I want to know the differences between the dvd sets that were released from 1999-2001 to the first 3 collection that funimation has.
One of my biggest questions is which one has the yellow subtitles? This is my favorite one I would rather watch it with yellow subtitles
Short answer:
Yellow subs = CPM
White subs = FUNimation
tl;dr answer:
There are pros and cons to both versions - all of which are detailed in a thread on AnimeonDVD.
If you buy CPM's, you get the yellow subs you want, and I believe the video is brighter. However, there is an audio bug somewhere. This issue is what prevented me from buying those sets at the time. Those sets are probably long out of print.
If you buy FUNimation's, the video is darker in areas. However, we did use the remastered print the Japanese sent to us, so please take that into consideration. As far as I know, there are no audio bugs. You also get the entire first three seasons in one fat set and it looks nice next to the boxes for Slayers Revolution and Evolution-R.
Obviously I'm biased toward our own release. However, if I didn't work for FUNimation, I'd probably still go with the FUNimation release despite the video issue for 1. availability and 2. consolidated set.
If you have to have yellow subs, go for CPM.
Thanks for the info. Sorry funimation, but you aren't getting my money this time. The yellow subs give the show a more authentic 90's feel, as well with the normal quality of video. I know a prominent issue is the Japanese audio in mono, but I have a stereo t.v. So it's all fine and dandy. And subtitles are carried over from CPM to funi's version.
http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showthread.php?261573-The-Slayers-DVDs-Funi-vs-CPM&s=7b51916fe4511c724f3d587b0a52b3d1
This was actually covered at Toonzone a few years ago and not only are the subs & video quality different in both sets but so are the extras.
The old CPM sets also go for over $100 a pop EACH, and the FUNi Season 1-3 set costs $40 or less FOR 78 EPS IN ONE BOX SET. I don't think yellow subtitles are worth it.
Lol not even, I got all three CPM box sets for under $80. Yeah they're used, and the boxes have some sign of wear, but its what you get for collector items.
I'm just thankful I have FUNi's giant boxset! My only problem is that it doesn't have the interviews with the voice actors like the CPM boxset. I've heard Lisa Ortiz, Eric Stuart, Veronica Taylor, and Crispin Freeman speak about their roles elsewhere, but still, it would've been a nice feature to see. Plus David Moo's interview about Xellos would've been interesting since I don't think he's ever made any public appearances! But I've seen comparisons, and aside from that, FUNi's boxset is MUCH better, especially considering what you get for the money. Plus you get to have consistency with the Revolution and Evolution-R box sets!
Why does he quality of visuals and sound matter to people these days? The series is 15+ year old, so it's obviously going to look outdated in some aspect. The solution for that is to watch the series on a DVD player hooked up to a 480i CRT tv. There's no need to remaster the picture and update the sound for those who own current gen tvs and sound systems. If anything, doing that brings out he flaws in the animation.
Trust me on this. I have the Funi box set and the CPM collection. I viewed them on different tvs, and the verdict is minimal differences; recommended to be viewed on a CRT though.
The only reason why I prefer yellow subs is all based on nostalgia. I first saw the show subtitled on the international channel. Aside from that, the subs are low profile compared to funi's white subs or the subtitles on vlc player.
But whatever rocks your boat
I think Slayers was remastered well in that the grain was removed and it didn't strike me as looking...as old as from what I've seen from the original CPM release. Slayers did have some great animation, but it wasn't perfect, and the remaster enhances it. Yeah I'm sure the original boxsets look decent on HDTVs, but certainly not as good as FUNi's. Plus the CPM releases didn't have chapter stops in the episodes.
I thought Slayers was mostly shown in English on the International Channel. I think it might've been shown in both formats at some time or another (why would that channel show pretty much everything in English, but Slayers in Japanese, especially since it's English voice track is one of the more highly renowned ones of the 90s?).
Most stuff on the IC was shown subtitled and/or raw nihongo. From what I heard, tenchi was the only show dubbed. But I honestly don't know anything else about their programming because comcast moved the channel to a specialized package where you have to pay an extra $60 to watch it in late 03'; that and I only watched the channel for Slayers.
Uh, if I may comment on this as well, CPM's versions have some problems that Funi's seem to have fixed. They were mostly minor at best but mostly the video is much cleaner this time around and yes, the subtitles are white instead of yellow, but sometimes the subtitles in the CPM versions were mistimed or didn't come on at all, which was s big boo boo that they never fixed and sometimes even the video skipped a lot which the Funimation version did eventually clean up. So yes, there are pros and cons but overall, the Funi version is superior in a lot of ways. CPM's versions (Both cuts) had a lot of problems which Funimation tried to correct but neither of them are perfect. Funi's is the best though from what I've seen though. Just make sure you get good copies of Next. If you don't, you'll wish you did. ~_~ The monster fights are horrendously bad if your discs are bad. The video jumps like crazy when Mazenda and Lina fight each other.