So this disc was released yesterday in Japan.
I was about to order it (even though it costs insane 90$) but wanted to wait for some reviews before spending that much money. Anybody ordered this disc or knows a site where this one has been reviewed yet?

Kannisto. Please open your can of whoop azz on this.
I think I saw this today in Yodobashi Akiba.

I saw it in Shinjuku in BIC Camera at 9260 yen but they only had BD version and then I saw it in Shinjuku Yodobashi Camera (both versions) but they are selling at MRSP which is > 10 000 yen. Yodobashi Camera was playing something on a demo screen but since I've not actually seen Patlabor or Wings of Honneamise, I'm not sure which one it was and I didn't watch it so carefully... It was in a case that holds 2 DVD type cases, one is an HD DVD (or BD depending on version) and the other a DVD of the same content.

For the OP: it would have been good to pre-order it from Amazon JP because they had it at 7780 yen until the release date, but now that it's been released they sell at MRSP. They normally provide pre-order discount of 25 % but that expires on the release date. Right now there might be some places to order from that are providing some discount and ship internationally.

I didn't buy this one at least yet so I can't provide a review myself, there are probably some reviews in Japanese somewhere, I'll try to find something on it :)

Is there English subtitles?

Is there English subtitles?

Yes, optional English subs are included. I have Bandai Visual's leaflet about this and their other releases. Here is the spec for the Patlabor HD DVD:

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (Japanese), PCM (Japanese Dolby Surround, theatrical audio track), DD+ 5.1 (English)

Video: VC-1/16:9 1080p HD (Note that BD version is encoded in AVC instead)

Subtitles: Optional English

Notably differences between HD DVD vs. BD: VC-1 vs. AVC and DD+ vs. DD for English audio.

Yes, optional English subs are included. I have Bandai Visual's leaflet about this and their other releases. Here is the spec for the Patlabor HD DVD:

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (Japanese), PCM (Japanese Dolby Surround, theatrical audio track), DD+ 5.1 (English)

Video: VC-1/16:9 1080p HD (Note that BD version is encoded in AVC instead)

Subtitles: Optional English

Notably differences between HD DVD vs. BD: VC-1 vs. AVC and DD+ vs. DD for English audio.

Nice. Any idea what the audio bitrate is for the English tracks? Not that I'd use them but it would be good to know.

Too rich for my blood. Here's hoping I hit the lottery soon, or that the US version is significantly cheaper. :(

Btw, is there any news on a US release for Patlabor or any of Bandai Visuals other upcoming releases?

Btw, is there any news on a US release for Patlabor or any of Bandai Visuals other upcoming releases?

They've announced Wings of Honneamise and Freedom vol. 2 for US as upcoming releases, I think no annoucements for Patlabor and others as of now but it's quite possible they might release those there too.

Right now I think YesAsia.com is a cheaper source for Patlabor for international orders than Amazon JP when their free shipping is considered. Their price is just a little bit higher than Japanese MRSP.

http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/section-videos/code-j/version-all/pid-1004710312/

I found some online sources that sell it at 20 % off but those are very domestic Japanese ones and I doubt they have any international shipping possibilities and the sites are entirely in Japanese.

HMV Japan has English support on their page and they sell this at 20 % off and it even seems they can ship overseas since they have "overseas customers" section in their help section. I don't know much about their online shop and shipping as I have never bought from there.

http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2546494

Nice. Any idea what the audio bitrate is for the English tracks? Not that I'd use them but it would be good to know.

At least I've not seen that bitrate info anywhere...

How about the Japanese track? Is it lossless. F@ck dubs.

Too rich for my blood. Here's hoping I hit the lottery soon, or that the US version is significantly cheaper. :(

The US release of Honneamise by Bandai Visual which has the same Yen price will be $80 MSRP.

Bandai Visual USA also recently released the 30 minute Freedom HD-DVD for $40. They have also released a number of 2 episode standard definition anime titles for $40. BVUSA no longer considers the US market as a secondary market and feel as though that US fans should foot a bigger portion of the production bill. My big question is why should we wait for the US release dates when they cost the same as the Japanese region free (or region A Blu-ray) versions? This seems completely absurd, and I'm planning on ordering the import Honneamise and GITS later this summer.

On a side note Columbia has Tekon Kinkreet on Blu-Ray at $39 MSRP, and I hope they price Cowboy Bebop, PAPRIKA and Steamboy around the same. I'll gladly buy high def versions of good films for $40, but will grudgingly buy only my favorites at $80.

I should receive mine in the mail tomorrow, judging by the tracking info, but I chose the blu-ray versions, so will only be able to comment on those ones. I'd had the pre-order in for months when they revealed the HD DVD versions and decided to stick with what I had ordered.

