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Initial D World - Discussion Board / Forums > Main Site & Facebook Fanpage > First Stage Blu-ray BOX set to release in Feb 2014


Posted by: Initial D World Nov 1 2013, 03:38 AM
And now some news from Japan. An Initial D fan from Yokohama, Kanagawa took this picture on one of the trains. This small advert contains some of the latest news in the world of Initial D.

The final volume (48) of Initial D manga is to be released on Wednesday November 6th as we all know by now. FINAL STAGE DVD is currently in the making. We still don't have a release date on that yet. A Blu-ray release for First Stage BOX set is confirmed, and set to release next February!! This is a great news because Initial D has never been released in the Blu-ray format before. There MIGHT be some bonus features, we just have to wait and see.

And we now have a more refined release date for the New Theatrical Initial D Movie. It is confirmed to be release in August, 2014. We bet it's going to be August 6th, 2014. We'll see. (smile)

| Sources |
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http://facebook.com/go2id/photos/742281269120874
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Posted by: kyonpalm Nov 1 2013, 05:43 AM
I am honestly, seriously excited for this.

Posted by: Nerubian Nov 1 2013, 06:04 AM
Does this mean that First Stage was remade in native 1080p?

Posted by: kyonpalm Nov 1 2013, 06:53 AM
QUOTE (Nerubian @ 48 minutes, 37 seconds ago)
Does this mean that First Stage was remade in native 1080p?

What do you mean by "remade"?

Posted by: Nerubian Nov 1 2013, 07:53 AM
Redraw of characters, cars, scenes, everything. Don't know whether there's a common term for this...

Posted by: THE_HONDA_CG2 Nov 1 2013, 07:56 AM
QUOTE (Nerubian @ 3 minutes, 10 seconds ago)
Redraw of characters, cars, scenes, everything. Don't know whether there's a common term for this...

Do you mean reboot? If they start everything from scratch (animations, effects, etc) but keep the original plot and premise?

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Posted by: kyonpalm Nov 1 2013, 08:26 AM
QUOTE (Nerubian @ 26 minutes, 45 seconds ago)
Redraw of characters, cars, scenes, everything. Don't know whether there's a common term for this...

QUOTE (THE_HONDA_CG2 @ 23 minutes, 35 seconds ago)
Do you mean reboot? If they start everything from scratch (animations, effects, etc) but keep the original plot and premise?

I seriously doubt it will be re-animated. That would be ridiculous and should be obvious after more than a few seconds of thinking about it. Now if by "remade" you mean "remastered", then we're talking. Bearing in mind that First Stage was produced in 1997-8, it was well before completely digitized production (though the CG sequences were ahead of its time), I'm not sure what the native resolution of the masters is but full HD will do the animation much greater justice than any previous DVD ever could have. I'm not expecting any touch-ups but it would be nice if they did make some fixes. Very minor ones, that is - I'm a purist when it comes to this stuff.

Posted by: Dr.Ift Nov 1 2013, 09:02 AM
The thing is, I can't see a thing mentioning First Stage in the picture posted.
It just says something like "A first in the box series: Blu-ray box will be sold in February."
So,I don't think it will be the First Stage.

Posted by: Nerubian Nov 1 2013, 09:27 AM
Ahhh. Yes I meant a reboot or remaster of First Stage.

Posted by: BOZZ Nov 1 2013, 05:26 PM
It would be cool if the Blu Ray is the set for the whole series.

Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 1 2013, 05:33 PM
QUOTE (Initial D World @ Today, 4:38 AM)
A Blu-ray release for First Stage BOX set is confirmed, and set to release next February!!

As I posted on Facebook, this is inaccurate. All that image says in Japanese is that the first bluray boxset for Initial D in general is releasing February 2014. It doesn't say if it's First Stage, and even if it turns out to be First Stage it doesn't say whether or not it's the whole series. Keep in mind that this is Japan, and even more troubling it's Avex... I wouldn't put it past them to release things in halvsies.

Not to mention I don't have a whole lot of faith in their remastering skills considering how Third Stage, Battle Stage and Fourth Stage were mastered on DVD... sad.gif

EDIT: @BOZZ: It's not. 100% guaranteed.

Posted by: Lebon14 Nov 1 2013, 07:52 PM
QUOTE (kyonpalm @ Today, 12:26 PM)
I seriously doubt it will be re-animated. That would be ridiculous and should be obvious after more than a few seconds of thinking about it. Now if by "remade" you mean "remastered", then we're talking. Bearing in mind that First Stage was produced in 1997-8, it was well before completely digitized production (though the CG sequences were ahead of its time), I'm not sure what the native resolution of the masters is but full HD will do the animation much greater justice than any previous DVD ever could have. I'm not expecting any touch-ups but it would be nice if they did make some fixes. Very minor ones, that is - I'm a purist when it comes to this stuff.

