So I just got back from the first ever screening of the new BD remaster of DYRL with Save. After 7 hrs straight at the cinema, its now 7:30 in the morning and I’m just about ready to crash. Before succumbing to sleep however, I have a few observations to make about the remaster – some of which may be a little surprising.
First of all – the GOOD stuff. The new 5.1 remix is utterly amazing. At times it made the movie feel like an entirely new experience, although one’s enjoyment of it will depend on the sound setup being used. In a cinema though it was the true highlight of this version.
Picture quality is extremely detailed and clear – but not all the time. Darker scenes have obvious grain present, and strangely while one scene might look like it was animated only yesterday, others look almost out of focus. I’m not sure whether this was due to some scenes cleaning up better than others, projector issues, or some insurmountable issue with the remastering process, however on a few occasions it was really noticeable and quite jarring. Those scenes that are clear are undoubtedly the best that the film has ever looked.
The ending/staff roll does not feature the Flashback 2012 footage, its the original cut.
And speaking of cuts…
The BAD stuff – Someone has decided to edit the remaster. I have no idea why, but the edits are there. Save and I picked 2 with a possible 3rd to be confirmed. These don’t effect the film at all and are related to scenes with extreme violence. When Myria stomps on a Zentradis head in her Queadlunn Rau, the head is blurred a little as her foot comes down on it to cover the gore. Later on, the infamous guy who loses his head – the head part is gone entirely. The screen whites out and this is very noticeable.
Now, this may just be an edit they did for the limited cinema screening but I doubt that Bandai would have gone to all the effort of making edits for what is essentially a promotional event. All we can do is wait until the end of the month and see, but if the version shown tonight was the final one then it might not be the ultimate version that everyone was hoping for.
