Region 4 Winners and Losers

     The three 20th Century Boys films have been released separately in Region 1 US, Region 2 Japan, Region 2 UK and elsewhere. The Region 1 discs are single discs which seem to have similar video and audio to ours and only trailers as extras. The Region 2 Japanese individual releases are not English friendly.

     In Region 2 UK there are two disc editions of at least the first two films; Chapter 1 Beginning of the End includes a 24 page booklet (made up like the Book of Prophecy) but neither of the two disc editions have any extras that we don’t have in Region 4.

     The complete trilogy is also available in Region 2 Japan and Region 2 UK. The UK version seems the best as they have a 4 disc edition with the 24 page booklet and all the extras on the fourth disc. Here in Region 4 Madman has spread these same extras across the 3 discs. The Region 2 Japanese release is a 3 disc set which does not seem to have any extra features that are not on the Region 4; for example, there is no audio commentary.

     I did not notice any compression issues in the Region 4 discs, but clearly having the extras on one disc would free up space. That and the booklet would give the Region 2 UK of the trilogy the win.