Going to friends who need em lol.
I've watched the first episode and I have a few issues with the new set.
First off, the digital restoration pertains to the audio, and quite possibly only the Japanese audio track. Granted, its an old show so there isn't a lot going on that will benefit from the restoration IMO and I cant even tell the difference between the old CPM set and the new set in terms of audio.
Second, they basically added their own funimation Slayers logo to the intro, which is fine, but it looks like both the OP and ED were like, re-ripped from the old masters or something cause god damn they look dark. I mean this is almost 'bootleg movie' bad. Good for them I dont give a shit, really, about the OP or ED. People new to the series wont know the difference probably.
Funimation is great at getting older anime out there, but they do little to really ensure an overall sense of quality. The CPM sets had their quirks too, most famous of them all was the end of the first series being cut short, and CPM including the full ending as an extra in the Third Series set. LOL.
Zelgadis wasn't redubbed in the first 10 eps, which is a bummer, because it needed it. Whats weird is that issue with the OP and ED segments isn't in the actual episode, it looks as good as the CPM sets. Also the menus are kinda rough. The images they used aren't of the highest quality and the BGM music in the menus is generic fantasy kooky crap. The extras are the usual clean OP ED and trailers for other shows.
I can say the packaging isn't bad at all. The art used on IT is high quality. The art used on the DVDs is high quality, but somehow that quality didn't translate into the DVD menus and whatnot. The box also has some weird sleeve on the inside of the first flap with nothing in it. BOGGLE.
That being said its an older series and maybe Funimation is satisfied just getting it out there. Ill keep the new sets for the snazzy new boxes, and the overall quality of the episodes is strong enough to warrant replacing the old CPM sets. I just hope they get their act together by the release of Slayers Next which is currently slated for November.
Also, the sets are pretty cheap. The original CPM cheaps were rape rape since they came out when anime wasn't really big yet.
