Video:

As this is a direct r2 rip video is very good, just a hint of aliasing on some scenes.

Audio:

No problems of any kind, very nearly perfect.

Subtitle:

On the series itself, R1 in quality, As elsewhere mentioned the special features subs suck, engrish to the max, although I could understand them.

Comment:

This seems to be a series people either love or hate, no middle ground. Me? I liked it very much, in some aspects it was a little over the top, like the missles falling out of her back?!?! A very unusual take on the common anime love story.

Video:

Saw this on a laptop and the first disk looked blurry. I had to push the laptop back in order to see better. Didn't really notice it after a while. Maybe my eyes adjusted to it, was really annoying in the beginning though.

Audio:

Didn't notice anything wrong w/ the Japanese track.

Subtitle:

Really good english subtitles. No grammar or spelling mistakes noticed. I think someone said these were ripped from the r2.

Comment:

I think I have an older version of this set. Mine is not the same case pic shown for MI but it definately is MI.. it says so on the case and I noticed the logo in the beginning of each dvd. My version came with a case showing the two lovers hugging each other while standing, on the left side of the front cover. Chise's arm is the weapon. I bought it about a month ago on ebay for around $17. All three discs come in one case. It doesn't open up or anything. I think other people are selling the newer mac version of this (the one w/ the same image as this description) for like 30 bucks.

Video:

Awesome, thats all i have to say about it, best looking HK i have ever seen. R2 rips i am asuming. Since they put the series on 3 discs it really worked out well.

Audio:

No problems but it was only stereo so i can't give it a 5.

Subtitle:

Great subs, i am very pleased, although it makes me wonder why their other releases don't have subs this good... none the less i was very pleased.

Comment:

Although everything about this set is nice, including special features, i didn't like the anime at all. A lot of people liked it, it just got to be too rediculious for my tastes. Dont take my word for it though because the set is awesome and you may like it, as a lot of people did.

Video:

Perfection!!!!!!!! Every scene looked fantastic!!!

Audio:

Clean crisp audio, the action scenes sounded perfect. If you have a home theater put this baby to a test!!!

Subtitle:

I only saw 1 mispelled word, they said pool instead of pull, it was wrong cause they were talking about taking money out of an account so its obvious. I give the series a 5 but the special features subtitles are absolutely HORRIBLE!!!. They don't make sence at all, wrong names of the characters ( almost close but they wrote it differently from the series ), its a big shame since it has very good features, it has actor/creator/artist interviews, an explanation of the series, a special look at a convention only for the fans of the series, etc. I would give the SF subs a 3.5. Other than that the subs for the series are Perfect and thats the only subs that really matter.

Comment:

I really don't know what to say about this anime, I have these complaints: 1. They didn't say what countries were fighting each other, hell, it was a massacre!! 2. Did Chise ( main character ) was created by the military, with artificial memory, or was she human??. She says in the series she remembers her childhood, my guess is she wasnt cause for gods sake missiles came out of her back, A LOT OF THEM!! Also the ending is fu**ed up, I didnt think is was going to end that way, I'm not a spoiler so I wont say a word!!. The anime looks like a movie, its widescreen and it has that certain feel but I'm still glad they made it a 13 episode series cause if not it would have sucked. I liked this anime, its one of those unique ones that doesnt compare to others and it really deserves a look. In a way I would have wished they explained what I mentioned earlier. This anime is not for anyone, some will love it some will hate it. Its very tragic stuff, has romance, violence, blood, etc.... If you like this kind of anime buy it. But will warn you, it has its problems, and not too many people will like the ending.

Video:

Spot perfect! 3 discs for 13 episodes gives the video plenty of room to breath.

Audio:

As good as it gets. Very clear. No sound distortion or anything. Pur-fect!

Subtitle:

Taken directly from the R2. I would have guessed they were from an R1! Once again, perfect!

Comment:

Now, the only thing NOT perfect about this set is the show itself. Quite frankly, I thought it sucked. It was kinda boring, it was drawn out, and then they .... *SPOILER* ... killed off every bleedin' character in the most horrific ways!!!!! *END SPOILER* It was painful to watch, but not even a good painful, like Grave of the Fireflies. That was sad, but good. She, the Ultimate Weapon was just bad. It tried way to hard to be melodramatic, but instead got all wishy washy. Then they throw in some "shock" elements just to shake you up. They are completely not necessary, nor do these elements help the plot. They are just there to try and rig some tears from the audience. Bad bad storytelling. I cannot recommend this title to anybody. Even the character designs were horrible. Nobody had a nose! Even in profile they looked like their noses were sliced off their faces!! Urgh.

