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That's what I'm talking about. It's really nice that Animeigo is putting some extra work into this one then. But when said "An" Audio commentary, does that mean there is only 1 in the set, or will the other films have commentaries by different people?

Excellent news! After the collapse of HVE, I'm glad AnimEigo is picking up the more obscure titles (to western audiences at least) and putting them in excellent condition!

I've always wanted to see the Tora-san films, and the news of the special features has secured this as a guarantee buy.

But when said "An" Audio commentary, does that mean there is only 1 in the set, or will the other films have commentaries by different people?

Just one commentary track, at least as far as I know, on the first entry, "Otoko wa tsuraiyo." However, I think we managed to pack an awful lot into its 90+ minutes and if this set sells reasonably well I imagine AnimEigo would probably be interested in commentaries on some of the later films in the series, either by me and/or any number of other cinema historians or original film participants.

I think it really all depends on how well this first set does.

I happy to see the Tora-san "experiment" -- but I find it almost heartbreaking that none of Yoji Yamada's wonderful early work is available wth subs (at least in good editions).

Yeah, I'd really like to see decent editions of "Home from the Sea" and "A Distant Cry from Spring." For that matter, I'd like to see his even earlier films with Hajime Hana released to Region 1.

Stuart Galbraith IV wrote:Yeah, I'd really like to see decent editions of "Home from the Sea" and "A Distant Cry from Spring." For that matter, I'd like to see his even earlier films with Hajime Hana released to Region 1.

Shouldn't "A Distant Cry From Spring" actually be something like "The Call of Far-Away Mountains"? (It almost like the title translater accidently used "haruka" twice -- once corrently as "distant" and then again as "spring").

I think even really early Yamada films like "Shitamachi no taiyou" (no idea how to come up with a non-awkward English name), Kiri no hata (Flag in the Mist?) and Kazoku (Family -- but called A Wedding and When Spring Comes Late by IMDB) would find favor -- if people had a chance to get acquainted with them.

The only Hajime Hana film I've seen is Umi ga yokerya. Interesting, but a bit weird, I thought.

Home from the Sea is a lovely film. IMHO, Yamada's best.

I'm thankful for the Panorama disc because it allowed me to see the film, but the disc itself is admittedly terrible; non-anamorphic, wrong aspect ratio, murky transfer, bad subs, etc. I would love it if AnimEigo tackled this.

While they're buggin' Shochiku about that, how about some of Nomura Yoshitaro's output from the '70s. Suna no Utsuwa in particular. His thrillers and police-procedurals seem more up their alley anyway.

The Nomura films would be nice.

In Panorama's case I suspect Shochiku provided the inferior masters and wanted to charge extra for clones of their 16:9 HD ones. In the U.S., at least at MGM where I once worked, masters were generally provided free or at a nominal charge if the other company shared rights. Just common courtesy. In Japan the studios gouge wherever they can. I'm pretty sure Toho, Shochiku and a few others (Kokusei Hoei, for instance) all charge upwards of $3,000 more, just for access to their better masters. Given the circumstances, it's understandable Panorama didn't cough up the extra dough. (I have no idea what Shochiku's arrangement is with AnimEigo, however.)

I agree, that through Panorama people were able to see a number of titles for the first time (including me), and for that I'm grateful and was willing to put up with some pretty funky problems. The worst one being on one Tora-san where the top subtitle line was on the bottom, and the bottom line was on the top. Very, very odd. On the other hand, a couple of Shochiku titles (including a Tora-san or two) actually used 16:9 masters, and the subtitles generally got better as they went along.

If Animeigo were to do any Nomura film, I'd recommend the never-available-subbed Harikomi (Stake Out) (my favorite of the films I've seen by him). ;~}

Zero Focus was the earliest Nomura that I've seen, which received a quality release on SD thanks to the old HVE. Harikomi sounds really good, but I'll see anything that promises a glimpse of Takamine Hideko!

Cover art for the new Tora-san set.

Saw this over the weekend. An other excellent job by Animeigo. The transfer is a little picture boxed (I fixed that for these shots), but for the most part it looks very good with no visible damage. Subtitles are once again excellent. I never saw the old Image disc, but I'm assuming it's like a lot of their early transfers of japanese films; murky tranfers with burned in subtitles.

Beaver on Black Rain.

If I get time this weekend , I will try to get some (more or less) matching screen shots from the French DVD of Black Rain.

My caps of the Japanese release.

feckless boy wrote:My caps of the Japanese release.

I'm a little bit confused here. I thought the greenish tint of the AnimEigo was on purpose, but after seeing the Japanese caps it seems like the movie should look like pure black and white. That’s definitely reducing the good impression of the new R1 DVD.

