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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.
The Castle of Cagliostro (Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro No Shiro): Special Ed. (1979)

The Castle of Cagliostro (Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro No Shiro): Special Ed. (1979)

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Released 15-Mar-2007

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Anime Menu Audio
Multiple Angles-Storyboard Art
Gallery-Conceptual Art (4:06)
Theatrical Trailer
Interviews-Crew-Yasuo Ohtsuka (Animation Director) (25:36)
Trailer-Black Cat Vol. 1; Karas
Trailer-Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie; Godannar Vol. 1
Reversible Cover
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1979
Running Time 95:18
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Hayao Miyazaki
Studio
Distributor

Madman Entertainment
Starring None Given
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $29.95 Music Yuji Ohno


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures Yes
Subtitles English Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Arsene Lupin and his partner Jigen are a couple of thieves, who hit paydirt and decide to squander their booty in the remote European province of Cagliostro. Soon after their arrival, they spot a beautiful young bride being pursued at speed by a car load of gun-toting thugs. Saving her from certain capture is obviously the gentlemanly thing to do, so they try unsuccessfully to help her make an escape. Despite their efforts the bride is captured, but she leaves a clue; a ring with a horned ram-like insignia. It seems the bride, Clarice, is in fact the princess of Cagliostro, who since the demise of the royal family has become trapped in an arranged marriage with the Count. Now that they're involved in the affair, Lupin and Jigen find themselves the target of dark, hooded, armoured, ninja-like goons and other assorted henchmen of the Count - who appears to be quite a shifty character himself. It's up to Lupin to save the girl and find the castle's treasure, for which the bride's ring seems to play an important part.

    The Castle of Cagliostro was directed in a whirlwind four-month production by Hayao Miyazaki, prior to his famed output for Studio Ghibli. That's not to say that Cagliostro isn't considered a classic in its own right. On the contrary, this film is very highly regarded among anime enthusiasts as a classic of the genre. The film is based on a popular series of comics by Monkey Punch and seems to have replicated the artwork of the manga pretty closely.

    This is a fun adventure for adults, with plenty of action and a few laughs, although it may not be really suitable for children under 8 or so. This Special Edition is a worthy upgrade for those who own the old Region 4 release.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Although it's not technically a Ghibli production, the transfer is comparable to titles in the Studio Ghibli Collection in that the image is heavily windowboxed, with black bars on all sides of the 16x9 frame. The actual measured ratio of the image is true to the film's theatrical aspect of 1.85:1. This is a nice PAL transfer, with no visible signs of NTSC conversion artefacts (the feature runtime also implies a 4% PAL speedup).

    The animation is sharp and clear, with decent presence of detail. Lines are nice and smooth and there are no unsightly jagged edges to be concerned about.

    The dominant issue in this transfer, like the other anime titles mentioned above, is video compression and noise. On a big screen, expanses of a single rendered colour, particularly bright reds and off-whites, are very noisy and blocky. There are inconsistencies in the colour rendering, but this is the fault of the rushed animation technique, not the transfer. MPEG compression artefacts can be seen, usually in the form of mild grain around moving objects and the like.

    A few film artefacts creep in now and then, but never extend beyond a few inconsequential specs of dust and dirt here and there.

    A single English subtitle stream is included, translating the Japanese dialogue, not the English dub. There are a surprising amount of differences to be found when compared with the English dub. The font is a little blocky and obtrusive, but the text is easy to follow.

    This title is authored on a dual-layered, DVD9 disc. I didn't notice any layer transition during the feature on my system.

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

Audio

    There are two soundtracks accompanying this film on DVD, both of which are presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s). The default soundtrack is the English dubbed version, while the film's original Japanese language can be selected via the setup menu or on the fly.

    It should be noted that there are several English dubs in existence. The dub presented here often refers to the Lupin character as "wolf", and is free of any profanity.

