am exceedingly thankful for.
- It looks simply great in HD. I'm not too clear on the definitions of upscales and whatnot, but for all intents and purposes, it looks good to me.
- It's complete. Meaning to say that those of you who don't have the DVDs (R1 or R2), like me, no longer need to hunt them all down one by one, but can just grab this one set and be done with it.
- The concert is included. Having seen numerous (recent) Anime concerts like the Haruhi, K-On! and Macross Frontier ones, I think that this is the absolute best one out of all of them. The energy is great, the atmosphere is awesome and all in all, a brilliant event. The inclusion of the concert means that all (save Miyuki as her seiyuu was not free to attend) the songs are included as well which is awesome.
- Not really a major 'pro', but I do like the box design. It's neat, compact and features most of the cast on the front which I think is a nice touch. The entire cast is also spread across the covers of the 4 cases inside.
Cons:
- Only the 24 main episodes are subtitled. What does this mean? Everything else does not have subtitles. Including the OVA. I mean, I was expecting the concert to not get subtitles due to the amount of work it would have required, but they could have at least subtitled the OVA...
- No unique material (physical or footage) is included with the set. It would have been nice if they had included a mini artbook, featurettes of behind the scenes, ect...
- Not everything that was on the original R2 DVDs is included. With the original R2 DVDs, we had quite a bit of extra stuff including CMs and behind the scenes of the live-action Minoru endings. These are all not on the set which is really a let down.
- I myself am not that big a fan of the Lucky Racer concept, so I'm not too thrilled about its inclusion.
---------
In conclusion, I think it's a great purchase only if you are a real die-hard fan of the series, don't already own the set on DVD (be it R1 or R2) or just want to watch it on your HDTV in High Definition. Being a huge fan, I would really, really, really like to recommend the set. However, considering the price and the lack of any outstanding or unique bonus features or content, I will have to say give this a pass. Not to mention, not having subtitles for the OVA is a really big strike against it.