Title | Best |
Real Bout High School-Volume 1: Enter the Samurai Girl | = |
The Region 1 disc was released mid-2002. It was released in two forms. The limited edition version is a slim box containing the first volume of the manga (comic book) as well as the disc; the normal edition contains just the disc — both versions have the same packaging of the disc. Interestingly, the disc is in a transparent keep-case (that's unusual for R1). The manga is translated into English, but still reads from right to left. The story in the manga does not agree with the disc; there are numerous serious disagreements, but many of the same characters appear. I must say that I prefer the storyline on the disc enough that I won't be bothering to follow up the manga, but it was interesting enough to read. The two versions are extremely similar, if we ignore the manga. Even the artwork is very similar, although I slightly prefer the R4 presentation. Even the discs themselves are quite similar with near-identical labels (theirs is plain blue and white, while ours has more colour), and near-identical contents. The R1 starts with ads, which I don't like, but once you get to the menu, they are difficult to tell apart. The Region 1 Previews are for Initial D, Reign, Real Bout CD (the soundtrack), and GTO — I'd say we got the better deal there. The Region 1 DVD Credits are for the TokyoPop team, but are organised the same way. Although the R4 is PAL (trust me - I've checked!) it has the same running time as the NTSC R1 (indicating a video conversion rather than film transfer). There's really so little difference between the two that you can be happy with either version, but if you're in Australia I'd strongly recommend getting our version — it means you're supporting the locals (the fact that it's a bit cheaper doesn't hurt, either!). |