Space Battleship Yamato 2199 is a remake of the almost 40 year old Japanese Anime, Space Battleship Yamato. For those in the know, this original series, which was actually 3 series total, was what was made into the US and Australian release called Star Blazers. That "little known" series, Star Blazers...Story goes that the Earth is in its death throes, as the planet is being attacked by Gamilians, an advanced race of beings similar to humans with the exception of their skin color. The Earthlings have been instructed by Starsha, who has sent her 2 sisters to Earth, to use the Wave Motion Engine to journey to her home planet, Iscandar. There they will supposedly find the means to restore the decimated planet Earth to its former glory.
The episodes on this disc have the OMCS going down and the Yamato needing to make a pit stop at a nearby planet to get physical supplies. The Yamato has a mutiny and is almost destroyed by a massive Gamilan fleet. Domel is branded a traitor, Desler has a personal tragedy. We learn just who Yuki Mori is and/or isn't. And they make it to the Great Magellan Cloud.
There are 4 episodes on this disc.
I've reused some of the text from my previous reviews of 2199 discs, since the video/audio/packaging stay pretty much at the same quality.
To help those that aren't Japanese readers/speakers, to turn on subtitles you can do it 2 ways.
1) Wait for the main program to start
2) Press the subtitle button on your remote and switch on English
The other way:
1) wait for the main program to start
2) Press your Pop Up Menu option
3) Press DOWN on your remote (ON, which appears on the pop up menu, should turn GREEN)
4) Press ENTER on the remote
5) Press Pop Up Menu again and you should have subtitles
BLU RAY REGION ENCODING: from all my testing, all of the Yamato 2199 discs released so far are Region Free and should play in any player.
Video:
One thing you can hand to just about any Japanese release is that it will have the highest quality possible, even if it might be something you wouldn't notice in practice. Yamato 2199 is no exception.
The video is encoded in AVC. The bit rate sits strong at 35 39 mbps. Given the audio is in LPCM at 2.3 mbps constant bit rate, this is about as high as I've ever seen in video bit rates.
This translates into rock solid video quality, with no compression problems to be seen. Anywhere. Ever. Simply looks amazing.
Audio:
LPCM audio running at a constant 2.3 mbps. This is a Japanese audio track only. Music is clear. Dialog is clear. Stereo separation is very good as well and they use the sound stage well.
If you are looking for English audio, similar to what Gundam Unicorn has, you will be disappointed. This disc is Japanese spoken language only. There are English subtitles, which I discuss below.
I have to make a comment on the music. The music captures the 1970s sound perfectly. Well, just about as perfectly as you can capture it in 2012.
Subtitles:
I don't usually rate subtitles, but since this is a Japanese release, I felt it a good idea to add to my normal BD review format.
The subtitles are well done. White subtitles. The translations, for the most part, are spot on. They do a good job trying to capture English idioms with the translations, much the way localization generally happens when an Anime is licensed for US release. I believe the subtitle company is actually NYAV Post, which is also the company doing subs on Gundam Unicorn, which are also very good as well.
If you don't mind reading subtitles, you should have no problem understanding what's going on.
Extras:
The extras are, unfortunately, Japanese dialog only with no English subtitles. This is kind of disappointing since you pay so much for the discs, but they ARE targeted at the Japanese audience first and foremost.
On this disc, you have an audio commentary for episode 1X. Niimi, Ito, and Yutaka Izubuchi (the script writer).
There is another digest episode (6-ish minutes).
Comparison of 2199 vs the Original. 10 minutes.
"Theatrical" synopses for eps 2 and 3. 1:11
You cannot turn on the audio commentary through the audio button on the remote, it has to be done in the extras menu. If someone needs help figuring that out, leave me a comment in my review and I'll do what I can to explain how to get there.
In terms of other extras, there is a nice printed booklet included. Inside are character and mechanical designs and a synopsis. If you can't read Japanese, you can just appreciate the nice design artwork.
Packaging:
If you were lucky enough to purchase this disc during the First Run, you would have gotten a nice cardboard slip cover. Otherwise, you get the cover artwork you see in the Amazon listing above. On the back is a synopsis, disc stats and a hand full of screen captures from the included 4 episodes.
Over all:
The show is... amazing. Absolutely one of the best Anime series I've seen in a long, long time. They did a fantastic job of following the old series but injecting newness into it. For me, the price was worth it (I actually ordered from Amazon Japan and got a few of the 2199 releases to save on shipping).
It is painfully expensive, but worth it if you can afford the luxury.
If you have the means, this is HIGHLY recommended. If it is ever licensed for domestic US release, buying it should become a no brainer for everyone.
Like other DVDs in Japanese with English subtitles. If your player like mine you probably have to turn on subtitle option as the subtitles don't start up on it own like the episodes themselves do. It has a nice wrap around image of the Yamato slip cover over the blu-ray case and come with a booklet to talk about episodes, characters and mechanic of the ships. This volume I can really see how new series work well in theaters with episodes put together in movie format.
The fact Vol 3 alone cost me $80 and Vol 4 and vol 5 together cost me $100 would say one save buying in bulk from Japan.
Buy Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Vol.5 (Uchu Senkan Yamato 2199) (English Subtitles) (2013) Now
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