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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Attack on Titan-Collection I (Shingeki no Kyojin) (Blu-ray) (2013)

Attack on Titan-Collection I (Shingeki no Kyojin) (Blu-ray) (2013)

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Released 18-Jun-2014

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Anime Audio Commentary-x 2
Featurette-Making Of-(52:32)
More…-Chibi Theatre: Fly Cadets Fly (47:10)
Gallery
More…-Textless Opening and Closing Songs
Trailer-US Blu-ray trailer
Booklet-24 page booklet
Alternative Version-Marathon Play without opening and closing credits
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2013
Running Time 315:39 (Case: 325)
RSDL / Flipper No/No
Dual Disc Set
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Tetsuro Araki
Hajime Isayama
Yasuko Kobayashi
Studio
Distributor

Madman Entertainment
Starring Yuki Kaji
Bryce Papenbrook
Yui Ishikawa
Trina Nishimura
Marina Inoue
Josh Grelle
Kiso Taniyama
Mike McFarland
Hiro Shimono
Clifford Chapin
Yu Kobayashi
Ashly Burch
Case ?
RPI ? Music Hiroyuki Sawano


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English (Burned In) Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     Over a century ago a race of powerful giants, which people called Titans, appeared on the Earth. The Titans were almost invincible and ate humans; mankind was on the verge of extinction until the survivors retreated behind three rings of 50 metre high walls, caging themselves in but keeping the Titans at bay. But after 100 years of relative security, a massive Titan appeared, broke down the outer wall and let in the Titans to devour humans. Fifteen year old Eren (voiced by Yuki Kaji / Bryce Papenbrook) watched as his mother was eaten before escaping within the inner wall of the city. Eren made a vow to kill all the Titans and two years later, with his childhood friends Mikasa (Yui Ishikawa / Trina Nishimura) and Armin (Marina Inoue/ Josh Grelle), he joins the cadet regiment to learn how to fight back.

     Eren is rash and impetuous, loud and opinionated, and not much of a fighter. Armin is even less of a fighter but is rational and intelligent, while Mikasa is the ultimate warrior, quick and decisive, who makes it her aim in life to protect Eren from others, and himself. During basic training in the cadets, the three interact with others including Jean (Kiso Taniyama / Mike McFarland), who is in love with Mikasa and whose aim is to find a safe role for himself in the interior in the Military Police, Conny (Hiro Shimono / Clifford Chapin), who is not all that bright, Sasha (Yu Kobayashi / Ashly Burch), who is always more concerned about her next meal, strong man Reiner (Yoshimasa Hosoya / Robert McCallum) and realist Annie (Yu Shimamura / Lauren Landau).

     Five years after the death of Eren’s mother, the massive Titan returns and destroys the inner wall of the city. As the defences crumble and many of the soldiers desert their posts, the cadets were thrown into a life and death struggle they believe to be hopeless and from which only a few will survive. With humanity again on the verge of extinction, it appears that Eren is not quite what he seems and that he may well be humanity’s last chance of survival.

     Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) is based on the manga by Hajime Isayama and has generated a large and enthusiastic following. The anime is quite unusual. Eren is not a model hero, cool, calculating and efficient; instead he is loud and quick to flare up, but more than anyone else he is driven by his hate of the Titans and a determination not to give up. In a series where many of the humans are self-serving cowards or prepared to prey upon weaker humans even while the Titans roam the city, Eren’s single-mindedness stands out and inspires others. The humanoid looking Titans are also interesting: there is a streak of humour that runs through Attack on Titan, despite the subject matter, and the Titans come across almost as inquisitive, mischievous children peering around corners or into rooms, at least until they devour humans in sprays of blood.

     Attack on Titan also looks unusual. Some scenes, especially those in the woods and countryside, are quite beautiful with lovely greens and blues. However, inside the city there is very much a medieval feel with a brown palate and the series has a brown, dull and muted look with the colours anything but vibrant. The lines are clean and strong and sometimes the backgrounds in the town, such as the buildings, tiles on roofs and the town bells look almost 3D intense but the series also uses a lot of statically drawn, almost tableaux like scenes, where nothing moves and the characters are like cardboard cut-outs, posed in front of scenery, the frame shaking to suggest movement.

     Attack on Titan is dark and bloody, with some spectacular action sequences as the cadets take on the Titans. But the monstrous Titans outside the walls (and sometimes inside) are at least an uncomplicated and single-minded menace. The underlying conceit of Attack on Titan is that many of the human characters are as deadly as the Titans but, as humans, have less justification. These beasts within the walls can be as dangerous as the monsters outside and the series asks questions about the plight of refugees and what it is to be an outsider. So underneath the ferocious battles against the Titans is another and more universal question about what it is to be human. Episode 13 ends on a positive note of sorts as humanity takes the first steps to fight back, although for Eren the situation remain fraught with danger and suspicion.

