Video:
Okay, after spending the entire day watching this set, from the first to last episode, I?ve come to these conclusions:
The picture quality is GREAT on the first 3 discs, each disc only containing 4 episodes each, losing only the half point in my rating, due to some minor pixiliating and graininess during some fight scenes (but not enough to turn anyone away from purchasing this set) on disc 4, as it contains 8 episodes on a duel layer format.
Each of the first 3 discs has, as I mentioned above, 4 episodes per disc, which include one opening in both the English then Japanese languages, and one closing, with each episode having the summery of the last episodes at the beginning of the episode (I mean really, do you need to have the opening and closing credits played on each episode, seeing as they?re all the same anyway? :)
Where as disc 4, technically, is two discs merged into one, as there?s the opening credits, 4 episodes and closing credits, THEN there?s the opening credits, the last 4 episodes and closing credits.
If you venture onto the menu page (as each disc starts right off, skipping the menu page) on disc 4, you?ll find a page with just 4 episodes, 13 to 16, with a thing at the bottom left saying, ?Next 5? (which is odd, as there are only 4 more episodes left to play, but nothing to worry about) and when you highlight this and press enter, it will look like you haven?t gone anywhere, as the page shows the exact same episodes, 13 to 16, but if you look down at the bottom left, it will now say, ?Next 4?, and you?ll just have to do the math to figure out that the 13 on this page is actually 17, 14 is actually 18, etc? It sounds screwy, but it?s not that hard, and if you just play all the episodes straight through (like I did) and hit the advance button on the remote to surpass the ending and opening credits after the first 4 episodes on disc 4, then it will play the last 4 episodes without any confusion.
Audio:
I listened to the English audio track, and found that disc 1 had the same problem that the R1 disc had, which is a slight, tinny zing, at the higher end of any higher pitched dialog (which can tend to leave a nice ringing in the ears, if you?re stereo is turned up to loud, since most of the dialog is said by three, high school girls, with pretty high end voices) where as the other discs are relatively good (also noticed that the Japanese dialog had a slightly higher volume to it, when I switched back and forth for a minute).
NOTE: The discs surpass the main menu and start right into the show, with the presets appearing to be set for English language and no subtitles, and if you want to change these settings, you can?t do it through the main menu, but only via the ?Language? and ?Subtitle? buttons on your remote (so you may want to check to see if you?re remote function buttons work, before deciding to acquire this set, but most DVD player remotes do, do this).
Subtitle:
I listened to the English audio track, and found that disc 1 had the same problem that the R1 disc had, which is a slight, tinny zing, at the higher end of any higher pitched dialog (which can tend to leave a nice ringing in the ears, if you?re stereo is turned up to loud, since most of the dialog is said by three, high school girls, with pretty high end voices) where as the other discs are relatively good (also noticed that the Japanese dialog had a slightly higher volume to it, when I switched back and forth for a minute).
NOTE: The discs surpass the main menu and start right into the show, with the presets appearing to be set for English language and no subtitles, and if you want to change these settings, you can?t do it through the main menu, but only via the ?Language? and ?Subtitle? buttons on your remote (so you may want to check to see if you?re remote function buttons work, before deciding to acquire this set, but most DVD player remotes do, do this).
Comment:
I was pleasantly surprised by this anime, as at first glance, it looks to be something specifically geared towards young girls, but if you give it a chance (like I did, killing an entire day, watching each episode, to make sure that they were all present, long story?lol) and look past a few of the cliché bits (gotta have the cute, fluffy, ?Mascotish? character) then I think you to will find this a tad more then just, ?Fluff?, as it is, it plays out quite like a D&D game, what with sword and magic, monster fighting, evolving armor and weapons (evolving through life experience gathered through the three main characters quest to fulfill, their destiny, and, ?Save? a kidnapped princess, and the world that is falling into ruins because of it). There?s even some nice mecha stuff nearer the end of the series, and a very shocking twist at the end (which you may guess part of, as the series progresses, but you?ll never figure out the full extent of the twist, till the end, which for some reason, some people have been put off by, but I personally give the writers kudos, for having the guts to do, as the writers could very well have went for the standered, ?Sap-Happy?, Politically Correct ending, that it seemed to be heading for, instead of the thought provoking ending that they give us).
Also, this set is great for the price (I got mine for $40, which is MUCH nicer then the $140 that the R1 version goes for).
