Review of Noein: To Your Other Self - Complete Series Boxset (Vol 1-5)

Introduction

I promise that this is my last whinge about Manga Entertainment`s lamentable 2007. From now on it`s a clean slate, with new whinges only. But didn`t Manga Entertainment royally screw up last year? Whether it`s from poor decisions or pressure from the parent company, the evidence speaks for itself. First there were dubtitles on most of the releases. These are subtitles based on the English dub script, not subtitles translated from the Japanese. Once in a blue moon, they work, but more often than not, you`re left with dialogue that goes by un-translated, or captions when no one is speaking, and the suspicion, justified or not, that the subtitles may be completely wrong. With anime, if you are going to have dubtitles, you may as well forget the Japanese soundtrack completely.


Then there were the releases themselves. With the end of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Manga were left looking for a new flagship title, and they tried a couple of new series, the horror Tokko, and the sci-fi Noein. Just like Stand Alone Complex, they debuted in the UK with 2-disc sets, one disc with Dolby soundtracks and the other with DTS, and the episodes repeated across both. But halfway through, they dropped the single volume release schedule completely, and released the complete boxsets instead. The boxsets too ditched the DTS discs, leaving only the Dolby discs. Anyone who was diligently collecting the individual releases could be justified in thinking they were screwed twice over. But, just as with Tokko, if you have proof of purchase of the first three volumes of Noein, and if you get in touch with Manga, they offer a deal for the final two volumes. The thing is that Manga Entertainment have made a rod for their own back with this issue, for who is going to take a chance on collecting individual Manga Entertainment releases in the future? I suppose it`s hardly worth mentioning that the extra features, especially for Tokko, remained behind in Region 1 land…


I loved the first three volumes of Noein when I reviewed them last year, but after the debacle I`ve just detailed, I certainly wasn`t prepared to spend money on a dubtitled boxset, condoning the inconsistency of releases. I`d turn instead to Region 1, where companies know how to treat anime with respect, where Noein got the proper translated subtitles, where all the discs were released individually before the boxset. It`s an anime company with a more mature, consistent approach, it`s… Manga Entertainment?


I give up! I just don`t understand the corporate mentality. The same company released Noein in both regions, yet in Region 1 Manga released Noein without problem or complaint, but in the UK they made a complete hash of it. I`ve read reasoning such as Manga US and Manga UK are two distinct operations, albeit owned by the same parent company, that synchronising release dates to avoid the problems of losing sales to importation requires the duplication of effort with varying results, and that Manga US and Manga UK are in effect competing against each other. The bottom line is, as so often is the case, that UK customers got shafted, I wound up importing the superior release anyway, and Manga UK employees will feel the pinch. Regardless, my money winds up in the same pockets. Three cheers for the global economy!


Noein has something of an X-Files feel to it with a soupcon of Sliders, all set against the coming of age drama of a group of school friends in the seaside town of Hakodate during summer. For friends Haruka, Yu, Miho, Ai and Isami, the hardest question has to be what to do over the summer. That, and Yu is stressing over being forced into university by his overbearing mother. Rumours of ghostly apparitions inspire Miho to suggest a `fright night`, but no one is prepared for what phantoms they will see. The gateway across time and dimensions is opening up, and wraith like figures are coming through searching for the Dragon Torque. They need to retrieve it to save their own world from the deadly Shangri-La dimension, but the Dragon Torque just happens to be embodied in Haruka. The weird thing is that Haruka finds one of the strangers, Karasu to be oddly familiar.


The Noein boxset sees all five single disc releases (There never was a DTS release in the US) collected together, with the whole 24-episode show, along with the extras, available in a flimsy card construction (with pretty artwork).

Disc 1
1. Blue Snow
2. Runaway
3. Hunted
4. Friends
5. And Then…

Disc 2
6. Dimension Of Tears
7. Important Person
8. Secret
9. Crossing Time
10. A Stormy Night

Disc 3
11. Out Of Sync
12. The Battle
13. The Wish
14. Memories
15. Shangri-La


Disc 4
16. Repeat
17. Dilemma
18. Nightmare
19. Reminiscence
20. Once More

Disc 5
21. Illusion
22. To The Future
23. The End
24. The Beginning

Note that the episode distribution is different in the US releases. So if you had bought the first three volumes in the UK, and decided to complete the release by importing rather than buying the boxset, you would have had to buy volume 3 again or you would have missed one episode.

Video

Noein is one gorgeous looking anime, one of the prettiest I have seen. It gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer on these discs, and the image is clear, sharp and unblemished. Made by the same company that created Heat Guy J, Noein takes the blending of 3D CG and traditional 2D animation one step further. The character designs are a stride removed from traditional anime, and in that respect the show establishes a style of its own. It has a bright, hazy feel to it, appropriate to the summertime setting, and the animation is fluid and expansive. It looks like a theatrical animation at times. On rare occasions the characters do revert to a more minimalist feel, but that seems to be a conscious creative decision, rather than a lack of budget. The action and effects are also astounding, as the opening sequence of the first episode so graphically demonstrates.


