Decent video, not DVD quality but not as bad as some of my VHS's. It gets the job done.

Some crackling and buzzing here and there. Not as much as the later packs in this series where it gets much worse. Audio isn't DVD quality but it's still alright, much like the video.

Some crackling and buzzing here and there. Not as much as the later packs in this series where it gets much worse. Audio isn't DVD quality but it's still alright, much like the video.

It's Kenshin, you know if you're looking at this you're interested in the series. If I could do it over again though I may have waited around to check out how well the other studios released this title. It's okay and I like this set alot, but it could have been better.

It gets the job done but it's definitely a VHS rip. A couple lines of distortion that I noticed but I got used to it. Colors are kinda washed out.

Despite the crackling/buzzing on some episodes it was fine.

Despite the crackling/buzzing on some episodes it was fine.

Overall this is an average release. It gets the job done for people who don't feel like paying shitloads of money for the R1s. The fx version may be a better choice but I've heard that the audio is out of sync, which could get rather annoying. Meh.

The video is an obvious VHS rip, including the VHS distortion bar at the bottom, the soft Video and bleeding colors. Despite it being a VHS rip, it's still a decent rip nonetheless. The video is pretty good looking on the TV, but is less good on the computer screen. There is macroblocking during motion intensive scenes (scenes where the pictures will change and move radically), like where people will get hit in a comical way with lots of bright colors moving around, and wild and crazy stuff on screen. On scenes where Kenshin is whoopin ass, it really doesn't block up. Somestimes the video will exhibit some Tape flaws with the white specs from static appearing on the picture. Lastly the brightness seems really high, so a few scenes seem like they're brighter than they should be. With all these flaws, the video is decent to watch. Definately not as good as a decent transfer, but decent nonetheless. The video looks just fine on a 20" TV screen.

For the most part, the audio is just fine, however there are a few episodes that have the classic VHS buzz. Other than that, the episodes have a decent stereo track, and surprisingly clear music and sounds.

For the most part, the audio is just fine, however there are a few episodes that have the classic VHS buzz. Other than that, the episodes have a decent stereo track, and surprisingly clear music and sounds.

On a whole, this set is only average. I'm sure in some ways the FX set is better than the MI (just about all categories). However, the unfortunate case with the R1 sets is that they supposedly have "watered down" subs (read at animeprime.com), and FX always has the pixelated video, however, this video pixelated too, plus some desyncronized audio. So in the extent that MI is better over FX is only through better translation, and in a few cases better audio, but worse looking subtitles, where FX has better video audio and subtitle timing, and spelling. So the decision is do you want a better translation, or better media? Right now, I haven't made up my mind if I want better subs or better audio and video, because it seems the subtitles from the R1s are taking away from the overall feeling. Also, to note, Kenshin Disc distribution is: Disc 1 DVD-9 Episodes 1-9 Disc 2 DVD-9 Episodes 10-18 Disc 3 DVD-9 Episodes 19-27 Disc 4 DVD-5 EPisodes 28-32 Edit: Had a few problems near the end of Disc 4 with the movie freezing, I'm not sure if it's the Disc or the video itself.

Video: 5/5 Audio: 5/5 Subtitles: This is the only hang up, but the errors are not that bad, just spelling mistakes and spacing errors with a few mistimings. You can still figure out whats going on. But for the price you can't beat this deal. Just think about how much all the Region 1 DVD's will cost you, then ask yourself if perfect subtitles are worth that much money . ^_^

Well the audio & video are top notch. The subs are very good but have spelling mistakes, no spacing between words, & a few mis-timings. The subs are still really good the problems only occur infrequently...and the mis-timing is fixed in a matter of seconds. The artwork on the gatefold is really cool. Overall, I am very happy with the set and recommend it to any Kenshin fan who wants the whole set for a cheap price.

The video is this set doesn't look as bad as VHS, but doesn't look DVD quality either. While pixelation isn't a huge problem, there is a wierd shifted line deal going on and it gets distracting on high motion scenes.

Audio is perfect =D

Audio is perfect =D

Although I made it sound like this is a bad set, it really isn't. There are just minor things that stop it from being perfect. It's an awesome show with great characters and it's very accurate in terms of samurai/swordfighting/kendo/etc.

Good video but it seems to be a Vhs-rip because you have some lines about 4" down from the top that is moved a few pixels to the right. This goes through the whole set and you can especially see this when the camera is moving from down to up. Sometimes there is also some wellknown vhs disturbance.

The intro-song on every disc is very distorted and sometimes theres popping. Other than that the 2.0 japanese track works fine.

The intro-song on every disc is very distorted and sometimes theres popping. Other than that the 2.0 japanese track works fine.

Man this series is good! Too bad that its not the best quality even though the case are beautiful.

