Video:

It looks more like VHS quality than DVD quality. It's very noticeable, but not that bad! At least you can see clearly...

Audio:

Average audio...nothing seriously wrong with it! I'd say it's okay, but just like the video...the audio is VHS quality..

Subtitle:

Can somebody PLEASE tell me why the subtitles suck so much? I was very disappointed in what I saw right before my very own two eyes. There are some missing lines, misspelled names, tons of engrish, and bad timing. Possibly one of the worst subtitles I have seen in a long time. Absolutely horrible!

Comment:

I think Noir is an awesome series, and should be viewed by anyone who enjoys crime series. However, this DVD set over here, is 100% not recommended! I was very disappointed after finding out the qualities of this set. Heck, even the play option is misspelled (paly all). Uhhh yeah...ever heard of spell checking? I mean, I love the series very much, but if the subtitles were at least perfect or less flawed, then that'd be a keeper. But since the subs suck, I don't think it'll be a keeper for a long time. Now I'm currently saving up to buy the superior FX version of Noir, which has perfect subtitles, and better quality overall. After I get that set, I'll have to trash this one and delete this one out of my collection list!

Video:

Video seems a little hazy, like VHS.

Audio:

The sound also felt like VHS. The Dolby Digital 2.0 encoding seemed to be pretty bad and it didn't sound like a DVD at all. I'm using a surround setup so you may not notice it if you are just using your TV speakers.

Subtitle:

Terrible, just terrible. Not only were the subs in very bad engrish, they were alot of times behind an entire line. Like someone would say something, then a couple minutes later at the next scene when someone else talks their line finally appears on the screen. But even still, you probably won't understand what the subs are even saying most of the time. Also the character names are all changed to some whacky Chinese translation like Xiang or something like that so you won't know who anyone's name is.

Comment:

If you need subtitles, then don't get this set. It's a pretty box and the DVD's are labeled nicely but the set looks way better than it actually is. It's a bad sign when at the DVD menu it says "Paly All" to start the series and it sure got worse from there. Stay away.

Video:

Video: Not bad, but from a direct comparison of 200mb fansub episodes, this isn't that much better.

Audio:

Audio: No problems here.

Subtitle:

Subtitles: Admittedly it's better than having nothing, but by how much? I can't read Chinese, so I can't judge the quality of the Chinese subtitles, but the English subtitles seem like a direct translation from the Chinese, without regard to grammatical accuracy or even meaning. If you rely on English subtitles, this release's "English" subtitling is painful to watch -- admittedly I haven't watched this whole release yet (after three episodes, it was apparent the subtitling wasn't getting better, and I had nice fansubs available to me), but the fact that I didn't is a testament to how bad these subtitles are. Beware.

Video:

I'm not really that anal when it comes to video, personally. As long as I can see what is going on in the show, I'm perfectly fine with it. But, for those who are, this video isn't top notch. It's a TV rip, I assume, seeing as the show's not fully released in Japan on any medium. So there's some bluriness of colors and such, but overall, not bad at all. Pretty good for a TV rip.

Audio:

The audio was great for, again, a TV Rip. Came through clear, and there wasn't any real problems with it. No distortion or anything like that. But again, I gave it a 4 because there is room for improvement. But still, nothing that will hurt your viewing pleasure.

Subtitle:

OK, this is where this release hit's rock bottom. The subtitles are horrible, to say the least. YOu get a lot of wierd sentences and stuff. IT's quite obvious it was done by someone not very familiar with English. Is it understandble, though? Yes. It will take some thinking on you're part to piece things together from the subs. But after vieing the series 2 times, I get pretty much all of what was trying to be said. So be weary of this release if you are very dependent on the subtitles.

Comment:

Noir was a great show! Many people compare it to Cowboy Bebop, they find it so good. I don't think it's of CB caliber, but damn it was one awesome ride! Lot's of gun play for action fans, witht he occasional hand to hand fight. LOTS of various firearms used in the series, that will keep gun buffs wide eyed at the variety. An intricate story revolving around mafias, gangs, coup d' tat groups, and various other scum that keeps you guessing on what and who is the big picture. Action fans will enjoy this show very much! Now, for the disc itself. The first two episode's subtitles are timed wrong. The subs are one line behind from what is being said. It gets REALLY confusing. Luckily, the first episode has hardly any speaking. Episode 3 and up are the perfectly timed, wierd English subs present for the rest of the show :P The opening is show before the first episode of each disc, and then ending following the last episode of each disc. They are unsubbed, so you can't sing along. I'm not sure if this show had more then one opening and ending, so I don't know if we're missing out on that. Eyecatches are present. The first few episodes have the whole versions, while the rest of the series has the not full versions of ones. Looking at the reviews for the Manga set, I highly recommend getting that one instead of this one, unless you can bear the awful subtitle job.