I definitely agree with kyon here. First stage is... a masterpiece. And to be able to watch it in glorious HD, and even if it's only 720p BDs, it will be so much better than the DVDs would even make it justice. That's great news and I hope they will release a 2nd Stage BD Box set, 3rd Stage BD, 4th Stage Box set and then 5th Stage and Final Stage later on too! I just hope that it's not just 1st Stage.

QUOTE (Nomake Wan)
As I posted on Facebook, this is inaccurate. All that image says in Japanese is that the first bluray boxset for Initial D in general is releasing February 2014. It doesn't say if it's First Stage, and even if it turns out to be First Stage it doesn't say whether or not it's the whole series. Keep in mind that this is Japan, and even more troubling it's Avex... I wouldn't put it past them to release things in halvsies.

Not to mention I don't have a whole lot of faith in their remastering skills considering how Third Stage, Battle Stage and Fourth Stage were mastered on DVD... sad.gif


At least, it'll be BD release of something Initial D related. smile.gif

Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 1 2013, 09:22 PM
It will be. I just hope it won't be a VHS-to-BD transfer is all, since that's what the DVDs were, basically. sad.gif

Posted by: Perry Nov 1 2013, 09:40 PM
QUOTE (Nomake Wan @ 17 minutes, 32 seconds ago)
It will be. I just hope it won't be a VHS-to-BD transfer is all, since that's what the DVDs were, basically. sad.gif

If it's VHS-to-BD, then it's just hilarious in and of itself. laugh2.gif

Posted by: BOZZ Nov 1 2013, 11:37 PM
QUOTE (Nomake Wan @ 2 hours, 14 minutes ago)
It will be. I just hope it won't be a VHS-to-BD transfer is all, since that's what the DVDs were, basically. sad.gif

Ouch... I wonder why they didn't use something besides VHS, I thought at least 1st and 2nd Stage was also released on Laser Disc, doesn't that have better video quality than VHS?

Posted by: kyonpalm Nov 1 2013, 11:39 PM
QUOTE (Nomake Wan @ 2 hours, 16 minutes ago)
It will be. I just hope it won't be a VHS-to-BD transfer is all, since that's what the DVDs were, basically. sad.gif

Could you expand on the specifics of that?

Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 2 2013, 02:04 AM
QUOTE (kyonpalm @ 2 hours, 25 minutes ago)
Could you expand on the specifics of that?

Um... well since I own the R2 of Battle Stage and the R1 of Third Stage (which is just a port of the R2 with additional tracks and a different menu), go frame-by-frame. There are some places where inexplicably there appear to be tracking errors. That shouldn't happen if it's a digital transfer from a master. I don't recall if such errors appeared in First or Second Stage, but they were very obvious in Battle Stage. Third Stage suffered from letterboxing like Fourth Stage did, but at least Fourth Stage seemed to be a digital transfer (albeit a bad one). Third Stage, I'm not so sure.

It's just because I spent so much time staring at the Battle Stage DVD while translating it. It's bad. I really, honestly hope they're transferring from proper 35mm masters when going to BD for these.

Posted by: kyonpalm Nov 2 2013, 02:11 AM
QUOTE (Nomake Wan @ 6 minutes, 35 seconds ago)
I really, honestly hope they're transferring from proper 35mm masters when going to BD for these.

What if
SPOILER

Posted by: Spaz Nov 2 2013, 05:52 AM
QUOTE (Nomake Wan @ 3 hours, 48 minutes ago)
I really, honestly hope they're transferring from proper 35mm masters when going to BD for these.

I do too... I mean, transferring from VHS to Bluray is like fucking a running blender.

Of course, it IS Avex, and three quarters of their staff probably do that in their free time anyway.

Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 2 2013, 10:42 AM
QUOTE (kyonpalm @ 8 hours, 30 minutes ago)
What if
SPOILER

To be honest...the thought had crossed my mind. sad.gif

Posted by: ZeetherKID77 Nov 2 2013, 02:18 PM
I dunno if this is anything to be excited about. If anything the only upside would be the storage space of the discs, because more than likely the footage will be upscaled to 1080p/1080i and while upscales can look good sometimes they're still not as decent as HD remasters.

And the likelihood of the series getting a Blu-ray release here is pretty much zero because Funimation never releases Blu-rays of S.A.V.E. series.

