View Full Version : Dark Angel Box Set - Impressions
It arrived today from CDJapan, beautifully packaged in bubblewrap and hence in mint condition and no shakers.
The box is a sturdy cardboard affair in the same vain as the Farscape box sets. The cover is a dark metallic green affair featuring the Space needle and sporting "Dark Angel Collectors Box 1" prominently. Each disc is in a clear plastic Amaray case. The cover is the same for each disc with a strip on the right showing stills from the featured episodes.
Disc 1 was available a while back so isn't included in the box, but it fits in perfectly and matches the scheme exactly. The box is shrink wrapped and each individual disc is again shrink wrapped.
With the exception of Disc 1 (the pilot), each disc feature 2 episodes. Each disc starts playing right away without going to he menus first. As was said in the DVDTimes review the menus are simple because there are no extras so navigation is pretty simple.
The disc defaults to Japanese subtitles, but these are removable so you can watch the show without any onscreen intrusion. There are English subtitles on there for those who might use them.
The set is very very pretty and would be a fantastic addition to any collection.
The killer is the price - it ain't cheap. Having had time to think, the £120 it cost for the first 11 eps is steep when a Farscape box set has up to 5 eps for £17.99 (from Play :D) and an X-files or Buffy Box set costs considerably less for the WHOLE series.
DVDTimes reports that this series is likely to appear in the UK next summer, which given Fox's track record should be considerably cheaper than getting them from Japan (and hopefully no repeat of the Buffy packaging debacle). If we're lucky there'll be some extras too.
So if you want it NOW - Japan it is - but it won't be featuring in the bargain area of these forums. Incidentally the second half of the season is due out on the 7th December according to the enclosed literature.
Haven't had a chance to sit down and see what the transfer and sound are like - but all should be OK according to the DVDTimes review.
Jimmyboy
09-10-2001, 00:15
How come you only get 2 episodes per disc ?.
jonathan.e
09-10-2001, 09:23
Originally posted by Jimmyboy
How come you only get 2 episodes per disc ?.
$$$$$$’s
apart from the $$$, japan is a very expensive place to live. Even cd's are over $20.
There is no reason why they couldn't a have put 4 episodes on a disc, but they choose not too.
I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive. Hopefully this week, although the ems tracking phone number for South Africa is unobtainable, so I've no way of knowing :-(
Lenny Nero
09-10-2001, 11:18
:eek: :eek: WHAT?!?!! :confused:
Is that the Dark Angel i think you're talking about? The apocalyptic sci-fi Cameron Jessica Alba TV Series Dark Angel?!? :eek:
Out on DVD?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!
!!!
!
...
whew...
one more, im sorry
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D
No way!
I'm gona break this keyboard now if noone pulls me aside
Lenny Nero
09-10-2001, 11:25
....*calming down a little*
...*eh..not really*
WOWOWOWOWW!!!
Damn! It IS Dark Angel, so it's a pilot on volume 1 and volumes 2-6 2 episodes each make up the first 11 episodes, and thats almost half a season, and the second half will be out Dec 7TH!??!?!?! YES YES YES YES YES YES YES! YES...YES YES! OH YES
I was just longing for Dark Angel or Sliders, even got some sci fi show I know nothing about that looks good, Lexx seasons 1 and 2, and now Dark Angel is out! OH my GOD
Oh YES!
Ooooh oooohhhh OOOOOOoo I feeel gooooood
Damn how am I gona sleep now. I love you tbibic... what kind of name is that anyway? I still love you, thank you for the news! :D
Lenny Nero
09-10-2001, 11:31
Hey hey hey tbibic hey tbibic hey hey *jumps around like an 8 year old that I am* hey hey so um hey tbibic hey, uhhh I wanna ask you something
Does the box or the menus or anything have anything in Japanese on them?
Does it say Dark Angel Collector's Box 1 in both languages maybe? Are all the menus in english? I see there is some kind of stripe full of japanese writing on the pic at CDJapan site
It's pretty small and dark but look:
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/image/image.html?id=fxba-22828&type=1
Is that just an advertising thing that removes with the packaging?
Ooooooh, I am SO going to buy this, like, RIGHT NOW....
jonathan.e
09-10-2001, 11:55
Hey Lenny, take a cold shower guy. :D
Why not wait six months, pay half the price and get the whole thing on one PAL R2 set?
Lenny Nero
09-10-2001, 12:02
Originally posted by jonathan.e
Hey Lenny, take a cold shower guy. :D
Why not wait six months, pay half the price and get the whole thing on one PAL R2 set?
