I stumbled upon this article on ANN One Piece to Re-Air in High Resolution and was wondering if funi has any plans to do a blu-ray release later down the line...
March 31, 2012 - 10:38am
#1
One Piece on blu-ray?
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I stumbled upon this article on ANN One Piece to Re-Air in High Resolution and was wondering if funi has any plans to do a blu-ray release later down the line...
First off, the High Resolution thing is not HD if that's what you were thinking (they just cropped the animation to make it look 16:9 and upscaled it). It's impossible to make HD masters for the first 206 episodes since it was produced in 4:3 Standard Definition with digital ink and paint. All you would get is an upscale, which is something Blu-Ray Players already do to the FUNi DVDs.
207 and up is where the HD starts. FUNimation has purchased the HD rights for those episodes along with the license for the upcoming season, but nothing is set in stone in terms of release. We will find out more news in the coming months since Season 4 is due for release this summer.
Btw, 207-228 released in HD is something that not even the Japanese have, since those releases for them were in 4:3 DVD.
Ok, I don't know how often Funi looks at these boards but I'm going to say this. Make this happen Funi! You did it with pretty much very other series. Release Blu-rays and I will be a very happy camper.
Read my post. They have the Blu-Ray rights for Episodes 207+ (Season 4) which is when the show was produced in HD. There is zero point in making Blu-Rays for the episodes currently out because there is no HD master of them in existence.
I think saying "zero point" is a bit strong, if there is a strong enough market for a blu-ray version then I could see Funi doing it. Most likely we'll only see blu-rays for episodes 207+(fingers crossed) but hopefully they will do an upscale of the first 206 for a full blu-ray release. I for one am tired of DVDs and try not to purchase them when possible.
I think saying "zero point" is a bit strong, if there is a strong enough market for a blu-ray version then I could see Funi doing it. Most likely we'll only see blu-rays for episodes 207+(fingers crossed) but hopefully they will do an upscale of the first 206 for a full blu-ray release. I for one am tired of DVDs and try not to purchase them when possible.
An upscale is something Blu-Ray Players already do to the Voyage DVDs.
Therefore, there is zero point since you're already getting the same exact quality by putting your Voyage DVD into your Blu-Ray Player. There's literally no difference.
If FUNi did a release like that it would be kinda deceitful since it would not actually be HD. You'd be paying more money for something you already have on the Voyage DVDs (exact same video quality)...Do you see how silly this is?
I certainly hope not. Blu-rays are a waste when it comes to anime, there's almost no difference
Currently watching: Berserk, Fairy Tail, Bleach, Naruto Shippuden, One Piece, Ghost in the Shell, Yugioh: Zexal, Yugioh GX, Gun X Sword
Currently playing: Final Fantasy IX
FUNi has confirmed today at Anime Boston they don't have the Blu-Ray rights to Season 4.
Let them know you want it people.
Actually, a professionally upscaled BD does look better than its upscaled DVD counterpart most of the time. FUNimation has made great strides in their SD remastering with Spice and Wolf season 1, FLCL and Fairy Tail being prime examples. A lot of the artifacts and odd upconvert hiccups are removed.
So long as they list SD Remaster on the label, it's all gravy. They do a good job now in listing whether or not the HD is remastered or native.
Toei is upscaling the early episodes now, re-airing them on TV for the manga's 15th anniversary as a "special edition", and cropping it to 16:9 and there's really no difference at all in the quality. Also FT was produced in Blu-Ray anyway, wasn't it? FUNimation didn't make those HD masters, if that's what you meant.
Anyway they don't even have the Blu-Ray rights so either way it's not going to happen (a shame, because I would've liked to at least see Season 4 get a BD release).
Actually, those were SD masters. FUNimation I think upconverted the masters themselves.