I picked this title up the other day. I've been a long-time anime fan and thought it would be a nice demo piece if nothing else.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jPR28YBZL._SS500_.jpg

I believe this was Pioneer's first shot on either of the HD Formats and while they did include some fantastic content on the disc, other pieces were poorly lacking. I didn't see a topic on it yet so I figured I'd give some impressions to anybody thinking about picking this one up.

First the positives:

The disc is the first "Twin-Format" one as far as I'm concerned. This means a single-sided disc that can be played as an HDDVD or a DVD depending on the player you use it on. I think this is a GREAT improvement over the double-sided combo discs and the only lacking feature I can find is a 3-layer maximum which may prevent studios from using it. This disc just uses 2 of the layers (1 DVD layer, 1 HDDVD layer (DVD-5+HDDVD15))
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/4262/dsc02566xk4.jpg
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/6595/dsc02569rc0.jpg

The first HDI feature on the disc is similar to the ones we've already seen. This one lets you turn on cast/credits or storyboards in a PiP window. However, rather than overlaying it in a window over the video, this actually moves the main video to one side and includes the secondary video on the opposite side of the screen (both standing on top of a background image).
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/6559/dsc02570ol1.jpg

Not a huge deal here, but it is definitely nice to have the secondary video in a larger window for things like these storyboards:

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9858/dsc02580yo0.jpg
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/7085/dsc02581ku5.jpg

I've seen a few PiP features on other HDDVDs and when they start showing small details like these, it just seems like a waste as they're so small.

The other HDi feature is available on the extras menu as a "3DCG Similation Video" and is quite long (I havent watched the entire thing, but it looks like it might be the whole length of the disc). This PiP mode works much like the one we're used to as the "In Movie Experience" but expands on the flexibility:
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/2107/dsc02575du4.jpg

This one lets you change the PiP video size (from small to huge), adjust the transparency, move the PiP window location and flip videos (so the PiP is the main video and vice versa).

Normal:
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/6871/dsc02582cg6.jpg

Enlarged and moved to the right:
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3307/dsc02583ss9.jpg

Smaller and slightly transparent:
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5861/dsc02584go9.jpg

The last features are a bookmark function and a download option:
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8605/dsc02577uz5.jpg

I don't have my HDDVD player connected to the internet so I couldn't try this one out. I believe other discs have recently started to include this also.

Overall, some neat features I havent seen done before on either format. These would be nice to have as options on some of the more mainstream movies coming out recently. If an anime company can pull these out on their first try, theres no reason some of the big studios who've worked with the format for over a year can't include these!


With that said, almost every other comment towards the disc is negative.

The price is way too expensive ($39.99 MSRP, $29.99 average at stores) for a ONE EPISODE anime disc. Runtime is just 25 minutes and this is just episode one of a 6 episode OVA - with the price they're charging for this, I'd be surprised if we ever even see the rest of the series on HDDVD. I've paid ridiculous amounts for anime before, but $29-39 for a single episode is outrageous in this day and age (I know it was common on the VHS days but with the release of DVDs that time should have been long gone).

Next complaint is the case: Much like the Discovery releases, this one uses a full-sized DVD case instead of the shorter HDDVD cases. To make it worse, it's a DVD Jewel case (which I always seem to crack on one of the hinges) with a cardboard slipcover over it.

Audio options are also a bit limited but overall not bad for an anime TV series: Japanese 5.1+ or LPCM 2.0. No dub included on the one.

Video quality is very good (expected, since it's a Digital-Digital transfer). I did notice some issues (a bit of banding in one scene, aliasing in a few others) but all issues were for short periods of just a few seconds at a time.

Last complaint was the actual quality of the series - I felt it was lacking and actually found myself looking at the remaining time on the disc waiting for it to finish. It just didn't pull me into the story and didn't seem to bring anything new to the genre.

only one word: awesome!

Amazing! :eek:

It's a great disk. I think I'll watch it again today.

Nice review, Sofdec7.

Have this in my queue, but dammit, I can see myself breaking down and buying this. So, let's see, roughly $30 x 6 eps....

I got my copy of Freedom #1 the other day and love it.Being an anime fancollector and having an HD DVD player made this disc a "must have",but it might not for some because of the price and limited content.I'm hoping this disc is a harbinger of HD DVD's yet to come.

One thing I don't see people mentioning is the fact that this is the ONLY version of this released in the US. There are no separate HD DVD and DVD versions.

People have been clamouring for Universal to do something similar. I'm glad Bandai went this route and I can't wait for my copy to arrive :)

One thing I don't see people mentioning is the fact that this is the ONLY version of this released in the US. There are no separate HD DVD and DVD versions.

