Customer Reviews

Freedom: Volume One (Two-Disc HD/DVD Combo) [HD DVD]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is part one of a six-part Japanese anime series that was released direct to video in Japan starting in October 2006, with the last episode released in July. That's about one episode every six weeks. The studio, Bandai, for some reason is releasing the series in the U.S. at an even slower pace, with part one released in June 2007 and part two scheduled for September. It is a bizarre choice. Who is willing to wait over a year for a series that clocks in at about two hours long? And who is willing to pay nearly $180 for that series, even if it is in high definition?

Various reviewers have already complained about the price. Some have said that you get both DVD and HDDVD formats on a single-sided disk. But I don't see why it is worth extra money just so you don't have to flip the disk over for the HDDVD format--if you have an HD player, you are only going to play one side, if you don't you will just play the other side, right? Why does it matter that both formats are on the same side?

What the reviews have not made clear is that the "special features" are not on the disk itself, and cannot be accessed on a regular DVD player. They are apparently all online and can only be accessed if your player is hooked up to the net. If you don't have HD, or if your machine is not hooked up to the net, then all you get is a single 22-minute episode for a lot of money, and then a long wait until the next release. Why Bandai thought that this was a successful marketing strategy is beyond me. My guess is that at some point they will realize that this a) is not the way titles should be released in the US, and b) is stupid, and will do the smart thing and release the entire series as a single collection.

Nobody has yet reviewed the story, so allow me. The story follows the exploits of a bunch of teenagers who live in a moon colony. They get into some minor trouble and are sentenced to community service. There's also a motorcycle race in a tunnel. That's about it for the story for episode one--with one important twist at the end (which I'll get to in a moment).

Katsuhiro Otomo designed the characters and the technical look. Otomo was responsible for the highly-regarded 1980s animated movie (also manga) Akira, and the look for Freedom is similar. The first episode is beautifully illustrated and nicely-paced, but it features a number of typical anime cliches such as the teenage bikers (taken from Akira), the crazy older man, and the girl in the short skirt who is the object of affection for the socially awkward boy.

It was only the colorful animation and the tantalizing glimpses of this high-tech colony on the moon that kept my attention and by the end of the first episode I wondered if this was enough to make me watch more. However, right at the very end there was an intriguing hook--a hint that Earth, which humanity abandoned centuries ago, may not be empty after all. This also hints that maybe the government is hiding something from its citizens. This mini-cliffhanger ending did indeed leave me wanting more. But it also means that I'll have to wait a long time for the next installment, and the next after that. I'd rather be able to buy the entire series at once--and at a reasonable price. Right now, I'm waiting for it to show up at Netflix.

Your best bet is to wait and hope that Bandai comes to their senses and releases this properly, as a complete series, with extras, and at a decent price.

A friend of mine dropped 30 bucks on this so I watched it (if you had a chance to watch a $30, 25 minute anime show for free wouldn't you?). Repeat this in your mind: one disc, one episode, 25 minutes, 30 dollars. Red Alert! As for the show itself it was decent with nice animation. My question is who is the target for this? I'm guessing it is the over 40 Wall Street types with a penchant for watching anime in their Rolls Royce limos. I know that was a little over the top, but I'm venting. Honestly, who is going to spend roughly $180.00 to buy the entire "series" which is supposedly 6 eps long? I know I won't and my friend isn't buying anymore either. Think about it and you'll realize that you're paying over a dollar a minute for about a 150 minute series. In today's DVD anime world where you get at least 3-4 entire episodes in one disc for $20-$30 this is just ridiculous. Just when I thought iTunes was nutty for charging $1.99 for individual 11 minute episodes of Adult Swim cartoons these guys have gone and surpassed them. I mean it's a HDDVD-DVD combo disc, but who does that really help? Most likely them since they save on packaging, charge an over-the-top price for the disc and then get the people who don't have HDDVD to pay the (more than) HDDVD money for it. I hate to see any good anime flop, but if they're trying to start a new trend with this junk I hope it does. Bravo guys, bravo!

I've been waiting on this disc for some time now and finally had the chance to check it out today. Unfortunately, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in it while at the same time impressed.

Below I'll include a (+) next to any positive comments and a (-) next to any complaints with the product.

The first thing you'll notice is the price this disc comes at. A retail price of $39.99 (selling for about $29.99 online (-)) is quite a bit for any movie, especially a single 25 minute anime episode (-) that is part of a series (6 episodes total, and I'm sure they'll release them as 6 individual releases (-)). I don't mind spending this type of money if I feel the product is of high quality and something I would rewatch from time to time. Unfortunately, this isn't the case with Freedom (-).

1-episode OVA releases are very common in Japan (and used to be common in the US back in the VHS days) but nowadays you come to expect more for your money.

Part of the price tag comes from the fact that this is a combo disc. Unlike others, however, this is a single-sided "Twin" disc which means you can play it as an HDDVD in an HDDVD player or play the same side as a DVD in a traditional DVD Player (+). I find this much nicer than double-sided discs as there seems to be less of a chance of damaging the disc.

The product comes in a DVD Jewel Case (not an HDDVD case or even a standard DVD case, but rather one of the DVD jewel cases used on earlier DVDs) (-) The jewel case comes housed in a thin cardboard slipcover with the cover art on the front and a black and white text-only description on the back. My biggest complaints with the case are that the DVD Jewel cases tend to break very easily and can be hard to find a replacement for plus the fact that it's the same size as a DVD case which makes it taller than an HDDVD case (this is similar to the Discovery Channel HDDVD releases).

I won't go too much into the story of the series but from the first episode I wasn't terribly impressed. I didn't care about the characters and found myself looking at the running time remaining throughout the episode. There didn't seem to be anything "new" with this series, especially something worth justifying the high cost of the product.

With that said, this is a very well done HDDVD.

Aside from the twin-disc format, the HD video is encoded in VC-1 1080p (+) with Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1+ and Linear PCM 2.0 audio (+). Unfortunately (or fortunately, for some) there is no English dub on the disc (-). Video quality is very good as its a direct digital-digital transfer (+) unfortunately I did notice some aliasing ('jaggies') during a few scenes (this was rare and only for a few seconds though).

Extras include the ability to bookmark scenes for later viewing, multiple picture in picture elements (cast credits, storyboards and a side by side 3DCG Simulation video. This disc allows you to adjust the size of the PiP (7 levels) adjust the transparency of it (4 levels), flip PiP and the main video (so you can watch the PiP content in fullscreen and the episode the PiP window. You can also move the PiP window using the arrow keys. You can connect online to download new content through your HDDVD player from the disc (I haven't had a chance to try this yet as my player has trouble connecting online for some reason). Lastly, theres a preview trailer for Episode 2. Overall, great extra features, many of which have not been done before on HDDVD.

With all said and done, the show didn't impress me and neither did the price. This is a nice demo disc to show off features of an HDDVD player but overall not something I can recommend purchasing at the asking price. $15, while still expensive, would've been a different story - the same would be true had they included more content (at least 2-3 episodes per disc).

Avoid. Great show, sadly let down by the extreme price point (for one episode? come on!) If you want some great anime on HD, grab yourself APPLESEED: EX MACHINA instead.

The price on this episode is high, but it is worth it - at least at Amazon's $27.99 shipped. If I paid the full $39.99 msrp for this I'd probably be unhappy, but at 27.99 this offers some great entertainment value. While the episode is only a bit over 20 minutes long, the production values are top notch, the characters are likable and the video quality is superb. The HD DVD HDi extras including the resizable & movable PiP windows and internet downloads are very cool, but you do need an HD DVD player to access these extras.

If you do have an HD DVD player, give this one a shot - you'll be happy you did if you enjoy anime. And if you don't have HD DVD, this is probably too pricey for you, but think of it as a disc you won't have to rebuy in hidef in the future :)

So, a five star product for sure which I dropped a star due to its price.

