Dungeon People: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Dungeon People: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Dungeon People is a cute and charming comedic action-adventure anime series. Created by Sui Futami.   Dungeon People features animation production by OLM (The Apothecary Diaries, Deltora Quest). An impressive creation with a lot of impressive production merits.

Produced by Hiroshi Kamei (My Hero Academia, Happy Sugar Life), Masanori Ishii (Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time, The Strongest Magician in the Demon Lord's Army was a Human), Miho Matori (Dark Gathering, Delusional Monthly Magazine), Mitsuhiro Nanbara (Mitsuboshi Colors, The Vampire Dies in No Time), and Yūsuke Ōnuki (A Nobody's Way Up to an Exploration Hero, D4DJ All Mix). Theme song performances are by TrySail  (opening) and Akari Nanawo (ending). Dungeon People features voice performances by Sayaka Senbongi and Sayumi Suzushiro.

Clay (Sayaka Senbongi) decides to take on the mantle of her esteemed father and trains in the way of being a thief. Attempting to be a master herself, Clay trains hard and enters the dungeons. Yet Clay soon has encountered the unexpected: epic bosses in the dungeons. Most surprising to Clay of all was the epic boss Belle (Sayumi Suzushiro).

Despite being a boss in her way, Clay and Belle end up teaming up and working together in the dungeon. The quest becomes a new one that transcends training and dungeon adventures when Clay and Belle oversee the dungeon as their day job. An epic mission and one that builds to new fun between the girls.

The characters are charming and add a lot of fun to the series. The lead cast of characters are certainly engaging and worthwhile. Clay and Belle are both engaging leads for the series. Fans of kawaii style anime series will find something to enjoy with the central characters.

The character designs by Hiromi Nakayama (Odd Taxi: In the Woods, Inazuma Eleven GO 2: Chrono Stone) are well-done. Nakayama is a gifted character designer. The designs for the lead cast of characters are especially impressive. The supporting characters are well designed, too. Both Clay and Belle have excellent character design artwork. The dungeon enemies are well-designed, too. Nakayama has a lot of fun with these production elements.

The animation is well-done and makes a solid impression throughout.  Dungeon People features solid art direction by Kenji Kato (Violinist of Hamelin, Restaurant to Another World). The animation style is top notch. The background animation and line art are excellent and manage to make a solid impression. Featuring a solid animation team, the animators certainly have fun with the production. The result impresses in spades. The animators created cute and colorful animation – robust and engaging.

The cinematography by Atsushi Satō (The Dungeon of Black Company, Tanaka-kun is Always Listless) is beautiful and well-done. The visual style of the series is vibrant and energetic. Dungeon People is a production with a bubbly and upbeat visual sensibility and there is something worthwhile in the production merits. The cinematography certainly works wonders and fans will appreciate it.

Featuring a score composed by LASTorder and Pieru, Dungeon People features a fun and engaging score. The music is well-done on the series. The music brings a sense of energy and charm to the production. The action scenes are also well highlighted by the composer. There is something fantastic about the score and its ability to highlight the adventurous qualities of the anime.

Written by Toshimitsu Takeuchi (Deltora Quest, Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals), Dungeon People is a well-done production. The script creates some compelling central characters for the fun environment of the series. Takeuchi provides solid dialogue and characterizations for the leading characters. The characters are at the heart of the story and this is one of the strengths for the Dungeon People series.

Directed by Sayaka Yamai (Restaurant to Another World, Love All Play), Dungeon People is entertaining and has a nice comedic style. Yamai creates solid visuals and an engaging sense of action-adventure as director. Dungeon People is solid and offers something fun for audiences looking for a laidback kawaii anime series to chill and relax to.

Dungeon People: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Sentai Filmworks, Dungeon People is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The high-definition video is impressive on the release. The release provides an engaging transfer with robust animation and detail. Color reproduction is excellent and one of the strengths of the series presentation. The background animation and line art are especially well reproduced on the release.

The encoding is well-done and is another strength of the presentation. The Blu-ray release provides worthwhile encoding by Sentai Filmworks. One of the strengths of physical media is consistency in encoding. Streaming video services sometimes have a lower video bit-rate, more compression, and other variables – from streaming service tier plans, data plans, data caps, number of connected users, and other issues. Physical media can provide a consistency that is dependable.

Dungeon People: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release capably preserves the sound direction by Yayoi Tateishi (Domestic Girlfriend, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess). The audio provides a good presentation for the soundtrack. The score is well reproduced and also well integrated into the sound design. The English subtitles are well-done and are free from egregious spelling or grammatical errors.

The stereo sound design is sufficient and does a good job with the presentation. The lack of 5.1 surround sound on either language option might be a little disappointing with some viewers – namely those equipped for 5.1 home theater. Nonetheless, the stereo audio mix works well and provides a good sense of immersion for the presentation.

The encoding is well-done on the release. One of the strengths of physical media is the lossless audio encoding. Streaming video services only offer lossy (non-lossless) audio encoding. For audiophiles and home theater enthusiasts, the lossless audio provides an advantage over streaming. For those seeking the absolute best possible presentation, there can be a notable difference. Streaming has more compression by comparison.

Dungeon People: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release comes packaged in a standard Blu-ray case. The release does not include an o-card slipcover. The release does not include any bonus pack-ins or collectables. There are no bonus digital copy codes or DVD discs. The release is a standard edition containing the complete collection for the Dungeon People anime.

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:32)

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 1:32)

Japanese Promos (HD, 3:00)

Unfortunately, the release has a lackluster supplemental package. The release could have used a more robust bonus features package. The release would have benefited from having some audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes documentaries, making-of featurettes, cast/crew interviews, roundtable discussions, photo galleries, art galleries, and more.

Alas, in the streaming era, some anime fans might not feel like even making a purchase if the release doesn't have worthwhile bonus features and some fans opt for a one-time stream instead of a purchase. This is unsurprising in the streaming age and some collectors will have more to consider when weighing the decision between streaming something and making a purchase. Distributors can always seek to add extra value with more bonus features.

Dungeon People: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dungeon People is an entertaining action-comedy anime series. The anime series features compelling animation, beautiful production values, and engaging music. The efforts are outstanding and there is certainly a lot worth praising in regards to the aesthetic. Fans of quirky and offbeat kawaii anime will certainly find something worthwhile to enjoy. The target audience is anime fans who want a laidback, fun, and charming anime.

The Blu-ray release provides a solid high-definition transfer, lossless audio, and a small assortment of bonus features. The Blu-ray release could have used a more robust bonus features selection. Fans of the anime will appreciate the chance to own the series. Recommended.