Howl's Moving Castle R2/Japan November 16th - Subtitles ? (1 Viewer)

[Brendon]

According to nausicaa.net , Howl's Moving Castle is getting released in Japan on 16th November.

Of the two versions being released I'm mainly interested in the 4 disc version - according to nausicaa.net, disc one has the Japanese DTS-ES 6.1 mix (as per the Japan/R2 Spirited Away) with English subtitles.

Yesasia's website however shows the same set with disc one having the DTS-ES mix but without English subtitles. The Japanese kana on the same page also supports this.

Both sites concur that disc two has the full film with English subtitles but with only DD2.0 Japanese audio.

Whilst I will happily "settle" for the two disc edition of the film with DD5.1 Japanese audio & English subs, I'd prefer the 4 disc as long as there is both Japanese DTS-ES & English subs on the same disc!

Does anyone know if the original Japanese press release is online anywhere (I'll happily have a stab at translating), or know for sure which subtitles are definately on disc one of the four disc set ?

Thanks,

Brendon

 

[Peter Svensson]

CDJAPAN states that the Japanese "Box" edition has English subtitles and they are usually reliable. But the first press (including the clear cube) is already sold out.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDZ-8084

 

[Brendon]

Peter,

Thanks for the link - it strongly looks as though the DTS-ES disc also has English subs (only one website differs from this consensus so far).

Shame about the first press having gone already but can happily console myself with a DTS-ES track. Not to mention, if various reports are ture, yet more footage of John Lasseter and Mitazaki san; after seeing Arigato Lasseter san! this can only be a good thing!

Howl's itself doesn't open here in the UK until next Friday - I have tickets already for the subtitled version. Given that every other Ghibli film I own (er..all of them bar Ocean Waves) I've bought sight unseen, I have every faith that Howl's will warrant preordering the DVD ahead of time.

Thanks again for the info Peter, much appreciated.

Brendon

 

[andrew markworthy]

And not all that widely. Our big local multiplex doesn't seem to be getting it. But hey, why should we bother when Madagascar is still showing? I cannot believe that this is likely to pull in more business than Howl's :frowning:

Please can anyone recommend a cheap reliable site for Japanese DVDs? Alternatively, does anyone know if the Hong Kong version is likely to be out soon?

 

[Brendon]

Andrew,

Tell me about it - in the North of England, there only seems to be Manchester & Liverpool arthouse cinemas getting it. Mercifully they are getting the subbed version and not the dubbed.

This has been a long, long wait - I was picking up Howl's promotional material when I was in Japan back in October 2004.

As for retailers (none of whom I'm connected to!), I've been looking at the following;

global.yesasia.com
www.amazon.co.jp

Amazon seem to be the cheaper, although selecting Priority International Mail knocks out the difference. It also helps to be able to read Japanese whilst navigating amazons Japanese site - not essential, but it helps. (I can, a little).

The 2 disc version at amazon.co.jp is 3849yen = 17.48UKP
The same at YesAsia is 48.49USD = 26UKP

(Amazon does not include postage in the price!)

There's been no word on a Hong Kong R3 version yet; I'm not sure if the theatrical release of the film was staggered enough across SE Asia to warrant differing DVD release dates.

As for Howl's not getting a wider release; Spirited Away got virtually no distribution here, despite winning the Oscar. A suspicous minded person might think that Disney only consented to the Ghibli distribution deal in order to bury it...

Hope all this helps; if you need any help with amazon.co.jp's site and/or translation, give me a shout.

Thanks,

Brendon

 

[andrew markworthy]

Brendon, many thanks for the info.

Having said that, I'm feeling guilty about badmouthing our local cinema, because as I've just found out, they are going to show Howl, but not until 23rd Sept - I can wait a week.

 

[Brendon]

Andrew,

Howl's doesn't open anywhere here in the UK until the 23rd, so don't feel bad at all. (Feel bad at a certain distributor who's held back nearly three months from the US distribution...)

Brendon

 

[andrew markworthy]

So much for the info I picked up from one of the 'quality' Brit newspapers last weekend.

 

[Brendon]

We have Quality newspapers here in Britain ?! Stop the press!

I think the real trick will be sorting which cinemas are showing the subtitled version and which will be only doing the dubbed. They're being released simultaneously, and I suspect most mainstream cinemas that are planning on showing HMC will opt for the dubbed version.

With respect to the DVD, having looked around the web, most of the press releases put out by Buena Vista in Japan (as it is they who distribute Ghibli's DVDs) point towards there being no subtitles on the DTS-ES disc. Still nothing "definitive" so far though.

