Links

Tuesday 27 May 2014

Unboxing [UK]: Arrietty (Blu-ray)

Went to the local HMV store and they were still doing their 2 for £25 deal on Studio Ghibli to promote The Wind Rises being released in cinemas. In the end, I noticed more Ghibli titles available than usual and decided to pick two up for Blu-ray, the one I'll be unboxing is Arrietty (also known as The Secret World of Arrietty in the US).

Note that this post has been updated on 18th July 2017 to reflect the current blog format.


Arrietty (Karigurashi no Arrietty) is a 2010 film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. The 18th Studio Ghibli film is based on a story written by Mary Norton called The Borrowers. This particular release is rather different in contrast to the other films, as Studio Canal had decided to offer a British dub first before Disney were able to release theirs over in the states. Despite I haven't watched the original Japanese language, the British dub is very good and from what I heard a lot of US anime fans had chosen the British dub over the Disney dub.

This release from Studio Canal is pretty simple. A standard Blu-ray with English (UK Version) & Japanese audio with English subtitles plus unlockable subtitles and Region B only compatibility. The Arrietty actually had numerous version released in the UK but the reason I choose the standard Blu-ray was because it had the fixed numbering on the spine despite no slipcover was offered (only with the combo packs). The number on the spine is to match each Ghibli film released. The number isn't the exact release order of the films from Japan but rather randomised until the newer films came along.


Blu-ray Specs:
Languages: Japanese, English (UK)
Audio: DTS-HD MA 5.1 [Japanese, English (UK)]
Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9
Region: B
Subtitles: English
Subtitles Locked: No
Discs: 1

Plot Synopsis (via Studio Canal):
This is a story of a family of "little" people...

Beneath the floorboards of a sprawling mansion set in a magical, overgrown garden in the suburbs of Tokyo, tiny 14-year-old Arrietty lives with her equally tiny parents. The house is occupied by two old ladies, who are unaware of the existence of their miniature tenants.

Arrietty and her family live by "borrowing". Everything they have, they borrow or make from the things they have borrowed. A sugar cube here, a scrap of material there. But only a little each time, so the ladies do not notice.

Arrietty's parents have always warned her: "Never let humans see you." Once seen, little people always have to move on. But the adventurous Arrietty doesn't listen, and soon she gets discovered by Sho, a 12-year-old human boy who lives in the mansion.

The two begin to confide in each other and, before long, a friendship begins to blossom...

On-Disc Extra Content:
Storyboards
Trailers and Japanese TV Spots
Interviews with Hayao Miyazaki - Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Cecile Corbel "Arrietty's Song"
Promotional Video


Arrietty is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Studio Canal (UK), Madman (Australia) and Disney (North America).

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

About this blog

My photo
Member of the Anime UK News forum, and also once part of the Sheffield Hallam Visual Arts society throughout 2013-2017. Been collecting anime since 2012 and supported the anime distributors ever since. Also been hanging around on the Blu-ray forum and Fandom Post forums.

Blog Archive