Yeah yeah yeah, that would be much much much yeah much better of course yeah, but I want I want I want Want want now now now I want now....eh... shower? Oh yeah, btw, do you really think it will come out in R2/4?! I don't really care that much as the audio and transfer seem good, I've read that DVDTimes review of the first volume just now, it appears everyone knew about these upcoming sets besides ME. :o
So, anyway, I think I would be perfectly happy with these japanese sets even if other regions release them too ONLY IF there is no 5.1 audio and extras on them.
CD Japan got Ally Mcbeal too!
*loads his backup clip with .50* I'll be right back, just need some more money
Hi Lenny,
Yeah tbibic is naff - its just a real name thing before I understood about cool names you can use on forums (I was wet behind the ears before this forum - I've learned loads since) - but once you've chosen that's it I am told.
Back to Dark Angel:
The spines of the DVDs have a long bit of cool looking Japanese text with the 20th Century Logo at the top. Dark Angel in English at the bottom and a large volume no. The Back of the DVDs summarising the eps are all in Japanese, but the key info like name of ep and credits are there in English too in much smaller text at the bottom.
The text on the Box is large and in English with much smaller Japanese above it. The stripe on the box is indeed just a bit of paper with advertising and comes off.
The menus are in Japanese mostly but with a tiny bit of English here and there - I've only found the episode name and "Audio and Language" - which isn't much help as all the audio and language options are in japanese :) But my DVD player has audio and subtitle buttons which eliminate the need to use the menus. The navigation is very simple indeed, you work out very quickly that the first option is play, the second is episode select and I never got round to trying out the third - probably chapter select. The last one is Audio and Lauguage.
They've got ER too if you like that! It was on an ER thread that I heard about this box.
Lenny, once your out of the shower, where did you find out that the 2nd half was out in December?
tbibic, I don't suppose you'll be doing some nice dvdprofiler updates of the Dark Angel discs and box will you (including scans)?
ajm - 7th of December was printed on one of the leaflets that came with the discs - it actually said "12/7" but I assume that this was december (US style date) as opposed to July (UK style date).
The 2nd Box set is identical to the first (There's a little picture) but obviously it says Collectors Box 2.
Wanted to do some scans for the folks here - but I have nowhere to store the images on the web. DVD profiler seems like a good idea but it ran like a dog on my aged PC and so I uninstalled.
I'll download it and reinstall it so that I can contribute some scans - will post here to say when I've done it.
thanks. if you don't manage the dvdprofiler updates, before my copy arrives, I'll do them.
it's amazing. my Dark Angel just arrived. I'll do the dvdprofiler updates later :-)
I've sent all the updates to dvdprofiler. Now just to wait for them to be available.
However, all the discs in the box, don't have upc's, so you'll have to add them using a dvdrom drive to get my profiles.
Also, the box cover is highly reflective. Like most scanners, mine hates that. I might try again with that one.
Jimmyboy
09-10-2001, 17:43
tbh though,
I taped the full series on high quality VHS and have now started to wipe over them. It really isnt that good a TV show, there's a handfull of good episodes, & Jess Alba is crap at acting but looks perfect.
No way is it worth the £100 + pricetag from Japan, its probably not worth more than £30 tbh.
Originally posted by Jimmyboy
tbh though,
I taped the full series on high quality VHS and have now started to wipe over them. It really isnt that good a TV show, there's a handfull of good episodes, & Jess Alba is crap at acting but looks perfect.
No way is it worth the £100 + pricetag from Japan, its probably not worth more than £30 tbh.
I agree with the above. However I still think it's great news (I didn't know about it either). The more Tv shows that are released on dvd in their entirety the better. It means that other shows that people may enjoy also stand a chance of getting released. As a science fiction fan the chance to own entire series on dvd just makes me too excited.
Jimmyboy
09-10-2001, 21:58
Originally posted by rjgn
I agree with the above. However I still think it's great news (I didn't know about it either). The more Tv shows that are released on dvd in their entirety the better.
Yeah, of course its good news that its being released on DVD.
Obviously, the more choice there is the better.
Im just saying that its almost impossible to justify the £100 + price tag for such an average show which only just manages to survive thanks to the massive sex appeal of the lead.
Beside's, there are far better TV shows out there that should be considered a greater purchase than this release, such as My So-Called Life.;)
Lenny Nero
10-10-2001, 11:19
I don't think it's going to be released in UK for at least another year and make it 3 years in US.
The show is only 3 episodes, only 3 weeks away from season 1 which is already basically completely available from Japan. With all the syndication contracts and other conflicts it will take a while. So I don't see a big reason in waiting, not counting the price.
I'm also glad more and more shows are being released on DVD as I think studios are realizing it's an instant cash cow. Take any mildly popular TV show, it will surely have some fan base, transfers are not that expensive, make barebones but all episodes release, don't produce too many units to test the waters, and voila, you got your income no matter what. If it sells well, make another batch, then produce another one, etc. I'm sure more and more shows will be released.
