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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to Urban Vision for sending a copy for a review for this site. Oh, here is a classic Anime that is back once again. By now, you must have heard the title before, Ninja Scroll. The movie was one of the best & popular for its time with action, drama & sadness. To that end, a series was created & this is it. You will even meet a familiar face, too. Jubei Kibagami is back on a new adventure, in a world of the samurais, magic & even demons. Somehow, he got caught to be in. On his search to find somewhere quiet to sleep, somehow, he ended up in a battle between two clans, Hiruko & the Kimon, fighting over sacred artifact called the Dragon Stone & The Light Maiden. Both are required to unlock a hidden treasure that can determined the course of history. Jubei was intrusted with the Dragon Stone & his mission, to find the Light Maiden & give it to her. As the battle between both clans over the stone & the girl, Jubei uses his skills to protect & to keep his word. Action pack with the blood & gore!
Video:
Urban Vision have really done a good job releasing it! Clear & smooth, no problem at all. I found no problem, the image are clear & the color looks perfect. There is some watermarks done for introduction & ending for the English credits. Each episodes are separated into 5 parts: the introduction, part A, part B, part C & ending, except the last episode in this volume, which have a preview of the next episode in the next volume. 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't skip all those warnings & logos when you first load the DVD, so you have to wait until the menu is loaded.
Dubbing: English:
Since the original movie was dubbed by another company, the voices for the series is different, but it's not so bad. Urban Vision pick the cast really well & match the characters that they play. 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 02: English 2.0:
No problem found.
Audio 03: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Subtitle:
Urban Vision have selected a great font, very easy to read & quite bold. Every subtitle is using the color golden yellow, which isn't so bad. There is only one subtitle track. There isn't any subtitle for the introduction or ending theme as there are non-vocal.
Menu Option:
There is an improvement to the menu from the old release. It made up from the beginning of the introduction theme, which is kinda catchy. There is the "Play All", a selection of one of the 4 episodes, "Set Up" & "Extras". Selecting any of the options will get you a little animation related to this series. The main theme is playing in the background & the other section have various background music from the series.
DVD Extras:
There is quite a number of extras. There is a storyboard comparison, along with the original trailers. There is an interview with the soundtrack creators, which gives a bit of history on the making of this series & a small clip on the artist work on the cover that you see on this DVD package. Last, the little art gallery.
Packaging:
The package is not as colorful & looks simple to me. On the cover, you see Jubei under the moon. In the back, there is some screenshots of the episodes in this volume, along with some characters that you will be. I find the summary text font isn't so well picked as it's kinda hard to read with the color of the background. The insert has the same picture as the cover, along with information on the original soundtrack & a note from the composers. Inside the insert is a list of the episodes with the summary for each of them. On the DVD disc itself, the same cover image is used once again.
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, like on your regular DVD player, you can't skip the warnings & logos when you load the disc, you're going to have to wait until it loads.
Overall DVD Rating:
If you enjoy the movie, this will be a great addition. Jubei Kibagami is back on a new adventure. Pack with action, blazing battles, the drama & the sadness is carried to the series. Sit back & enjoy!
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