DVD

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DVD Cover:

The width of the DVD case itself is just under 2 DVD cases. Just like the OVA set, the TV Series Collection comes with a slip cover that goes over it. See below for pictures of the front, back, side and top.

 

DVD Inserts:

Here’s what the inside of the case looks like. And this time there’s some artwork with it, which looks awesome! The artwork is on the reverse side of the DVD cover insert. Great job Discotek Media!

I also made a wallpaper of that artwork and posted it on my DeviantArt account.

Disc Menus:

Again, moving your cursor over a selection turns the Rekka/Wildfire armor symbol red. Selected options use that gold circle you see under the “Play all.”

The Video:

I’ve only watched the first disc so far, but the video looks great! I watched the episodes with my husband and he agreed it looked really nice. I haven’t noticed any ghosting so far that plagued the first episode of Gaiden in the OVA set.

Although I will say the subtitles are exactly the same as the original Bandai release. I played both videos side by side on each of my monitors to confirm this. So if you were one of the fans hoping for new subtitles on this release, no such luck.

In Summary:

Some of you who already have the TV Series DVDs from Bandai may be wondering if it’s worth the cost to purchase the Discotek Media edition. While of course the end result of that choice belongs to you, here some things to keep in mind.

• Do your current DVDs have scratching or damage?
• Single sided discs. Even if it’s only the Japanese language edition.
• Do you want something that takes up a LOT less space?
• Are you worried that the Discotek discs will eventually go out of print just like the Bandai ones did?
• Are you a fanatic that just wants both the Bandai and Discotek Media TV series DVDs? (Which is perfectly fine by the way.)
• Support the fandom by purchasing the TV Series DVD Collection. Also hopefully if the Samurai Troopers TV series collection sells well, Discotek will be able to get the licensing for the Ronin Warriors dub.
  If the TV Series Collection doesn’t sell well, Discotek may just stop making it. And at that point I think it would be quite difficult to convince a third media company to pick up the series again.

And once again many thanks to Discotek Media for picking up this series.

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Now that we discussed Bandai Entertainment’s OVA DVD release, it’s time to move on to the new edition from Discotek Media.

Click on the thumbnail to see the full-sized image appear in a new window/tab. (Images are hosted on my Imgur account.)

DVD Cover:

The DVD case itself is the width of 1 DVD case. The DVD comes with a slip cover that goes over it.

Unlike the Bandai Entertainment release, the DVD cover is not reversible. The only names and terms used are from Yoroiden Samurai Troopers. No mention of “Ronin Warriors” anywhere.

DVD Inserts:

Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. Feels like a missed opportunity here. This is what the inside of the case looks like.

One point to make is that this at least confirms what Discotek Media said in the past. The DVDs are single-sided.

Disc Menus:

Moving your cursor over a selection turns the Rekka/Wildfire armor symbol red. Selected options use that gold circle you see under the “Play all.”
Side Note: Both discs play a part of the “Stardust Eyes” song in the background when viewing the menu.

The Video (Screenshots):

First I’ll start off by saying that unfortunately the subtitling done on Discotek Media’s OVA DVDs are the exact same as the subtitles used in Bandai’s release. I, along with other fans, were hoping for new subtitles to be done. This has disappointed quite a few fans and leaves us to wonder if the TV Series will also have the same Bandai subtitles as well. (Many people want new subtitles for the TV Series. In fact, many fans are hoping the reason for the TV Series delay is because there will be new subtitles.)

The first problem I and many other fans noticed is ghosting or blurring during the first episode of the first OVA Gaiden. I, along with other fans, have sadly confirmed that the original Bandai release also had this ghosting effect going on with this episode. It’s noticeable during panning scenes and during transformation scenes. Clicking on the thumbnail below will, unfortunately, show how bad it can get. This was the most noticeable when watching the OVAs on my TV.

After that first episode of Gaiden, the video quality improves dramatically. The rest of the episodes of all of the OVAs don’t seem to have that ghosting/blurring issue anymore. In fact, the quality looks fantastic! Here are some examples. (And even then my PC screenshots don’t do them justice.)