Comment:

The Menus are in English. Video : 3/5. It's Probably a Vhs/ TV rip.It's Watchable but not really great or even good.The quality of the picture seems to change along the series...sometimes is better , then it gets worse. Audio : 3/5. The sound was not that clear, some hiss . Japanese 2 ch. Subtitles : 1/5 . Really bad. Sometimes they are almost understandable, but then you go "UH ???". It really is annoying , really Engrish...sometimes you just look at the screen almost laughing, but soon enough you'll kinda give up , annoyed...i did . Extras : None Package : It comes in a plastic case that holds the 4 dvds. Overall : I can't Reccomend this Set. The Video / Audio are kinda accetable, ( altoough poor/average nevertheless... ) but the subs just ruin it completely. edited by The Swan on 18 Nov 2002 7:34 pm edited by The Swan on 18 Nov 2002 7:35 pm
edited by The Swan on 24 Nov 2002 12:23 pm

Comment:

Goddamit, I feel really fucked. I asked my seller for the Part 2 version by MI, and instead of that great set, I got this shitty piece of media. Here ya go: Video: First 2 eps are DVD rips, after that it's TV rips. Some of you might hate the quality, but it's watchable. Still, it's not qualified as 'good'. Audio: Sound horribly 'muffled' (can't find a good word). Especially on the first episode (the DVD rip one!!!). Subs: Well... mixed bag. I've checked the first episode, and I couldn't understand a single word from the subtitles. From what I've seen on the last disc, the subtitles are HK originals, wich are 'understandble' but VERY literal. DO NOT BUY THIS !!!! (Ps. the other review in front of mine is probably of the MI verison, the AS/AV 100% sucks!)

Video:

The video quality on this set is horrible. It's almost VHS quality. The colors seperate in scenes with too many colors and high motion (think of compressing a 24 bit true-color BMP to an 32 color GIF). Might be okay for people used to fansubs, but for serious DVD fans, it is very dissapointing.

Audio:

The audio in this set is compressed, making every song in the show sound muffled. Even if you turn the bass all the way down and treble all the way up, things don't get much better.

Subtitle:

Watching this set in raw Japanese would probobly make more sense than watching it with the subtitles on. Subs are WORSE than Engrish, sentances make NO sense at all, and there are timing issues.

Comment:

Stay away from this set. The AC/MI release is almost perfect and almost the same price, so go for that.

Comment:

The picture quality on this 4 disc release is better than I think people give it credit for. I'd like to think the darkness is intentional because of the nice detail in the colours. There is some bleeding of colours from time to time. The audio is pretty bad. The output levels are way higher than normal DVDs which means lots of distortion in the sound whenever things get loud. Somebody failed their basic sound mastering course when learning to make videos. These are the WORST subtitles I've ever seen. In episode two, the subtitles are off by a few sentances so you're always guess who said what. The actual wording used doesn't even begin to make sense much of the time. Finally, the names for the characters seem to change every other episode. What makes all of this really sad is that the story is very dialogue rich and appears to have a good story. Whatever you do, don't buy the 4 disc set unless you are fluent in Japanese and can live without the subtitles.

Comment:

I have 2 versions of Noir: One by MI/Ac (I have done a review on it as well) and the other AS (which I had got first). Since the region 2s were already out in Japan, they would have ripped them right? Wrong. It couldn't be worst. The Breakdown: Video: 1.5 out of 5. Not even close to DVD. More like they got it off the TV or VHS. Poor! Audio: 1 out of 5. Like GotenGT said: 'Lots of hissing and popping! Very poor 2 channel stereo' Subtitles: n/a. Can i please have a translator to translate the poor english for me? Its that bad. Yes occasionally its understandable, but it ruins the otherwise fantastic story completely. Names are even spelt wrong. If you can shell out a few extra bucks, go with the MI/AC release. Its definitely more worth it. Don't waste your time on this one.

Comment:

The NOIR 4 disc set i have comes in a AV Box w/ 2 double dvd cases. As soon as you pop in the dvd's it shows the anime studio logo. Video- 2 out of 5. The first 2 episodes look to be dvd quality after that it's all downhill. I'd say the rest is about 3rd-4th gen fansub quality. UGGGH :( Also, the op/end are cut only the first episode on each disc has the op song and last ep has the ending. Audio- 1 out of 5. Lots of hissing and popping! Very poor 2 channel stereo. Subtitles- 0 out 5. Yes its that bad! every sentence is mistimed. nothing makes sense at all. Some subbed parts have words in caps and each letter is spaced apart a few spaces, some lines actually have a thick line between each letter. If you got a bottle of advil or a crack addiction you might be able to get through it, or you can just turn the subs off! I couldn't bare to watch this whole thing through! After disc 2 I gave up. Horrible! It makes the Yu Yu Hackusho set look like a gem.

Video:

A Tv Rip yeah but it isn't as bad as everyone says

Audio:

I thought it sounded good atleast, some slight glitches but no major problems

Subtitle:

Wrong names, misspellings and strange grammar. Not too bad (definitely understandable) but not too good either :/

Comment:

Don't listen to that dude,he's being way to mean against it,the subs aren't that bad at all and the video quality is still like a VHS which means it isn't all that bad, it's still waaaaaaay better than those old crappy vhs copied fansubs we all used to have before aight =) But It's true as he says also, the MI release is waaaaaay better, i'm just saying this set is worth the cash for us people who aren't to picky and wants the whole series quickly

Comment:

TV rip, and subs that blow. The show uses film noir style to it and is low on the dialogue, but even when they do talk this set manages to mangle the subs. Stay away, get the awesome quality MI release.

Video:

A Tv Rip yeah but it isn't as bad as everyone says

Audio:

I thought it sounded good atleast, some slight glitches but no major problems

Subtitle:

Wrong names, misspellings and strange grammar. Not too bad (definitely understandable) but not too good either :/

Comment:

Video:Tv Rip, no real problems with it if you aren't picky, there are some colour bleeds but nothing major. It's almost as a standard bought Vhs Sound: No problems here either,works fine Subs: Wrong names, strange grammer making it sound like a porno movie some times (i'm not kidding you folks) ^^;; But overall it's watchable and understandable. Summary: If you don't want to wait for the whole series to be released on Dvd by MI and you aren't to picky about quality then this one is worth the money.