It`s swings and roundabouts with the Region 1 NTSC transfer. You have a slightly lower resolution, but the additional clarity and smoothness of animation makes up for it. There is none of the ghosting and jerky pans of an NTSC-PAL conversion. But, I`m one of those people who always notice a slight judder when NTSC is played back on PAL equipment, although it is less pronounced here than it is on some titles I have seen. On the other hand, I have never noticed the audio pitch change associated with a 4% PAL speedup.

I could have tiny moan about the subtitles, the font is quite large, and they take up a large proportion of the screen, reaching a third of the way up on occasion. It`s also the first time I have ever seen colour bleed on subtitles. But, they never obscure the action, and since they are translated subs, I can forgive them a multitude of sins.

Audio

There`s no DTS sound with the US release, just the DD 5.1 and DD 2.0 English and Japanese. Subtitles are mercifully of the translated sort, and you have a choice of English and Spanish. Also, the theme songs are subtitled alternately in Romanji (Japanese written with the English alphabet) and the English translations. On screen text is translated here, another thing that you will find lacking on the UK discs.

As usual I went for the original language soundtrack. Noein is a show with plenty of action packed moments, which are well represented in the surround track. The music also has a singular style that adds to the quirky individuality of the show. The incidental music has an almost mediaeval feel to it, while the arrival of the Dragon Knights is usually heralded by some ominous choral music. There are no problems with the English dub either, as the voices suit the characters well (although Atori sounds a little stereotypical), and the dialogue flows naturally.

Features

Unlike the Region 2 thinpak release, which repackaged the DD discs, the US release simply collects the individual Amarays and sticks them inside a card slipcase. That being the case, what you get can be a little random. I got two Amaray cases, and three pseudo Amarays, and only volume 1 had an insert of any kind.

There are a few differences in the extra features, but all of the usual suspects are there. The Ouroboros imagery that heralds the dimension warping adventures forms the basis of these discs` animated menus. Transitions are quick, and the menu design straightforward. There is also a Play All option on each disc, something that was sorely missed on the R2 discs. Actually, while the wormhole motif on the R2 discs was brilliantly accomplished, and visually striking, the R1 discs are quicker and easier to navigate.


All five discs have trailers for other US Manga Entertainment product. Volumes 1-4 have the Streetfighter 2 movie, Karas: The Prophecy, Tactics, Blood: The Last Vampire, Lupin III, and Ghost In The Shell`s Second Gig. Volume 5 advertises Noein, Tactics, Highlander: The Search For Vengeance, Karas: The Prophecy, Lupin III and GITS SAC: Solid State Society.

Disc 1

The On Location featurette: Part 1, sees Director Akane Kazuki and Voice Actress Kudo Haruka (voice of Haruka) visit the seaside town of Hakodate in Hokkaido. It`s a graphic demonstration of why the anime looks so splendid, as the major locations are all taken from real life. It`s impressive just how accurate the anime is, while pervading the story with a fantasy feel. This lasts 15 minutes.

You`ll also find two alternate openings, a selection of Japanese promos for the show and soundtrack, and the textless credit sequences.


Disc 2

The On Location featurette: Part 2, which lasts 16 minutes, as well as Player Cards featuring 7 of the main characters from the show.

Disc 3

The On Location featurette: Part 3 lasting 13 minutes, storyboard to screen lasting 18 minutes, and an Image Gallery with 20 stills to navigate through.

Disc 4

The sleeve text repeats the extras listing from the previous volume in error, but what you actually get is another Image Gallery with 20 stills, and the Textless Opening again.


Disc 5

You get an Image Gallery with 16 images, the textless opening, but no sign of the promised bloopers.

Region 2 didn`t get the Player Cards on volume 2, but did get a 3-minute promo video, and rather useless slideshow image gallery instead (as on volume 3).

Update: I found the bloopers. Pesky Easter Eggs! On the main menu if you go to the top circle with Noein written in, that will take you to brief snippets of the dub actors goofing off. Apparently these are on all the discs except volume 4.

Conclusion

Awesome! Excellent! Outstanding! Noein is a must own anime. There is a common misperception about anime, that it is little more than variations on a limited number of themes. You can understand where the complaints come from, with the habit of pigeonholing things into neat little genres. Also, it`s a truism that popular isn`t always synonymous with quality, so when the tournament fighting anime and the harem comedies start running into episode counts of 3 figures, it doesn`t mean that these shows are the cream of the crop. You can understand the viewpoint though, when every other anime show appears to have large mecha in it, girls with guns, or some sort of RPG element. Of late, even I have been lamenting seeing the same story in different clothes for the fifth time from Gonzo. You can try countering that misperception with shows like Serial Experiments Lain, Paranoia Agent, or Gunslinger Girl, but these are eclectic titles, which do well to break out of their niche audiences. It just feels good to have one title with broad appeal that is unique, smart and of high quality. Unfortunately "Yeah, but Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex…" quickly begins to sound like a whine. With Noein you at least have a one-two combination.


