danikamae beroñas
New member
Ever since Funimation fully re-released the entirety of the Slayers series, the one thing on my mind was how it compares with the original Central Park Media releases, which I had only rented the first season of in the past. That’s what caused my reluctance to actually buy the series, as I longed for the long-lost extras absent from the new release, but my patience paid off as I was able to get the original CPM releases at a convention for a similar price. And so, for the benefit of those few still on the fence and the ones simply curious, I rented the first season of Funi’s Slayers release to see how they match up.
Slayers Season 1 DVD: Funimation vs CPM
Video
CPM Scene 1
Funi Scene 1
CPM Scene 2
Funi Scene 2
Funi touts its release with the whole “remastered” spiel, but at least as far as the visuals go, there isn’t much improvement. Both releases feature the same amount of eps, 6 to 7, on each disk, which isn’t too bad in this case considering the show isn’t known for being pristine. As you can see, the results are incredibly similar; although Funi’s is a tad sharper, CPM’s quality is nowhere near a deal-breaker. Also, strangely enough, the opening and closing credit videos are actually much darker on Funi’s release than on CPM’s, not to mention the layout of the credits themselves are different for some reason. It’s weird because the Funi sets do have the clean OP/ED, which are just a bright as the credits from CPM; not sure what happened there. At the very least, the song subtitles are no longer pasted into the video and can be turned on and off at will (might have something to do with them being so dark); however, Funi’s lyrics feature only the translations, no phonetic Japanese. The opening title also features that spiffy updated logo rather than the generic 80s text of the past.
Audio
I don’t know if the improved Japanese audio is a result on Funi’s part, but it’s most appreciated. Apparently, as explained in IGN’s review of CPM’s set, the Japanese track was phase inverted in that release, so that a mono sound setup would result in little to no sound, while the results on other stereo systems would vary. Listening to the track on my computer’s speakers was acceptable, but the sound in my earbuRAB was rather peculiar, especially in comparison to Funi’s much more level presentation. The English tracks in both are quite acceptable, though Funi’s did seem softer than their Japanese track, while CPM’s is louder than their Japanese. Strangely, it seems even lower than CPM’s English track, though I had no way to actually check the output levels, so it could be my ears playing tricks on me.
Extras
Now here’s where things get a lot more interesting. If there’s one thing CPM’s release has over Funi’s, especially for the dub lovers, it’s the robust extra features. As I said, I have all three CPM Slayers sets, and there is plenty to offer in all three, including actual videos of the dub cast merabers. However, as I only managed to get Funi’s first set to compare with so far, I won’t be going over Next and Try’s features, but I will make that attempt at a future opportunity (It would’ve been too easy.
)
The biggest features CPM boasts in this initial set are bios of and written interviews with the English cast, production sketches and pictures, and dub scripts for all 26 episodes. The interviews are incredibly insightful, talking to the four main cast merabers (Lisa Ortiz, Eric Stuart, Veronica Taylor and Crispin Freeman), as well as one with David Moo as Xellos, who doesn’t even appear until Next (they even use Rezo’s picture for some strange reason). Some of what they say may seem very familiar, but they do go into some detail about themselves and their experience. It’s especially interesting to read the thoughts of NY-era Freeman and of Moo, who never had much of a public image (and say what you will about his Xellos and Sanji, he’s demonstrated his true acting chops in other shows like Gokusen and Captain Tylor). The sketches mostly illustrate the character models of the main characters, while the other pictures are stills from the show and publicity images. Sadly, the pics aren’t very large by today’s standarRAB, but for someone who wants a decent glimpse into the show’s production, they do pretty nicely. Having the scripts for the dub written out is interesting to say the least. The other features aren’t much to speak of; you have cast comparisons between the English and Japanese Slayers players, which seems kinda useless when one can simply change the audio themselves at any point for their own comparison. There’s a 4-page manga preview of one of CPM’s past Slayers graphic novel releases, which does offer a taste of a likely out-of-print release but doesn’t do much for me. Most of the features are accessed through a little program included on the forth disk which, despite looking a little dated opening up, works perfectly fine on my Vista set-up.
