Unboxing [UK]: Angel Beats! - Complete Series (Blu-ray)

Next unboxing title for this post features fun, excitement and sadness - Angel Beats!.

Note that this post has been updated (3rd June 2015) to reflect the new blog format and add additional notes to the release.

Angel Beats! is a mixture of Key's simple romantic drama theme combined with comedy and fun. Although not made by Kyoto Animation, Angel Beats! is a great addition to anyone's catalogue. Angel Beats! was so loved by the community and due to only receiving one season it suffered from some pacing issues and confusion over the ending. Thankfully the series has returned with a new OVA episode (exclusive to the Japanese Blu-ray Disc Box) and a new Visual Novel series.

This Blu-ray release is from Manga Entertainment and is pretty much a direct replica of the Sentai Filmworks version. The on-disc contents include the entire 13 episode series and the Stairway to Heaven OVA in addition to closing open and ending animation. The Epilogue is not included in this release, nor was it included in the Sentai Filmworks version. The back cover stated the audio was 5.1 but it's in fact 2.0.

Another thing to point out (which I didn't realise since I watched the series with the English dub) is that when you watch the series with the original Japanese audio, the English subtitles have some mistimed sentences at certain points and the pop-up doesn't work for episodes 1, 2 & 10. This is down to Manga's authoring as the US version (Sentai) doesn't have these issues.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: Japanese, English

Audio: DTS MA 2.0 [Japanese], DTS MA 2.0 [English]

Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9

Region: B

Subtitles: English [Japanese language, On-screen Text/lyrics]

Subtitles Locked: No

Discs: 2

Plot Synopsis (via Manga UK):

It sucks being dead. Sucks even more to be trapped in a surreal afterlife where you're caught between the living and the dead - where a mysterious, violent Angel is trying to pull you over to... somewhere. What do you do? Well, if you're this group of rough-and-tumble teens, you grab every weapon you can get your hands on and give Heaven hell!

Extra Content:

Stairway to Heaven OVA
Closing Opening and Ending Animation
Trailers

Angel Beats! is available on Blu-ray and DVD by Manga UK. Sentai Filmworks have released the series on Blu-ray and DVD in North America.