A decent release of Hideo Gosha's Goyokin, although a far cry from the quality that Tokyo Shock is normally associated with. In terms of the good, the movie does tend to fare well in regards to its video and audio presentations, not giving much to complain about while also staying true to the feature's original aspects. Unfortunately, the same praise could not be said of the extras, which are fairly bare bone here.

This disc boasts an uneven video presentation, but one that ends up rising above its faults overall. To be honest, when the Toho logo first flashed on the screen with a muddled color spectrum and noticeable print damage, I was expecting a fairly lackluster presentation. Thankfully, this early premonition didn't hold true, as the shape of the print used for the transfer improves dramatically as the picture progresses; in fact, to the point where it looks nearly flawless later on. One can't entirely discount the amount of "wear" shown at the start, though, which includes an abundant level of grain in some scenes along with some noticeable scratches and specks.

In terms of the colors, they tend to be spot on with a nice distinct array. Some colors do get a little overpowering, though, such as the white titles, which are sometimes hard to see on account of it, and some of the deep reds, but overall the spectrum looks good for the bulk of the movie. The presentation is also fairly devoid of any digital inconsistencies, lacking overt signs of artifacting or shimmering. Edge enhancement also looks to have been avoided, although the movie itself could have stood to be a little sharper.

Goyokin is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is Anamorphic for widescreen TVs.

Goyokin gets by with a no frills audio presentation, one which is sure to please purists although some more options to the audio selection would have certainly been welcome. The title has only one audio track present, which is a mono presentation of the feature in Japanese that maintains the movie's original format. In terms of overall quality, there aren't any complaints to be had as the dialogue is crystal clear and there are no audible distortions. The soundtrack does get a little shrill and "rough" in spots, but this seems more to do with the source material of the feature itself as opposed to any problems that might have been introduced in the transfer process.

The movie is accompanied by, removable, English subtitles that correspond to the Japanese track.

Unfortunately, this disc offers nothing much but a bare bones selection of extras for the title. Thankfully the movie's trailer is included, in rather good condition as well, but otherwise there isn't much to mill over. There are some trailers for other productions, including Izo, Zatoichi, Baian and Makai Tensho, but they still do little to keep the viewer occupied long.

Bottom line, this release isn't up to the standards that previous Toho DVDs from Tokyo Shock have been, but the disc still fares well with a good video and audio presentation that should please people who are just looking to experience Hideo Gosha's movie.