Noein takes a high concept sci-fi staple and melds it to a slice of life drama, and it works brilliantly. The multiverse theory of parallel dimensions is by now a venerable one, and one that has been done to death in entertainment. Films like Sliding Doors, television shows like Star Trek and Sliders all have shown us parallel worlds, worlds that show what would have happened if you had turned left instead of right, if Hitler had won the war, or if pizza had never been invented. Quite frankly, I have never seen the idea explored as well as it is in Noein. It`s a show that relies more than most on Quantum Mechanics for its rigor, consistency and accuracy. The ideas as presented in this story always feel halfway plausible, and the concepts discussed here seem distilled from a Physics textbook (rather than the Trek method of writing `Tech` in the scripts in the hope that someone down the line will make something up that sounds scientific). The show is like a hard sci-fi novel in that the concepts lie at the heart of the story, but this never detracts from the characters or the entertainment. You won`t be left scratching your head, wondering what they mean.


At the same time we have the slice of life, coming of age story of a group of 12 year olds. They`re at that age where they`re beginning to realise that there`s more to the other sex than the fact that they smell a little odd, they`re about to set the directions of the rest of their lives, and for some the pressure is beginning to tell. Yu for instance is being pressured by his mother to study all summer for the entrance exams to a prestigious middle school. It isn`t good when all your friends want to spend a summer having fun. Isami wants to be a footballer, Ai wants to impress Isami, and Miho has her own take on the supernatural. As for Haruka, she is the Dragon Torque, which opens a world sized can of worms, when the walls between dimensions break down, and the Dragon Soldiers of La`Cryma come through in order to capture her. For them, the Dragon Torque is essential in their battle against Shangri-La, a dimension that is invading and assimilating all other dimensions. It could all be so much sci-fi schlock, but what makes it interesting is that La`Cryma is an analogue of Haruka`s own dimension. It`s a wrecked world, with the population living underground. The Dragon Knights issue forth from a Hakodate which is some 15 years in the future from Haruka`s, and it`s older versions of Haruka`s friends that are coming to capture her. La`Cryma is a world where Haruka didn`t survive, and seeing the younger version of her, and themselves is enough to place a sliver of doubt in the Dragon Knights, so much so that Karasu, an older and more cynical Yu defects to Haruka`s world in order to protect her.


As the story progresses, the links between La`Cryma and Haruka`s world become clearer, and the nature of the fight between the Dragon Knights and Shangri-La changes. What could also have been a simple anime MacGuffin of the Dragon Torque turns out to have a valid narrative basis, when we learn that Haruka`s father is a quantum physicist, and his interpretation of Quantum Mechanics and work in the field of Quantum teleportation is leading Haruka`s world on a breakneck charge into a brave new scientific reality. The trouble is that the main figure behind the research is intent on progress regardless of the risks. It also becomes clear that Haruka`s world is going down the same path that wrecked La`Cryma, while the resulting incidents due to La`Cryma`s incursions have attracted Shangri-La and Noein`s attention to Haruka.


When I looked at the earlier volumes last year, the one thing I found odd was the blend of levity and seriousness. One minute there would be a dimensional disturbance, unleashing some bizarre otherworldly contraption to wreak havoc, then the next, the friends would be worried about the usual childhood trivia. It seemed odd to me at the time, but taking this series as a whole, it seems perfectly appropriate, given the adaptability of children, the incredulity of adults, the flow of the story, as well as how the emphasis changes as the series approaches its climax. It also becomes clear that beneath the scientific babble, and the action eye-candy, the heart of the story revolves around themes of friendship, loss, and coping with grief. Given how the story pans out, Noein simply wouldn`t have worked without the little vignettes of childhood and moments of amiable mundanity that interleaved the drama.


Having now seen Noein in its entirety, I can comfortably say that this was one of the top releases of 2007. It`s got likeable characters, a high concept story that remains interesting regardless of the extent of the science, and most important of all, it has broad appeal across all strata of fandom. The animation is something special, eschewing traditional anime clichés to establish its own distinct style and energy, and the soundtrack is excellent, with a suitably resounding and theatrical score. Noein is a show that should be in every anime collection, and your first port of call if you want to introduce someone to the medium.


Normally at this point, I`d say that if English is your language of choice, then stick with the UK release, and only import if you want to watch the show in its native language. However, I would be daft to say that in this case. The R.R.P in the UK is £49.99. The US equivalent is $39.98. If you take the exchange rate into account that price looks rosy. I got this boxset with the usual pre-release discount, and I paid a smidgen over £12 for it, not counting postage (That`s not much more than an individual volume in the UK). If you shop around, you should still be able to get it under the customs limit, and if you can spin multi-region discs, then Region 1 is the obvious choice. It still begs the question; if Manga can get their releases right in the US, why screw up in the UK? Maybe the answer lies in another dimension.

Noein is a must own anime (and I never get tired of saying that).