But you can’t count out Funi for extras, which is actually abnormal to imagine. Their initial release offers two distinct extras. The first are, as I mentioned, the clean, textless opening and closing for the season. While not normally an exciting feature in this day and age, such was not even included in CPM’s stuffed release, and is very nice to finally see. The other is a taste of the dubs of alternate languages; for the final nine minutes of episode one, besides the obvious English and Japanese, they provide tracks in Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish & Italian. It’s always pretty interesting to see the takes other countries have on a show, such as the older-sounding Spanish Lina, or the Italian version that I like just as much as the English or Japanese one.
Layout/Additional Notes
Last and pretty much least, the aesthetics of the menus, subtitles and overall presentation. The CPM menus are a product of the time, with the characters all over the place and a rather ugly purple background and borders around the menu options. Funi’s, on the other hand, offers a very clean, elegant black layout with lovely gold font and a simple (and admittedly grainy) image of Lina in a striking magic-casting pose. Also, compared to the stark silence of the CPM menus, the BGM pieces Funi provides for its menus are even more refreshing and/or exciting.
The subtitles seem to have been carried verbatim over from CPM, so whatever opinions people have on the translation likely remain unaddressed. However, Funi trumps the muddy yellow font of CPM for their white, bright and bold font of choice. Its interesting to note that CPM’s subtitle fonts were also inconsistent; the first screen is from the first disk (or disk A, as it was called), while the other, which looks even worse, is from disk four (D).
The last, important thing to consider is that CPM’s release was from a time before chapter stops were considered standard. While Funi offers breaks at various points within each episode, CPM’s eps are essentially blocks, with the only option being to move straight from ep to ep. That sadly means that you can’t even skip the opening credits without the rewind and fast-forward buttons, much less get to a specific scene. Not to mention, all the CPM eps feature a couple screens of initial “So-and-So Presents” credits that Funi fortunately leaves out (sorry, Softx and Enoki Films).
Verdict
For those who simply want the episode available in an easily accessible format, especially if you love the Japanese version, Funi is definitely the way to go; if the previous extras had never existed, this would be the definitive version. However, for those who truly desire insight on the show's production, most specifically for lovers of the dub, try and see if you can find CPM’s release for a nice price; I wouldn’t recommend going over what you can pay for Funi’s, but I'm not sure how far Funi's release has supplanted CPM's in the rental stores yet, so if you really wanna seem 'em, you might have to take what you can get.
Slayers Season 1 DVD: Funimation vs CPM
Video
CPM Scene 1
Funi Scene 1
CPM Scene 2
Funi Scene 2
Funi touts its release with the whole “remastered” spiel, but at least as far as the visuals go, there isn’t much improvement. Both releases feature the same amount of eps, 6 to 7, on each disk, which isn’t too bad in this case considering the show isn’t known for being pristine. As you can see, the results are incredibly similar; although Funi’s is a tad sharper, CPM’s quality is nowhere near a deal-breaker. Also, strangely enough, the opening and closing credit videos are actually much darker on Funi’s release than on CPM’s, not to mention the layout of the credits themselves are different for some reason. It’s weird because the Funi sets do have the clean OP/ED, which are just a bright as the credits from CPM; not sure what happened there. At the very least, the song subtitles are no longer pasted into the video and can be turned on and off at will (might have something to do with them being so dark); however, Funi’s lyrics feature only the translations, no phonetic Japanese. The opening title also features that spiffy updated logo rather than the generic 80s text of the past.
Audio
I don’t know if the improved Japanese audio is a result on Funi’s part, but it’s most appreciated. Apparently, as explained in IGN’s review of CPM’s set, the Japanese track was phase inverted in that release, so that a mono sound setup would result in little to no sound, while the results on other stereo systems would vary. Listening to the track on my computer’s speakers was acceptable, but the sound in my earbuRAB was rather peculiar, especially in comparison to Funi’s much more level presentation. The English tracks in both are quite acceptable, though Funi’s did seem softer than their Japanese track, while CPM’s is louder than their Japanese. Strangely, it seems even lower than CPM’s English track, though I had no way to actually check the output levels, so it could be my ears playing tricks on me.
