Astro Boy-Volume 8 (2004)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Animation	Trailer-Kermit's Swamp Years, Muppets From Space, Trailer-The Muppets Take Manhattan, Swan Princess Collection
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	80:54
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Kazuya Konaka
Studio Distributor	SONY Pictures Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Candi Milo Wally Wingert Bill Farmer Faith Salie Jennifer Darling Lara Jill Miller David Rasner
Case	?
RPI	$19.95	Music	William Kevin Anderson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    With Astro Boy - Volume 8 we are now two-thirds of the way through the popular Japanese animated series featuring the adventures of the intelligent robot Astro. If you have followed me on this journey so far, welcome back; if you are new to the show I suggest catching up with my reviews of Volume 1 or Volume 4 to get up to speed. The series has been very good so far, and my family audience and I were again looking forward to viewing this disc, which has to be a positive sign considering this is the eighth DVD of Astro we have watched in recent weeks. I should also mention that this particular series of episodes is also available as part of a boxed set of Volumes 7-12 of the series.

    All of the episodes on the disc run for around 20:13, and in the first episode here (Old Dog, New Tricks, episode 29 in the series) we meet a new recurring character in the form of seedy private detective Wally Kisigari. He is hot on the trail of .... a cat ?!? In the course of his investigations we come across super-criminal Skunk, who is back yet again to plague Astro and his friends. In spite of the dangers, Wally muddles through ("Fortunately my moustache broke my fall" he notes after one lucky escape).

    Wally is back again in Case of the Phantom Fowl, and this time he is chasing a missing duck ("just a wild goose chase"). As before his case intersects with more significant adventures which include a nice turn for Astro's sister Zoran. The world is threatened with a dimensional collapse, and the spunky (but naughty) Repo Girls are up to their old tricks. Luckily, the duck is around to save the day (honestly).

    In Gideon we meet the title robot. He is an underwater exploration robot who has been invented by Reno, another recurring character in the show and a good friend of Astro and his mentor Dr. O'Shay. Unfortunately he is a rather frightened robot ("A porpoise without a purpose") unlike the biblical character after whom he is named. Will Gideon's fears ruin the exploration of Hazard Pass, or will he overcome them and save the day? Finally, Fairy Tale is a relaxed change of pace with a cute and spoilt brat, Nina, meeting Astro and his friends in a search for a 'pidwidgin'. Events take a serious turn when the evil Dr. Minimini shows up (having escaped from a jail which must be run on the same lines as Arkham Asylum in Gotham City - incarcerate today, escape tomorrow).

    This disc was a little surprising overall; firstly for introducing a new recurring character so late in the show (which is fine by me) but also for having more standalone episodes than I expected - there are still a lot of ongoing plot threads to return to, I assume those will make the last four discs in the series of particular interest. For my part this was another entertaining entry in the series of Astro DVDs, which should again keep fans and younger members of the audience wanting more.

Video

    The video transfer is good, not quite up to the standards of the best entries in the series so far, but still perfectly acceptable.

    The aspect ratio of the transfer is 1.78:1, which appears to be the correct production ratio.

    The transfer is sharp for the most part, though in some scenes the focus is a little too soft (even the younger members of my family audience commented on this). Shadow detail is fair (as at 14:03 in the first episode) and there is no low level noise.

    The colours are vibrant and look fresh, with computer and traditional animation providing variety in tone and texture. The opening minutes of Fairy Tale are a good example of the colour and also of the variety of animation used which helps vary the mood nicely.

    There are a number of minor negative artefacts on view, though they are infrequent, and the occasional moment of edge enhancement. Apart from these, the picture is in good shape.

    The English subtitles are very good, accurately reflecting spoken dialogue with only an occasional missed word. The English for the Hearing Impaired titles are fair. They miss a number of possible audio cues and are in an ugly black text box on screen which is rather distracting.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio transfer is fair, with a subtle surround presence.

    The only audio track on the disc is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded track which has been encoded at a bitrate of 192 Kb/s. On my amplifier I had to switch to ProLogic mode manually to take advantage of the surround information. Unfortunately there is no original language Japanese audio track.

    The dialogue is crisp and clear at all times, with reasonable audio sync considering the fact that it is dubbed over Japanese animation.

    The music is very good for a television show, capturing mood nicely and well varied - it is mixed at a level which nicely matches the dialogue and other audio elements. The stirring opening theme is slightly louder than the rest of the show.

    As mentioned the surround presence is quite subtle, but effective. The music is the main vehicle for surround activity, though occasional audio effects also project from the front of the sound stage (oh, and we love the effect of the beep-beep when Zoran walks). The subwoofer provides minimal bass support if configured to do so.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    The only Extras on the DVD are four unrelated trailers. I hope we see a real extra or three before the end of this series of discs.

Menu

    The menu is static with no audio. The menu choices are: Play All Episodes, Episode Selections, Subtitles, Trailers. While there are chapter stops within episodes, these are not selectable from the main menu.

Trailers

    Trailers for Kermit's Swamp Years, Muppets From Space, The Muppets Take Manhattan and the Swan Princess Collection (yes, the same ones from Volumes 1-7).

    The Region 1 version of this series is available as a complete boxed set with a few production features, but is at an incorrect aspect ratio, with some reviews commenting on notable clipping at the sides. While it would be nice to have the complete series in a box in Region 4 (rather than just episodes 7-12, with the rest available singly) this mutilation of the print makes the Region 4 the version of choice.

    This is another nice entry in the Astro Boy series, not a major entry in the canon of Japanese animation, but worth the price of admission. Astro creator Tezuka Osamu has produced an iconic figure in animation (and you can also catch up with Astro in his original adventures at comic shops).

    The widescreen video transfer is good, and makes excellent use of screen space.

    The audio transfer is fine, with subtle but effective surround sound.

    There are no relevant Extras (I really don't want to watch those 4 trailers ever again).

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall