CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Well, I made a topic a while back WAY before Blu Ray started to be as massively produce (and succeeding Hi Def) as it is now, on if there's really even a big difference. Well, after seeing 300 on a nice big Plasma, I can say that there IS for sure! Details you never noticed while watching it in DVD from skin texture and even the tiny hairs on people, it IS rather amazing! I only own a couple of live-action DVDs of my favorite movies, but there is some I don't have and I'll probably wait for them to come on Blu Ray, and I'll see what special features are on my others, since I have all these very nice special eds that I might hold onto longer. But there is a larger portion of my collection I own from: anime.

Groups like FUNI have jumped on the bandwagon of Blu Ray, but personally, I don't really think I'll be putting my money into hi def animation^^ Some of them are already animated WONDERFULLY (give or takes series/movies that are older), and some will never exist, due to licensing properties. I remember when Ghost in the Shell: Innocence was first released in Japan on Blu and someone took some screen shots of the difference. Personally, I only noticed ONE big difference. In a scene, a char was given a glow and on Blu, they were more visible to the glow.

So in my opinion, animation is animation. You can only even re image something SO much to make it look cleaner before in some cases, it won't look like classic art. Still, I'd rather stick my money into live-action, where the difference is THERE and VERY noticeable. I know many people here are like "meh" with it, or are worried about the format wars (in which Blu already won, since some Hi Def ONLY companies have started doing both formats), if you get the chance to watch something in Blu, the difference is totally there^^ As for animation, well, what do you all think?

I have to agree. Animation doesn't benefit from the increased resolutions and bitrates, as it tend not to have very much detail in it aside from lines and color. The fine detail that shows up so well in HD just isn't there.

Now I will say that CG animated films can benefit quite a bit from HD. Some of the detail found in the more recent ones just never stood out well on the SD televisions.

Hmmmm, I who have the blue ray *PS3* would not mind a anime development in the blue-ray section. With future technology showing development that could increase the storage capabilities of blueray up to 250 gig suggests that entire series could be stored on a single multi layer disk. Which would be a nice development in my eyes. In terms of quality blue-ray has strong audio and visual improvements. There is an improvement, but then again dvd also has quality that is more than enough for my taste. Still, I don't mind haveing that extra egde of quality that blue-ray can provide.

As for the format wars. HD-DVD is a strong opponent in the eyes of blueray. It does not have as strong quality as blueray, but it is ALOT cheaper for the time beeing. It is a very close called battle so far. I too think blueray will win, but I am hopeing that multiple formats will be the outcome even though that is highly unlikely.

Cognitive Gear wrote:Now I will say that CG animated films can benefit quite a bit from HD. Some of the detail found in the more recent ones just never stood out well on the SD televisions.

AH yes, CG movies would be quite the exception. Don't see too many available on Blu yet, except Disney's Dinosaurs (which I want to watch one day since I never got to).

Oh and if anyone is worried in the least about expense in this new format, I was surprised that 300 was ONLY 2 bucks more than the 2 disk special ed! Although HD is yeah, rather affordable, Blue Ray REALLY isn't too much more... Heck, from what I remember the price difference is BETTER than when DVDs first came out, comparing to the new release VHS prices.

Animation as a whole just doesn't seem like a medium good for hi def... Then again I was shocked at the difference when I got my first DVD player (a PS2 that I still use for that purpose today) and my first anime DVD (Sorcerer Hunters vol. 1). You know, the difference was large between the two and I wondered how I'd ever watch VHS again. Not having seen anime on hi def or blue ray, maybe there is a big difference.

Just thought I'd throw in a weak little devil's advocate.

In my opinion they're both silly and neither need to become a new standard.

DVD's came out in 1996 and became standard by 2002. Why do we need to switch now? And as someone who watches 97% of animation with 3% of live action, I see even less reason to switch. Why not be content?

In all honesty, I'd rather just switch to downloading my films to a hard-drive if I ever was going to find a successor to the DVD.

Alexander wrote:DVD's came out in 1996 and became standard by 2002. Why do we need to switch now? And as someone who watches 97% of animation with 3% of live action, I see even less reason to switch. Why not be content?

It's all about making money. That and most people watch Live action stuff over animated things in the U.S. Probably even the world.

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]Show you how old school I am--

I recently bought a VHS/DVD Combo player over a DVD Recorder. Blu-Ray doesn't interest me no more or no less than Plasma TV's and HD-TV.[/color][/SIZE][/font]

Yeah it's not really that necessary to use Blue Ray or HD DVD in anime releases. I still pop my anime DVDs into a 7" screen portable DVD player. I know how bad it is but it's still good for someone like me.

ilikegir33 wrote:Yeah it's not really that necessary to use Blue Ray or HD DVD in anime releases. I still pop my anime DVDs into a 7" screen portable DVD player. I know how bad it is but it's still good for someone like me.

