- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: Japanese & English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: English
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: AB (No Region C)
- Rating: TV-MA
- Discs: 4 (2 x Blu-ray + 2 x DVD)
- Digital Copies: N/A
- Run Time: 271 Mins.
- Studio: FUNimation Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: May 21, 2013
- List Price: $64.98
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Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Series
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(The below TheaterByte screen captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray Discs and losslessly compressed in the PNG format. There should be no loss of picture quality with this format. All screen captures should be regarded only as an approximation of the full capabilities of the Blu-ray format.
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The Series
[Rating:3.5/5]
The “war” in War on Geminar is finally on in Part 2 of this entry into the Tenchi Muyo! franchise. It picks up from the ending of Part 1 and it ramps up the mecha action even more. The Holy Land is under siege and the different countries are under threat by Lord Babalun and a powerful black Mechanoid controlled by ‘Doll” who is under his control. Anyone who read my review of the Part 1 release of this series already knows that this mecha aspect of War on Geminar was my least favorite part of the series on the whole, and it proves to be even more so as it escalates into a bit of a cliché that borrows heavily from just about every other entry in the genre. The second part is still best when it plays up Tenchi Muyo!‘s comedic aspects and fan service, such as an unexpected engagement for Kenshi to the dark elf Aura or Lashara’s avaricious nature. That being said, this second half does bring the series to a satisfying conclusion, after some unexpected turns along the way.
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
The encodement for Part 2 of War on Geminar is the same as Part 1 and as such is plagued with the same issues. The AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement is extremely low bitrate, often lingering under 3Mbps, pans show lots of motion artifacts, and there is a lot of jagged, stairstepping in the line art, banding in the color fills, and noise. Overall, the picture looks soft and rather smooth. This is hardly reference quality HD.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The audio tracks remain the same as well and are almost the polar opposite in quality when compared to the video. They seem to be mastered at a rather low level, forcing me to raise my usual listening level by 5db and they have a bit of a narrow dynamic range. The original Japanese-language Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) and English dub Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) mixes are well balanced with various atmospheric effects and ambience placed around the room, clear dialogue, and just enough punch from the low end. My preference is for the Japanese voice cast, which really seems to gel a lot better than the English cast, but either one provides good quality sound.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Apart from one audio commentary for episode 13, the set is filled out by mostly Japanese promotional materials as well as a behind-the-scenes peek at the Japanese castmembers doing a promotional radio appearance.
The supplements:
- Episode 13 Commentary
- Information and Sneak Peek of the Pay-Per-View Program 7-13 (1.78:1; SD; 00:03:33)
- Pre-sale Promotional Videos (1.78:1; SD; 00:00:43)
- Teaser Trailers 3-5 (1.78:1; SD; 00:04:27)
- A Taste of a Day Recording Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar‘s Radio Broadcast (1.78:1; SD; 00:08:04)
- Web Trailers (1.78:1; SD; 00:03:42)
- Textless Opening Song “Follow Me”
- Textless Closing Song “Destino”
- U.S. Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- FUNimation Trailers
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
The poor image quality is still the biggest disappointment of this release on Blu-ray, but the second half does rescue the series somewhat, even if the sci-fi/mecha element does not feel like it belongs in the Tenchi Muyo! universe.
Additional Screen Captures
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar Part 2 on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B00BCPOFPS[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar Part 2 on Blu-ray Combo Pack at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Series
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:2.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
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