DVD Title
 Shadow Hunters
International Title
 Shadow Hunters
Movie Length: 89 minutes Original Length: 89 minutes
Company: AnimEigoRelease: 2005
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1Anamorphic: Yes
Region: 1Discs: 1
  
Language/Sound: Order
Japanese (2.0 Mono)
Subtitles:
English
Extras
· Menus (English)
· Chapters (30)
· Trailers: Shadow Hunters, Shadow Hunters 2: Echo of Destiny, Demon Spies
· Program Notes (English)
· Image Gallery
Captures
Review
Anthony Romero

AnimEigo is certainly no stranger to Toho's vault of film properties, or the Japanese swordplay genre in general, although sadly the company's glory days seem to be growing ever further behind them. This particular release continues that trend. To be fair, I wouldn't call it bad, but there are some noticeable things that do go astray here, leading to a fairly mediocre disc across video, audio and supplemental presentations.


 Video:

Not a bad video presentation from AnimEigo, but one with some apparent flaws none the less. One thing that surprised me, though, was the level of artifacting present, particularly noticeable during the scenes with heavy black in the background where the pixilation is most apparent, as it's not something I associate with the company. The noise levels also could have been handled a little better, showing noticeable grain through out. Sadly colors aren't as distinct as they could have been either. The film also lacks the sharp array of detail seen some of the company's other offerings, which might be on account of the compression, although it's still nothing to scoff at and is one of the better aspects of this release. Speaking of, at least the shape of the print used is in great condition, with no scratches to speak of.

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


 Audio: Star Rating

AnimEigo was never highly renowned for their audio presentations, but this one falls noticeably short. Not so much that it really ruins the experience, but to the point where even the most casual viewer will begin to notice the discrepancies from this mono presentation. Suffice to say, it seems that AnimEigo did not have the best source material for the audio from this film, as the presentation here sounds notably harsh, particularly the musical score, while a lot of the dialogue sounds more muddled than it should.

The audio can be accompanied by, removable, English subtitles. Like other discs from the firm, the subtitles are color coded so it's easy to tell when multiple characters are speaking during the same scene.


 Extras: Star Rating

The disc comes with the standard fare in terms of supplemental content from AnimEigo, which means another "ho-hum" selection. Like all of their releases, the company's trademark program notes are included, along with a selection of trailers for other movies from them. This particular disc also has an image gallery, which is a short video that runs through various promotional stills from the production that are found here in black and white.


 Overview: Star Rating

Bottom line, not a bad release if one just wants to see the film, but the company has certainly done better. I do miss the days when AnimEigo was renowned for having some of the better video presentations around, as their current offerings are getting harder and harder to merit for their above average prices.