I just thought of something...I got a standard CRT TV with a standard DVD player, and when I watched AIR TV the other day, it came out BEAUTIFULLY and the sound was great too! ("Piko-Piko!") HD-TV and Blu-Ray in anime is kinda redundant because modern anime is getting much clearer!

In my mind, I don't have a very large budget for anything. And if I do plan to buy something at the $100+ range, I need a good reason to do it.

DVD was far supreme to VHS because:

A: It was more compact.

B: A DVD would last longer then a VHS.

C: The picture quality wouldn't go down with time or experience fuzzing as the video aged. A DVD would just stop showing the picture or skip.

D: It allowed the option for subtitles in Anime. I only watch Anime in subtitles.

Blu-Ray on the other hand, besides increased storage which would be great for future video games (not movies) that would take up more then 4.7 GB of space, gives me little to no reason to switch.

Better clarity isn't a good enough reason to make me put down enough money to buy a high end iMac. And if it wasn't for my video game consoles, I probably wouldn't own a television either. If I'm ever going to upgrade from my 13' television, I'll do it when I can buy a 16' flat screen at an affordable price. Otherwise, I'm happy. XD

I find it very interesting that AIR was brought up in this thread. I once thought that HD anime would be a waste. AIR is the show that actually convinced me that HD anime was not only a potentially great development, but it literally floored me.

AIR was re-released in Blu-ray format in Japan last year, and was re-rendered from the original source (almost all of anime is made on a computer these days), and the difference was impressive. A lot cleaner, but in particular, the special effects and backgrounds benefit the most.

But that didn't hold a candle to the re-done opening. The opening was completely redone in 1280x720 (720p standard resolution). When a segment of animation is designed, FROM THE GROUND UP, with HD in mind, the result is mind-blowing. If you can get your hands on it, check it out before you simply throw HD anime off as a gimmick.


That said, the transition to HD isn't nearly as important as the VHS to DVD transition. It wouldn't be the end of the world if we never see it mainstream, but I'm not getting off the bandwagon.

I'm also a little weary, so far, of this new format war. Visual improvments are fine and everything, but that alone would not provide nearly enough insentive for me to start converting my extensive DVD collection to another format.

What was the major attraction of DVDs over VHS (besides the visuals?)? The durability, the possibilities for extra features, the ability to store more data, and multiple languages (the last one especially important for anime fans!). Besides great visual improvment, do Blu Ray and HD-DVD really provide anything new that regular DVD doesn't already? Do we really need a new format? Personally, I don't think so. I have heard that the new format have the potential to store signifigantly greater amounts of data than regular DVDs (as Jaden mentioned), but until they start taking advantage of that, the new format will hold little appeal to me (at least until it totally takes over, and I'm FORCED to make the transition)

And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if, ultimately, the new formats don't reach their "full potential", at least in relation to the anime market. While the idea of having an *entire* anime series released on only a single disc is very appealing, I wonder if it would actually be economicly feasible to do such a thing. Licences are expensive, and often the standard "3 to 4 episodes per disc" release schedule is the only way the companies can actually make a profit. If we DID start seeing high capacity Blu Ray/HD DVD releases, I doubt they would be any less expensive than DVD boxes are now.

Rocketshipper wrote: While the idea of having an *entire* anime series released on only a single disc is very appealing,

Actually... it's not THAT great.... I saw the boxset of Blue Planet (in high def) in stores, and the DVD boxset contained 5 disks while the Blu Ray contained 4... So yes it does limit disks, but wouldn't be THAT condensed... Gotta remember that yes there IS definitely more space on them, but alot of it is taken up by the high def quality. Really, it just makes it one disk less (like how 300 has 1 disk on Blu and 2 disks for special edition DVD).

If that's true, then I guess I really won't be getting blu-ray or HD-DVD until the last possible second.

Well, regular DVDs aren't going out anytime soon it seems anyway.

Neither Blu-Ray or HD-DVD are worth the hype they're getting.

well one benefit of blu-ray is that they are scratch resistant. and the space they hold, I can see putting my current dvd collection on such a disk, but until the format war is over I wouldn't go for it yet.

There's a similiar thread at Dualfans forum.Basically there is no real reason to switch from DVD to either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.
Another thing to consider is that we still have Videos and Laser Discs
around as well.
Even if Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD caught on it would not mean the end of
DVDs as we have them now.I think more people would tend to stick to DVDs for anime and other animation and live action because the cost is cheaper and they're easier to find.

This is bringing back to mind that whole VHS/BETA war of the early 80's.

rocklobster wrote:This is bringing back to mind that whole VHS/BETA war of the early 80's.

Yes let's hope the lessers doesn't win this time

I've now got an HDDVD player and I'm probably going to get Freedom even though it's costly. 25 minutes=$35? Come on!

KhakiBlueSocks wrote:[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]Show you how old school I am--

I recently bought a VHS/DVD Combo player over a DVD Recorder. Blu-Ray doesn't interest me no more or no less than Plasma TV's and HD-TV.[/color][/SIZE][/font]

Sooner or later we will all need either an HD-TV or a HD Tuner, supposedly in 2010 all station will me standardized in an HD signal. Well at least this is what I am hearing at my job.

As for Blu-Ray and Hi Def Anime I don't know how you can make it more vibrant than it already is unless it has CG.

gamergirl2 wrote:i disagree! HD is the best! blu ray sucks! well 1:when you buy blu ray it goes to sony. 2:blu ray just got a dvd player out which is version 1.1 and its STILL behind HD dvd players and HD dvd players came out 2 YEARS AGO!
3:All blu ray wants is your money and then you get crappy animation. 4:blu ray are liars like ford people!XD *(i am a chevy person!)*

1) You're money goes to Sony AND any of the companies you buy from it... Besides, does HD not make things to get your money too?

2) Blu Ray players have been around for a while... Just rare and expensive.

3) 'crappy animation'? Ummm quality is on par with HD, if not higher with it's 10gigs of extra space...

4) How do they 'lie'? I hope this biasedness has backup^^

But no seriously, Blu Rays sell better, has more titles, and you can only buy from 2 companies now on HD since Warner is dropping it for Blu Ray...

Tenshi no Ai wrote:AH yes, CG movies would be quite the exception. Don't see too many available on Blu yet, except Disney's Dinosaurs (which I want to watch one day since I never got to).

Ratatoullie, Cars, The Pixar Shorts Collection, Ice Age... All on Bluray, and they show it off better than most normal (live action) movies do. Also I've had many people tell me that seeing animation in high def is worth it for theatrical productions with high detail. I'd love to see an enhanced version of Secret of NIMH on Bluray.

Ratatoullie was the first high def movie to hit the top 5 for presales out of all movies including regular DVD... The DVD version of Ratatoullie hit #1.

And I see Gamergirl trolled this thread before she tried to start an argument with me... Hmm... I promised myself I would no longer argue with her (or anyone) about this issue.

Bobtheduck wrote:Ratatoullie, Cars, The Pixar Shorts Collection, Ice Age...

The topic is a couple months old now when I posted that :p That all is more newer stuff.

Bobtheduck wrote:And I see Gamergirl trolled this thread before she tried to start an argument with me... Hmm... I promised myself I would no longer argue with her (or anyone) about this issue.

Sony ftw But yeah, hope there will be a valid point to be made on her behalf. I like to know the reason with why people dislike things with such passion.

While Blu-ray and HD-DVD are in a fairly stale deadlock here in the states (as far as I can tell), in Japan, it's not even close. Blu-Ray is dominating there. Don't expect too much anime on HD-DVD in the future.

TriezGamer wrote:While Blu-ray and HD-DVD are in a fairly stale deadlock here in the states (as far as I can tell), in Japan, it's not even close. Blu-Ray is dominating there. Don't expect too much anime on HD-DVD in the future.

Yeah it's pretty big over there. As far as gaming consoles are concerned, they love their Sonys and feel... 'ehh.... :/" about their Xboxs. I also remember hearing that AIR appeared on Blu Ray and was quite the hit, or something like that. ZSo yeah, overwhelming popularity over seas as well.

Yeah, I hear more people ask about Blu/HD rather than buy them. HD fans are funny^^ At work I made the comment that Blu has more titles (which it in fact, does) and a customer who was obviously an HD supporter was like "uhhh no, HD does, it's just that Walmart supports Blu". Well, in reality Blu still has more titles being made, so anywhere you go, the Blu section is exceptionally bigger... I decided not to argue with the customer cause I know my facts and actually look these things up^^

I don't plan on ever getting an HD or Blu Ray DVD player till one kills the other off... but I thought this was somewhere in sight cause I just recently heard the head hancho of the Blu Ray devision was deciding to concede. I'll have to look into it but I thought someone said that the other day.

I really haven't been keeping up on either or who is doing better, all I know is I'm not buying either player till one is knocked out. Not going to buy a player if I can't buy any title I want cause it was exclusively released to the other format.

Ok, thank you for making a valid point instead of just saying 'it sucks'.

...now we're way off topic :/