6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Black God
Starring: Noriko Shitaya, Daisuke Namikawa, Yumi Tôma, Sayaka Ôhara, Yukari TamuraAnime | Uncertain |
Foreign | Uncertain |
Action | Uncertain |
Comic book | Uncertain |
Comedy | Uncertain |
Drama | Uncertain |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: LPCM 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Kurokami: The Animation is an anime adaptation of the "Black God" Japanese manga series published by Square Enix. Interestingly enough, the series was written and illustrated by an all-Korean team, reflecting a growing trend in Japanese manga production. The resulting 23-episode anime series was licensed and produced by Sunrise animation studio, and directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi (The Twelve Kingdoms). Initially released on Japanese and North American television outlets during the first half of 2009, the series was chosen by Bandai as their first anime television production to be released on the Blu-ray format within the North American market. This fourth volume contains episodes thirteen through sixteen, plus an additional recap episode summarizing the events of the first half of the series.
Steiner's replacement.
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 22Mbps), Kurokami: The Animation looks impressive on Blu-ray despite the inherent budgetary limitations of the production. It's easy to become spoiled by the precision of theatrical anime productions dominating the Bandai release slate, but it's great to see more anime studios turning toward their television catalog for Blu-ray options. When you remove the aspects attributable to the source material, this is a fine transfer with little room for complaint. Hand-drawn lines remain crisp, avoiding stair-stepping, aliasing, or blurring, and background art reveals adequate texture/shading, bringing a nice sense of balance to the environmental designs of the artists. Regarding the color palette of the series, this is fairly standard material, with naturalistic tones emerging from the real-world setting, and hues that never strive for an overly saturated spectrum. Black levels avoid ascensions into dark-gray territory (certainly a good thing), and contrast provides a nice balance between the lighter and darker elements within the image. Despite the continued strength of this release, the animation throughout these four episodes failed to dazzle on the same level as the prior volume. Part of this can be attributed to the sterile environments of the Kaionji headquarters, and part can be blamed on the mundane nature of most action sequences, which fail to deliver much intensity or variety to keep viewers interested. Despite such complaints, this is still a strong visual presentation that matches the quality of the opening chapters in the series, demonstrating a level of proficiency I'd expect to be maintained throughout the remaining episodes in the series.
As noted in my prior reviews of the series, this is the one area that may stand as a deal breaker to some anime fans. If your taste is similar to mine, you prefer the native language track on most anime series. As such, I was notably disappointed to learn Bandai would be releasing Kurokami with nothing more than a dubbed English version available. Given the nature of licensing rights in various international territories and varying pricing structures within "Region A" territories, I'm left to assume this is one of those situations where Bandai had little choice. However, I still recognize the potential disappointment arising in some of the more hardcore anime fans. For those of you who are still with me at this point, I'll assume you're at least willing to hear an assessment of the English dub, and give it the benefit of the doubt.
First and foremost, Bandai assembled a talented pool of English voice actors to play the various roles in Kurokam, and the result is quite remarkable. Despite preferring the native language, I've listened to plenty of dubs over the years, and Kurokami definitely ranks within the top 10%. Each actor nails the tone of the character they portray, and the timing of the vocal delivery matches up nicely with the facial movements within the animation. Stepping away from the dialogue delivery within the show and moving toward an assessment of the actual audio presentation, I can't say I'm nearly as delighted. As commendable as it is to receive a lossless audio presentation, the fact that the show only encompasses a 2-channel track is somewhat of a let-down. Not all television series are produced with a surround sound focus, but considering Kurokami was released in 2009, I'd have expected more than simply a stereo mix. As such, we end up with an audio experience that's well-balanced and crisp, with solid fundamental framework, but merely adequate in comparison with other productions currently on the market.
As with prior volumes, this disc contains clean opening/closing songs, and three trailers for other Bandai releases (Freedom, Gurren Lagann, and Sword of the Stranger).
As reflected in the bulk of my review, I wasn't terribly excited by the direction taken in this fourth volume of the series. It almost seems as though the story reached a sufficient climax in episode twelve, and subsequently took ten steps back during the four episodes that followed. Perhaps the writers were merely establishing a new direction for the series, and failed to maintain the same propensity for twists or revelations in the process, but looking back it's difficult to feel the same level of enthusiasm I had when episode twelve came to a conclusion. Hopefully the final seven episodes will restore my faith in the series as a whole.
Episodes 1-4 / Black God
2009
Episodes 5-8 / Black God
2009
Episodes 9-12 / Black God
2009
Episodes 17-20 / Black God
2009
Episodes 21-24 / Black God
2009
黒神
2009
(Still not reliable for this title)
2009
2010
けいおん!!
2010
2009
コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュR2
2008
2013
2005
2012-2013
S.A.V.E. Edition
2005
幽☆遊☆白書 / Yū Yū Hakusho / Anime Classics
1992-1993
2010
Episodes 84-111
2006-2007
2023
2022
2022
Limited Edition
2019-2020
Gekijouban Bureiku bureido Dairokushou: Doukoku no toride
2011
Gekijouban Bureiku bureido Daiyonshou: Sanka no chi
2010
Gekijouban Bureiku bureido Daisanshou: Kyoujin no kizu
2010
Gekijouban Bureiku bureido Daiisshou: Kakusei no koku
2010