Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

NOTE: This is a review for the "Omega" Edition. There are two different versions of the recent Bluray "complete" releases by Viz ("The Omega Edition" and "The Complete Series Standard Edition") The descriptions written for both versions, in the product information, on Amazon are somewhat lacking and inaccurate - so to get out of the way, here is what the Omega Edition contains: - Metallic Chipboard Box - All 1-37 Episodes - 2 OVA Feature Length Films "Director's Cut Complete Conclusion Relight: Visions of a God" & "Relight 2: L's Successors" (Audio Japanese, English, and French only with Eng & French subs only) - An "Artbook" (as listed on other sites), slightly inaccurate - The "artbook" is actually a Manga, it is the Pilot that 'began' the Manga series first appearing in "Weekly Shonen Jump #36" (Original Japanese Edition, translated to English in traditional Manga style, left to right) - Lifted extras from DVD versions including interviews with the creators, behind-the-scenes footage of the English and Japanese voice cast, production art and much more - PLUS NEW extras for the bluray release - Spoken Language: English, Japanese, Spanish, French, Portugese (Audio 2.0) (Episodes 1-37) - Subtitle Language: English, Spanish, French, Portugese (Episodes 1-37) (Episodes 1-37) The "Complete Series Standard Edition" DOES NOT contain the Pilot Manga and OVA Films. For those unsure what the OVA films are: Re-Light 1 & 2 are actually the episodes edited into a film format, with some new scenes and small changes here and there not seen in the episodes. Re-Light 1 is the first-half of the anime, while 2 is the other half. ***Review*** PACKAGING - Good; all the episodes 1-37 + the 2 OVA's are contained in 1 Blu-ray Disc package holding 6 Discs in total. The Chipboard Box is sturdy and easily holds the Manga + Blu-ray Disc Case. It's certainly not as "cool" as the DVD Complete 're-package' from 2014 that looked and felt more like an actual 'Death Note' book. VISUALS - Very good; some reviewers or commenters are stating the visuals don't seem to appear to be any different between these new releases and the past DVD versions. I can report that the visuals definitely ARE improved, as much of the animation looks 'sharper' and cleaned up, but may not be noticed right away unless you view both side by side with a keen eye. The animated version of Death Note, however, always had a muted or soft/smudgy look to it. To me the animation is actually improved to the point where it looks "new," but only just so - there is only so much that can done in some cases with whatever they did to upscale the drawn animation. In the end, it still looks better than the DVD and Streaming versions. I took side by side screenshots including below the review to show the difference (Std Def Left vs Upscaled Bluray Right). AUDIO - Good; the audio is standard fair here, and still is pretty much the same. SUBTITLES - Good, but there are "issues" ; To put it bluntly, they seemed to have overlooked adding English subtitles anywhere on screen where they display the "area" or a "sign" when English subtitles are turned OFF. For example, in the second screenshot below, during the opener of Episode 1, the stylized Japanese Kanji display which is translated as the "Shinigami Realm" in English above, which only displays if you have English subtitles ON. However, this is only helpful if you are actually watching it with Japanese Audio with English subtitles (which I do, and don't mind, but this is definitely an issue for others that others have noted as well). If you watch it with English Audio and Subtitles ON, the subtitles for spoken words do not match what is written on the screen but at least you know what the Japanese text is supposed to say. This is more or less the main reason why I have knocked 1 star from this review. *** STORY - Amazing; many collectors and Anime fans are already aware of what Death Note is when they fell in love with it way back when it first appeared as a Manga, an Anime, and live-action as well. For those that have no clue what Death Note is, I recommend the Anime as a MUST WATCH (or if you're into reading, a MUST READ); the story itself is PURE intense thriller that keeps you guessing, with great characters, awesome scenes, and excellent music. Its also NOT for the squeamish. *** Overall, for the price and contents, the Omega edition is definitely worth it if you want the extra stuff as an Anime collector.