Re: "Highlander" Anime -- Really?

On Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:07:24 -0400, Cathy Krusberg wrote:

Amazon states that the Optimum release in the UK has the Japanese language
track:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vampire-Hunter-D-Bloodlust/dp/B0002W12YO

Is this a credible source? I would be seriously delighted if I learned
that somebody had released a version of this movie with English and
Japanese soundtracks, but it wouldn't be the first time Amazon or
another seller had included misinformation on a product page. If the DVD
includes a Japanese track, Optimum's own website ought to be blaring the
fact in big type, but their page on the movie at
http://www.optimumreleasing.com/dvd.php?id=111 is pretty understated.
A quick search for reviews of this release netted one that indicates
only an English-language soundtrack
http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=137541&section=dvd

Somebody can make me really happy by showing me where I've overlooked
something I'd like so much to see.

I did some more searching and found a fairly extensive review that
contradicts the info at Amazon UK. The DVD specs are to the right and list
only English 5.1 and 2.0 soundtracks. The text of the article provides
some additional explanation.

http://dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=13101

The original English and the subsequent Japanese voice tracks are very
close but not identical. They even have slightly different lengths.

Really? How in the world did that happen?

Since the same company produced both English and Japanese versions, they
had access to the original video. I believe the difference in length comes
from minor timing adjustments. They cannot be significant because I know
of at least one fan sub that manipulated the video and combined it with
both English and Japanese language tracks.

(I think there are fans out there who would take issue with "very
close." You can't dubtitle VHD:B from the English; too many differences.)

What I mean by close is that although the Japanese and English scripts
differ, they are both compatible with the same video with the exception
that the Japanese video is three minutes shorter than the English.

But if that's true (the difference in length, I mean), that would
explain why the English-language and Japanese-language Japanese releases
are on separate DVDs - even in the box set. I wondered about that.

I assume you're referring to the Vampire Hunter - D Perfect Collection that
has the English language DVD, the Japanese language DVD, a DVD with extras
(the Vampire Hunter D legend storyboard), and an OST CD. I don't have that
version although I've been tempted to buy it for the third DVD; however, I
have not been able to find a reasonably priced second hand version - a new
copy costs well over 10,000 yen. I have the North American Urban Vision
English language version (Region 1) and the Japanese Avex Mode Japanese
language version (Region 2).

Avex Mode publishes three versions of "Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust". As
you probably know, they are not referred to as Bloodlust in Japan but
simply as Vampire Hunter D (Banpaia Hantaa D - バンパイアハンターD). It's
distinguished from the OAV by using the loanword Banpaia rather than
Kyuuketsuki to refer to 'Vampire'. The OAV is entitled Kyuuketsuki Hantaa
D (吸血鬼ハンターD) the same title as the first novel.

The original English and the Japanese versions of "Bloodlust" are
distinguished from one another by the subtitles. The original English
carries the subtitle "Theatrical Release Version" and the Japanese version
carries the subtitle "Original Japanese Version". Since the English and
not the Japanese was the original version - the English version was the one
released in theaters nation-wide in Japan, this sounds contradictory. What
it means is that the Japanese version is not a direct translation of the
English but an original adaptation of the script using the video from the
theatrical release.

> So,
in order to use both audio tracks, you have to manipulate the video and
audio tracks to make them consistent with one another. I would suspect
this is the reason why the Australian Company chose not to pursue adding
the Japanese language track. I would imagine, being a recent release, that
the master would be readily available.

It's been several years since this went down, but when Madman was about
to release the movie, they made a mad scramble looking for someone who
had done a fansub; they announced the search on their boards, and
someone reposted it to one of the anime newsgroups (I no longer recall
whether it was r.a.a.m or something else). Apparently they didn't have
time to do the translation themselves. They found a fansub script but
then weren't able to put it into service, but unfortunately, I don't
remember the technical details as to why the Japanese-language master
wasn't considered satisfactory.

The fansub script was a hard subtitle put out by Digital Panic a couple of
years ago. I haven't seen it myself but it's reported to be a fairly
accurate translation. If that was the version Madman was dealing with
either the hardsub or the file used to create the hard sub would have been
problematic. I've belabored the point elsewhere as to the shortcomings of
hard subs so I won't go into that here. Besides, that's not the real issue
here. The source file would have been timed to the Japanese version which
is three minutes shorter than the English theatrical version.

Mata ato de,

Phil Yff
.

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