JAPANESE LASERDISCS

I have recently started adding more japan laserdisc releases to my collection and so far out of the 50 or so japan discs that I own there are only a few that I will not be able to watch due to me not being able to speaking japanese, most are english language with japanese subtitles so the vast majority are great and some are the only source for the film on laserdisc.


THE RING :I have just ordered The Ring but its a japan release and wont have english subtitles so Im not really going to be able to watch that one , it was only released in japan and hong kong and its a shame it never got released in the US with english subtitles.

ANNA AND THE KING : Another film I got quite recently was Anna and the King , now that is still watchable but would have been better with subtitles as your left guessing what they are saying in some scenes although it is mainly english language with japanese subtitles.

BUGS LIFE & MULAN : I was dissapointed to find that these laserdiscs are japanese language only this might be the case with all annimation discs released in japan so I wont look to add anymore , shame because I did quite fancy The Lion King 2.

All the other japan discs that I have are great and some that I have are only available as a japanese release such as scream 3 and terror at the opera.
Another advantage is for some discs such as eraser which is such a bad title for disc rot then a japanese release is a good way of getting a copy that is rot free for anyone who wants it in their collection.

What do other members think of japanese releases ?
do you own any?
are there any titles that you know of that we should avoid unless we are fluent in japanese?
are you put off by the subtitles?

I just have 2, but they're both awesome:

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This is a great, if dated look at early CGI with interviews and tonnes of footage from the earliest graphics to the most current, at the time.

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This one is a little strange. It's basically various illustrations of space, futuristic planets, spacecrafts, etc set to electronic soundtrack.

I recommend them both, if only for the great covers and the semi-obscurity.

Admin wrote:

I was dissapointed to find that these laserdiscs are japanese language only this might be the case with all annimation discs released in japan so I wont look to add anymore , shame because I did quite fancy The Lion King 2

Actually, Its more of a case by case situation. A few of the late animation was unfortunately Japanese only (bug's life, mulan) while others had both a Japanese track and an English track on the same disc. Which you'll be happy to know includes the Lion King 2.

Other animation laserdiscs (and regular ones too for that matter) had two releases. One in English with Japanese Subtitles and a Dolby Digital soundtrack, while the other release had an English track and a Japanese track on the left and right channel both in standard Dolby Surround and no subtitles. I assume this option was for children who couldnt read enough Japanese to understand the movie.

If its an edition that has the two language tracks option, it will have this written near the top of the Obi: 二ヵ国語版

for example here is two different editions of Hurcules:

English with Jap Subs and Dolby Digital:
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English and Japanese no subs Dolby Surround:
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Interestingly the last two ever pruduced Disney Laserdiscs both have English and Japanese on them.

Tarzan: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The Little Mermaid 2: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


If Disney were supplying both tracks till the end, it makes you wonder why they choose not to include English on a Bug's Life and others.

Good info BR.

This is great. So much still to learn about LD.