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Claymore: The Complete Series Blu-ray |
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Claymore: The Complete Series Blu-ray
FUNimation Entertainment | 2007 | 620 mins | Rated MA | Feb 16, 2010
Claymore: The Complete Series(TV) (2007)Anime     Clare is a young member of the Claymores, a class of creature who is half human and half Yoma monster, and whose quest in life is to fight against the full-breed Yomas -- hideous fiends who feed ruthlessly on humanity. Fueled by an upbringing filled with violence and abandonment, Clare sets out to attain justice against the evil Yomas, risking her life to hold the monsters responsible for her painful and plentiful woes. For more details about Claymore: The Complete Series on Blu-ray, see the Claymore: The Complete Series Blu-ray Review Claymore: The Complete Series Blu-ray, Video Quality  Before I move into a discussion of the visual presentation on the disc, I’d like bring your attention to the screenshots included with this review. One of the unfortunate side-effects of a 1080i (interlaced) image is a tendency for data lines to reveal themselves in screen captures that include any level of movement. I attempted to generate captures that offer a true representation of the image, but despite my best efforts I was still unable to erase the effect in every shot. If you’re concerned with the presence of horizontal lines in several of the screenshots, let me put your fears to rest by mentioning the effect won’t be noticeable with the fluid frame-rate on your HD display. Presented in 1080i utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 22Mbps), Claymore exhibits the same level of weakness we’ve witnessed in the most recent Funimation releases. The primary deficiency is a lack of precise detail and fine texturing, which rarely seems much better than a standard definition offering. The artistic style of the animation is still perfectly intact, but anyone hoping for extreme clarity will surely come away disappointed. From a color standpoint, the series remains awash in monochromatic hues, demonstrating a push toward blues, grays, and blacks. The palette is occasionally offset by the appearance of deep crimson blood, or the bright orange glow of Yoma eyes, but you should expect at least 80 percent of the feature to remain almost entirely devoid of color. As expected, the lack of a bright color spectrum creates a risky scenario for the reproduction of blacks, but I was never disappointed by the depth of the image, and contrast revealed exceptional shade variance throughout. Further advancing the proficiency of the transfer, I rarely noticed stair-stepping lines, aliasing is almost non-existent, and the artifacting that plagued several of Funimation’s titles is kept to an absolute minimum. In the end, the benefits of less compression remove many of the deficiencies found on most standard definition offerings, but the lack of a tremendous boost in detail prevents the visual presentation from delivering a profound upgrade. Current owners of the DVD should exercise caution when evaluating the benefits of trading up. Claymore: The Complete Series Blu-ray, Audio Quality  Mirroring Funimation's DVD release from the past year, The Blu-ray contains the original Japanese language track in Dolby Digital 2.0, while offering a new lossless upgrade for the 5.1 English dubbed track. In a perfect world, I'd hope for a lossless surround option in the native language of the series, but considering the limitations of the original recording, my only disappointment with this effort lies in the decision to stick with a lossy 2.0 track, rather than providing a lossless 2-channel option. As always, I prefer the native language on any foreign-produced series, so I was somewhat disappointed in the diminished quality of the Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The front-heavy mix lacks the depth of finely tuned surround separation, leaving us with an experience that's merely adequate at getting the job done (but not what I'd consider a value-added audio experience). The English dub on the other hand, demonstrates an excellent sense of immersion, separating nuances in the audio effects to create a wildly entertaining experience. To gain a full understanding of the strengths in the track, I’d suggest you stick with the series up through the stretch where Claymore warriors travel to the snow-covered mountains of the north. During the battle between Rigardo and Claire, we’re treated to whiteout weather conditions that incorporate heavy winds and abundant snowfall. Every speaker throughout your home theater is used to the fullest extent, transporting viewers into the onscreen environment. From the standpoint of volume balance, each element is afforded appropriate weight in the collective mix, allowing abundant clarity in the overall presentation. If I had the option of scoring the audio offerings separately, I'd give the English track a 4/5, and the Japanese track a 2.5/5. The differences between the two tracks are certainly noticeable, but the lack of surround separation on the Japanese mix never downgraded my overall enjoyment of the show. |
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