For the folks in the US - be warned this is regionally coded to Region 2. Make sure you can play multi-region before purchasing.
Lenny Nero
10-10-2001, 12:37
Originally posted by tbibic
For the folks in the US - be warned this is regionally coded to Region 2. Make sure you can play multi-region before purchasing.
:eek: Really? Uhhh... what's mutli-region? :D
Oookay, I've finally ordered all 6 volumes, it's the most expensive DVDs I've ever bought but they are not as expensive as most retail priced ones are everywhere around US and UK, i mean, about 26 US$ for each disc is not bad, I'm just thinking it's a super dooper rare DVD set with like 39.99 retail price and that I'm getting a good deal here saving 14 bucks on each disc! Yeah! I bought Heathers Tin for 26 too. :D
jonathan.e
10-10-2001, 14:23
Originally posted by Lenny Nero
as I think studios are realising it's an instant cash cow.
Syndication is a far, far bigger cash cow hence the delay in getting many TV shows to disc.
Lenny Nero
10-10-2001, 23:22
Originally posted by jonathan.e
Syndication is a far, far bigger cash cow hence the delay in getting many TV shows to disc.
Right, that's what I thought in the post prior to that, I mean after all the syndication contracts expire they should be releasing as many of their popular shows as they can.
I so can't wait for the 2 new ones just debuted: Alias and 24
cryptkeeper
11-10-2001, 06:10
I just got my box today -- I think it's a great set, although the price is a little steep. If you're a fan of the series, it's worth getting, because it will be awhile before it comes to the U.S., if past history is any indicator.
Just seen on cdjapan, that the 2nd boxset is now due for release 22th November. Still priced at 12,600 yen. Again it's 5 discs.
Lenny Nero
16-10-2001, 12:26
Originally posted by ajm
Just seen on cdjapan, that the 2nd boxset is now due for release 22th November. Still priced at 12,600 yen. Again it's 5 discs.
!!!!!!!!!!!!)(@#*#()@(!*(&#_$(*_!*()$*&!!!!!!!!!!
Ordered :D :D :D :D :D
WOW! It's even sooner, November and 22nd! 27th is my B-day, I'm gona have the whole season before my birthday... nice present to me from... eh me.
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/image/image.html?id=fxba-22829&type=1
Nice box! I guess the first one looks kind of the same, only blue.
Image wouldn't link, just click on it, too tired to go host it onto Tripod.
First box is a highly reflective green. Very hard to scan (just see the dvdprofiler image for the boxset).
I finished watching the first box last night, and wanted more. So, about 6 weeks until I can get my next fix :-)
Lenny Nero
16-10-2001, 12:55
Originally posted by ajm
First box is a highly reflective green. Very hard to scan (just see the dvdprofiler image for the boxset).
I finished watching the first box last night, and wanted more. So, about 6 weeks until I can get my next fix :-)
Whew, you've already watched it all.
I'm going to prolong the pleasure, kind of taste it little by little like licking an ice cream. One episode at a time only on special days, like when I know I have nothing to do for at least 2 days and everything is okay with everything so that I have peace of mind and a good mood, etc. :D
Ooooh I was gona go sleep but started looking at DVDRam drives again (gotta get one if I'm going to make VCDs out of some of my fav VHS only movies as I'm encoding it at very low compression and would only fit 15 mins on a regular CDR)
Lenny, I watched 5 discs Sunday evening and the last one last night.
BTw, DVD-RAM sucks!.
Look at DVD+RW. I've just ordeded the new hp dvd100i (the discs play on normal dvd players)
For what it's worth, it would appear that the first box is no longer orderable.
they did say it was a limited initial pressing. You can still buy the individual discs.
Lenny Nero
16-10-2001, 23:11
Originally posted by ajm
they did say it was a limited initial pressing. You can still buy the individual discs.
HA! It got shipped out to me on friday the 12th and I was expecting it at the end of the week the earliest, but only this weekend passed, then monday, and this tuesday morning the 16th I got it delivered!!!!! :eek: :D
I HAVE IT HERE YES YES it's so beautiful, each volume is so cool, with various pics of Jessica Alba and different background colorings on the side and they all fit into this awesome hard cardboard box, plus it's cheaper to get them all in a box rather than separately. Even though I would prefer it all be in english, but japanese writings kind of make it feel like I've got this set in the Blade Runner world, where everything is in these two languages.
Too bad for everyone else who didn't place an order as the page with the first box set seems gone :(
Pre-order the second box like I did right now in case that's a limited pressing too!
Well, seems like you can order the first boxset again, they either got stocked or fixed the page.
:)
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