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Koichi Yamadera

Koichi Yamadera

17 films on Best Blurays6 in 4K11 in HD
Koichi Yamadera photo

Koichi Yamadera is a Japanese voice actor and radio personality, known for voicing Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy in the Japanese language releases of their respective films. In 2006, he divorced voice actress Mika Kanai. His most notable characters are Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop (1998) and the subsequent follow up film Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001), Beerus from the longstanding Dragonball franchise, and the modern day voice of Inspector Zenigata of the longstanding Lupin the Third franchise after the retirement of the previous voice actor Gorō Naya and first appearing in the role in Lupin the Third: Blood Seal of the Eternal Mermaid (2011)

Biography from TMDB

6 in 4K

UHD Blu-ray or 4K streaming

Supporting role · Director: Mamoru Oshii

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Bandai JP 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

All 4K releases are sourced from the same mediocre transfer provided by Bandai, with various amounts of tweaks. Japanese disc presents it with the least tinkering.

The best attempt at improving it comes from the German/French releases from KSM/All the Anime, both of which use the same master with HDR regrading (original grade is SDR in HDR container), tasteful regraining and sharpening, in an attempt to breathe some life into the middling transfer, making for an arguably more pleasing viewing experience.

All earlier releases are from an even worse transfer, with significant black crush, with the exception of a Japanese TV airing, which doesn't suffer from that issue, but instead is heavily sharpened and suffers from poor encoding.

Comparisons: JPN UHD, USA UHD, FRA/GER UHD, ITA UHD (tonemapped), JPN UHD, USA UHD, FRA/GER UHD, ITA UHD, ESP UHD (PQ), All 1080p BDs, HDTV, HDTV filtered

Audio Notes:

Original matrixed stereo mix: Bandai JP 4K Blu-ray
Most discs include this track with comparable fidelity (which is excellent).

Dolby Atmos remix: Lionsgate US 4K / All the Anime FR 4K
6.1 remix (from Ghost in the Shell 2.0): KSM DE 4K / All the Anime FR 4K

All tracks on the Lionsgate US 4K replace the original ending song with the one heard on the English dub. As the Atmos track on the FR 4K is just a port, it also has this song replaced.

Additional Info:

Japanese 4K includes English dub and subtitles.
French/German 4Ks are not English friendly, with no dub or subtitles.
French disc includes the Atmos track, but the German disc does not.

Supporting role · Director: Takeshi Nozue

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2022 Square Enix Japan 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:
  • 2022 Japan 4K Blu-ray has a superior Dolby Atmos remix not available elsewhere

  • 2022 Japan remastered Blu-ray has a superior original Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix

Additional Info:

Original language for the film is English. Sony international 4K Blu-ray only has inferior DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and no Dolby Vision.

Supporting role · Director: Satoshi Kon

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Sony 4K Blu-ray is very smeary with the upscaling but has correct aspect ratio and very good HDR grade.
UK Blu-ray has wrong colors, and Sony 2007 Blu-ray is the worst (encoding and AR)
See professorwho's review

Supporting role · Directors: Masayuki & Kazuya Tsurumaki & Hideaki Anno

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

US GKIDS Blu-ray

Best Video:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray / US GKIDS Blu-ray

US GKIDS Blu-ray for the Amazon English dub

US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the older Funimation English dub

Additional Info:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray is an upscale, but has less compression artifacts, it also includes the theatrical cut (:2.0) on standard Blu-ray as a bonus.

Small role · Directors: Katsuichi Nakayama & Kazuya Tsurumaki & Mahiro Maeda & Hideaki Anno

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray for both the original Japanese and the Amazon English dub

Additional Info:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray has higher bitrate and better encoding than the Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray. Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray on the box set has inferior encoding, but includes the theatrical (:3.0+1.0) and streaming (:3.0+1.01) cuts on standard Blu-ray as bonuses.

Small role · Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

OOP US Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Japan Toho 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan Toho 4K Blu-ray for uncensored Japanese audio and original 6.1 mix

OOP US Sony Blu-ray for English dub

Additional Info:

Japan Toho 4K Blu-ray is an upscale of the original 2K DI but has no English subtitles, all past releases are flawed scans from filmout sources.

11 in HD

Blu-ray or HD streaming

TV series

Leading role

Best English-Friendly:

Original TV Version: US OOP Bandai DVD

"Remix" Remaster: UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray

Best Video:

Original TV Version: Japan OOP DVD

"Remix" Remaster: Italy Dynit Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original TV Version: Japan LaserDisc, US OOP Bandai DVD for English dub

"Remix" Remaster: Italy Dynit Blu-ray, US Funimation/Crunchyroll Blu-ray for English dub

Additional Info:

The "Remix" remaster has slightly different cuts for some episodes, and completely redone audio mixes. The original TV version of the English dub also has an entirely different audio mix from either the Japanese mix or the "Remix" remaster.