Posted by: BOZZ Nov 5 2013, 05:28 PM
Looks like it really is a complete set unless this is a mistaken addition to Amazon JP:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00G93OE5Y/poly-22/ref=nosim/

Posted by: kyonpalm Nov 5 2013, 05:44 PM
QUOTE (BOZZ @ 15 minutes, 57 seconds ago)
Looks like it really is a complete set unless this is a mistaken addition to Amazon JP:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00G93OE5Y/poly-22/ref=nosim/

>￥ 42,000
Blaze it, drifter.

Posted by: BOZZ Nov 5 2013, 05:49 PM
QUOTE (kyonpalm @ 4 minutes, 51 seconds ago)
>￥ 42,000
Blaze it, drifter.

The best part is that's only half of the collection... The other half is the same price.... and the second includes 3rd stage, 4th stage, both Extra stages and both Battle stages..

Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 5 2013, 06:21 PM
Can't wait to see Battle Stage on bluray. The DVD was terribad, so it should be fun to see if they bothered remastering before upscaling. awesome.gif

Posted by: BOZZ Nov 5 2013, 09:31 PM
QUOTE
Premium Box 1:

Initial D: First Stage (26 eps) [1998]
Initial D: Second Stage (13 eps) [1999โ€“2000]
Premium Box 2:

Initial D: Extra Stage (OVA; 2 eps) [2000]
Initial D: Third Stage (Movie) [2001]
Initial D: Battle Stage (OVA; 1 eps) [2002]
Initial D: Fourth Stage (24 eps) [2004โ€“2006]
Initial D to the Next Stage โ€“ Project D e Mukete (Special; 1 eps)
Initial D: Battle Stage 2 (OVA; 1 eps) [2007]
Initial D: Extra Stage 2 (OVA; 1 eps) [2008]

The sets do not contain the Fifth Stage.

The releases are planned to have a special book for it and a luxury storage box of some kind associated with it. Radio programs and more material from the drama CD sides are also expected to be included.


Via http://www.fandompost.com/2013/11/05/initial-d-premium-anime-japanese-blu-ray-box-sets-detailed/

Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 6 2013, 07:34 PM
What Chris doesn't bother to mention is that Amazon also lists information that says all the Anime were remastered in-house with some new proprietary remastering equipment Avex is quite proud of. Now there's still the question of what source they went with to start the remaster, but at least it confirms they've put some effort into the blurays.

Posted by: geokilla Mar 15 2014, 08:50 PM
May I ask where the blu-ray box set for first stage is? Looking for HD Initial D!

Posted by: Nomake Wan Mar 15 2014, 11:25 PM
QUOTE (geokilla @ 2 hours, 34 minutes ago)
May I ask where the blu-ray box set for first stage is? Looking for HD Initial D!

On Amazon Japan, amongst plenty of other online stores. Go buy it.

Posted by: Seri Mar 17 2014, 11:54 AM
Do we have any screens for First Stage's CG?

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Posted by: kyonpalm Mar 17 2014, 04:20 PM
QUOTE (Miura Seri @ 4 hours, 25 minutes ago)
Do we have any screens for First Stage's CG?

None that I'm aware of. They won't look any more improved than the other sequences, anyway.

Posted by: Nomake Wan Mar 17 2014, 10:46 PM
QUOTE (kyonpalm @ 6 hours, 26 minutes ago)
None that I'm aware of. They won't look any more improved than the other sequences, anyway.

This. They didn't magically find the original CG work and rescale it. They didn't re-render everything. They simply took whatever master composite they had access to and upscaled it.

Posted by: hackgrid Apr 9 2014, 07:56 AM
No rips yet? Strange blink.gif

Posted by: hackgrid Apr 20 2014, 11:38 PM
This was released the day before yesterday :-)

[YYDM-11FANS][Initial_D_First_Stage][BDRIP][1-26][960x720][X264-10bit_AAC][MP4]

Posted by: kyonpalm Apr 21 2014, 01:16 PM
QUOTE (hackgrid @ Today, 2:38 AM)
This was released the day before yesterday :-)

[YYDM-11FANS][Initial_D_First_Stage][BDRIP][1-26][960x720][X264-10bit_AAC][MP4]

>MP4

user posted image

Why.

Posted by: BOZZ Apr 21 2014, 03:57 PM
QUOTE (kyonpalm @ 2 hours, 41 minutes ago)
>MP4

http://i.minus.com/iCZpz4jh4k6BE.jpg

Why.

