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Feature Presentation:
Special thanks to ADV Films for sending a copy for a review for this site. I miss a few volumes, so I don't know what hapeen between the first volume & this one, but I think I get the picture, most of it. Another foe have come, Chloe, to take Kirika back to complete her fate & destiny. Mireille also find out who killed her parents, but will she keep her promise she made? Let's find out!
Video:
ADV Films 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. 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. Keeping the same style as the previous volumes, there is alot of French accent in most of the characters that interact with the main characters. They pick the cast very well. It's about 80% 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". There is one audio problem I found, on EPS 20, there is a small pause, like the sound just turn off for a second. I try it out a few times, same error. However, I didn't find it on the Japanese track. In any case, I bet it would be alot more interesting with the 5.1. Other that the small audio glitch, no problem found.
Audio 02: Japanese 5.1:
Unable to test it, since I don't have a 5.1 surround system, I can't really say much.
Audio XX: Japanese 2.0:
Just letting you know, there isn't an Japanese 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.
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 even numbered episodes, the intro & ending subtitles are in English, while the odd 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 is really simple. I think the image came from the main theme. It's just a plain blue background. There isn't a "Play All" feature, just the selections of the 4 episodes on this volume, "Screen Access", "Set Up" & "Extras". When you select one of the episodes, you get a guy getting shot, however, I don't know why, it was cut short. The guy being show suppose to fall down before going to the selected episodes, maybe a bug? Another problem that the menu timing is also cut. The main theme is playing in the background. Other sections, there wll be different animation & other background musics will be played.
DVD Extras:
Well, for some unknown reason, you get the same non-credit opening & ending again. It's kinda pointless, don't you think? Though, you get a cool interview with Aya Hisakawa, who did the Japanese voice of Chloe, as well as production sketches related to the episodes on this volume.
Packaging:
Keeping the same style as the other volumes, you still get the white background. On the cover, you see Chloe holding a gun, with Mireille & Kirika. In the back, you get to see Mireille & Kirika on the side, with a screenshot from each episode. This time, the insert have the same picture as the cover, not like the others, which have the same picture as the back cover. There is also a little something extra, a secret message box, but you need a special kind of glasses to read it. Inside the insert, there is more production notes on how the series was created, lots of information on the series is right there. It's pretty cool. On the DVD disc, it's pretty plain, all black, with Mireille in the background & "Noir" as the title.
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. 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 drama & suspense a redriving me nuts. You got to keep going & find out what is going to happen.
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