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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to Geneon Entertainment for sending a copy for a review for this site. Finally, the continuation of Ippo's journey to his goal, fighting Miyata in the final match at the Eastern Japan Rookie Championship Tournament. Ippo get another chance to see how Miyata is doing & to everyone surprise, Miyata have taken a different style of fighting. With that encouragement, Ippo trains even harder & get himself ready for his match, against Kobashi, who fighting style is really very odd. With the help of Takamura & the Kamogawa Gym's gang, Ippo went on a training camp & found out that he got a weakness. The trip to the beach can really get to know something about everyone, especailly when it comes to girls. Overcoming it, he is ready for his match up against Kobashi. The only part I really didn't like is the match between Ippo & Kobashi. Though, with Kobashi style might be a strange one, you get the sense of irritation. Ippo isn't doing very well & Kobashi is winning just with points! His only hope is to win by K.O. Oh, this is part where it get exciting. You get to see another Takamura's match to win the Japan Champion belt! Boy, that's really hilarious. However, Ippo can't stop, his next oppornent is a strong one.
Video:
Geneon Entertainment did a very great job. They have taken the time to do it right. 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). Each episodes are separated into 5 parts: the introduction, part A, part B, ending & the preview for the next episode! 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. I do note that you can skip the warnings & logos in the beginning using the "Menu" button on your remote.
Dubbing: English:
I find the dubbing very well. I have so much fun with the cast & it suit each character very well. The cast is very well picked & play their roles very well. The subtitle for the Japanese track mention it, but not on the Englush dubbing. It's about 80% of the original Japanese.
Dubbing: Spanish:
I find it strange that there is the original Spanish audio version for this series. Honestly, I don't even understand Spanish, but I did take a listen & it actually pretty good. I got no idea how close to the original Japanese, but consider this audio track as an extra bonus!
Audio 01: English 2.0:
No problem found.
Audio 02: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Audio 03: Spanish 2.0:
No problem found.
Subtitle:
Geneon Entertainment have selected a great font, easy to read. 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 odd numbered episodes, the intro & ending subtitles are in English, while the even numbered episodes are in Japanese original text on this volume. There is one little thing I didn't like, I find that the subtitling is a little too much during the introduction theme. At some part of the song, the subtitle fills up half the screen.
Menu Option:
The way the menu is set up remains the same, starting off with another clip, but from the episodes on this volume. This time, it's from EPS14 then when Ippo punched, the menu appears. It might be a little spoiler if you haven't seen the series before & I find it a little too long, but it's not that bad. There is the "Play All", "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". The little cursor for selecting in the menu is pretty cute, a little boxing glove. One of the series background music is playing in the menu screen. However, it's only for the main menu, there is no music playing in the other sections.
DVD Extras:
Well, that's it, there is no more extra, not even bloopers & outtakes like the first two volumes which I love so much. The only extra is the Spanish credit ending. Now sad.
Packaging:
The design remains the same. On the cover, you see Ippo during a match with Kobashi in the background. In the back, there is screenshots from the episodes in this volume with a boxing ring as a background. There is a few typo, where EPS 20 title should be "The Threat of a Shotgun" & there is suppose to be a space between the words Championship & Tournament in the summary. The insert is pretty simple. You get the episode list with the chapter listing, along with the same image as the cover. Inside the insert is also the same image as the cover, but with the original Japanese title logo. On the DVD disc itself, it's a close up of Kobashi, taken the cover. I think that image is being used too much.
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 only thing that bugs me is on the menu screen. 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! The only thing annoying is the menu option. You have to click on the boxing glove icon to make the selection, instead of the word, for example, "Play". Like on your regular DVD player, you can skip the warnings & logos when you load the disc, just use the "menu" option to go to the menu screen.
Overall DVD Rating:
We're back with another set of episodes & the continuation Ippo's journey as a boxer. You can feel the emotions of boxing, even it's still an Anime, like during the match between Ippo & Kobashi can get you really annoyed & just want to boo at Kobashi! The best part is the match with Takamura for the Japan Champion belt, it will be the first time you see him go all out. It was a blast & hilarious fun!
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