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Maaya Sakamoto

Maaya Sakamoto

7 Films

Maaya Sakamoto

7 Included Films

Maaya Sakamoto photo

Maaya Sakamoto is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in Little Twins, but is better known as voice of Hitomi Kanzaki in The Vision of Escaflowne. Other major roles in anime include Riho Yamazaki in Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective, Moe Katsuragi in Risky Safety, Princess Tomoyo in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Haruhi Fujioka in Ouran High School Host Club, Sayaka Nakasugi in Birdy the Mighty, Ciel Phantomhive in Black Butler, Shinobu Oshino in Monogatari, Shiki Ryougi in the Kara no Kyoukai film series, and Motoko Kusanagi in the newer Ghost in the Shell films and series. In video games she voices Aura and Natsume in .hack, Lisa Hamilton / La Mariposa in Dead or Alive, Aeris in Kingdom Hearts, Aigis in Persona 3, Lightning in Final Fantasy XIII games, Ling Xiaoyu in the Tekken series, and Alisa Illinichina Amiella in God Eater. She has also branched into singing, performing songs in both English and Japanese. She released her debut single "Yakusoku wa Iranai" in collaboration with Yoko Kanno under Victor Entertainment on April 24, 1996. Her singles "Tune the Rainbow", "Loop", "Ame ga Furu", and "Triangler" have all reached the top 10 Oricon singles chart: "Triangler" in particular charted at number 3 and remained charting for 26 weeks. Her albums have had similar success, with Shōnen Alice and Yūnagi Loop both reaching the top 10 Oricon albums chart; and her album You Can't Catch Me, released on January 12, 2011, became her first release to ever reach number 1. She held a concert at the Nippon Budokan on March 31, 2010, her thirtieth birthday. In the Japanese localization of overseas dubs, she has voiced Padme Amidala as presented in the Star Wars films and cartoons, as well as being the dub voice for Natalie Portman on numerous films.

Ghost in the Shell poster
Letterboxd
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Bandai Japan 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Bandai JP 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Audio:

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.

Best English-Friendly:

Bandai Japan 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Bandai JP 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Audio:

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.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children poster
Letterboxd
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Complete Cut: 2021 Sony 4K Blu-ray

Original Cut: 2005 US Sony DVD

Best Video:

Complete Cut: 2021 Japan Square Enix 4K Blu-ray but not English friendly. Dolby Vision is also only available on Japan 4K Blu-ray

Original Cut: 2005 Japan Square Enix DVD but not English friendly.

Best Audio:

Complete Cut:

  • 2021 Japan Square Enix 4K Blu-ray has a superior Dolby Atmos remix

  • 2021 Japan Square Enix remastered Blu-ray has a superior original Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix

Original Cut:

  • 2005 Japan Square Enix DVD for the Japanese audio, 2005 US Sony DVD for the English dub

Additional Info:

Japan 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray have an exclusive end credit song on the Complete cut that is not present on international releases by Sony.

All Japanese releases of the Complete cut have English dub options, but no English subtitles for the original Japanese audio or on-screen text. Original cut only has Japanese audio without subtitles on the Japanese DVD.

All international releases by Sony only have dubtitles for the Japanese audio, not a proper translation of the Japanese script.

Best English-Friendly:

Complete Cut: 2021 Sony 4K Blu-ray

Original Cut: 2005 US Sony DVD

Best Video:

Complete Cut: 2021 Japan Square Enix 4K Blu-ray but not English friendly. Dolby Vision is also only available on Japan 4K Blu-ray

Original Cut: 2005 Japan Square Enix DVD but not English friendly.

Best Audio:

Complete Cut:

  • 2021 Japan Square Enix 4K Blu-ray has a superior Dolby Atmos remix

  • 2021 Japan Square Enix remastered Blu-ray has a superior original Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix

Original Cut:

  • 2005 Japan Square Enix DVD for the Japanese audio, 2005 US Sony DVD for the English dub

Additional Info:

Japan 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray have an exclusive end credit song on the Complete cut that is not present on international releases by Sony.

All Japanese releases of the Complete cut have English dub options, but no English subtitles for the original Japanese audio or on-screen text. Original cut only has Japanese audio without subtitles on the Japanese DVD.

All international releases by Sony only have dubtitles for the Japanese audio, not a proper translation of the Japanese script.

Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance poster
Letterboxd
UHD Blu-ray
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.

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.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo poster
Letterboxd
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

US OOP Funimation Blu-ray

Best Video:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan King Records

Australia Crunchyroll Blu-ray for the Amazon English dub

US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the second (home video) Funimation English dub

Unofficial sources only for the first (theatrical) Funimation English dub

Additional Info:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray on the box set has inferior encoding than the standalone release, but includes the theatrical (:3.0) and older Blu-ray (:3.33) cuts on standard Blu-ray as bonuses.

Best English-Friendly:

US OOP Funimation Blu-ray

Best Video:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan King Records

Australia Crunchyroll Blu-ray for the Amazon English dub

US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the second (home video) Funimation English dub

Unofficial sources only for the first (theatrical) Funimation English dub

Additional Info:

Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray on the box set has inferior encoding than the standalone release, but includes the theatrical (:3.0) and older Blu-ray (:3.33) cuts on standard Blu-ray as bonuses.

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time poster
Letterboxd
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

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-rayJapan 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.

Best English-Friendly:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

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-rayJapan 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.

Look Back poster
Letterboxd
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Amazon Streaming

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2026 Japan Avex Blu-ray. The 4K Blu-ray is an upscale with strong sharpening. Caps

Best Audio:

2026 Japan Avex 4K Blu-ray, includes original 5.1 and an Atmos remix. The HD disc only includes 5.1.

Look Back poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Amazon Streaming

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2026 Japan Avex Blu-ray. The 4K Blu-ray is an upscale with strong sharpening. Caps

Best Audio:

2026 Japan Avex 4K Blu-ray, includes original 5.1 and an Atmos remix. The HD disc only includes 5.1.

7 films