I just ordered the HD-DVD Version. Damn, I just couldn't wait any longer. It's a curse with High Definition. Oh well, better not think about what "useful" things i could have done with the money ;)
If it will look just half as good as the Freedom disc i'll be happy though
In the end it's just money (i have to tell myself that now so i wont regret that purchase too much :p )

My big question is why should we wait for the US release dates when they cost the same as the Japanese region free (or region A Blu-ray) versions? This seems completely absurd, and I'm planning on ordering the import Honneamise and GITS later this summer.

Because I'll be able to a the US version from amazon for 40% off msrp. Show me where you can get the same discount on these imports. :rolleyes:

Because I'll be able to a the US version from amazon for 40% off msrp. Show me where you can get the same discount on these imports. :rolleyes:

The Honneamise Blu/HD is currently 30% off at amazon US. All the BV high def discs are 25% off at amazon.co.jp. It might be worth waiting an extra couple months for the 5% difference and free shipping for Honneamise, but who knows when the domestic versions of their other titles will be released. I think I'll pre-order the imports for Jin-Roh and Ghost in the Shell 1.

The Honneamise Blu/HD is currently 30% off at amazon US. All the BV high def discs are 25% off at amazon.co.jp. It might be worth waiting an extra couple months for the 5% difference and free shipping for Honneamise, but who knows when the domestic versions of their other titles will be released. I think I'll pre-order the imports for Jin-Roh and Ghost in the Shell 1.
I didn't know Honneamise was up on amazon us, thanks for letting me know. With my 10% amazon discount, it came out to $50, which was still high but a hell of a lot better than what it would have cost importing from Japan. I think I'll wait for subsequent Bandai releases to turn up on amazon us, since I expect they'll be making all HD-DVD releases available in the US, and in so doing, get the extra 10% discount I earned last year.

Thanks for the heads up on the Honeamisse release though. Sept can't come soon enough.

The Honneamise Blu/HD is currently 30% off at amazon US. All the BV high def discs are 25% off at amazon.co.jp. It might be worth waiting an extra couple months for the 5% difference and free shipping for Honneamise, but who knows when the domestic versions of their other titles will be released. I think I'll pre-order the imports for Jin-Roh and Ghost in the Shell 1.

That 25% discount at Amazon JP is available in pre-order phase but from release date it's no longer available for new orders. One additional consideration point would be potential region coding of the included DVD disc if that matters to some. I haven't checked if the DVDs are region free. It wouldn't matter for me though.

I have the box sets sitting in front of me right now and the Patlabor DVD has region coding symbol for region 2 but the Wings one has both region 2 and 1. Go figure.

I have the box sets sitting in front of me right now and the Patlabor DVD has region coding symbol for region 2 but the Wings one has both region 2 and 1. Go figure.

Maybe that indicates something about their plan to release Wings both in Japan and US while Patlabor has only been announced for Japan (so far).

Maybe that indicates something about their plan to release Wings both in Japan and US while Patlabor has only been announced for Japan (so far).
Maybe. I have the blu-ray versions and they are also region free.

Well is Patlabor worth the price anyone? I'm working in our Tokyo offices next to Yodobashi Akiba in Akihabara this week. Went there twice to buy this but then couldn't justify the price of around 10,250 Yen (about $86). Today they had another Bandai Anime set, but I wasn't familiar with it and couldn't read the package. Similar packaging as Patlabor with TrueHD soundtrack as well and same price.

I'm interested in eye candy on this one and hopefully an entertaining story to watch. I'm sorry to report though that the BD selection was much more than HD DVD (although I'm happy with either format now).

Thanks,

-xrispy

Well is Patlabor worth the price anyone? I'm working in our Tokyo offices next to Yodobashi Akiba in Akihabara this week. Went there twice to buy this but then couldn't justify the price of around 10,250 Yen (about $86). Today they had another Bandai Anime set, but I wasn't familiar with it and couldn't read the package. Similar packaging as Patlabor with TrueHD soundtrack as well and same price.

I'm interested in eye candy on this one and hopefully an entertaining story to watch. I'm sorry to report though that the BD selection was much more than HD DVD (although I'm happy with either format now).

Thanks,

-xrispy
Well, anything by Oshii is worth buying. Personally though if I'm going to spend $90 on one of these titles it'll be Patlabor 2. Which reminds me, I better hop over to amazon and preorder it asap.

I really want to get this, but the price is killer. What is Bandai thinking?

Wings of Honneamise has the exact same 10290 yen msrp as the Patlabor movies, but since it's going to be released in the US, it's up on amazon at $56 after the 30% discount, so after the extra 10% discount it's $50 shipped second day with my prime membership. I can do $50 shipped for on title. That's within the realm of the acceptable. So I'm just gonna wait until the Patlabor movies are released in the US. If would make absolutely zero sense for them to include english audio and subtitle tracks if they weren't planning on releasing it in the US at some point in the future. Also it would go against their stated goal of moving towards world wide releases for their properties. Anyways, for a potential savings of $40 I can do without these titles for a while.