Note that subtitles for the episodes are in yellow. Subtitles for the songs are in green. Again the exact same subtitles as Bandai’s edition.

And this one I had to add because you see a mural with Sekhmet/Naaza fighting Cye/Shin. (In the armors designed for the play during Suzunagi’s time.) 😀

Those few glimpses at Message/Edo era style Dark Warlord/Mashou armors is one of the few rare treats you’ll get as fans of those characters. Everything else with them in Message is sadly a flashback/re-use of the TV series animation.

In Summary:

It would have been nice to have some sort of insert in the DVD case. Major point to Bandai for doing that for their release. Subtitles are the exact same as the Bandai release and I am one of those people who wishes the new release got new subtitles to go with it.

Some of you who already have the OVAs from Bandai may be wondering if it’s worth the cost to purchase the Discotek Media edition. While of course the end result of that choice belongs to you, here some things to keep in mind.

• Do your current DVDs have scratching or damage?
• Are you tired of flipping over that disc after watching Gaiden to then watch Legend of the Inferno Armor?
• Do you want something that takes up less space? (1 DVD disc width instead of 2 separate cases.)
• Are you worried that the Discotek discs will eventually go out of print just like the Bandai ones did?
• Are you a fanatic that just wants both collections? (Which is perfectly fine by the way.)

Finally, I would like to give a big shout out and many thanks to Discotek Media. Thank you for picking up this series and releasing it onto DVD again. You have breathed life back into this niche and wonderful fandom. I’m looking forward to the TV Series DVD Collection release.

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Note: This blog post will be image heavy.

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You can’t talk about the new Discotek Media OVA Collection without mentioning the original Bandai Entertainment DVD release from 2003. So I will start off posting about that first.

Click on the thumbnail to see the full-sized image appear in a new window/tab. (Images are hosted on my Imgur account.)

Reversible DVD Covers:

Disc 1:

Disc 2:

DVD Inserts:

Insert from Disc 1, Front and Back:

Note: The 1960 on the bottom right corner of the first image refers to the DVD Disc number.

Insert from Disc 2, Front and Back. (I rotated the back cover so you can see the image better.):

Note: The 1961 on the bottom right corner of the second image refers to the DVD Disc number.

Disc Menus:

The DVDs:

Bandai Entertainment used a double-sided disc for the first 2 OVAs. So Gaiden is on one side, and Legend of the Inferno Armor is on the other side. Message is on a single-sided disc.

The double-sided disc for the first two OVAs made them a pain to watch. When you were done with one OVA, you had to eject the disc, turn it over, and put it back in again. Double-sided discs are also difficult to keep from getting scratched over time.

In summary:

The DVD inserts were a really nice touch. The disc menus were not bad. And the reversible DVD cover solved the issue of the two different series names (Japanese original name and dub name). And we were grateful that the OVAs came out to DVD at all. (Before this release, the OVAs were only available in Japan on VHS tape. It was the original Yoroiden Samurai Troopers version only with of course no subtitles.)

The popularity of the TV Series DVDs released before these led to the dubbing of the OVAs years after the TV series was originally dubbed. It was great they went that far with the OVAs, though there’s some minor griping to be had about the voice acting in the OVA dub. Matt Hill returned as Ryo, which is awesome. Mike Donovan came back for Cye (Yay!) but for some reason didn’t also do the voice of Sage like he did in the TV series. O_o Ryo’s name pronunciation changed from Rhy-oh to Rio, and I swear the Japanese pronunciation sounds like Ri-yo. (And hearing Rio just makes me think of this song.) And some attack cries I believed were changed too. It just made the dub OVAs feel so separate from the TV series dub with the changes. But again they didn’t have to dub the movies. They didn’t even have to go as far as releasing the OVAs onto DVD. So I’m grateful these were released.

Next we’ll move on to Discotek Media’s release of the OVAs.

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