ADV Films 2004 Catalog

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Original Release Year: 2004 Running Time: 121 minutes DVD Released By: ADV Films Video: Fullscreen and widescreen Audio: English & Japanese 2.0 Extras: N/A Subtitles: None Closed Captions: None Region: 1 Format: NTSC Chapters: 80 Packaging: Window envelope MSRP: $5.50 UPC #: None Catalog #: DCAT/004 Status: Available

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Reviewed by: Zillamon51

The Film: This is a promotional disc that is available from ADV Films’ website.  It's listed in the “Merchandise” section, under “General.”  It is offered for free (with another purchase), or for $5.50 “shipping” if purchased alone.  (This is really just to cover costs; actual shipping for my copy, from Texas to Michigan, was $0.60.)  The disc contains a catalog of text information and cover art relating to many (but not all) titles available from ADV.  Some of the listings include preview trailers.  The previews on the disc are:

- All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku Dash! - All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku TV - Angelic Layer - Aquarian Age (Looks like a grown-up Cardcaptor Sakura) - Aura Battler Dunbine - Azumanga Daioh:  The Animation (Looks hilarious) - BASToF Syndrome (aka BASToF LeMon) - Birth - Blue Seed Beyond (aka Blue Seed 2) - Bubblegum Crisis:  Tokyo 2040 - City Hunter (TV series) - Cosplay Complex - Crying Freeman - Devil Hunter Yohko (Best transformation ever!!!) - Dragon Half - Eden’s Bowy - Excel Saga (Looks hilarious) - Final Fantasy:  Unlimited - Full Metal Panic! - Gasaraki - Gravion - Gunsmith Cats:  Bulletproof - Happy Lesson - Happy Lesson:  Mama Mia! - Kaleido Star - King of Bandit Jing - Kino’s Journey - Knights of the Zodiac (Looks just like Saint Seiya) - Lady Death:  The Motion Picture (The animation looks pretty crude) - Legend of the Mystical Ninja - Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi - Magical Play (aka Magical Yugi) - Martian Successor Nadesico - Martian Successor Nadesico, The Motion Picture:  Prince of Darkness - Mazinkaiser (Awesome retro giant-robot action!) - Megazone 23 - Najica Blitz Tactics (Should be called Panty Shot:  The Series) - Neo Ranga - Neon Genesis Evangelion - Neon Genesis Evangelion:  The Director’s Cut

- Noir - Nurse Witch Komugi - Orphen Season 2:  Revenge - Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat (Kawaii!!!) - Pretear - Puni Puni Poemy (From the makers of Excel Saga) - RahXephon - Robotech Remastered Extended Edition - Rune Soldier - Sailor Moon Season 1 Uncut - Saint Seiya (Hilariously 1980s-looking, with an awesome metal theme song!) - Saiyuki - Sakura Wars TV - Samurai X:  Rurouni Kenshin OVA Collection - Sister Princess - Slayers Return - Slayers Great - Slayers Gorgeous - Slayers Excellent - Sorcerer Hunters - Spriggan - Steam Detectives - Steel Angel Kurumi 2 - Super Gals! - Those Who Hunt Elves II - Voices of a Distant Star - Wedding Peach - Wedding Peach DX - Zaion:  I Wish You Were Here - Zone of the Enders:  Idolo - Zone of the Enders:  Dolores - Beastmaster (TV series) - Earth:  Final Conflict - Farscape Season 4 - Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda Season 3 - Gun Crazy:  A Woman from Nowhere - Gun Crazy:  Beyond the Law (Starring the beautiful Rei Kikukawa of Godzilla:  Final Wars) - Mutant X Season 1 - Mutant X Season 2 - The Princess Blade

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That’s 80 previews on one disc.  Unfortunately, there are still a lot of ADV titles that aren’t represented with previews.  ADV’s live-action titles are particularly neglected.  For example, ADV has previews for the Gamera and Yokai series, which are available on other discs, but are not included here.  ADV apparently passed on the opportunity to show these titles off to their large audience of anime fans.  If disc space was an issue, then why include four different Slayers clips, instead of promoting Orochi or Daimajin?  Only 9 previews out of 80 are live-action, and most of those are dedicated to such Sci-Fi Channel fare as Farscape, as opposed to Asian films.  This disc is also missing entries on recent releases, such as Tokyo:  The Last Megalopolis and the Destroy All Monsters 50th Anniversary Special Edition.  Grade:  C- Video: Some of the previews are in fullscreen; some are in non-anamorphic widescreen.  In general, they look very good.  The sharp images and vibrant colors show off the animation to good effect.  Some of the clips are from older shows, and the image is duller and softer.  While they may show their age in this way, grain and print damage is still kept to a minimum.  No real problems here.  Grade:  A- Audio: Most of the previews are set to the shows’ opening theme music, some of which is quite catchy.  Dialogue is kept to a minimum, probably to avoid dubbing or subtitling.  Everything here sounds sharp and clear in 2.0.  Grade:  A Extras / Menus: Since this is a promotional disc, let’s focus on the menu and layout.  Three options are available from the main menu:  Help, Trailers, and Catalog.  “Help” displays a simple diagram showing how to navigate the catalog.  Navigation is accomplished using the arrow and enter / select keys on the DVD remote.  “Trailers” simply plays all of the previews in order.  “Catalog” lets you browse the catalog by page.  There are 24 pages, each displaying 8 titles.  Selecting a title takes you to a summary page with a plot synopsis.  From there, you can either:  Press enter / select to watch a preview (if available), go up a level to return to the catalog, or go down a level to see the disc specs (languages, special features, etc.).  If the title is a TV series, going down additional levels will list individual volumes.  At any time, you can also use the left and right arrow keys to move directly forward or back to the next title without returning to the catalog listing. There are promos for The Anime Network and Newtype USA magazine that play when the disc first starts up.  All of the menus are still pictures with no music or sound.  The navigation system is easy to get used to and works well enough.  Browsing would be easier, though, if more than 8 titles were listed per page, and you could skip ahead by letter instead of page number.  Grade:  B- Final Analysis: Anime fans may find this disc appealing, but there is really nothing here for viewers more interested in live-action.  Also, don’t expect any “scoops” on new or upcoming releases.  Overall, very disappointing for tokusatsu fans.  Final Grade:  C-

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