Video:

DVD ripped from the R2. Looks absolutely great. It's in Widescreen , but it's not Anarph. (just like the R2). Doesn't get a 5 because the M Logo pops up a couple of times (fortunatelly no email adresses)

Audio:

Sounded Good , no problems

Subtitle:

Almost as good as R1 subtitles...they were ripped from the R2, and are professional subs. There are just some overfrequent(in my opnion) use of "" ... no dropped lines or mistimings. Unfortunately the Next Episode Previews aren't subbed. The Extras are also subbed, but (from what i've seen) the subs appear to be much worse ... from the quick check i made , looked kinda Engrish (like it were translatted from the Chinese subs) ...and some did'nt seem to make much sense...So the 5 is just for the Series itself...if i get round to see all the extras i'll updade.

Comment:

R2 ripped ...looks pretty great. Includes lots of extras like interviews,trailers,backstage,reports from a convencion of fans ... (probably all the extras of the r2 region), but the subs for the extras appear (from a quick check) to be pretty Engrish.

Video:

Flat out gorgerous, besides having a perfect transfer the animation quality itself is the usual high standard you'd expect from Gonzo. The Episode counts are as follows, 4,3,6. The division may seem a bit odd at first but it becomes obvious that Disc 1 only holds 4 episodes because it contains most of the extras. Disc1 DVD9, Disc 2 DVD5 and finally Disc 3 being DVD9 as well. Some may think why all this space was required to hold a 13 episode series which we're used to seeing in DVD9 & DVD 5 format but this is an understandable decision made by MI considering the amount of extras contained and not a single drop in quality throughout the entire series. I noticed the MI logo appearing once or twice but I don't really mind them anyway.

Audio:

Outstanding, btw Saikano has one of the most moving anime soundtrack out there which compliments the scenes perfectly.

Subtitle:

I watched it mostly in Chinese sub but did ocassionally check out the English sub just to see how good it is. The English sub is fansub quality from what I've seen, even the extras are subbed which is a step beyond what we usually see. However I did feel the subs from the extras weren't as 'natural' as the main content itself, but seeing it as a bonus I am sure people would be glad that they were subbed in the first place.

Comment:

This set is the pinnacle of HK dvds, I was skeptical before watching this set not knowing the reason why MI released it as a 3 disc set rather than 2. As I progressed through the show I slowly realised that MI's decision to release it on 3 discs was a good one as it was necessary to maintain the transfer in its original quality. A lot of the earlier R2 rips looked good in slow motion scenes but you'd get pixelization as soon as things start moving quickly, none of that was visible here. They also realized how important extras are to some people and went out of their way to include presumeably all the extras included in the 5 R2 dvds released. There are 5 chapter breaks per episode, Opening, Part A, Part B, Ending, Next Episode Preview. Very nice indeed. The gatefold has pretty artwork but the front cover may be misleading to some people. Too bad the dvd holders were a pain to manipulate with the new design (a lot people should know what I am talking about). The show itself is deep and moving, unusal from Gonzo who're famous for pumping out good looking but not really deep shows. At its core it's a love story centered around Chise and Shuji but a lot of things happen and excellent supporting cast helps to create a few heart wrenching scenes. This is not your typical happy girl-meets-boy show, in fact a majority of the show has a gloomy feel to it as new problems pop up as the current one goes by. It starts off slow with a semi-bright feel to it but that's just a foreshadow to the tragic incidents that occurs one after another later on. There is some mild form of nudity and pretty heavy sexual references but I never found any of it offensive as it was needed to create an impact on the viewer (no fanservices sorry ). If you don't despise tragic love stories then it's worth every penny checking this out, it's one of those unique and powerful shows that'll remain in your mind for a long time.

Video:

Video looks gorgeous, crisp, vibrant in widescreen. Some might deduct a slight mark for MI's logo showing in the top right corner at the beginning of the 1st episode on each disc for like 2-3 seconds--but at least they didn't burn their contact info onto the middle of the screen as they did before.

Audio:

No discernable problems. Sounds fine.

Subtitle:

Subtitles seem to be perfect rips from the R2 DVDs, as the spelling, timing, grammar, translation, and word choice (as well as range of vocabulary) were awesome. The subs are even in italics when a character is thinking of something instead of saying it out loud! Unfortunately, the opening and closing music, as well as the next episode previews, are not subbed, although some of the credits are translated for the opening and closings.

Comment:

There are extras included on each disc, but I haven't checked them out. The plot involves the chaotic relationship between two 17 old kids, one being a normal high school boy and the other a 17 year old shy, petite, secret military weapon of ultimate destruction. A mix of romantic drama, silly comedy, devastating destruction and violence, as well as raw emotions. Overall, it appears that MI did a practically perfect rip of the R2 discs for this 3 DVD set. If you're interested in this anime, it's a safe buy in terms of technical qualities. If you're wondering about if you'd like the story, AnimeOnDVD has reviews of each R2 disc on their site.