Region 4 Winners and Losers

    This title is available on DVD in Region 1 from Disney, but only in the form of a two disc set (so far — I would not be surprised to see a single disc version appear later). It's not really fair to compare the two disc Region 1 with this DVD — the Limited Edition Region 4 is a much fairer comparison. So I will only compare this disc with the first disc of the Region 1 version — that's the fair comparison.

    The Region 4 disc is missing:

• French Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack
• Introduction by John Lasseter of Pixar (1:11)
• The Art of Spirited Away featurette
• Sneak peeks trailers (8)
• annoying advertising before the main menu (ads for Castle in the Sky and Kiki's Delivery Service)

    The Region 1 disc is missing:

• Japanese dts 5.1 soundtrack

    The introduction is available on the menu, but it is also shown before the movie starts — I found that annoying. I also dislike advertising before the menu appears, even when it can be skipped (this can). The sneak peeks trailers are for Disney animation (things like Atlantis 2: Milo's Return), unsurprisingly. To be honest, I'm a little surprised we didn't get the Disney version here — quite a coup for Madman.

    If you prefer to watch your anime with the Japanese soundtrack, then the Region 4 is an obvious choice — the dts soundtrack offers slightly better definition than the Dolby Digital. I also think the Region 4 disc looks slightly nicer — the Region 1 cover is mostly black. And I really dislike the advertising and the over-the-top (and unnecessary) introduction. The quality of the transfers, however, is pretty much equal — you could be happy with either, from that point of view.

    Stay tuned — I'll be comparing the Limited Edition with the R1 next! You can now find that review here.