Akira Special Edition DVD

[nightwing_38116]

I got mine on Tuesday morning and am VERY impressed with Pioneer's efforts. The tin case is very cool. Attention was paid to packaging and hopefully more companies will follow suit.
The movie itself looks GORGEOUS. And eventhough it was released in 1986 (and is older than a lot of posters here) it still stands strong and is on par with anything that I've seen released in recent memory. The new dub is very good. From everything I know about the new version, the new dub is a more accurate translation of the original script. The story makes much more sense and left me feeling satisfied after viewing it as opposed to the slightly confused feeling I got after watching Streamline's dub. The new VAs seemed to really have a sense of the film and put a little bit more of themselves into it. Takashi, Masaru, and Kyoko have kids as their VAs which was the case in the Japanese version. Thanks to the voice actors Kaneda is still a cocky punk and Tetsuo is still tortured.

The second disk is chock full of goodies and bonus material:

-sound files - from the soundtrack
-Katsuhiro Otomo - interview 30 min.
-Production Report
-Storyboards
-2 theatrical trailers
-1 TV ad
-2 "other" ads
-Interviews with the restoration crew, audio crew, VAs and more.

The Special Edition was limited to only around 100,000 copies. Well, those are just a few of thoughts on the Akira DVD. If you have it as well please post your opinion.

[Calhoun07]

I also have it, of course, and thought it was well worth the wait. Fans need not worry about the quality of this release.

[Failure]

Sounds cool. I'll have to get it, if only to find out what the heck is really going on. I liked Kaneda's voice in the old one, I'm glad to hear he's still a cocky punk though.

[Clayface]

I picked it up to, though I didn't get the one that comes in the tin. Unfortunately, I haven't watched it yet - hopefully I'll get to it this weekend.

[Brian Cruz]

I got the tin last week, but haven't watched it yet. I have a stack of about 50 DVDs I still need to watch.

[Clayface]

Hmm, interesting that so many people bought the tin version. I've never been a fan of the tins - they take up too much room in my collection. When I can get the same thing in a non-tin edition (like I did with Akira), I prefer to pick up that version.

[Calhoun07]

But you don't get the same version with the non tin edition. You get no bonus features on the single disc at all. And the tin edition is only a few dollars more for the second disc with the bonus features.

[Clayface]

Originally posted by calhoun07
But you don't get the same version with the non tin edition. You get no bonus features on the single disc at all. And the tin edition is only a few dollars more for the second disc with the bonus features.

Actually, I did get the extras. A lot of pepople don't seem to know about this - there were three versions of the DVD released:

1) The regular version - a single DVD - just the first DVD, the one with the movie and no extras

2) The collector's edition - two DVDs - one is the movie, the other is the extras - comes in a plastic 2-DVD case with slipcover - no tin.

3) The limited edition tin version - identical to #2, but with a tin.

I got the second version - it costs more than #1, but less than #2.

[Calhoun07]

Dang, dude, I only saw the bare bones version and the tin at the store. I would have gotten #2 if I knew it was out there. Bummer. Oh, well.

[Clayface]

Yeah, I don't think they did a very good job advertising that version of the set. I only knew about it because I saw an announcement on ign.com a while back about it. YOu can see the three different versions if you look up Akira on dvdpricesearch.com. Interestingly enough, it looks like right now you can get either #2 or #3 for the same price! When I preordered mine, I got the #2 version for cheaper.

[Brian Cruz]

I like the tin, personally. It's much better than the tin version of Evil Dead II that I have. That thing is huge! This tin is much sleeker, though getting the discs out without bending them can be a challenge. I hate those super-strong hubs that just don't want to let go.