People have been clamouring for Universal to do something similar. I'm glad Bandai went this route and I can't wait for my copy to arrive :)

That's a good point. I wonder how it will sell thanks to this.

That's pretty dang cool! I gotta get myself a copy and try out some of those features.

EDIT: nevermind... $28 for 25 minutes! I can spend a dollar a minute in better ways :)

That's pretty dang cool! I gotta get myself a copy and try out some of those features.

EDIT: nevermind... $28 for 25 minutes! I can spend a dollar a minute in better ways :)
Netflix it. That's what I did.

I like anime as much as the next guy, but I'm not paying $28 for one episode.

Very nice features, but very ugly price. Renting it sounds like the best idea.

Gday every1 new to forums really looking forward to Patlabor the movie,Patlabour 2 & The Wings of Honneamise as these are the movies that got me into Anime. Also cant wait for Ghost in the shell, ninja scroll & Last exile the series these are my favorites never heard of Freedom,$29 seems to much for 1 episode. :)

Netflix it. That's what I did.

me too, im downloading the extra content now.

Watched it last night and was impressed with the PQ. I definitely am looking forward to the rest of Bandai's releases. I don't think the three Zeta Gundam movies have been released on R1 DVD. Here's hoping that one gets a Twin-Format release. :)

I couldn't connect online using the xbox360 and it didn't have an option for hd-dvd or dvd. It went right to hd-dvd.

I had to update to the latest bios for the A20 before i could download the content.Don't know if that helps those having a hard time downloading anything.I've also heard there are plans to publish the new Evagelion sequel to the same DVD/HD DVD format as an exclusive once it's finished production.

I concur, Netflix it baby! :D

Watched it last night and was impressed with the PQ. I definitely am looking forward to the rest of Bandai's releases. I don't think the three Zeta Gundam movies have been released on R1 DVD. Here's hoping that one gets a Twin-Format release. :)

Bandai Entertainment has the rights to those, not Bandai Visual USA. There are currently some sort of issues regarding the rights though so there is potential for it to end up in BVUSA's hands. But as of the announcement at Otakon 2006, Bandai Entertainment has them.

I'd love to support this but the cost is nuts.

Bandai Entertainment has the rights to those, not Bandai Visual USA. There are currently some sort of issues regarding the rights though so there is potential for it to end up in BVUSA's hands. But as of the announcement at Otakon 2006, Bandai Entertainment has them.

I just ordered R2 versions of the three Zeta movies from CDJapan this week. The first movie was at normal 6000 Y, the second was on sale for 3,600 and the third was 4200. They recently emailed out a 500 yen coupon to people on their mailing list and I had enough frequent buyer points to cover shipping.

Bandai Entertainment has been sitting on the rights of many Gundam series, so I gave up on waiting.

I just ordered R2 versions of the three Zeta movies from CDJapan this week. The first movie was at normal 6000 Y, the second was on sale for 3,600 and the third was 4200. They recently emailed out a 500 yen coupon to people on their mailing list and I had enough frequent buyer points to cover shipping.

Bandai Entertainment has been sitting on the rights of many Gundam series, so I gave up on waiting.

Bandai Entertainment has only announced that they have the rights to the Zeta movies though. They haven't announced any other gundam series - mostly because the older ones just don't sell and at this point it doesn't seem profitable to bring them over. Fans only want the new stuff so bringing over the old ones is something they want to do but have to figure out a way to make it work. So it's hard to complain about them sitting on titles that they haven't actually acquired.

I just got this disc, I think its great. I'm a big fan of anime, espeically Akira, so I have been eying this title for a while. I initially wrote this disc off as a rip-off, but I finally bite the bullet and ordered it. I can't say that I regret picking this title up at all. The animation is simply amazing, some of the best I've seen to date. They use a combo of 3d computer graphics and hand-drawn artwork which they blend together seamlessly. The art direction is reminiscent of Akira. Make no mistake, this is the best any anime has ever looked on a home system. If you are a fan of anime, it is worth getting the disc (or at least renting) to see how good anime will look in the future. I thought the story was good, or at least a good introduction to the characters (I have yet to see the rest of the series). Also a great showcase piece as the PQ is top notch.

I admit, the price is a bit of a buzz-kill for one episode, but its a top quality release. Just consider what this disc is: the first twin format release (AFAIK), the first anime on HD-DVD (or any HiDef disc, in the US at least), first HD-DVD to use downloadable content, and the most impressive IME to date. This is a *real* collectors item, not just a regular movie with a "collectors edition" sticker on it. For that, I think it justifies the premium price. Realistically it should be priced less, but its still worth it in my opinion. I plan on getting the remainder of the series whenever they get released.