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 release of 20th Century Boys – Chapter 1: Beginning of the End contains trailers, plus a guitar pick and Friend Flag. In Region 2 UK there are two disc editions of the three films. The Chapter 1 Beginning of the End includes a 24 page booklet (made up like the Book of Prophecy) but does not seem to 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 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 disc, but clearly having the extras on one disc would free up space. That and the booklet would give the Region 2 UK individual version and the trilogy the win.