One of my all time favorite series and thankfully the Hk set doesn't butcher it up. I have some of the R1 sets and a few fansub copies and this set comes pretty close to being just as good. Listed down below are the reviews: Video: 5/5 In my opinion the overall quality of the video consisting of all the episodes..Though like the other reviewers mentioned there are some scenes that it becomes pixelated but it doesn't happen for that long...Maybe for like 10 secs but other than that its just as good IMO as the R1 set. Audio: 5/5 Perfect..I even tried comparing it to some of my R1 episodes of Kenshin it sounded just as good..Also, the R1 set the English dub sounds alot louder than the Japanese original voice. Subs: 4.5/5 The subs for the most part about 90% of the time are on point..Very Very Very similiar to the fansubs except there aren't that many episodes in which there is cursing..Yahiko is still rude and curses but not as much as he does in the fansubs. There are some mispelled words but nothing devasting..In example would be like "Himura-done" when its supposed to be Himura-dono..Little things like that other than that they are fine. Also, all the names remained intact. Overall, I woulf definitely buy this set and other sets as well to save some money..The packaging is pretty and you basically can't go wrong buying them.

Video:4/5 Audio:4/5 Subtitles:4/5 everything is pretty good there was one time when my set tried to freeze but it was like a 2 second stillness on the screen, yet it kept going i didnt haveto take the disc out or anything. the set overall is worth the cash. the video looks like DVD quality to me, but im not too picky on that subject i just like a clear picture wit no distortion on it. Buy if u like Ken-san and his crew.

Video: Good Audio Good Subs: Good Extras: None Package: Excellent Content: Very Good If you seen one Kenshin set you've seen them all it seems: Same damn menu for each DVD Intro and Outro appear only once per DVD One chapter break per and episode (begining and Middle) Unique to this set: First disc wouldn't play in my PS2... go figure, it worked on my roomate APEX DVD player... oh well

The box set is very nice so is the disc printing. The audio and visuals are good though in the later episodes i saw some degradation in quality (some places). It looked a little like vhs rips instead of dvd rips in those places. Subtitles are pretty good. However you will feel a little bit disappointed as the anime progresses. Reason being that the subs start of as excellent in the first few episodes. Very much like Love Hina series by Manga. But later on, i'm not sure the reason why, but it seemed like someone else did the subbing. You could definitely see the difference but it is still passable.

A small comment. These sets are using the Shinsen Gumi fansub script. Shinsen Gumi were kind of notorious for their liberties with dialouge. Most of the stuff is ok, but when they couldn't translate something they tended to fill in the gaps themselves. They also tended to add swear words more than was needed. This probably shouldn't stop you from getting the set, but if your a stickler for spot on translations....well you shouldn't be buying HK DVD's the i guess...

A very good set all in all, one of my best. The video is really good, somebody said they were LD rips. I don't know if this is true but it looks very good. There is some distortion on the bottom of the screen which I couldn't see on a big tv but was only noticable when I watched it on my laptop. There some pixelation but nothing really major. Openings and ending are only on the beginning and ending od each disc. The audio seemed fine to as well. I don't have an expensive surround or whatever but there were no hums or annoying noises, atleast not that I heard. The subtitles were taken from the Shinsen Gumi fansubs. In the beginning they are quite good with very few swear words but later the cursing in the subs are more often. Also, sometimes there is a line missing or some letter are sepa rated and they use some weird quotation marks " " but other then that they are quite good and I was quite happy with this set. All in all a good set with some mistakes but the really beautiful packaging makes up for that ^_^ -_- Markaveli just beat me :p edited by shadypower on 03 Mar 2002 2:26 am

One of the best VHS rips I've ever seen. This is probably because they are ripped from the official Japanese VHS release, and not ripped from TV to VHS and THEN to DVD. Overall, it's very good, but there are some VHS problems. There is a bit of color bleeding, there is a disortinated line in the middle of the screen which SOMETIMES is annoying. And offcourse it isn't as sharp as DVD, and there's a little pixelation in the fast scenes.

The audio was pretty good, with the exeption of a little bit of cracking and humming, due the fact it's VHS ripped.

The audio was pretty good, with the exeption of a little bit of cracking and humming, due the fact it's VHS ripped.

Overall this set is pretty good, but far from perfect. If you just want to watch this series, this set does it's work very good. You could always get the FX version if you want better video quality.

Well first off the video. The video here is pretty good. At times it looks better than the R1 release which was kinda grainy at times, its hard to say the source here. Low bit rates from stuffing to much on each disc obviously causes some pixelation during high motion scenes like expected. Audio is very good. No problems whatsoever. Nothing special, a TV audio track so nothing spectacular. For the subs they used fansub scripts, not the really horrid ones, but still some strange ones that are full of foul language. It kinda is irritating to see such language from these characters but its not every minute so its not that big of problem. Subs are good though. Some problems with errors such as putting words together and the expected spelling errors. Nothing bad though, just a few errors spread throughout. Couple lines missing and onscreen Kanji translations missing, but very good. As long as your not to picky.