Leading role · Director: Shinichiro Watanabe

Best English-Friendly:

Italy Dynit Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

4K remaster announced for Japanese cinemas, home video release unconfirmed

Best Video:

Italy Dynit Blu-ray or Japan Bandai Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Italy Dynit Blu-ray or Japan Bandai Blu-ray each have their own pros and cons, and completey different transfers

Best Audio:

Japan Bandai Blu-ray

Italy Dynit Blu-ray for the English dub

Leading role · Director: Mamoru Oshii

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly:

Japan Disney 4K Blu-ray for the original Japanese audio with the best English subtitle translation

US Funimation Blu-ray for the Bandai dub
Manga Entertainment UK Blu-ray for the Manga Entertainment dub

Upcoming Release:

4K remastered US theatrical re-release in 2024 courtesy of GKIDS with either the Japanese audio with Disney's English subtitles or the English dub by Bandai

Not yet confirmed for a US home video release

Best Video:

Italy Dynit Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan "4K Remastered" Disney Blu-ray has the original 6.1 mix

Japan Disney 4K Blu-ray for the DTS:X remix

Funimation US Blu-ray for the Bandai dub

Manga Entertainment UK Blu-ray for the Manga Entertainment dub

Additional Info:

Italy Dynit Blu-ray has the best picture quality but has no English subtitles or original theatrical 6.1 mix.

All "4K Remastered" and 4K Blu-ray releases (including from Disney) are taken from a 35mm filmout rather than the original digital source, and then heavily DNR'd, destroying original detail and making lines smearier than before. The Japan Disney 4K Blu-ray is the least bad presentation of the 4K remaster, being encoded with a very healthy bitrate and HDR10+ metadata, and with a top-notch DTS:X remix, with the original 6.1 mix included on the pack-in "4K Remastered" Blu-ray.

The film has multiple English subtitle translations, and the Disney subtitles done by Linda Hoaglund and Judith Aley with Aura are often seen as the best translation, with these subtitles present on the Japan Disney 4K Blu-ray, making this the definitive option for viewers who want to watch the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

Leading role · Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best Video:

Avex 2025 Blu-ray (improved detail, tint and more)

Supporting role · Directors: Masayuki & Hideaki Anno & Tsuyoshi Kaga & Shoichi Masuo & Ken Ando & Seiji Mizushima & Kazuya Tsurumaki & Naoyasu Habu & Hiroyuki Ishido & Tensai Okamura & Akira Takamura & Minoru Ohara & Masahiko Otsuka & Tetsuya Watanabe & Keiichi Sugiyama

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan King Records Blu-ray has "Fly Me to the Moon" song intact.

The Collector's Edition US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray has both Manga and Netflix English dubs.

US OOP Anchor Bay DVD/VHS has "Fly Me to the Moon" song intact and the original Dolby Stereo mix for the Manga English dub.

Additional Info:

Japan Blu-ray has the theatrical cut "Death & Rebirth"

Japan Archives of Evangelion DVD has the TV cut "Death (true) & Rebirth"

Supporting role · Director: Satoshi Kon

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

4K · Worse Than BD

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Bandai Visual JP MGVC Blu-ray

Video Notes:

All other discs are from a 4K restoration, overcropped in an attempt to stabilize the images, with very washed out colors. https://slow.pics/c/cOUtJde0

Supporting role · Directors: Ryuichi Yagi & Takashi Yamazaki & Makoto Hanafusa

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Netflix Streaming

Best Video:

Japan Toho Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Caveat: Not English-friendly

Best Audio:

Japan Toho Blu-ray

Netflix Streaming for English dub

Supporting role · Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2014 Japan "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Japan Studio Ghibli 4K Blu-ray announced for a November 25, 2026 release

Best Audio:

Japanese audio: 2014 Japan "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Blu-ray/US GKIDS Blu-ray

English dub (Disney): 1998 US Disney VHS has better sounding vocals despite altered music and sound effects, the US Disney LaserDisc has limited audio, and 2003 DVD is a fake 5.1 upmix

Releases from 2010 onward have the original music and sound effects, but distorted vocals

English dub (Streamline): 1996 Japan remastered LaserDisc, available in Ghibli Ga Ippai Collection boxset

Additional Info:

2012 US Disney Blu-ray has dubtitles. US GKIDS Blu-ray has bonuses that are absent on the US Disney Blu-ray

Small role · Directors: Hideaki Anno & Kazuya Tsurumaki

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray

Best Audio:

The Collector's Edition US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. Blu-ray has both Manga and Netflix English dubs.

US OOP Anchor Bay DVD/VHS has the original Dolby Stereo mix for the Manga English dub and an exclusive DTS-ES 6.1 upmix superior.

Small role · Director: Kunihiko Yuyama

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:
  • 2017/2020 Australia 4 disc set for 5.1 audio and Pikachu's Vacation in OAR (this set is nearly impossible to find)

  • 2016 WB Steelbook 1-3 Collection for theatrical aspect ratio

  • 2000 snap case DVD for commentary and special features

Best Video:
  • 2016 WB Steelbook 1-3 Collection

  • 2017/2020 Australia 4 disc set for OAR of Pikachu's Vacation

Best Audio:
  • 2017/2020 Australia 4 disc set for 5.1 lossless audio on film

  • 2016 WB Steelbook only has 2.0 Stereo audio

  • 2000 snap case DVD for 5.1 audio and commentary track

Small role · Director: Masakazu Hashimoto

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Discotek Blu-ray

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