     Attack on Titan aired on Japanese TV from April 2013 and ran to 26 episodes. This two Blu-ray set of Attack on Titan Collection 1 includes episodes 1-9 on disc 1 and episodes 9-13 plus extras (except for a commentary) on disc 2. The remaining episodes are due to be released on Blu-ray and DVD in the US in September.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Attack on Titan is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original broadcast ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     As noted in the review, the images are cleanly drawn and strong, sometimes looking 3D real, but the series also uses a lot of statically drawn scenes where the characters are like cardboard cut-outs, posed in front of scenery. Some scenes, especially those in the woods and countryside, are colourful with greens and blues although the cities have a medieval feel with a brown colour palate. Blacks are rock solid, shadow detail fine.

     There is occasional minor aliasing, ghosting and flicker with fast movement.

     It is anime so lip synchronisation is approximate in either audio track.

     The English subtitles are in American English in a clear white font. The subtitles are burnt in when the Japanese dub is selected so cannot be removed for Japanese speakers. I did not notice any spelling or grammatical errors.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 or English TrueHD 5.1. This is another case where the English dub is 5.1 as opposed to the original Japanese in 2.0. I listened to the first few episodes alternating the audio (it cannot be changed on the fly with the remote – you must go to the set up menu).

     The Japanese is surround encoded so the rears featured music and effects such as birds, rain and ambient sound. This audio sounded reasonably sharp although the English 5.1 dub was crisper, with better separation. Although the English was more enveloping it was not as much as I thought it would be and the voice acting certainly lacked the intensity of the Japanese. The sub-woofer was not overused but did add bass to music and to the crash of the Titans’ feet.

     The score by Hiroyuki Sawano is fabulous; it is diverse and includes religious sounding choral sections, epic orchestra music and quieter, reflective pieces.

     I prefer to listen to the original Japanese audio and this is no different, despite the English being in 5.1. It was however, a more difficult choice than usual.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     One audio commentary is on disc 1. All the other extras are on disc 2.

Marathon Play

     The episodes on each disc can be played together without the opening and closing credits.

Commentary – Episode 3

     US ADR director and voice of Jean Mike McFarland joins with US voice cast members Bryce Papenbrook, Trina Nishimura and Josh Grelle (the voices of Eren, Mikasa and Armin respectively). McFarland asks questions but this commentary is full of inane chatter, laughs, jokes and funny voices which are interspaced with a little bit of information about the auditions, character arcs and character names. Pretty much pointless, but they have a great time.

Disc 2

The Making of Attack on Titan (52:32)

     An interesting look behind the scenes of Funimation in the USA as they prepare the English dub. This featurette includes footage from the series, a look in at some of the voice recording sessions and interviews with a diverse range of people including ADR director Mike McFarland, eight cast members, the lead adaptive writer, the production co-ordinator, quality assurance translator and the VP of acquisitions and licencing. Topics include casting, qualities needed by a voice actor, acquiring the rights, adapting the script, the dubbing and character points. This is good and is certainly well worth a look.

Commentary – Episode 13

     US ADR director and voice of Jean Mike McFarland joins with the lead adaptive writer and voice of Erwin J Michael Tatum and US voice cast members Scott Freeman and Clifford Chapin (the voices of Dietrich and Conny respectively). There is still a lot of inane chatter and laughing but they do talk about the character arcs, the style of the anime and some of the challenges of adapting the script. Slightly better than the other commentary.

Chibi Theatre: Fly Cadets Fly (47:10)

     These are a series of short, roughly drawn cartoons with the characters from the show during cadet training. At the end of each day they are eaten by a Titan!! The sections are (there is a play all option):

Eyecatch Gallery

     In the middle of each episode, presumably around a station break, are placed two stills with drawings and Japanese text providing information about aspects of the series, such as the walls or the omni-directional gear or weapons of the soldiers. These are presented in this extra, with explanatory English text. Twenty-six stills: silent, the remote is used to advance.

Textless Opening Song “Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen” (1:34)

     The opening song without the credits.

Textless Closing Song “Utukushiki Zankoku” (1:31)

     The closing song without the credits.

US Trailer (1:43)

     The US trailer for the Blu-ray release.

Booklet

     A twenty-four page booklet with character designs, text describing the characters and some cartoons. Quite useful in figuring out who is who.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     Our local release of Attack on Titan is the same as the Region A US version, although that comes with DVDs of the series as well.

Summary

     Attack on Titan has gained an extensive following and it is not hard to see why. While ostensibly a revenge tale with some spectacular action sequences, Attack on Titan is also a mystery which raises some complex ideas about loyalty, friendship and what it is to be human. Bring on Collection 2!!

     The video is unusual but good, the audio fine although the original Japanese audio is only 2.0. There is a good range of extras and we get what is available in other regions.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE