Escaflowne - A Girl in Gaia Standard Edition DVD Review
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MSRP
$29.98
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The North American Standard Edition doesn't have all of the bonus material contained in the Ultimate Edition box set, but that doesn't mean it is a weak release. In fact, the Standard Edition DVD is exactly the same as the feature disc in the box set. The only difference is in the packaging. For this reason, much — though not all — of the commentary below is copied from my review of the Ultimate Edition.
This may be the first time in the history of anime that the North American release has lived up to the Japanese version in regards to image and sound quality, if not improved upon it. The Japanese release of 2001 was outstanding, but the North American version looks much better on my setup. The contrast is greatly improved. Please take this statement with a grain of salt, however, as I do have a rather low-end system that cannot take full advantage of the anamorphic presentation. What is undeniable, however, is that Bandai worked hard to make this movie as visually perfect as possible. In fact, the Japanese release's one major visual glitch — a "jump" in the film during the scene in which Escaflowne turns into a ball of light and floats away — has been fixed in the North American version.
A great deal of time and effort was spent providing an option to watch the movie in conjunction with the display of the original storyboards. Production art fans, take note, because the storyboards have never before been published. I wish the storyboards had been included in a larger format, but these "corner of the screen" versions are fascinating enough to keep me busy for months to come, and greatly increase the replay value of the main feature.
There are a number of different audio tracks to choose from when watching the film. If you don't have the ability to make use of the fantastic Japanese DTS track, that's OK, because both the Japanese and English DD 5.1 tracks are also included. And then there's a special treat — an audio track with nothing but the background music. I really enjoyed this BGM track, because not all of Kanno and Mizoguchi's work is present on the soundtrack CD. It allowed me to hear the extra material without the overlaying sound effects and speech for the very first time. Now if only I could hook up my DVD player to my stereo!
Bandai has done a truly excellent job in presenting all of this material on a well-designed disc. Personally, I found the insert booklet to be somewhat less attractive than the keepcase cover, but even so, it is certainly far from hideous. The design of the DVD menu is especially pleasing. Each transition is fluid and unique, and the use of music is varied and appropriate. That being said, I do wish all anime DVD designers would adjust music selections so that they "looped" more smoothly when the menu is left on for a period of time. It can be very jarring to hear the music cut off and then start over again. This is a minor annoyance that is easily forgiven, however.
This is a disc that no one will be ashamed to have in their collection. If the bonus materials provided with the Ultimate Edition aren't of great interest to you, or if you're on a budget, this is an excellent way to obtain just what you need.