Video:

The video for this set is not the same quality as previous perfect collections in my possession. For the most part the images are bright enough, but there is significantly more pixellation and motion blur than I am accustomed to seeing. An occasional skip is one thing, but as the series went on I almost came to expect it every other episode. Still, the set as a whole is easily watchable and the offending pixels only detract from it temporarily.

Audio:

Audio is good as usual, though the Japanese track was on the quiet side. Most likely that's no different from the R1 disc.

Subtitle:

BAD. bad bad bad. This set was very disappointing in the subtitle category. I have not seen the R1 releases for these episodes, but I very much doubt the subtitles are from the same source. The problems are frequent and distracting when watching in Japanese. The biggest problem is grammar and spelling, which is not to say that this is a bad translation like some Chinese imports. The real fault seems to be a lack of typing skill in which any number of letters or even words have been left out of the dialogue. The timing is also off, though not by a large amount. There were a few times, however, in which a long string of dialogue is followed by the subtitle being flashed on screen for less than a second, making it practically unreadable. On the whole, the subtitles are still in good enough condition to understand the plot and dialogue, but not without a few extra headaches along the way. Though not as bad as foreign "Engrish" translations, it certainly made the series that much less enjoyable.

Comment:

The overwhelming majority of this set concerns our heroes continuing interaction with the band of seven, and eventually culminates in a long overdue personal appearance by Naraku. There's plenty of meaty stories on this set, though it lacks a lot of the more whimsical one shot episodes that give the series the variety it needs. If you have any previous perfect collections from FX or EZDVD or whatever, then this collection will come as a disappointment. The quality is significantly less than it had been. That being said, I would say it is still worth the cost given the alternative. If you are really that concerned with high quality video and a more polished DVD, than chances are you already own the Viz relaeses. If you are a more casual observer (especially one who watches the English dub) then this set is more than adequate. And come on, it is Inuyasha after all... you know you want it.