Unboxing [UK]: Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- - Part 1: Collector's Edition (Blu-ray)

One of the most popular anime series from 2016 is finally making its way to home video. Both the UK & US were released at the same time so I went for the UK release.

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- (Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu) is a 2016 series adapted from the light novel of the same name written by Tappei Nagatsuki. The anime was animated by studio White Fox and directed by Masaharu Watanabe with Kadokawa & TV TOKYO publishing the release.

So there really isn't that much to say for this series aside from the fact that it caught everyone off guard by how it was presented, the show's tone and the characters pretty much got people hooked with the series. Personally I really enjoyed watching the series during simulcast so I'm happy to finally be able to own it on Blu-ray, considering Crunchyroll have been sitting on the home video rights for a while.

Anime Limited have the UK & Ireland rights to the series and were able to release it as part of their deal with Crunchyroll. The masters for this UK release is based on the Funimation version, and unfortunately the transfer is not good. For those who don't know, the video quality suffers from a bad case of banding which usually appears during darker scenes of the video. I find it quite hard to explain into words but there are screenshot comparisons available that go over the issue.

Last major case us Brits had witnessed this was with Madman's bloody awful transfer for Your Name which thankfully Anime Limited were willing to offer a replacement for (which is still in the works at the time of this blogpost). There is no chance Funimation will do anything about this as they generally do not care about these type of issues since the titles sell regardless. Anime Limited did respond to the issue and it seems their hands are tied at this point (remember the UK industry is niche compared to the US so it's expensive to author stuff as risky as this).

Onto the unboxing, this is the Anime Limited Collector's Edition release for the first half of the series. The episodes included are spread across 2 Blu-ray discs in both English audio and Japanese audio with English subtitles. The subtitles are locked during playback and the region is locked to B only.

You can order the collector's edition release on AllTheAnime and Amazon UK.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: Japanese, English

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (Japanese), Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (English)

Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9

Region: B

Subtitles: English

Subtitles Locked: Yes

Discs: 2

Plot Synopsis (via Anime Limited):

A simple trip to the convenience store turns into a life-changing experience for Subaru Natsuki, as he finds himself inexplicably transported to another world out of the blue. While the structure of this strange land seems to mirror the trappings of the RPGs Subaru knows all too well, unfortunately for him he has been thrust into this dangerous world without any kind of magical powers or overwhelming skills at his disposal... or has he? Unfortunately for this unlikely hero, his sole ability is one that can only be activated by the most dire of circumstances: his death. 

On-Disc Extra Content:

Re:ZERO -Starting Break Time From Zero- Shorts #1-11

Textless Opening & Closing Songs

Trailers

Collector's Edition Extras:

Chipboard Artbox: Clean Artwork & Title on Spine, Digipack for Discs, Info/Specs on Info Sheet

52-page Hardcover Booklet

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Anime Limited.