Akira - 4K BD

Kotatsu Neko

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My shiny new copy of Akira on 4K disc arrived today. It's a Japanese import so not cheap, but for your money you get the movie in 4K, plus the same on a regular BD, and an extra BD with a documentary about the new audio remaster. It also all comes in a very pretty box.

I love the movie and have seen it many times on several formats, initially with the two VHS set Manga Video released in the early 90s. I've yet to watch the new 4K disc in its entirety, but I had a good scan and impressions unfortunately aren't good. It's really soft and DNR has clearly had its way with things. HDR is there is places, but it's subtle. I'll watch it in full this weekend but sadly this looks to be a disappointment. I also did a back to back comparison with the BD and surprisingly the BD looks even softer, needlessly so.
 

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I remember being blown away by the super high bitrate audio track on BD. Have they upgraded that to Atmos?
 
Well I watched this tonight and the disc is indeed a big disappointment. The source just isn't up to scratch, with visible print damage at times and weak black levels. Darker scenes look especially poor. HDR is used incredibly sparingly, really just on headlights in the opening night time sequences. It's soft throughout, with several shots looking so soft they're essentially out of focus.

The new sound mix on the other hand is sensational and when things get busy and the utterly bananas Yamashiro Gumi score kicks in it's stunning stuff. There are four audio tracks, a TrueHD remastered track in 5.1, a Dolby Digital 5.1 track (I assume the original audio mix), a PCM stereo track, and finally an English dubbed TrueHD 5.1 track.

I hadn't watched the movie in quite a few years and it's still sensationally good. The opening 14 minutes is simply some of the most incredible animation ever created. The movie is incredible to look at from start to finish, and like the movie it is clearly inspired by - Blade Runner, Akira has gone to be hugely influential as well. It's a masterpiece. I love it. The disc, not so much.

Oh and there are no subs on the extras I'm afraid. Better brush up on your 日本語 if you want to understand them.
 
I sold it, literally the same day it arrived.

It was like trying to watching something wearing someone else's glasses.

New remix can eff off too.

Only the trailers have English subs, extras wise.
 
I was another who was looking forward to this release on 4k as well. Shame.

I remember sitting in front of the TV back when I was 10/11 to the advert of Akira on VHS. I was instantly hooked! Not only to Akira but to Manga.
 
The omission of English subs is atrocious and penny-pinching IMO - shame as I have been waiting for this... :(
 
There are English subs on the movie itself at least.

....straight from the dvd and blu-ray copies no doubt do zero effort - makes you wonder if they actually remastered to 4K or just upscaled from blu......
 
To be fair, the subs are the one thing, (well two things, the 2.0 PCM audio is on there), they got right. They ported across the ones made for the 25th anniversary release, which were newly translated and finally accurate

Previous releases only included dubtitles.
 
To be fair, the subs are the one thing, (well two things, the 2.0 PCM audio is on there), they got right. They ported across the ones made for the 25th anniversary release, which were newly translated and finally accurate

Previous releases only included dubtitles.

Interesting - must admit that I didn't spot the difference :blush: on the Anniversary release - must have another watch of both......
 
I was hoping for brilliant reviews and was ready to order it but now I am holding off.
Is the Anniversary edition still available ?
Ghost In The Shell 4K would be awesome.
 
GITS came out on 4K BD in Japan a while back. I've seen that one too and it's similarly unimpressive. The HDR is basically nonexistent and is blatantly obvious that much or even all of it is 2K.
 
GITS came out on 4K BD in Japan a while back. I've seen that one too and it's similarly unimpressive. The HDR is basically nonexistent and is blatantly obvious that much or even all of it is 2K.
Looks like I will be sticking to BluRay versions:(
 
As far as I can tell, this disc isn't HDR. I use a Sony xb800m2 and if you switch off Dolby Vision and leave HDR set to Auto, HDR does not kick in, which is odd because it should if HDR or DV is present.

If you turn on Dolby Vision, it does increase NITS brightness and typically can be seen in neon and headlight effects but I fear this is the Sony estimating brightness and darkness in the scene. Does a good job for the most part (I usually leave on DV as it does a good job with regular HDR) but if you check the packaging very carefully there's no HDR badging to be seen anywhere.
 
As far as I can tell, this disc isn't HDR. I use a Sony xb800m2 and if you switch off Dolby Vision and leave HDR set to Auto, HDR does not kick in, which is odd because it should if HDR or DV is present.

If you turn on Dolby Vision, it does increase NITS brightness and typically can be seen in neon and headlight effects but I fear this is the Sony estimating brightness and darkness in the scene. Does a good job for the most part (I usually leave on DV as it does a good job with regular HDR) but if you check the packaging very carefully there's no HDR badging to be seen anywhere.

Odd......
 
Odd......

I do have the UK edition which should be identical to the Japanese release (wouldn't be much point showcasing this at cinemas if it was an inferior version).

I think this version will have benefits if you run a screen bigger than 65in, but my recommendation? Buy the regular Blu-ray.
 
I do have the UK edition which should be identical to the Japanese release (wouldn't be much point showcasing this at cinemas if it was an inferior version).

I think this version will have benefits if you run a screen bigger than 65in, but my recommendation? Buy the regular Blu-ray.

Possibly true - but not really pertinent?
 
Well, I think it's true of most Ultra HD discs. Watching older movies get a 4k HDR makeover doesn't exactly thrill me so much than a recent movie release in 4k. For instance, Battle Angel Alita is stunning in 4k with all the HDR bells and whistles. A marked difference than watching it in 2k. Superman in 4k? It doesn't feel like watching the movie for the first time again. Lenses were not at all tack sharp at all corners as they are today. Even defocusing was used as a technique to smooth out wrinkles in earlier movies, so various softness characteristics that is a combination of lenses and film stock do affect sharpness. These recent 4k remasters with slight gamut increase and bright, almost burnt out areas, seems tacked on. The only movies in 4k that I think has benefited from 4k restoration is star wars, particularly the prequel movies. The HDR gamut increase in particular helps smooth out all the gradations in the sky and the colour is particularly vibrant. It does feel like you're watching a true remaster. I agree it's all horses for courses and all that.

Fortune Star which have been doing custom remasters of titles for 88 Films and Eureka (as far as I know) have taken the right approach - supersample down from 4k to 2k. These releases look like a brand new experience, especially with the colour grading which seem to run a few VHS purists the wrong way. They feel like a brand new way of watching the movie which is what you want for a remaster. Doesn't need 4k or HDR.

Either way, Akira, and by extension GITS receive very little benefits from these 4k versions and I might be wrong about the HDR, but I've tested the same mode on Star Wars which does not have DV or HDR10 and HDR mode activates just fine on my oled LG.
 
This review also noted a lack of HDR.

 

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