It was an okay story, and good animation, but by no means was any part of the show extraordinary, except for the price. Had I bothered to check the running time I would never have purchased it, and I desperately wish to have my money back. I simply assumed I was buying a full movie for 30$, but even a show, who is cold hearted enough to sell a SINGLE EPISODE, one and no more than one!!! I was enraged that I had passed up quality movies for this, this 25 minute episode with an incomplete story.

It would not be harsh to say that because of the duration of it, and the incompleteness of the narrative, I would not pay a full 5 dollars for it, and I have been robbed of 30. There are not even any bonus features to speak of.

I bought this title for several reasons. 1) Its the first Anime HD DVD title in North America. 2)The wealth of features. 3) Online connectivity, you can download multiple trailers (such as preview to the next episode) and additinal features. 4) Its the first HD DVD/DVD Hybird (yes both versions are on the same side of the disc and will play in any DVD player; non-flipper). 5) Its HD DVD at its best and makes perfect use of HD-15.

Freedom Vol 1 looks flawless in picture quality whether you are watching it on HD DVD or DVD. It works perfect with the Xbox 360 HD DVD player and maintains its breathtaking quality on standard DVD. The lines have ZERO aliasing issues, and are smoothly depicted; its truly 100% perfect in Video and Audio.

The only reason why I cannot give the title 5 stars is because of the overall length being only 25-30 minutes long. The features more than make up for the anime's shortcomings. But if you are looking for some 1080p anime, and an HD DVD demo which features online connectivity and the ability to manipulate the Picture-in-Picture function on HD DVD (you can rotate, scroll the pip to any part of the screen you want) then this title is defintely for you. My nephew is 8 years old and he enjoyed it and so did I. If you meet all of the afformentioned conditions, then this title is must own. Otherwise its fanatastic demo material and an enjoyable overall experience. Hopefully the next edition will contain volumes 2-4 at least.

First off, this is an awesome anime. The artwork is top-notch, the PQ is very nice (top tier), and the story is decent (so far). The creators were clearly taking a cue from Akira, in terms of art direction and style. No question, this is the best any anime has ever looked on a home system. If you are a big anime fan and an early adopter of HD-DVD, it is worth getting this disc as a collectors item.

This is also the first disc on the HD-DVD/DVD Twin format, and also the first one to include online downloads using the HD-DVD standard internet connectivity. Bandai spent some time with the special features, and they did add some value to the HD-DVD portion of the disc. This is one title that truly has a next-gen feel to it, more-so than a lot of HD-DVD releases.

Many people have complained about the fact that there is only one episode per disc. I admit, this does feel cheap, but the disc is still worth getting. Due to technical constraints of the Twin format (HDDVD and DVD on one side) there is no way Bandai could have put more than one episode. The Twin format only supports around an hour of video and two episodes wouldn't fit since there is also bonus footage on the disc. I would have liked to see the whole series, for maybe $100, but maybe they will release that once all the episodes are available.

Concerning the price, yes it is a bit pricey for one episode. But you can't really compare it to DVD price-wise, because it is in HD. So it is expensive, but you are getting more for your money. Had this disc been priced at $20 or less, I would have given it 5 stars. I wouldn't even be surprised if the MSRP drops to $30 (less on Amazon) for subsequent discs. The bottom-line is if you can afford an HDTV and HD-DVD player, then you can afford this disc. If you are a fan of anime then it is worth it, but only because there isn't yet anything else available on HD-DVD.

Yeah, I'm not going to buy this DVD, even though I LOVE Otomo. Granted, he didn't even direct it, he just did the character and mech designs. I'll rent it on netflix for free, see if it's actually worth it, and then wait a year or so when it's available in a DVD boxset for a cheaper price.

Thanks, but no thanks...

The show has a great look to it, and an intriguing story, but seriously, who are they trying to kid with the price tag?