7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Anime | 100% |
Foreign | 95% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
There’s probably no more helpless feeling than the experience of a major earthquake. Often it’s next to impossible to even move, even while various items and even structures are cascading down around you. Even after the major event has subsided, usually for hours if not days or weeks afterward, aftershocks continue to traumatize and psychologically terrorize those who survived the first assault. The sheer ferocity of Mother Nature’s destructive power in these events is truly awesome, as news footage from such famous sites as San Francisco or Haiti patently reveal. As recently as 2011, Japan experienced one of the most devastating quakes ever recorded, an incredible magnitude 9.03 tremblor that actually moved both the island of Honshu as well as the axis of the Earth. Here in the Pacific Northwest where I live, we still see regular news reports of debris from this quake washing up on the shores of Oregon and Washington literally years after the quake and its resultant tsunami. The old adage goes that Art imitates Life, but in this case Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 actually presaged the real life major earthquake in Japan by a couple of years, and obviously didn’t quite imagine just how bad the devastation of an unimaginably strong quake could actually be. Earthquakes have long been a staple of live action films, including such celebrated fare as 1936’s San Francisco and the schlocktastic Sensurround disaster film Earthquake, which is rather improbably headed to Blu-ray this June. But to my recollection earthquakes haven’t been especially exploited in animated fare, let alone made the central plot element of a short form series. That in and of itself gives Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 a rather distinctive flair, even if some of the post-quake plot developments at least occasionally verge toward melodrama as two young siblings pair with an unrelated single mother to try to find their way through the rubble back to their respective homes and families.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks and Maiden Japan with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. The best part of this high definition presentation is unquestionably the incredibly detailed backgrounds which are often based on real life Tokyo locales. Colors are often intentionally muted throughout this series, with even flesh tones taking on a sort of anemic and pale quality, but the backgrounds usually pop with a good deal of vibrancy. Line detail remains strong, though there are occasional stability issues (perhaps due to the interlaced presentation), including in the opening sequences with some of the really intricate line drawings of Tokyo in ruins.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 features lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mixes in both the original Japanese as well as English. Frankly, this series probably could have used a nice surround mix, at least for the earthquake sequences, where some more powerful LFE could have upped the "rumble factor" significantly. But the fact is, as mentioned above, the series actually kind of shunts the earthquake off to the side once it's happened, and the rest of the series becomes a much quieter enterprise with smaller dialogue moments that are more than adequately presented via the 2.0 mix. There are some odd balance issues on the Japanese track with a tendency for one channel to significantly over power the other at times. Fidelity is strong and despite the narrow nature of these tracks, dynamic range is fairly wide.
Hats off to Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 for trying something different. The series doesn't always succeed, and some may find it far too lethargically paced to maintain interest, but I was fascinated to watch Mirai's development from a self- obsessed teenager to someone suddenly realizing there's a whole world around her, and one which in this case is in total disarray. The series is really smart for its first two-thirds or so, but in my personal opinion makes a really fatal misstep in the final third that is overly melodramatic and ultimately adds nothing to the series. But even with that flaw, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is unusual, provocative and quite compelling. This Blu-ray looks and sounds fine and even without a bunch of supplemental material, it comes Recommended.
2007-2008
The Motion Picture
2012
言の葉の庭 / Koto no Ha no Niwa
2013
秒速5センチメートル / Byôsoku 5 senchimętoru
2007
ジョバンニの島 / Jobanni no Shima
2014
Combo Pack
2010
2011
Momo e no Tegami
2011
ハーモニー / Project Itoh: Harmony
2015
Essentials
2014
妄想代理人
2004
2015
海がきこえる / Umi ga kikoeru
1993
精霊の守り人
2007
ショート・ピース
2013
Essentials
2005
Anime Classics
2011-2012
Limited Edition
2011
雲のむこう、約束の場所 / Kumo no Mukō, Yakusoku no Basho / Beyond the Clouds, the Promised Place
2004
X/1999
1996