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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to ADV Films for sending a copy for a review for this site. This is the final volume for this strange, creepy & sometimes wonderful series. The first episode on this volume takes Kino & reflect on herself, one about revenge, violence, a bit about Kino's past & human desires. Short stories that some seem make you questions the logic, others are just of matter of hate. The seconthe others that make the ultimate sacrifice for that peace. It really make you feel hate & how can peoples be that low. Finally, the last episode, the one is my favorite as it reflects a previous episode. If you pay attention, don't it remind you of one episode? I find it very sweet. However, like most of the entire series, the ending will be a shcoking event. It make me bring a tear down & my heart sank, yet humble about it. You need to see it to understand it.
Video:
ADV Films did a very great job. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. Just a note, it is very normal if you see the some sort of line effects throughout the series. It was set to make it feel that you're watching a video of Kino's journey. There's nothing wrong. To top things off, the series is feature on Widescreen format. If you got a Widescreen TV, you're going to enjoy this even more. 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! The episodes are on a different track, so there will be a small loading time when you move on to the next episode. I do note that you can skip all those warnings & logos when you first load the DVD by just pressing the "Menu" button on your remote control.
Dubbing: English:
The dubbing is really great. I think the dubbing is actually better then the original Japanese audio, give me the chills even more then reading & understanding what's going on. It's about 85% of the original Japanese.
Audio 01: English 5.1:
Unable to test it, since I don't have a 5.1 surround system, I can't really say much.
Audio XX: English 2.0:
Just letting you know, there isn't an English 2.0 audio track on this DVD. This is artificially made from the 5.1 audio track, that's why I noted it as "XX". I found no problem with the audio, but I bet it would be alot more interesting with the 5.1.
Audio 02: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Subtitle:
ADV Films have selected a great font, very easy to read. They use yellow for the introduction, ending themes & the Japanese dialogue & white for Japanese signs & text. There are two tracks of subtitling. 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 on this volume.
Menu Option:
The menu is also in widescreen format, but if got just a regular full screen TV, it will display in that format with no problem. The menu design is still the same, except it's another picture of Kino standing on the right with her motocycle, Hermes. The background is another scenery during Kino's journey. There isn't a "Play All" or any "Screen Access" features, just the selections of the 3 episodes on this volume, "Set Up" & "Extras". The main theme is playing in the background. Other sections, there wll be different scenery & other background musics will be played from the series.
DVD Extras:
I was hoping for something really interesting for the final volume, but I guess not. The same thing, another set of non-credit opening & ending. Yup, another batch of production sketches related to the episodes on this volume.
Packaging:
I think this is my favorite one from the other volumes. On the cover, you see Kino & many characters from the episodes in this volume in a nice shade of brown. On the back, yet another poem that also reflects that it's the end of this wonderful series. There is also another set of three screenshots that reflects the episode on this volume. The insert is pretty much the same picture as the cover, along with the list of what's on this DVD. Again, there is no mini-poster or anything. On the DVD disc itself, the same design is used, the same green, a nice bed of roses.
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. Just like watching it on TV, there is a line effect throughout the series. Don't worry about it, it's normal. The sound is just great. Since the episodes are on different tracks, it will take time to load when you move on to the next episode. 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:
The last episode is one of the best, even the ending is a shock. A journey always need to come to an end, but Kino will keep continuing on, without us. I find this series very strange, creepy most of the time, yet happy & enjoyable to see her journeys of many countries, customs & traditions. It reflects us all. Maybe you would like to do your own journey someday.
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