    The dialogue in both soundtracks is clear and easy to discern in the mix. Despite its age, the audio is surprisingly well balanced and vibrant, particularly the score. Audio sync is perfect.

    In comparing the soundtracks, I found the Japanese to have superior characterisation and a bit more 'life' to the voice talent. The English is also fine in that regard, but as a matter of personal taste I would go straight for the Japanese audio in future. The output volume level and overall quality of the two soundtracks seems to be very close, if not identical.

    I really enjoyed the score. The score is quirky and complex, jazzy and orchestral, with a superb array of unusual instruments put to use. The soundtrack score is credited to Yuji Ohno, and viewing this DVD has made me determined to seek out more of his work.

    There is no subwoofer or surround activity present. I attempted to process the soundtracks with Pro Logic IIx, but the result was pretty ordinary.

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

Extras

Menu

    The menu page is static and includes an audio clip from the film's score. The below trailers and interview are the only extras not 16x9 enhanced.

Alternate Angle- Storyboards

    A simple storyboard animatic for the entire film is included as an alternate angle. It's probably a cool feature for aspiring cartoonists, but I found it a long haul to sit through 95 minutes of still drawings.

Gallery- Conceptual Art (4:06)

    A silent montage of detailed line drawings, illustrating the film's characters and key objects.

Theatrical Trailer (2:12)

    The film's Japanese trailer, pushing the romantic and action angles.

Interview- Yasuo Ohtsuka (Animation Director) (25:36)

    Ohtsuka discusses his experiences making the film, which he describes as exhausting. The production took only four months, which is incredible for an animated film of this vintage. Animators weren't allowed to go home during the production, he claims. Doesn't sound like much fun if you ask me!

Madman Trailers (4)

    Trailers are included for other Madman anime releases; Black Cat Vol. 1, Karas, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie and Godannar Vol. 1.

Reversible Cover Slick

    The reverse side of the slick replicates the Japanese poster art and is void of ratings logos.

Censorship

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

R4 vs R1

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

    Online reviews suggest the Region 1 NTSC Special Edition is a double sided disc, with the storyboard feature separate from the feature film. The Region 1 edition also adds a Dolby Digital 5.1 English option, but is missing the gallery of conceptual art.

    The Region 2 Japanese NTSC release spreads the content over two discs, but it does not contain the Animator interview. Reviews of this disc praise the video quality, but the English subtitles are dubtitles rather than a proper translation of the Japanese audio.

    The Region 2 UK Optimum release is an NTSC conversion (PAL runtime 99:32). An introduction by Jonathan Clements (6:13) is added.

    The original Region 4 disc contained no substantial extras, was an NTSC conversion (PAL runtime 101:56) and had significantly lower audio quality. I can't see any compelling reason not to go with the new local product. Fans of the film needn't think twice about upgrading.

     UPDATE: February 2008. Both the R1 Special Edition and the R4 Special Edition have butchered opening sequences (a slow-paced montage with Japanese credits is minimized to freeze frames with English credits overlaid). The original R4 and R1 releases, the R2 (UK-Optimum) release, as well as the 2-disc R2(JP) and recent Lupin the Box R2 (JP) are all uncut. As an aside, the R1 Special Edition has production art as an extra, but there are fewer images and they have a much smaller viewable area. (Thanks to lupinthethird.net for this info).

Summary

    The Castle of Cagliostro is an anime classic, as well as a fun adventure.

    The transfer is good.

    The extras are interesting.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Rob Giles (readen de bio, bork, bork, bork.)
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Review Equipment
DVDDenon DVD-3910, using HDMI output
DisplaySanyo PLV-Z2 WXGA projector, Screen Technics Cinemasnap 96" (16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to DVD player. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials.
AmplificationDenon AVR-3806 (7.1 Channels)
SpeakersOrpheus Aurora III floor-standing Mains and Surrounds. Orpheus Centaurus .5 Front Center. Mirage 10 inch powered sub.

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