GITS 2: Innocence Warning -- Please Read

Org Profile · Post by **GloryQuestor** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 11:44 pm

(I haven't seen a thread in the forum that had this information, so I'm starting one so everyone gets a heads-up on the current situation.)

If you have not yet picked up this anime on DVD, be warned that the released DVD that is on shelves now only contains the English for the Hearing Impared subtitling. (This means that the DVD will pop up with informational boxes all the time and reference characters, so you will constantly see "[Japanese Women Singing]" and "[Water dropping]", for example.)

It's more annoying than a problem, since the English text is supposedly the same as when it was in the theater. Still, one would think that DreamWorks, like other companies, would have used the standard English subtilting format instead since every other foreign film with foreign languages has one.

The latest news (on ANN) is that DreamWorks Entertainment might be ignoring it or fixing it -- the reports vary widely. Rumors and other sites seem to indicate that DWE will not recall them for this problem.

Keep an eye out on ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com) in case news comes down the pipe of any recall action.

angelx03 · Post by **angelx03** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:48 pm

Here's Dreamworks' response to this:

AnimeOnDVD wrote:Thank you for contacting us. Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Dreamworks Home Entertainment strive to provide the highest standard of product and customer care.

The 'Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence' DVD contains two English captions/subtitle tracks. The first translates the Japanese dialogue, which is heard on the main audio track. The second track is a transcription of the optional audio commentary by Director Mamoru Oshii and Animation Director Toshihko Nishikubo.

Our DVD products are captioned in English using Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired, (SDH). This ensures compatibility with all DVD players and TVs. Many older model DVD players are unable to output the Closed Captioning signal, and the majority of TVs manufactured before 1994 did not have Closed Captioning decoders built-in.

We appreciate your patronage and hope that you will continue to enjoy Dreamworks and Universal products.

Sincerely,
Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Solaria735 · Post by **Solaria735** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:52 pm

It wasn't that annoying really IMO. . . I mean, it's true I didn't need subtitles for "women singing in Japanese", but it wasn't enough to distract or frustrate me from the movie.

Still worth watching. ^-^

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:58 pm

That's strange - if they admit they were able to make two subtitle tracks for one dvd, they really have no excuse for only making one for this dvd.

I can only hope other companies don't pick up after them. I can just imagine watching something like Rurouni Kenshin where they have text popping up every time "[swords clash together]". Would really ruin the moment... o.O

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Wed Jan 05, 2005 7:00 pm

The subs are a lot more intrusive than the ones in the theatrical version, too. They are big and white. In the theatre the subs were small, and a slightly stange greenish-blue color.

Org Profile · Post by **GloryQuestor** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 6:55 pm

Kalium wrote:The subs are a lot more intrusive than the ones in the theatrical version, too. They are big and white. In the theatre the subs were small, and a slightly stange greenish-blue color.

A few others over on ANN also said it was a noticable problem. Subtitles just shouldn't take up the screen. Also, the bright white color can be a little blinding ... which is why most subtitiles settled on using yellow instead.

Solaria735 wrote:It wasn't that annoying really IMO. . . I mean, it's true I didn't need subtitles for "women singing in Japanese", but it wasn't enough to distract or frustrate me from the movie.

Still worth watching. ^-^

I wouldn't dispute this. The story really is interesting. (Also, if you have read the manga, you will know where the ending part came from.

)

Harlock7876 · Post by **Harlock7876** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:53 pm

Our DVD products are captioned in English using Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired, (SDH). This ensures compatibility with all DVD players and TVs. Many older model DVD players are unable to output the Closed Captioning signal, and the majority of TVs manufactured before 1994 did not have Closed Captioning decoders built-in.

Funny they should chose to manufacture the DVDs with an aim towards the massively huge market for the hearing imp....excuse my newspeak...deaf. Why are they even considering compatibility with pre-1994 equipment when most electronic devices aren't compatible with something that came out two months ago?

Org Profile · Post by **GloryQuestor** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:30 pm

Harlock7876 wrote:Why are they even considering compatibility with pre-1994 equipment when most electronic devices aren't compatible with something that came out two months ago?

Maybe because they really goofed on this, and this is perhaps the best their PR department could come up with rather than having to spend time and money recalling all the DVDs?

Personally, I don't care. It's still a good movie overall, and the subtitle track does serve the movie.

It's just unusual to see a big house like Dreamworks not encode a proper "foreign language" subtitle track on this DVD when everyone else does on their foreign language releases and doesn't even admit to it.

Between the lines, here's what they said:

- They say they put this track in to support older players, but ADV Films, Bandai, Manga Entertainment, and many other companies have been putting foreign language subtitling in their DVDs since they premiered.

- If there wasn't a decoder, or if they were on VHS, the aforementioned companies used overlays to simply place the subtitle in the frame permanently. No need for a subtitle decoder then. If they were worried about "older machines", why didn't they simply do this?

Overall, here is the bottom line as to why they would do this: Why devote time and effort to a $1 million box office failure when you need to polish your multi-million dollar DVD releases (like Shrek 2)?

(Sorry if this sounds a little hard. Because of the limited release in theaters, I've been waiting for this DVD for a long time. As a Ghost in the Shell fan, I'm just not that thrilled with how Dreamworks handled this, and think that they should second-guess handling any more anime. Leave it to companies who will spend the time on it, like Sony / Columbia / Tristar, who did a much better job with a similar release: Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.)