VERY nice. No compression troubles at all. It didn't look that great on my old TV, but my computer and HDTV make it look nicer. I'm not sure how that works, but it does.

Sounded great to me, though my setup isn't that spectacular.

Sounded great to me, though my setup isn't that spectacular.

I have the version that is appearantly difficult to find now for less than 50 bucks. It's 4 discs, Odex rip. The version that MI originally released. Complete with Odex's copright warning. Cute, heh.

This is overall a very good release, noticeably the video and audio are outstanding. However, the set I bought was plagued by some issues listed here: - the first three disks had no English subtitles, which meant that I had to listen to the dubs, now fortunately the dubs are quite good. What's not so good was that there is no way to turn off the Chinese subtitles (the only subtitles available), which was very annoying. - the fourth disc in the set contained the same episodes as the third, however with no English soundtrack (only Japanese) and English subtitles. The subtitles were very good, however the occasional screens with what I presume to be Japanese text were not translated. Even so, I entirely missed the point of duplicating a disc. Apart from this, Lain is something different from the norm in a good way. It is likely that not everyone will enjoy it, it gets very slow sometimes and a bit "artsy", however I found it original, interesting and very intriguing. The animation and artwork are beautiful with very nice blends of computer graphics, and the soundtrack is very well done, often jazzy with long electric guitar passages. I'd strongly recommend the set but some of them (like mine) have these annoying glitches. edited by symphara on 01 Aug 2002 2:46 am

This release is excellent as it's been ripped from the official Odex releases (their logos are present before the menus). My only real complaint is that the end "Device" segments are not subtitled, other then that I have no complaints. The video is nice, the audio sounds great through my stereo TV, and the subtitles are near perfect with a occasional misspelling. These also feature previews of other anime, and the previews are not subbed either. A very good buy, and a very interesting series.

Very good video. Ripped from the Odex release. No problems that I can see.

Very good, but is it me, or are the latter episodes a titch staticy?

Very good, but is it me, or are the latter episodes a titch staticy?

It's well worth the money only if you don't get the updated version which the first 3 discs are ripped from the old AS release.

Very good, almost R1 quality. SLIGHT pixelation on the intro only.

Both the English and Japanese audio tracks sounded fine. No distortion at all. R1 Rip.

Both the English and Japanese audio tracks sounded fine. No distortion at all. R1 Rip.

It's going to be hard to read a good review on this set because it all depends on which version you get. Since you have to get most HKDVDs online, it's going to be hard to tell which revision is which.

You get either:
1) Japanese with english subs
2) English AND Japanese with forced Chinese subs

Either way the audio and video are great.

Excellent. No problems whatsoever.

Excellent stereo.

Excellent stereo.

This series is very fascinating and very irritating. One of the few series where I only watched one episode at a time, so that I wouldn't get too depressed. Highly recommended if you want to watch an anime that's different from the usual stuff.

Video - 5/5 -------------------------- Stunning video for a stunning anime. Not only is this ripped from a stunning disc but it's a great rip. I can't remember any moments where I was distracted by glitches or blips (which happens a lot, even with legit releases) and I was surprised by it. Some grain can be seen however not as bad as most releases out there, yes even including legit ones. Audio - 5/5 -------------------------- Not really my field but I liked what I heard. The music from Lain is wonderful and it sounds just as wonderful here. No hum, no distortion, no problem! ^_^ Subtitles - 4/5 -------------------------- As always there are a few little mistakes (as is common with fan subs and especially with HK originals), but they don't really make the show less enjoyable and are nothing but minor quibbles. Safe buy indeed! Great anime, great set. You really should go and buy it now if you haven't got it already because this is what got me into anime. Next to the legit releases this is a steal, and that's nearly literal as well... edited by NoxiousOffender on 04 Mar 2002 3:00 pm

This set is a direct rip of the legit Odex release. This means perfect audio and video as well as nice menus and extras (well....trailers) are all present. Openings and endings are are all intact. As it is an Odex translation, the subtitles are not perfect, but not far off. A few odd translations and occasional misuse of tenses turn up, but most of the time, it's a great translation. To be honest, there's a lot less dialogue here than most shows anyway and most of it is straightforward, so its hard to get confused about whats being said (being confused about whats actually going on, of course, is expected..heh) . Another slight problem with the subs was the fact the short scenes with the japanese girls talking that come after each ep (probably about the various 'devices' or body parts- i wouldn't know) aren't translated. I found this kinda annoying, but they're very short and don't really have anything to do with the show, so it's not *really* a problem. Some of them don't even contain dialogue. Overall, this is a great set of a really interesting show. Probably one of my favourite MI releases, though I plan to buy the r1 (or maybe r4) legit releases- I'd like to support this show and see more 'experimental' anime of a similar nature. Edit: One more thing I forgot to mention- a lot of sellers seem to advertise this set as having the english sub option also, or at least when I bought it they did. I even emailed the seller and he told me it was a new version with the dub. Of course, it only has the orginal japanese language, and there are no other versions of it by MI/AC with both languages. An older version of this by AS has *only* the english dub, though. edited by SailorScoutScum on 02 Mar 2002 9:58 am