Akira: Special Collection (1988) [PILA-1086]

wow, not much to say about this film, either you love it or hate it, yes i've meet and spoke with people who hate it
this is an amazing box set, bought this new when it first came out.
i was very excited about getting this set rather than the criterion set at the time, the box on this is amazing.
each disc is in a black sleeve with white graphics.

picture quality is amazing, this has english on the digital tracks and Japanese on the analog tracks.
both sound great, but tonight i watched it in english.

the amazing part of this film other than being the most expensive anime film at the time is the attention to detail.
if you watch the film in Japanese and watch the mouth movement, they are moving and actually saying the words
not like other animated programs where the mouth is just a blob moving to follow the words.

sorry in advance for being so picture heavy but i really wanted to show off the quality of this box set.







for some reason this shot is a little too green.










this shot is a little washed out or overbright.




wanted to give a frame by frame of the CAV still step.


















i don't think these next shots are clear enough for me, i really want this on 4K resolution








































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the rein-o official signature:

This is one of my sets to get in the future


Do you have the Pioneer DVD or any of the recent BDs? I can't really tell but your pictures make it look a nicer presentation than the DVD if not the BD.

i only own the LD, can't really justify buying more copies if i hardly watch the one i do own.

but it is a really nice transfer, super clean. may have a little EE edge enhancement but its hard to tell for me as i never knew of
such until recently.

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the rein-o official signature:

It is much better than the Criterion release.
At least thats what I thought when I compared the releases.
I let the Criterion go and kept PILA-1086.

For some reason, my copy of the standard Japanese release of Akira doesn't have the "Presented By Pioneer LDC" intro or any other copyright warnings at all. Did they not have that logo until around the time this release came out, or what? Also, the standard version also has amazing picture quality (I did notice that in one scene (the police interrogation scene) that the colors are very slightly duller than the Pioneer DVD.) Besides that, it's just as good as the DVD picture quality (In my book, at least).

How would you buy it when it first came out? Were you in Japan, or something?

i think it has the pioneer LDC since it was a special version??

i bought it new, i think at tower video when they were importing LDs from tower Japan.

but also you have to remember that when this was new it was around 160


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the rein-o official signature:

Hah, the box set has the Japanese soundtrack on the digital track and the English dub on the analog track while the Criterion is vice versa and none of them have subtitles. That's just funny.
This edition seem to look better than the Criterion although, might be worth importing.

I have this box, but held off on watching it because I felt the film was best seen for the first time on the big screen. I achieved that back in December, so now I can watch it with one hand on the "step" control to catch the little things.

I agree it should be seen on the big screen. Unfortauntly I have never seen it that way and my first experience was through a sealed VHS that had snow/noise all the way through the movie until exactly the credits rolled. I still have the tape. I hope I will someday see it on the big screen. To hear the soundtrack would be amazing in a theater. I would also love to see other anime movies like Escaflowne which has one my most favorite soundtracks a movie has (the other being Brokedown Palace)

Good day guy,

I have this box set of which is immaculate, and the gatefold edition also great cover art, and collectors piece.


I shall have to give this a play soon, but think you really need to be in the right mood to view this just like any other movie experience.

Kind Regards

Whoa! That looks stunning for LD-what's your current setup rein-o?

AKIRA was with an R7G Infocus IN-72 projector and Da-lite screen.
pluged the R7G into the projector straight with a 50 foot S-Video cable from wallyworld BAM that's it


and this proves that you don't need a special video cable for top quality image with your setup
it may help but not nessary.
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the rein-o official signature:

You mean excess of edge enhancement to that effect on the akira red title right?

I have the same on one of my first seven ld; sailor moon R the movie is like an excess
of luma contouring or some like that......dunno how to explain, but only happens on that disc anyway looks amazingly natural on a FD Trinitron

who means what ????
sort of lost on this post, please explain.
thanks

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the rein-o official signature:

You said the transfer had a little of EE edge enhancement....watching the AKIRA title capture you posted i supposed you meant a little excess of edge enhancement......excuse my English

oh OK, sorry I had to read all of my posts from this, it was a long time ago.
it might have EE I personally can't tell too much with that type of stuff, I think I need someone in the room to show me what to look for

now I no longer have that same LD player but need to try and get pictures again with my other LD players.
just need more time in the day to do that and get all other things done
thanks for posting, sorry I was also confused

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the rein-o official signature:

No problem thank you....the R-7 looks yet like a really good machine

First print blu-ray (also officially imported to USA but rare) has japanese dolby truehd 5.1 in 24bit 192khz(maybe the only bd with such high sampling rate and resolution). It comes with a little booklet which explaining the effects on human brain with such high sampling frequency.

The new 25th anniversary release have both 1988 and 2001 dubs as well.

God bless the 1988 streamline dub