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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to Geneon Entertainment for sending a copy for a review for this site. Here is volume two of the second season of Mahoromatic. Most of the episodes on this volume is all about holidays & it's Mahoro (and Minawa) first time celebrating it. It's Christmas time on the first episode & Mahoro is going very far to make it the best Christmas that everyone can remember for a long time! Oh, the present exchange is hilarious! You got to pause so you can see what the present everyone got from each other. Same goes for New Year, in a very Japanese traditional. The fun between Suguru's teacher VS Mahoro is getting intense. Just wait when Mahoro goes after Suguru to stop him from joining Hiryu Dark Martial Arts Festival. You're gonna have a blast (there is a small parody of Fist Of The North Star series). Well, the only episode that isn't holiday related, is when Suguru's grandfather comes to visit (out of no where). Boy, he is one weird grandfather, but with a very good reason why he act that way! The final holiday, Valentine's Day! It's really cute! Will we finally know how Mahoro's feels about Suguru on this day of love? Oh, this time, you got 5 episodes, instead of 4!
Video:
Geneon Entertainment did a very great job. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. 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. Though, there is a few pixel when the color fades in & out time to time. All the episodes are feature on one track, so there is no loading time when you move on to the next episode. However, if you use the auto-replay track option on your DVD player, it will not work, it will just go back to the menu. 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 same cast returns to dub the second season of Mahoromatic, keeping the same style & maintaining the laugher! They even dubbed Mahoro's singing! It's about 85% of the original Japanese. However, they still didn't dubbing the only one part, the introduction of a poem at the end of each episode.
Audio 01: English 2.0:
No problem found.
Audio 02: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Subtitle:
Geneon Entertainment have selected a great font, very easy to read. It's the same as the first volume, the introduction & ending theme to light blue. The rest is yellow & 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 in this volume.
Menu Option:
The menu is also in widescreen format, but if you got just a regular full screen TV, it will display in that format with no problem. The menu remains the same as the first volume, like you're in a Saint ship looking at the viewing screen. There is the "Play All", a selection of one of the 5 episodes, "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". There isn't any music in the background, just some sound effects.
DVD Extras:
There isn't much extras on it, just a non-credit ending & art gallery. The first two images in the art gallery are the same image on the DVD cover, the rest is just screenshots from the episodes. That's about it.
Packaging:
Still following the same style as the first volume, a really colorful cover, with Minawa, Miyuki & Mahoro, all in main uniform. In the back, some screenshots, along with a cute picture of Suguru in the cornor looking at a dirty magazine. Though, for some odd reason, the episode listed on the back is note boxed in like the first volume. I wonder why. The insert is really cute. There is a chapter list for all the episodes & the same picture as the DVD cover. Inside the insert, it's a sexy mini-poster of all the characters for Christmas. Another colorful DVD disc cover, but it's a different picture being used. You might not noticed it, since the DVD case is a white one, you will have a reversible cover & there is it, the same picture as the DVD disc itself!
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! 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:
It's fun watching Suguru's teacher goes against with Mahoro. I, for one, don't stop enjoying watching them & laughing myself silly! However, the last episode really bugs me, because it just stop & suspend you what happen to Minawa until you check out the next volume!
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