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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to Geneon Entertainment for sending me a pre-release copy for a review for this site. This is a preview of what's going to be release, so not all information will be available until then. I love this series! I find it really sweet & it does touch your heart. Kaoru & Aoi met when they were both children. They are arrange to be married by their families. One day, Aoi went to go find him after she found out that the engagement was call off. Will she find him? Will fate bring her closer to the only person she loved? However, once she finds him, she will have to face many problems. I do note that there are some a little naughty parts, but it's really funny. Aoi is really cute & sexy, a real Japanese tradition woman. I wonder if there is someone like her in the real world. You can actually connect with the characters. The music is really sweet & romantic. Honestly, this series brought me into tears. Do you remember your first love?
Video:
Geneon Entertainment did a very great job, again. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. There is some watermarks done for the introduction & ending credits (they are translated in English). Since all the episodes are on one single track on the DVD, there is no loading time or changing tracks when you move on to the next episode. Each episode is split into 5 parts: introduction, part A, part B, ending & the preview! I do note that you can't skip the warnings & logos in the beginning using the "Menu" button on your remote.
Dubbing: English:
The English dubbing is well done. They even capture the emotions & impacts during certain parts of the series, especially the parts that move your heart & brings you into tears. The dialogue even includes Japanese terms, like "chan" or "sama". This way, Geneon Entertainment can get it to be as close to the Japanese dialogue, since its mostly involve Japanese culture. It's about 85% of the original Japanese.
Audio 01: English 2.0:
No problem found.
Audio 02: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Subtitle:
Geneon Entertainment have selected a great font, easy to read, though a little small. They use green for the introduction & ending themes, white for any text subtitling & yellow for the dialogues. One track is for the sign subtitling & the other one is for the Japanese dialogue. I might note that every even numbered episodes, the intro & ending subtitles are in English, while the odd numbered episodes are in Japanese original text, for you to do some karaoke! However, there is one thing, the subtitle isn't on automatically for the Japanese sign & text, you have to do it manually. I hope they will fix it in the final release.
Menu Option:
The menu is set up with photo of Kaoru & Aoi, with pink flower petals moving around. The photo album does change with images from the episodes on this volume. It's very simple & there is a small animation, using a pink flower petal moving by the wind across the screen when you enter the menu & select the options. There is the "Play All", "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". The background music is a soft nice music that I really like. However, it's only for the main menu, there is no music playing in the other screen section.
DVD Extras:
There is a cool music video of Yoku Ishida, singing the opening theme, the full version. It's really sweet. There is also an art gallery of Kaoru & Aoi. That's about it.
Packaging:
It's a very colorful cover. You get to see the beautiful Aoi in the front. In the back, you get some screenshots of the series. The insert matches the rest of the packaging. There is the chapter list with a screenshot from each episode, & information about Japanese name suffixs. Inside the insert, you get a mini-poster of Aoi & Kaoru together, but it doesn't really look like them, do they? On the disc itself, just little pink flowers, like the menu with a transparent background. It would be nice if it was colorful as the rest of the design. Since the DVD case is a clear, you get to see the reversible cover, Aoi taking off her kimono! Sexy!
PC Viewing:
Watching it on the PC is the same as watching it on the TV. Very clean, no problem at all, very little pixel (little squares popping in & out), both normal mode & full screen mode. The sound is just great. The episodes are place on one single track as you play the episodes, so loading time is really small. You can fast forward to the first episode to the last episode with one move on your mouse! However, you can't skip the warnings & logos when you load the disc.
Overall DVD Rating:
If you like to watch a love story & have a few laugh, this series would suit you. I do recommend to watch it with someone you love & care.
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