Tears to Tiara: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Tears to Tiara: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Tears to Tiara is an action-packed and adrenaline-infused anime. The series features animation production by OLM (Blade of the Phantom Master, Yo-kai Watch) and WHITE FOX (Akame ga KILL!, The Devil Is a Part- Timer). The original character designs are by Takashi Nakamura and Tatsuki Amazuyu.

The opening theme song performed by Naoya Shimokawa adds to the series style. Ending theme music is performed by Toshimichi Tsuge, Kenichiro Suehiro, and Naoya Shimokawa. Executive produced by Hisato Usui (Celestial Method, Emma: A Victorian Romance), Kazuyoshi Fukuba (Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes), Kenichi Komori (Casshern Sins), Naohiro Tafu (Children Who Chase Lost Voices, House of Five Leaves), Takaaki Kidani (The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat), Takanori Aki (Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition, The Rising of The Shield Hero), and Toyoki Oota (The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, Ronja the Robber's Daughter), Tears to Tiara has received a complete Blu-ray collection by Sentai Filmworks with the complete series run.

Produced by Katsumi Koike (Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Living for the Day After Tomorrow), Kei Fukura (A Lull in the Sea, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes), Yasushi Ōshima (The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home), and Yutaro Mochizuki (Comic Party: Revolution, Tournament of the Gods), Tears to Tiara fans will be pleased with the set as it has improved on past editions. Featuring the voices of Tōru Ohkawa and Yuko Goto. Action fans have something to check out – worth a look for any interested audiences.

The era was one of a seemingly unstoppable force. The Divine Empire had all the power and control in the era. With all control, The Divine Empire was the top-dog of the nations.

Yet “divine” order is sometimes made to be broken. The future isn’t written yet and not everything is set in stone. In pursuing endless power, a top priest in the Divine Empire decides to resurrect a powerful and menacing demon.

The demon causes chaos and commotion. In fact, the demon is supposed to become intertwined with none other than Arawn (Tōru Ohkawa). Yet things don’t go down as planned and instead go down a different path altogether. Riannon (Yuko Goto) is rescued as a sacrificial offering by the demon.

As everything builds to an intense new chapter in the saga, dragons, demons, humans and elves now become involved in battle. Who will win and be declared as victor? Can this new era and dawn be the end of the Divine Empire once and for all?

The characters play a big role in the production. The Tears to Tiara series just wouldn’t be the same without the core cast of characters. It would be a different beast altogether if the cast was changed. The cast includes Arawn and Riannon. These characters add some dimensionality to the series production. The character designs by Masahiko Nakata (Infinite Dendrogram, Utawarerumono) are also quite effective for the genre.

The animation is a mixed bag and one of the more uneven elements to the series. The series features the art direction of Izumi Hoki (Boogiepop Phantom, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear) and the chief animation direction of Masahiko Nakata (The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious). The animators did a decent job highlighting the character designs and the character artwork.

The series also highlights line artwork and background animation in a decent way. At the same time, the art work seems a bit dated in comparison to the most recent anime productions and the visual quality is sometimes a bit inconsistent. The animation is somewhat soft and this reflects a certain era of anime.

The cinematography by Nozomi Shitara (Black Butler: Book of Circus, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Omega) is also a mixed bag in terms of the visual quality. The cinematography is often softer than expected. The style is somewhat hazy looking at times and it doesn’t showcase the animation as well as it could in certain respects.

The score composed by Takayuki Hattori (Martian Successor Nadesico, Slayers: The Book of Spells) adds some decent background music to the production. The score is a reasonably engaging part of the fun. Hattori is a decent anime composer and the effort here adds to the action and sense of mayhem.

Written by Touko Machida (Chaika - The Coffin Princess, The Everyday Tales of a Cat God), Tears to Tiara isn’t a top-tier anime but it has some good dialogue and characters. The script by Machida offers some nice moments. Action fans will appreciate the emphasis on the genre elements.

Directed by Tomoki Kobayashi (Utawarerumono, Infinite Dendrogram), Tears to Tiara might not be an all-time classic but it does have its fans. Kobayashi brings together the series action.  Fans will be pleased to see a nice new edition of the anime series arrive from Sentai.

Tears to Tiara: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Sentai Filmworks, Tears to Tiara is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation is somewhat mixed. It is worth noting that Sentai Filmworks previously released an edition providing only two discs for the series presentation. The two-discs would likely have had some more compression in comparison to the new edition. The new edition is spread across three discs so some subtle and different encoding is likely highlighted on the release. I do not own the previous edition to do a comparison.

However, Sentai has occasionally gone back and done some slight tweaks to some releases. I would expect the same to be similar on this release (hence the three discs for the new collection). Whether or not that means the release is worth double or triple dipping on is another question altogether – and it might be a hard sell for all but the most ardent video snobs. One of the reasons why is because the picture-quality still remains somewhat soft and the image isn't as crisp as one might hope to find. The image does seem to exhibit some inherent source-related softness and the color reproduction also isn't always as deep or robust as desired.

 There may still be minor differences between editions but if that is worth the extra cost or not will be up to the consumer. The previous edition was encoded with VC-1 so this new edition should exhibit modest gains – but again, the source itself isn't perfect looking so these gains might not be worth it for everyone. I'd suggest to only consider double or triple dipping if this is a all-time favorite.

Tears to Tiara: 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 reproduces the sound direction of Susumu Aketagawa. The lossless audio quality provides decent dynamics and the audio is crisp and clear overall.

Dialogue is well reproduced and sounds decent on the presentation. The score certainly makes a solid impression. The audio encoding is going to be similar if not identical to the previous edition. Blu-ray continues to provide audio enthusiasts with lossless audio presentation quality and it is impressive compared to streaming video services. Streaming platforms only provide lossy (non-lossless) audio presentation quality.

Tears to Tiara: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The one area of the release that could have used the most improvement is the supplemental package. The release does not come with much in the way of extras. Considering this is a new edition, the set could have used some new features such as audio commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and art galleries. Unfortunately, this element of the release was not a main consideration and the main emphasis was on the disc count and some slightly improved breathing room for the encoding itself.

On disc supplements include:

Clean Opening Animation (SD, 1:32)

Clean Closing Animation (SD, 1:32)

Tears to Tiara: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tears to Tiara is a decent action-adventure anime series and fans who want to enjoy the series with the best possible presentation may wish to consider picking up this release. The package contains three discs compared to the two discs on the previous edition from Sentai Filmworks. Though I would personally expect modest gains at best, the release should please enthusiasts seeking the best presentation possible. Obviously, this is an easier purchase decision for those who are newcomers seeking to buy the set for the first time.

For established fans who may already have purchased the set on DVD and/or Blu-ray with previous editions the purchasing decision becomes harder and the answer is not as clear. Is a modest presentation boost worth the cost of admission? The source video looks a little dated anyway.

Modest gains are the best one will find. Nonetheless, some might want those modest presentation gains (especially if the series is an all-time favorite for someone). Fans may wish to consider picking it up but expectations should be kept in check.