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AnimEigo does it again, with their release of the second
Lone Wolf and Cub movie, Baby Cart at the River Styx.
Like AnimeEigo's other Lone Wolf and Cub DVD, the video
quality here is spot on in all fields, the sound is
superb (putting into consideration the limitations set
forth by the film itself), and the extras are adequate.
Video:
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx is
a shining example of how superior DVD video quality
can be compared to VHS, when in the right hands. The
best aspect of the video presentation being the vibrant
array of colors, an area which VHS is notable inferior
in. The DVD format is not without its faults though,
and the most infamous of these is artifacting (introduced
blurriness and pixilation due to compressing the video);
thankfully, the picture quality here is sharp, with
no noticeable signs of artifacting. The brightness,
unlike other more infamous releases of the film, is
set at just the right level here adding just the right
amount of atmosphere to the night scenes, but still
making it so the viewer can see the details. As far
as scratches are concerned, they are present on the
print used for the DVD, but in very small quantities
(even less noticeable than AnimEigo's Lone
Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance release).
Audio:
As with other Lone Wolf and Cub films, it's hard to
gauge the audio quality present on this DVD. A lot of
the music sounds very scratchy, almost hitting what
some would call a "painful" level during the
course of the film, but this is just the way that Hideaki
Sakurai did the scores for his films, and one can't
really hold it against the DVD. Furthermore, the film
was originally done in mono, which accounts for the
very "modest" sound quality which is present
on the disc. In conclusion, given the limitations set
forth by the film itself, its probably the best presentation
one could hope to get. AnimEigo has complemented the
Japanese audio track here with English subtitles, which
like their other DVD releases is color coded to signify
when more than one character is talking during a scene;
furthermore, the subtitles can be toggled on and off
if the viewer chooses.
Extras:
The extras found on this disc, while numerous, don't
really stand out. The DVD contains the trailers for
two Lone Wolf and Cub movies (Baby Cart in the Land
of Demons and White Heaven in Hell) along
with the trailer to Zatoichi the Outlaw and Zatoichi:
The Festival of Fire. Missing is the film's own
trailer, unfortunately, which Animeigo stated as not
being able to locate when releasing Lone
Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance and it seems
that they weren't able to get it in time for the second
Lone Wolf and Cub DVD. Also included on the disc are
"Linear Notes," which show an impressive amount
of research done on the background of the time period
in which the Lone Wolf and Cub series takes place, and
appear both in print format and on the DVD itself. The
disc also includes a list of credits, for the both the
film and DVD, in English, which makes for a good resource
for those who can't read Japanese.
Overview:
Bottom line, AnimEigo out does themselves with a release
that's superior, in terms of the quality of the print
used for the transfer, to their excellent Sword of
Vengeance release, and this is a DVD which no fan
of the Lone Wolf and Cub series should be without.
This disc is also featured in the box set: Lone
Wolf and Cub: DVD Collector's Edition Box.
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