The World Is Still Beautiful: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

The World Is Still Beautiful: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

The World is Still Beautiful is a fantasy-romance and one that combines action-adventure with a role-playing style. Created by Dai Shiina, The World is Still Beautiful features animation production by Pierrot (Akudama Drive, Black Clover). The World is Still Beautiful has theme music by Joanna Koike and Rena Maeda.

Produced by Marina Sasaki (Laughing Under the Clouds, BONJOUR Sweet Love Patisserie), Shiro Ishihara (Yona of the Dawn, Natsume Yujin-cho the Movie: Ephemeral Bond), Tomohiro Shindō (Death Parade, Real Girl), Toshio Nakatani (Hunter × Hunter, Kimi ni Todoke - From Me to You), and Yuka Ooshima (Parasyte -the maxim-, Chihayafuru 2), The World is Still Beautiful is an anime aimed at fantasy enthusiasts. The World is Still Beautiful features voice performances by Rena Maeda and Nobunaga Shimazaki. The World is Still Beautiful was originally broadcast on NTV and aired between April 6^th, 2014 to June 29^th, 2014.

Princess Nike Remercier (Rena Maeda) is facing challenges and adventures she never expected to encounter before in her life. The Princess has a life ahead of her that is going to be full of surprises – something that she never anticipated. The Princess may wish for a traditional romantic love but is discovering herself matched in an arranged marriage with the king of the legendary Sun Kingdom, Livius I (Nobunaga Shimazaki).

Princess Nike is supposed to represent her kingdom. The arrangement is to bridge the kingdoms through the ceremony and marriage. Can the romantic pairing unite the kingdoms or is an arranged marriage too much for Princess Nike Remercier and Livius I to handle?

The characters are a huge part of the appeal of the anime. The main character, Princess Nike Remercier, is a character some audience members may relate to. The character has a sense of adventure and the journey is a big part of her character. The audience looking for romance and fantasy will appreciate a compelling lead.

The character designs by Ichiro Uno (Divine Gate, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations) are well-done and add to the production strength. The designs by Uno are compelling and add visual style to the film. It certainly is impressive to see solid character design efforts for the animation. These are solid anime designs and the effort adds to the charm of the production.

The animation is well-done. The World is Still Beautiful features solid animation and this is an essential part of the production. The art direction by Tomoyuki Shimizu (Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Blue Exorcist: Beyond the Snow Saga) is solid. The style of the art balances the fantasy elements with a romantic style. The art style capably showcases the designs and the work of the animators. The animators brought something notable to the table. There is solid animation on display – from the background animation to the fine detail line art.

The cinematography by Atsuho Matsumoto (The Twelve Kingdoms, Emma: A Victorian Romance) is a highlight of the anime. The cinematography has a lush and colorful aesthetic quality. The animation certainly looks better because of it. The cinematography highlights the art style and that is quite stunning.

The score composed by Kōsuke Yamashita (Dragon Ball Daima, Digimon Fusion) is a solid aspect of the series. The score is enjoyable and a solid backdrop to the animation. Yamashita is a solid composer – adding to the sense of style and charm of the production.

Written by Shinzō Fujita (Digimon Ghost Game, Lupin III: Crisis in Tokyo), The World is Still Beautiful is a compelling anime. Fans of fantasy-romance anime will be intrigued by The World is Still Beautiful. The writing is solid with good dialogue. Fans of the genre will appreciate the writing style.

Directed by Hajime Kamegaki (Case Closed, Lupin III: Part III), The World is Still Beautiful has a solid fanbase. The anime has good style and creative direction. The World is Still Beautiful is going to be something that appeals to a specific anime audience and for the right crowd will be enjoyable as a fantasy. The World is Still Beautiful is well worth checking out.

The World Is Still Beautiful: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Sentai Filmworks, The World is Still Beautiful is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The crisp high-definition video provides a solid transfer of the anime television series. The animation looks quite bold with colorful animation. The background art and line art are well reproduced. These qualities add something special to the presentation aesthetic.

Sentai Filmworks has gone back to the anime with this re-issue of The World is Still Beautiful. The World is Still Beautiful was first released on Blu-ray with a one-disc edition. The new re-issue is on two discs. The re-issue may provide a somewhat less compressed image with slight differences in encoding. Without direct A/B comparisons, it is hard to say to what extent, but there might be modest PQ improvements compared to the original release due to the difference from one disc to two disc.

One of the strengths of physical media and the Blu-ray format is the ability to provide a solid encode quality without the variables of streaming. Streaming video can sometimes showcase variances in streaming quality: streaming speeds differ based on internet plans, internet connectivity, bandwidth, modem/router equipment, household size, number of people connected to multiple devices, and more – weather related issues, system issues, you name it – these are variables you don't have to worry about with physical media.

The World Is Still Beautiful: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The Blu-ray release provides a solid lossless audio presentation. The release capably highlights the sound direction by Keiko Urakami (Case Closed, Puzzle & Dragons X) and Yasuyuki Urakami (Puzzle & Dragons X, Case Closed). The soundstage is well-done and the stereo audio capably highlights the more adventurous elements of the soundstage.

One thing about the release that surprises me is that Sentai Filmworks did not produce a new English dub for the re-issue. The original release did not come with an English dubbed option. The reissue is without an English dub option, too. It is surprising as the reissue may have been a solid opportunity to produce and distribute an English dub option for dub fans. Sentai occasionally produces new dubs for the reissues (and sometimes does not). So on the one hand it is unsurprising but on another hand the anime seems like one that may have benefited by including an English dub.

One of the benefits of Blu-ray disc is the lossless audio encoding. Blu-ray disc can provide lossless encoding. Streaming video services only provide lossy (non-lossless) audio encoding. This means variables in bit-rates are much lower on streaming for audio. Not only are bit-rates significantly lower on streaming but bit-depth is usually different, too. So the noise-floor and clarity is usually better on physical media. These differences can often result in subtle to significant improvements in audio presentation and soundstage.  Streaming (especially on catalog titles) is often in MP3 quality.

The World Is Still Beautiful: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray release comes in a standard Blu-ray case. The release has a standard cover-art sleeve. There is no reverse artwork on the cover-art. The packaging comes in a standard Blu-ray case. Unfortunately, there is no slipcover or special edition packaging for the edition. On the plus side, the disc art is well done.

On disc supplements include:

Clean Opening Animations (HD, 13:12)

Clean Closing Animations (HD, 16:53)

Unfortunately, the release has a lackluster supplemental package. The release does not provide more in-depth supplemental features. The set could have been better with some making-of featurettes, audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes, cast/crew interviews, photo galleries, art galleries, and more. In an age of streaming, supplements sometimes make or break purchase decisions for some collectors.

The World Is Still Beautiful: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The World is Still Beautiful features beautiful animation. The romance-fantasy anime is something worth checking out. The series has a good concept and will appeal to a certain niche crowd. The Blu-ray has an impressive high-definition presentation (newly encoded across two discs – a jump from the one-disc presentation previously issued by Sentai Filmworks) and lossless audio. Fans of The World is Still Beautiful might want to consider a purchase.