Extras
Now here’s where things get a lot more interesting. If there’s one thing CPM’s release has over Funi’s, especially for the dub lovers, it’s the robust extra features. As I said, I have all three CPM Slayers sets, and there is plenty to offer in all three, including actual videos of the dub cast merabers. However, as I only managed to get Funi’s first set to compare with so far, I won’t be going over Next and Try’s features, but I will make that attempt at a future opportunity (It would’ve been too easy.
) The biggest features CPM boasts in this initial set are bios of and written interviews with the English cast, production sketches and pictures, and dub scripts for all 26 episodes. The interviews are incredibly insightful, talking to the four main cast merabers (Lisa Ortiz, Eric Stuart, Veronica Taylor and Crispin Freeman), as well as one with David Moo as Xellos, who doesn’t even appear until Next (they even use Rezo’s picture for some strange reason). Some of what they say may seem very familiar, but they do go into some detail about themselves and their experience. It’s especially interesting to read the thoughts of NY-era Freeman and of Moo, who never had much of a public image (and say what you will about his Xellos and Sanji, he’s demonstrated his true acting chops in other shows like Gokusen and Captain Tylor). The sketches mostly illustrate the character models of the main characters, while the other pictures are stills from the show and publicity images. Sadly, the pics aren’t very large by today’s standarRAB, but for someone who wants a decent glimpse into the show’s production, they do pretty nicely. Having the scripts for the dub written out is interesting to say the least. The other features aren’t much to speak of; you have cast comparisons between the English and Japanese Slayers players, which seems kinda useless when one can simply change the audio themselves at any point for their own comparison. There’s a 4-page manga preview of one of CPM’s past Slayers graphic novel releases, which does offer a taste of a likely out-of-print release but doesn’t do much for me. Most of the features are accessed through a little program included on the forth disk which, despite looking a little dated opening up, works perfectly fine on my Vista set-up.
But you can’t count out Funi for extras, which is actually abnormal to imagine. Their initial release offers two distinct extras. The first are, as I mentioned, the clean, textless opening and closing for the season. While not normally an exciting feature in this day and age, such was not even included in CPM’s stuffed release, and is very nice to finally see. The other is a taste of the dubs of alternate languages; for the final nine minutes of episode one, besides the obvious English and Japanese, they provide tracks in Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish & Italian. It’s always pretty interesting to see the takes other countries have on a show, such as the older-sounding Spanish Lina, or the Italian version that I like just as much as the English or Japanese one.
Layout/Additional Notes
Last and pretty much least, the aesthetics of the menus, subtitles and overall presentation. The CPM menus are a product of the time, with the characters all over the place and a rather ugly purple background and borders around the menu options. Funi’s, on the other hand, offers a very clean, elegant black layout with lovely gold font and a simple (and admittedly grainy) image of Lina in a striking magic-casting pose. Also, compared to the stark silence of the CPM menus, the BGM pieces Funi provides for its menus are even more refreshing and/or exciting.
The subtitles seem to have been carried verbatim over from CPM, so whatever opinions people have on the translation likely remain unaddressed. However, Funi trumps the muddy yellow font of CPM for their white, bright and bold font of choice. Its interesting to note that CPM’s subtitle fonts were also inconsistent; the first screen is from the first disk (or disk A, as it was called), while the other, which looks even worse, is from disk four (D).
The last, important thing to consider is that CPM’s release was from a time before chapter stops were considered standard. While Funi offers breaks at various points within each episode, CPM’s eps are essentially blocks, with the only option being to move straight from ep to ep. That sadly means that you can’t even skip the opening credits without the rewind and fast-forward buttons, much less get to a specific scene. Not to mention, all the CPM eps feature a couple screens of initial “So-and-So Presents” credits that Funi fortunately leaves out (sorry, Softx and Enoki Films).
Verdict
For those who simply want the episode available in an easily accessible format, especially if you love the Japanese version, Funi is definitely the way to go; if the previous extras had never existed, this would be the definitive version. However, for those who truly desire insight on the show's production, most specifically for lovers of the dub, try and see if you can find CPM’s release for a nice price; I wouldn’t recommend going over what you can pay for Funi’s, but I'm not sure how far Funi's release has supplanted CPM's in the rental stores yet, so if you really wanna seem 'em, you might have to take what you can get.