I managed to see the new Tora-San box set over the weekend and have to say I'm now hooked. I'm not even sure if I can wait for volume 2 (but if Japanese audiences had to wait months for each one, I can wait for a set of four). These films never get too sappy or sentimental, and when you feel they are about too, something disrupts the moment and you're not too sure if you should cry or laugh. The soundtracks are great (I plan to purchase the one mentioned in the commentary track). My only complaint is that the transfer for the first film is picture boxed, but still looks very sharp with the colors I'd expect from late-sixties Japanese cinema. I'm very happy that these finally have legitimate releases in the west and hope people discover these and give it the attention it deserves! So far, this is my favorite DVD set of the year.

And thank you Mr. Galbraith for your excellent commentary! On the strength of the alone, I went ahead and purchased your Japanese Cinema book today! I'm very glad you don't just cover the basic Kurosawa's and Ozu's and go into more obscure territory, especially for one of my heroes, Kinji Fukasaku. I feel Triple Cross and Under the Rising Flag of Japan are very underrated.

der_Artur wrote:

feckless boy wrote:My caps of the Japanese release.

I'm a little bit confused here. I thought the greenish tint of the AnimEigo was on purpose, but after seeing the Japanese caps it seems like the movie should look like pure black and white. That’s definitely reducing the good impression of the new R1 DVD.

Sadly it wasn't on purpose, it's a bad transfer, that's all.

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:Saw this over the weekend. An other excellent job by Animeigo. The transfer is a little picture boxed (I fixed that for these shots), but for the most part it looks very good with no visible damage. Subtitles are once again excellent. I never saw the old Image disc, but I'm assuming it's like a lot of their early transfers of japanese films; murky tranfers with burned in subtitles.

I was catching up with this thread today, and I feel like I'm missing something really obvious here: what film are these stills from? Sorry if I'm being dense.

Black Rain!

And thank you Mr. Galbraith for your excellent commentary! On the strength of the alone, I went ahead and purchased your Japanese Cinema book today!

Thanks for the kind words!

I haven't yet heard whether TORA-SAN is selling well or not, though it seems to be doing well in Amazon's rankings. I'm extremely pleased with the final product; AnimEigo did a splendid job with their subtitles (and subtitle options), the interactive map is neat, the subtitled trailers (also 16:9) are nice extras, I'm pleased the way the booklet and commentary turned out, and the packaging design is attractive. If it doesn't sell well, it won't be because AnimEigo didn't put a lot of time and care into its release....

I agree the Tora San box is great. I wasn't sure how they were gonna frame these films for an American audience, but the packaging and commentary do an extremely nice job. The booklet was an unexpected treat as well... great authors, great reading. This Tora San box and the MOC Naruse box make interesting bookends for my dvd collection. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this sells well enough for Animeigo to release the next 4 films.
Incidently Stuart I've enjoyed reading your Tora san reviews over at dvdtalk.com and your commentary for the first film on this set was certainly very well done too. I own most of the other Tora san films (courtesy of Panorama) and I'd have to say that if you suffer from your own hellish extended family these films can be very therapeutic indeed. I'd guestimate the series as a whole is worth $5000 - $20,000 of personal counseling, possibly much more depending on your particular situation. A rough estimate of course...

I agree, the Tora-San boxset was well done.

I just wanted to let everyone know that Animeigo released Onimasa on their website last week for purchase. I got mine a few days ago. They did a great job on a great movie. If you love Tatsuya Nakdai and Hideo Gosha then check it out.

I'm hoping Janus releases their Gosha films soon. I know they have Three Outlaw Samurai and Bandits Vs Samurai Squadron. I don't know if they have any others.

Oh, and I hope Animeigo releases more Gosha as well. I have no idea what they are releasing after Bushido. Anyone have any ideas?

My impressions of Animeigo's Black Rain:

The greenish tint to the picture reminded me of MGM's Wings Of Desire disc. It was distracting at times , but the print itself was crisp and clean. Maybe too clean.... I couldn't see any instances of film grain. DNR?

Everyone praises Animeigo's subtitles but I don't like them. The yellow and green are too bright and distracting, so it is nice they offer a white/gray option. But the white is way too bright, and the font they use is fat.

As for the extras, it was nice of them to put the American propaganda films, but did they take them from a youtube source? Heavy pixelation.... and why is the audio for the propaganda films only coming out of the front left speaker??

Everyone praises Animeigo's subtitles but I don't like them.

I agree. I don't like colored subtitles on Black and white films (hence the color Tora-san set doesn't bother me) and animeigo's "black and white" subtitles just look chunky and strange. They'd really do themselves a huge service by just copying the criterion size and font for their subs.
...The translation itself though is extremely well done on the Tora-san set.