I have been a fan of Studio Ghibli’s animation since I watched Spirited away several years ago. Since then, I have made a good collection of their art books and comics and have made an attempt to watch all their new releases and catching up on the older ones on Video.

Of late, Disney has been re-releasing English dubs of the original shows and I cannot stand to watch them. I think the Japanese voice talent in these shows are so unique and I cannot imagine watching them any other way. the movies are so nicely paced that you actually do not need any subtitles to enjoy the show, however if you want to understand the complex plot lines, then multiple watchings with subtitles will be needed and I would prefer that more than a dubbed version.

So I have been hunting for these animations whenever I get to a DVD shop and most often I end up disappointed. I finally discovered a Box set for about a dozen of their classics including Totoro, POm poko, Pocco Roso, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Naussica and the really awesome Princess Mononoke. It also included takahata’s movies like Only Yesterday, Ocean Waves etc… I was Extremely happy with the collection but the video / audio quality left much to be desired. Well something was better than nothing and I enjoyed the shows whenever I had time.

recently, I found a couple of their other shows including Grave of fireflies, also in pretty low quality video. When I had the opportunity in japan, I decided against buying the DVD’s there due to the exorbitant cost (each cost > 50 SGD). So I had to wait. Until Now.

A Singaporean firm is releasing a bunch of the Ghibli movies in nice collectible Tin boxes for a decent 20 SGD. I am guessing it is in part due to the release of the DVD for Ponyo. I bought a few, a friend funded some too and tried to keep my expectation level low. But I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Both Audio and Video were good when playing out of the PS3. It could be due to the up sampling but it is nice none the less. Great Success.

Now, I will have to restrain myself from duplicating my collection, I am tempted but I will resist. If anyone is in the market, head to the local Blue Max / Laser Flair, I am sure Gramophone would also stock it. Not so sure about HMV / That CD Shop. Have fun hunting.