From
Up On Poppy Hill (2011/Studio Ghibli/Cinedigm Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
A & B- Sound: B & B- Extras: A Film: A-
It
is 1963 and Japan is just on recovering from the war, a young girl
Umi living at a boarding house continues to raise flags daily praying
for safe voyages for ships, even thought her father a seaman has
already died at sea. At school, she meets Shun, a young school
journalist and together they work together to save and restore the
school aged clubhouse, the Latin Quarter, from the school's plan to
demolish it. As they work together with the student body their
romance grows, but a secret from the past may uncover they maybe more
closely related than either of them know, which may also tear them
apart in Goro Miyazak's From
Up On Poppy Hill
(2011).
Set
in the post war of Japan, when the many orphaned children of the war
were moving on to the future, was it better for the students to
demolish their cherished place of gathering in order to pave the way
for a new future building? The students tries to save their
dilapidated club house by cleaning and restore the house to it's
former glory. Umi, a young girl is impressed by Shun's spirit of
rallying and leading the students and decides to help him and they
both end up falling in love with each other, but after discovering
both of them have two matching identical photos of 3 men, that they
maybe possible siblings. Even after discovering their past they
confess their love to each other and continue to be close friends,
they successfully convince the school's chairman to overturn the
principal decision, and save the club house. Then at last minute,
they receive at a notice from the man in their pictures, the last
surviving man knows the truth of their birth and what happens next
you'll have to see the film for yourself to find out.
Studio
Ghibli brings you another masterpiece, scripted by Hayao Miyazaki and
directed by Goro Miyazaki, it is a tale of challenge, change and
romance. It seems to symbolize the of Japan's post war youth were
being encouraged to step into politics and action, to either fight
change or to support it. While the main story was about students
overcoming the school board decision, the story also focused on the
budding romance and secret past of a young couple.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is terrific
with fine detail, great color range and amazing performance
throughout and was created in the digital realm. This ranks as one
of the best-looking and smoothest Anime releases we have seen to
date. The anamorphically enhanced DVD version is fine for standard
definition, but no match for the Blu-ray in the least. The DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.0 lossless mix on the Blu-ray is fine, though no
match for the picture, but fine for the configuration and sometimes
quiet nature of the soundtrack The lossy Dolby Digital 5.0 on the
DVD is passable, but not as warm or thorough as the DTS lossless mix.
Extras
included DVD, original Japanese version, feature length storyboards,
celebrity cast recording, interview with director, music video,
booklet and trailers.
-
Ricky Chiang
