27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pirate Vendor Warning, May 19, 2004
This review is from: Ultraman Vol. 1 (DVD)
I ordered this through Amazon from "Nova Rose LLC" and got **Pirated** copies of the DVD. So the $45 cheap price isn't a legal copy. It looks to be a VHS transfer to DVD-R media, there are "pause" icons at the begining of some episodes and digital error due to the transfer. Amazon did refund my money and I hadn't expected to see this company on their site again, but they're still here. I'd just like to warn folks that want a legal "manufactured" copy to not order from Nova Rose llc. Hopefully the other vendors that have it for $79 will be legit manufactured versions of the episodes.
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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Seller is probably selling pirate copies, September 19, 2004
This review is from: Ultraman Vol. 1 (DVD)
Seller novarosellc is probably selling pirate copies
of Ultraman TV series in DVD (dubbed from some ancient
old VHS tapes). You will see a lot of this types
of products in eBay.
If you are Ultraman fans, priate copies might be
better than none. Just be aware. Ask the seller
before you buy.
In Japan the real things are slowly coming up, but
they are in Japanese. Quality of image is of cause very
good. If sellers can pirate that version and combine
the English tracks from the old tapes, that would be
something (excellent image but poor audio).
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1.0 out of 5 stars
Novarose's Ultraman DVD, and Novarose--NOT SO ROSY, July 28, 2005
This review is from: Ultraman Vol. 1 (DVD)
It's true that this set is probably as good a set of the dubbed version as there is out there absent remastering from the source and a commercial release, which does not seem to be forthcoming. However, with all due respect to the considered opinions of a gentleman from Belgium, things aren't so rosy, and the "the best available" ain't saying much.
VIDEO:
Lots of artifacting (that's when there's no real data in a section of the program and normal scenery is replaced by digital blocks that look sort of like the mosaic effect that they use to cover people's naughty bits on TV)
Lots of wash-out (that's when the colors are badly faded from a print)
Hiccups (like a skip but it's transient--often together with artifacting)
I had a friend who's a graduate student in film and something of an expert in digital video replication look at this and he came to the same conclusion as another reviewer. THIS IS A DVD COPY OF A VCD COPY OF A LOW-QUALITY VHS EDITION OF THIS SERIES, AT BEST.
AUDIO:
NOT SO GOOD. Static crackling is nearly as loud as the dialogue almost as often as not, sometimes characters sound like they're at the bottom of a well.
LEGALITY:
Very, very doubtful. There is no assertion of rights on anything I bought save what they poorly color photocopied off the packaging of the original Japanese release they were pirating. On their website they also sell DVDs that are CLEARLY in violation of the copyrights of Toho, Daiei, Tsuburaya Communications, and no doubt a bunch of other companies, things like pirated copies of recent box sets from Japan that they can't POSSIBLY have the rights to, because Toho never releases rights to the American market until the Japanese have had stuff for years so as to avoid competition from imported American DVDs (DVD prices in Japan are 2-3 times what they are here). If you care about these issues and feel that the heirs of Eiji Tsuburaya have a right to be paid for their father's legacy, avoid these people like the PLAGUE.
SERVICE:
WRETCHED. Here's some words about Novarose themselves. They ship their product in unpadded envelopes, as a result of which one disc arrived damaged and unplayable. I had a very prickly interaction with their customer service people concerning this and a few other issues and I would not recommend doing business with them if you have any other option available to you. It's probably not worth the aggravation; these people have seem to no interest in making you happy once your money's in their hot little hands.
A legitimate copy will come out eventually; amazon has tons of good Japanese SciFi--try Ultraman Tiga or THE MYSTERIANS or the '90s Gamera films instead; they're fantastic and legitimate, too!
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