Damn, that must be the smallest size for a full season of anything in Blu Ray... wow... I can just imagine what the quality must be like...

Posted by: Seri Apr 22 2014, 08:01 PM
So, all the music Funi used to replace the missing music is still in, among other things.

Looks like the masters really were lost/destroyed.

The CG is really good looking, in my opinion, though.

Posted by: kyonpalm Apr 23 2014, 11:58 AM
QUOTE (Miura Seri @ Yesterday, 11:01 PM)
The CG is really good looking, in my opinion, though.

If you think filters are good, maybe.

user posted image
Image size reduced, original size: 1280 x 720. http://puu.sh/8kBSl/cea3f656a9.png to view the image in its original dimension.

Posted by: Seri Apr 23 2014, 02:29 PM
I meant the cars.

user posted image
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Posted by: kyonpalm Apr 29 2014, 05:32 PM
Here's a comparison of CG and cel shots from the TokyoPop DVD (left) and the remastered Blu-ray (right):

user posted image
Image size reduced, original size: unknown. http://i.minus.com/ibrSdAQ4sfzgtR.jpg to view the image in its original dimension.


Despite not having been sourced from the masters, the Blu-ray does look visibly better in the non-CG scenes. The CG scenes' improvements are negligible.

Posted by: Nomake Wan Apr 29 2014, 07:59 PM
I would say it's marginally better. It's more like the warpsharp tool being abused to its limit, something that some fansub groups or AMV creators will do with subpar source material. It creates a similar edge artifact to what's seen both here and in, for instance, the blurays for All-Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku.

Disappointing. I really hope that they do a proper job of the other stages but after seeing this complete waste of effort after the joke that was Fifth Stage I'm not holding my breath.

Posted by: alex1287 May 1 2014, 12:10 PM
Second Stage BDRIP is now smile.gif It looks nice wink2.gif
http://www.nyaa.se/?page=view&tid=547363
user posted image
Image size reduced, original size: 960 x 720. http://i1.minus.com/ibcQAeu12gNgfH.jpg to view the image in its original dimension.

user posted image
Image size reduced, original size: 960 x 720. http://i6.minus.com/ibrxXXtmNgpneF.jpg to view the image in its original dimension.

user posted image
Image size reduced, original size: 960 x 720. http://i3.minus.com/iLux41dOQCLhV.jpg to view the image in its original dimension.

Posted by: Nomake Wan May 1 2014, 07:58 PM
Just wanna reiterate now that I've had a chance to look at them myself that the BDs for First Stage...
user posted image
Image size reduced, original size: 960 x 720. http://i.imgur.com/nteguzm.jpg to view the image in its original dimension.

...are horrendously upscaled crap...
user posted image
Image size reduced, original size: 960 x 720. http://i.imgur.com/GtLpv3G.jpg to view the image in its original dimension.

...with artifacts from incorrect de-telecining.

Whoever did the conversion from DVD -> BD was a n00b at video encoding. I can make the DVDs look better than this, jeez. derp.gif

Posted by: Lebon14 May 1 2014, 11:20 PM
^ HOLY SHIT. That is some horrendous quality. Disgusting!

Posted by: K1RZA May 2 2014, 04:57 AM
facepalm.gif
First Stage, classic anime, why?

Posted by: alex1287 May 2 2014, 06:07 AM
And why people convert to MP4 not MKV or AVI, my samsung smart tv not opened this dry.gif
Second Stage in HD look better but have small blur. First Stage my favorite have more blur sad.gif Dragon Ball is older than Initial D , and looks better in HD. They made ​​no effort with remaster. Maybe 3rd,4th,Extra and Battle It will look nice wink2.gif

Posted by: Nomake Wan May 2 2014, 07:20 AM
QUOTE (alex1287 @ 1 hour, 12 minutes ago)
And why people convert to MP4 not MKV or AVI, my samsung smart tv not opened this dry.gif

Those are containers. If you take an MP4 file and drop it into MKVmerge, voila! It's MKV! MAGIC!

No one converts HD content to AVI unless they're retarded. You can't (properly) contain AVC streams in an AVI container.

The reason your smart TV cannot play these files is not because of what container they're using, it's because whoever encoded them used 10-bit h.264 to do so. You will have to reencode to an 8-bit format in order to view them on your TV.....which has nothing to do with what container they're in. wink2.gif

THE MORE YOU KNOW.

Posted by: alex1287 May 2 2014, 07:39 AM
I always know must be in MKV not AVI but thank you for info happy.gif We are waiting for rest Initial D BDrip's smile.gif

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