I wanted to give folks a heads-up that we reviewed the first internet enabled HD DVD disc this past Saturday and included several pictures of it.

http://www.animeonhd-dvd.com/reviews2/disc_reviews/6337.php

http://www.animeondvd.com/images/reviews/large_freedommoviedl.jpg

Good Review Thanks Chris.

Pretty good review. This is a must buy for me.

My only hope is that the content gets better. I like what's basically the introduction and it has a solid hook at the end but it needs a lot more at the $40 price point for 25 minutes of show.

I really think that what we need on HD-DVD/Blu-Ray as far as anime is concerned, are films like Akira, The Appleseed remake, and of course Ghost In The Shell. I know Akira would at least require a new transfer and another restoration since one done in 2001 is crappy 1080i compared to what they could do today with 1080p and the advances made since they tested the technique on Akira. Ghost In The Shell needs one too as they are still using the original DVD master from the 90's.

Wow, it's features like that that need to be utilized more often. I like how they did it. This is also the first twin format disc right? At least it looks like it doesn't have any problems which is always a plus.

My only hope is that the content gets better. I like what's basically the introduction and it has a solid hook at the end but it needs a lot more at the $40 price point for 25 minutes of show.
Well, I don't think anybody is going to pay the $40 msrp, I have it preordered from amazon for $25.15 shipped second day, but I agree with you, I was very disappointed when they announced they'd be releasing each of the 6 episodes separately.

Still, buying this series will cost less than importing two of the BD on titles Bandai is releasing in Japan, so at least I'll get my anime fix in the most frugal way possible. And the interactivity looks cool, so I'm looking forward to the end of the month so I can check this title out.

btw Chris, you haven't been around in a while, why'd ya start up a new account? And also do you plan on importing all of the Japan only BD releases for review?

I can't wait to see what Warner has in store for us with Blood Diamond :)

I'm half tempted to buy this just to see the HDi program... :)

I'm just wondering where this stuff is hosted? If a big film is released with bonuns stuff, and everyone goes to get the bonus footage at the same time will the servers be able to cope?

btw Chris, you haven't been around in a while, why'd ya start up a new account? And also do you plan on importing all of the Japan only BD releases for review?

I reached a level of frustation in attempts at useful discourse here so I had my account set to a ban effectively so that I couldn't post. I didn't trust myself to not post out of frustration. I'd requested the account be put back to full over the weekend so I could provides pics of the internet features but hadn't heard back, so I figured that account was as good as dead.

I do have all the Bandai Visual Japan BD titles on order and will be reviewing them as they come in. So Akira, Wings of Honneamise and Ghost in the Shell will be in my hands late july/early august. I think that preorder ran me close to $900 with the other films they have coming out through September.

Ya, it's definitely an expensive hobby! But with the doubts I have about quality of the masters Bandai will be using for their Akira and GitS releases for example, it's good to have someone else be the guinea pig. So I look forward to your reviews. :)

Akira is now available on the Xbox Marketplace and it's the Pioneer/Geneon 2001 dub in HD! This means an HD release on disc here in the US isn't far behind (every time an older movie is released in HD on Xbox Live, an HD disc announcement comes not too long after because they are using downgraded VC-1 transfers from the HQ disc encodes). I only hope they did a new 1080P master and didn't recycle the 2001 1080i master. I'm gonna post it in the Xbox forum as well.

Akira has already been announced. Bandai Visual USA owns the high definition rights to the title so Geneon will not be releasing it. It's planned for a 9/11/2007 release date using the dub and subtitles on the Geneon release but is scheduled for Blu-ray only. It's also due for release in Japan on 07/27/2007 but again is Blu-ray only. BVUSA is essentially just localizing packaging and such of their home releases for here.

So don't expect it from Geneon on home video. They don't have the rights.

Akira has already been announced. Bandai Visual USA owns the high definition rights to the title so Geneon will not be releasing it. It's planned for a 9/11/2007 release date using the dub and subtitles on the Geneon release but is scheduled for Blu-ray only. It's also due for release in Japan on 07/27/2007 but again is Blu-ray only. BVUSA is essentially just localizing packaging and such of their home releases for here.

So don't expect it from Geneon on home video. They don't have the rights.

Chris, any idea whether Bandai is striking a new master, or just licensing Pioneer/Geneon's edge enhacement nightmare?

Josh, they haven't said one way or another. I don't believe that they would use what Geneon has on hand though but rather whatever they have on hand in Japan. I don't know what the R2 DVD version they last produced looked like unfortunately. I know they have Geneon's dub and subtitle track but that's the extent of it.

Blood Diamond will be released soon which is also said to be internet enabled.

I hope this feature takes off.

Josh, they haven't said one way or another. I don't believe that they would use what Geneon has on hand though but rather whatever they have on hand in Japan. I don't know what the R2 DVD version they last produced looked like unfortunately.

I believe the last DVD in Japan was released by Pioneer/Geneon, wasn't it?

http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/810474

I fear that if Bandai is licensing the dub and subtitles, they'll just license the transfer too. That would be a real shame, as the transfer is pretty horrid.

I believe the last DVD in Japan was released by Pioneer/Geneon, wasn't it?

http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/810474

I fear that if Bandai is licensing the dub and subtitles, they'll just license the transfer too. That would be a real shame, as the transfer is pretty horrid.
The only thing that has me somewhat hopeful is an interview with Bandai Japan done around March about their experience creating the Freedom HD-DVD and encoding in HD for the first time. Whoever was being interviewed talked about how they were surprised just how much a HD encoding exposed issues with animation etc, and that a lot of dedication was required to make a product that stood up to their standards for HD, and that the industry as a whole would have to change their techniques if the wanted to meet the high standards that a good HD release requires. Basically I took from that interview that at least they understand that you can't just slap up whatever you have laying around on an HD disk and call it a day. So I'm quietly optimistic that they'll do what it takes to put out some high quality releases.