Release News

Studio Ghibli Blu-ray Update: No Lossless Japanese Audio, Ponyo Sale on Amazon, Yamadas up next

By brenden ⋅ January 27, 2010 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

All right. We’re only a month and a bit away from finally getting our grubby little hands on the US/Canadian edition of the Ponyo Blu-ray. I can barely contain my excitement. Seriously! But a couple of days ago I found out (via these great sites) that the Japanese language track on the disc will not be lossless. Only the English dub is receiving the royal treatment!

Seriously, Disney!?! Don’t you guys learn anything? We had to suffer this same poorly made decision in your recent batch of martial arts film releases on Blu (see our Ultimate Force of Four Blu-ray boxed set review) where all the original language audio tracks were compressed in 5.1 Dolby Digital. I mean, I know you’re proud of your new English dub and all but the audience who is buying Blu-ray right now is also the audience who will want to experience these films in their original language! Trust me, the kids don’t care whether they watch the film on DVD or Blu, or with compressed or uncompressed audio. For them to enjoy it, the film need only be watchable and in English. That’s all. It’s the enthusiasts, the otaku who care about formats here. It’s the Blu-ray and film fans who want these movies presented in their original audio, in the best format possible. There’s still time to come to your senses, Disney! Give us a Japanese audio track in DTS-HD Master Audio!

Sorry for the rant (I’m sure the suits at Disney feel properly scolded now!) If this less than grand news about the Ponyo Blu-ray hasn’t put you off the disc and you still plan to pick it up come March 2nd, you might want to take advantage of this special offer at Amazon.com:

“For a limited time, pick up Miyazaki’s latest masterpiece Ponyo on DVD or Blu-ray with another classic Studio Ghlibi release and save $10. To receive the $10 discount, add both titles to your cart and enter the promotional code “PONYOTEN” at checkout.
Order the special edition 2-Disc DVD gift set of Ponyo with a plush toy along with one of the Studio Ghlibi titles below and save $12. To receive the $12 discount, add both titles to your cart and enter the promotional code “PONYOSPE” at checkout.”

And finally, to those of you who, like me, are dissapointed that we haven’t heard rumblings of more Ghibli on Blu-ray lately, we’ve got this rumour from our friends over at The Ghibli Blog.com:

“According to (Producer, Toshio Suzuki’s) comment in the radio show, Ghibli’s next BD is Yamada (My Neighbors the Yamadas). This is not official announcement.”

My Neighbors the Yamadas is a great film by Isao Takahata. And while I’d be happy to see it on Blu I’d much rather get some of his partner, Miyazaki’s best films on the format first! And seeing as Disney is re-releasing Totoro, Laputa and Kiki on DVD along with Ponyo, perhaps these amazing movies will top the list!

An otaku can dream…

Tags: Disney, Hayao Miyazaki, My Neighbors the Yamadas, Ponyo, Studio Ghibli, Walt Disney Home Entertainment