Video:

Clear enough, but not pin sharp. Pretty much what you would expect for an old series. Tested on a Pioneer 636 (RGB output) using a QED RGB cable.

Audio:

Again, nothing spectacular. Clear with no noticeable distortion. Tested on a basic Sony Dolby Digital amp.

Subtitle:

Oh dear. Complete Engrish coupled with spelling mistakes and one instance of speeding up, although that was just for one line of dialogue. Possibly the worst subtitling I've experienced (relatively speaking) particularly from AC/MI. However, the show isn't impossible to understand and anyone familiar with Engrish generally will be fine.

Comment:

As noted in the other reviews, you don't get a set of complete OVA episodes - the openinng/closing titles have been cut on the majority. This means that although chapter selection has been included, it's a functional rather than useful feature. However, all the menus are in English. Admittedly, I marked Patlabor harshly albeit truthfully but this is for the actual DVD. The series itself is one of my faves - an subtle mix of comedy and crime/thriller. It's less intense than the films (it's a good idea to see this first as an introduction to the characters) but no less enjoyable. Highly recommended series, but shame about the subs. Perhaps another version will be released?

Video:

The video looks pretty good. Nothing great, no sharp and crispy images, but hey, this show isn't really new. I have no complaints here. Oh - and the logo appears sometimes...

Audio:

No complaints here either. But of course, I don't exactly have the right kind of equipment to tell, but everything sounded all right on my PC speakers and TV speakers.

Subtitle:

Hmm... I'm not sure if my set is different from the other reviewers, but I find the subs to be above average at best. They're not really bad, but they are so Engrishy, and reading them cracks me up sometimes ^_^ Here are some samples... some are good and some are bad, but you won't have any trouble understanding them: "When I was a kid, I'd been beaten by my father for taking a motorbike apart." "It refused police's inspection and escape northward with unknown weapon." "monster floats and getting speedy close" "Then, what's all about this?" Misspellings occur too. These are not very critical, but they're there. Example: "holpless" The subs have a liberal use of words such as "drop dead!", "birdbrain", etc (^_^) E-mail appears once per episode, I think. Note that when the leading female, Noa Izumi, is called by the other characters, the subs will display her last name if first name is used, and vice versa. And, after the intro on the second disc, this line appears: "abcdefghijabcdefghijabcdefghijabcdefgh" (@_@) Opening song is subtitled. The song is pretty nice and has a catchy tune.

Comment:

I have wanted to try the Patlabor anime series for a long time now, and have previously only watched the 2nd movie. Therefore, I have this assumption that the Patlabor series are all as serious and political-heavy as the movie, and was surprised to find that this series, at least, is funny and silly... mostly. This set is in standard MI packaging fare: plastic slipcase, gatefold with artwork on the outside and inside. The series comes in 2 discs, the first containing 4 episodes and the second containing 3. I personally like the packaging very much (^_^) There is only one opening and ending per disc. I believe the ending music is different for every episode... and there are spaces on the discs to include all openings and endings, so why leave them out? *sob* Menu is simple and nice, animated and with background music. Standard options: Play All, Subtitle, Chapter. Well, in conclusion, this set is ok, if you're a Patlabor fan you probably have bought it already. I would've enjoyed it more if the subs were better. Oh well.
edited by Dannyl on 01 Dec 2002 10:45 pm

Comment:

Ahh the all time classic OVA that started the Patlabor series. Good stuff, a must buy. This is 7 episodes long. Video is very good, probably a DVD rip, its not the sharpest looking video, but thats mainly because of the age of the source and those problems are defects with the film itself. Good stuff. Blacks are real solid here. There are quite a few instances of ghosting in certain sequences though. And in some episodes theres a strange video problem where it seems like the picture almost vibrates and the lines on the animation seem to break up. Noticed this on bunch of episode five and spread here and there throughout the show. Also since this is 7 episodes on 2 discs I expected great video but during certain panning and high motion sequences you still get some breakup. Not to bad but was suprised that this was still there with only 3 to 4 eps per disc. Another annoyance was that they cut the openings and credits from the episodes grrrr. On the first two episodes I couldn't even tell that they were seperate episodes and watched both of them without knowing I had watched two episodes already. Audio is good too, nothing special, and older anime so nothing to hot, but no problems here. Subs, are very, very good. Not fansub quality, but very good. Names are mostly correct with a few strange spellings, but a great release. Well worth the cash. No problems here. Its a classic, but I much more enjoy the TV series than this one. edited by AsukaXIkari on 07 Apr 2002 11:11 am