Brendon

 

[Brendon]

By way of clarification, disc 1 of the 4 disc set (the DTS-ES disc) will NOT carry English subtitles.

A poster from onlineGhibli.com posted these scans of the promotional playbill for the DVDs.

No word on subtiling on the extras discs of either the 2 or 4 disc sets as of yet.

Brendon

 

[Richard Splinte]

Just a heads up that the region3 versions have all english subs, there is a 2 disc DTS edition wich goes for around $20, and a beautiful limited 3 disc edition.

 

[Peter Svensson]

I have ordered the limited edition. Maybe I can post some pics when I get it.

 

[Richard Splinte]

same here, mine shipped yesterday

ghibliworld.com has some pictures of the limited set.

 

[Tim Fleming]

Anyone who has ordered the Korean Limited Edition may want to read this... but be warned, it is NOT pleasant!

I received my copy yesterday and despite the cover stating that this is "16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen", the feature is actually in 4:3 Full Screen mode!! I hope that someone will prove me wrong by finding a menu item that allows you to choose between 4:3 and Widescreen, but I certainly haven't been able to locate such an option.

I have sent off an email to DVDfromKorea (from whom I purchased) asking them to contact the distributors Daewon DVD in order to find out whether this was a manufacturing error and whether there will be replacement discs made. I also mentioned that if that was not to be the case, then perhaps they should suggest to Daewon DVD that they refund my money - DVDfromKorea or any other online store should NOT be held accountable for this mistake... Daewon DVD however, should be.

I will post again if and when I hear back from DVDfromKorea.com

 

[Richard Splinte]

jup, you're right. It seems that there is an mistake made with the 3 disc edition. And it's not your copy alone, a lot of people are complaining about this, so it seems to affect all copies of the 3 disc edition. Too bad, now I have to return it and maybe get the 2 disc edition or wait for a replacement.

 

[Peter Svensson]

Tim: It would be very interesting to hear what Dvdfromkorea has to say about it! This really sucks! I´m not importing any more editions from Korean websites from now on. It´s such a hassle to return DVD:s and try to get compensation for it.

 

[Tim Fleming]

Peter... I had a response from DVDfromKorea in which they say they have watched the DVD and that the copy they watched is 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen - this is the jist of that response:
I know their intentions are good and I will put their suggestions for checking the anamorphic widescreen to use, but I really doubt that they will make any difference considering my R2 Japanese limited edition of Howl's Moving Castle displays just fine in the correct aspect ratio as do several hundred other titles I own. There is certainly no distortion of the image on my 4:3 format TV; in fact, it appears to be cropped on the sides (particularly noticeable when the film title is showing at the beginning).

I get the feeling that maybe they were looking at disc #1 of the 2 disc standard edition, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt until I have had a chance to take another look at the problem using their suggestions.

And Richard, out of interest, where have you read of other complaints regarding this title (besides my comments here)? "a lot of people are complaining about this, so it seems to affect all copies of the 3 disc edition."

 

[Peter Svensson]

OK, thank you Tim! Please check it again for us. But I don´t understand, normally it´s rather easy to see if a movie is 4:3 or 16:9? My wide screen-TV automatically changes aspect ratio depending on what kind of signal it gets. For example, if I´m watching a full screen movie, I get black bars on the right and left side of the actual movie picture. It shouldn´t be so hard for them to see if it´s wrong or not. So they are probably watching a copy with the correct aspect ratio.

Shouldn´t we be able to get the "movie-disc" from the standard edition as a replacement disc? Are the discs the same? Anyone know?

 

[Tim Fleming]

Peter... it certainly makes me think that after receiving my email, they have mistakenly viewed disc #1 of the standard edition as opposed to the special limited edition... and that standard edition no doubt does display in the correct aspect ratio.

I have also just now after much googling, located the email address for the set's distributor (DaiWon C&A) and have sent them an email describing the problem and asking what can be done to resolve the issue.

If anyone reading these forums (and more particularly this topic) speaks Korean and would like to contact them directly, their contact details are on their website at:

http://www.daiwoncna.com/english/intro/contactus.html

 

[Richard Splinte]

Tim on a Dutch dvd forum somebody else received their 3 disc region3 version. After I asked if they had anamorphic widescreen or not they also confirmed it was pan&scan.

But now you mention it, the person also said it showed up window boxed on his pc at first.

I can't post the link on this forum because I'm a new user, but the messages are on dvd.nl

maybe the dvd is not properly flagged as a 16:9 dvd, and it shows the 16:9 content in a 4:3 frame?

I will receive my copy of the 3disc at the beginning of next week, and I also ordered a regular 2 disc edition. I will let you know when I receive those.