Iria: Zeiram the Animation Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Iria: Zeiram the Animation Blu-ray Movie Review

Iria – Zeiram The Animation is an action-packed anime. Based on a concept by Keita Amemiya, Iria – Zeiram The Animation features original character designs by Masakazu Katsura. The series has fun animation produced by Ashi Productions (Vampire Hunter D, Blue Seed). Executive produced by Masaru Umehara (Violence Jack, Leina: Wolf Sword Legend), Iria – Zeiram The Animation is an impressive anime with traditional hand-drawn animation. For classic hand-drawn animation fans, there is nothing more satisfying than the cell-based animation – providing a true cinematic style that is artistic and as nice as paintings on display in museums.

Produced by Hiroshi Katō (All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, Space Warrior Baldios), Masato Terada (Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Magic User's Club!), and Yasuhiro Hibi, Iria – Zeiram The Animation features opening theme music performed by Yayoi Gotou. Iria – Zeiram The Animation features voice performances by Aya Hisakawa, Jūrōta Kosugi, Wataru Takagi, Chika Sakamoto, Masaru Ikeda, Mika Kanai, and Shigeru Chiba. An impressive anime for action fans.

Iria (Aya Hisakawa) is no ordinary fighter and she works tirelessly as one of the best fighters around. Yet Iria is still considered an apprentice and not as a full-fledged hunter. Iria wants to be the best there is, getting recognition and jobs like brother Gren (Jūrōta Kosugi). While trying to follow in her brother’s footsteps, Iria tags along on one of her big brother’s missions. The mission involves cargo on a ship sailing across space.

Yet the seemingly simple task of learning from her older brother turns deathly dangerous when assassination attempts are made and a blood war begins to unfold. Iria soon discovers special cargo: Zeiram (Wataru Takagi), rumored to be an immortal creature. The dangers of the mission are amplified as Iria finds Zeiram tagging along with her and not wanting to go its own direction. Can it be true that the creature holds the key to immortality? Immortal or not, Iria is in for a wild ride – one of adventure, action, and mystery.

The series features impressive character designs by Ryunosuke Otonashi (End of Summer, Stainless Night). The character designs are excellent and add a lot to the series. The style is gritty fun and it demonstrates the suave style of the time-period. A fun effort by Otonashi.

The animation is breathtaking. The hand-drawn animation is first-rate and it adds so much artistry to the production. The series features art direction by Yoshimi Umino (Blade of the Immortal, Spy Classroom) alongside chief animation direction by Ryunosuke Otonashi (The Super Dimension Century Orguss, Maison Ikkoku).

The stunning artistry of the animators is outstanding and adds a great deal to the production. The background animation is creative, bold, and visionary. A wonderful effort by the animation team. The cinematography by Kazunori Hashimoto (Macross 7, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross) is lush, engaging, and cinematic.

The score composed by Yoichiro Yoshikawa (Blue Butterfly Fish, Dominion Tank Police) is exciting and action- packed. The music provides plenty of action-packed fun to the production. A quality score, providing some extra intensity to the production. Action series need good music to keep the big sequences flowing with adrenaline-pumped gusto and composer Yoshikawa brings that to the table.

Directed by Tetsuro Amino (Fairy Tail, Macross 7), Iria – Zeiram The Animation is a blast of action-packed fun. Written by Tetsuro Amino, Hajime Matsumoto (Zeiram, Zeiram 2), Naruhisa Arakawa (Martian Successor Nadesico, Steam Detectives), and Yoshihisa Arakawa, Iria – Zeiram The Animation is an incredible artistic achievement with fun action and outstanding visuals. Action fans will find the filmmaking intense, thrilling, and special.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Discotek Media, Iria – Zeiram The Animation is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high- definition in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full-frame. The Blu-ray release features an impressive high-definition presentation. The encoding capably showcases the beautiful artistry of the animation. The presentation also showcases great detail with the line art looking excellent on the release. Discotek Media did a great job with the presentation.

It is worth reminding that Blu-ray presentations provide higher bit-rate encoding compared to streaming video services (which offer a more compressed video experience). For videophiles seeking the absolute best presentation quality possible (which is one of the main features of the entire Blu-ray format), fans will find the Blu-ray an easy consideration for purchase when factoring in the higher bit-rates and superior encoding methods used.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo and Japanese uncompressed PCM 2.0 (with English subtitles). The lossless audio encoding adds to the presentation quality. Dialogue is crisp, clear, and easy to understand. The soundtrack is clear and engaging. The lossless audio encoding is one of the best things about the release. The lossless audio presentation adds a lot to the experience. Blu-ray provides superior audio quality to streaming video services (which only provide presentations with lossy audio quality – usually in 320kbps or less). The bit-rates are higher so the encoding quality provides a more immersive sound experience for audiophiles to appreciate.

Iria: Zeiram the Animation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release includes an elegantly designed o-card slipcover. The slipcover includes unique key artwork different from the key artwork featured underneath the slipcover. A wonderful design element from Discotek Media. It adds great value to the release and makes the package feel even more special in hand. The packaging also looks great on the shelf and collectors will have a smile on their face when looking at it lined up next to other slipcovered releases by Discotek Media. The slipcover features a rounded o-card slipcover design (and not the flush slipcover design). This is a slight difference from some slipcovers produced for Discotek Media releases.

Not only did Discotek Media do a great job with the packaging of the release, the series package also includes an extensive supplemental package. Fans of bonus features will be thrilled with the array of extras included with the package. The package has plenty of additional features to whet the appetites of bonus features junkies. The supplements include:

Episode Features –

Creditless Opening (HD, 1:41)

Creditless Ending (HD, 1:32)

Sing Along Opening (SD, 1:40)

Trailers & Commercials:

Japanese DVD Box Commercial (SD, 1:04) promoting the release on DVD. 

English Trailer 1 (CPM) (SD, 1:07)

English Trailer 2 (MB) (SD, 1:49)

Interviews (Video) –

Keita Amemiya (Original Creator) (SD, 14:43) highlights thoughts from the original creator. 

Masakazu Katsura (Character Designer) (SD, 9:37) features details from the character designer. 

Interviews (Text Only) –

Aya Hisakawa (Voice Actor, Iria) includes 8 click-through slides. The interview was conducted on 10/17/94.

Mika Kanai (Voice Actor, Kei) includes 8 click-through slides.  The interview was conducted on 10/17/94.

Art Gallery –

Key Art & Color Works includes 91 click-through slides of art work. These slides showcase more colorful art from the production. 

Model Sheets includes 160 click-through illustrations. The selection of model sheets is extensive and it is almost akin to getting an entire artbook provided with the set. 

Home Video & Merchandise includes 212 click-through slides. The array of stills showcase the original cover-art scans for the earlier home media releases. 

Iria: Zeiram the Animation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Iria – Zeiram The Animation is a fun action-anime with a cool lead character and plenty of energetic thrills. The series features stunning animation and production values. The Blu-ray has exceptional video and audio quality alongside an impressive array of bonus features. A nice o-card slipcover with unique key artwork (different from the art underneath the slipcover) is also provided. Discotek Media continues to prove time and time again why they are the best anime distributor in North America, providing quality releases of classic anime. There is no other distributor out there quite like Discotek for true classic anime offerings on physical media. Recommended.