Unboxing + Release details about Durarara!!

We know many of you are excited (as are we) about our upcoming Standard Edition release of Durarara!! on 18th May. In case you aren’t aware the reason we are excited about this is because the Blu-ray version includes re-authored discs that correct issues present in our initial Limited Edition Blu-ray release. (NOTE: If you bought the Limited Edition version, you can apply for replacement discs HERE)

 

This post will be giving you a preview of what to expect with these newly authored discs along with our DVD release.

What’s on the discs?

Both the Blu-ray and DVD versions include the entire series (episodes 1-24) with both English and Japanese language options. Subtitle options include Full English (dialogue + sign/song translations) and a dedicated Sign/Song Only translation. (You can read more about this in the next section below.)

But that’s not all as there are two bonus episodes, these being 12.5 “Heaven’s Vengeance” and 25 “World At Peace”. Plus you get clean Opening and ending title sequences. (In total there are two opening sequences and two closing sequences.)

For those you wondering how many discs are included in each format, there are 4 Blu-ray discs (mirroring the same disc count as our previous Limited Edition Blu-ray release) and 5 DVD discs total.

 

What’s different about the re-authored discs?

As noted above our re-authored Blu-ray fixes issues/errors that were present in our original Limited Edition Blu-ray release, in particular the lack of a dedicated sign/song subtitle track for the English language audio along with problems on the timing and placement of subtitles across the release. Following this we (Anime Limited) went out of our way to re-author the Blu-ray discs from scratch (and at the same time create a DVD version) at our own cost to make it available in the UK.

The assets available to us for not only the re-authored Blu-ray but also the DVD match those as seen in the Aniplex Of America release of the series, but where needed have been tweaked via our own in-house QC process. But a key element to our re-authored Blu-ray release is that there is a dedicated sign & song subtitle track. (More details on this below.)

Durarara!! is a very unique series and the way it has been translated is aimed to make it as easily digestible and enjoyable as possible to the viewer (be it watching with the original Japanese or the English language audio.) So we wanted to give you a run down of a things you should know before watching.

Sign/Song Subtitle Track
One of the key features not included in our previous version is a dedicated sign/song subtitle track to accompany the English language audio. The purpose of this track is to provide translation for on-screen text that is not verbalised and to translate text to help provide context for certain occurrences/locations during the series. The sign/song subtitle translation track is included on both our Standard Edition Blu-ray and DVD set.

How has the subtitle translation been formulated?
This series utilises a lot of on-screen text but at the same time a lot of the spoken dialogue verbalises text being shown on screen. This is a very common occurrence for the character Celty who types messages onto a mobile phone/computer to communicate her thoughts. The majority of what she writes down is conveyed through spoken dialogue. (Celty’s voice acting as an internal monologue for the benefit of the viewer.) But moving away from Celty specifically and more to any situation in the series a whole, in instances where text displayed on-screen is spoken by a character there is no need for a subtitle for the text to appear. (This was a decision taken by the licensor in all English speaking territories.) Obviously if you’re watching in Japanese with subtitles there will be subtitle displayed for the spoken dialogue anyway, in essence providing a subtitle for the on-screen text. So to summarise, the text essential to your viewing experience and understanding of the situation taking place on-screen is what is translated.

Japanese text for non-Japanese dialogue
There are a few instances in the series where (when watching with the original Japanese audio with English subtitles) some characters in the series speak another language, English and Russian. As such for the benefit of the Japanese audience when the series was originally broadcast (and subsequently on their DVD/Blu-ray releases) they included on-screen text translating the dialogue. The appearance of this on-screen text is retained in our release of the series, but is not translated as it is the dialogue being spoken at the time. (Though once again if you’re watching in Japanese with subtitles, a subtitle will appear for the dialogue anyway in essence subtitling the text on screen.)

 

What do the Standard Edition versions look like?

Check out the photos below for a glimpse at the Standard Edition DVD and Blu-ray sets of Durarara!!. (Click on the images to enlarge them.)

Where can I order this release?

You can pre-order both versions from Amazon UK HERE and from our web shop HERE. Other retailers will be listing this shortly.

Once again to reiterate, this DVD version has the same content and subtitle options included on the re-authored Blu-ray version.

Signing out~!

Jeremy