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Mamoru Oshii

Mamoru Oshii

5 Films

Mamoru Oshii

5 Included Films

Mamoru Oshii photo

Mamoru Oshii (押井 守, Oshii Mamoru, born 8 August 1951) is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984), Angel's Egg (1985), Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993), and Ghost in the Shell (1995).

Angel's Egg poster
Letterboxd
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray see caps

Best Audio:

4K restoration includes a high-fidelity remix sourced from new transfers of original magnetic elements, with inconsequential content differences from the original mono mix. Umbrella 4K Blu-ray only includes a 5.1 mixdown of the remix, other discs have it in Dolby Atmos.

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray's 2.0 track is a stereo downmix. Older BDs and LDs have the original mono mix in varying quality, but are all inferior in fidelity to the new 5.1 remix. The digital track on the Bandai/Emotion Japan LaserDisc BELL-942 is the best of the bunch.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23714400&postcount=159

Angel's Egg poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray see caps

Best Audio:

4K restoration includes a high-fidelity remix sourced from new transfers of original magnetic elements, with inconsequential content differences from the original mono mix. Umbrella 4K Blu-ray only includes a 5.1 mixdown of the remix, other discs have it in Dolby Atmos.

Umbrella 4K Blu-ray's 2.0 track is a stereo downmix. Older BDs and LDs have the original mono mix in varying quality, but are all inferior in fidelity to the new 5.1 remix. The digital track on the Bandai/Emotion Japan LaserDisc BELL-942 is the best of the bunch.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23714400&postcount=159

UHD Blu-ray
Best Video:

2025 Japan 4K Blu-ray (crowdfunded project)

Best Video:

2025 Japan 4K Blu-ray (crowdfunded project)

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

2008 Japan Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): has English subtitles, better than 2015 Maiden Blu-ray which lacks the original mix

Best Video:

2026 Bandai 4K Blu-ray, but completely DNR'd.

For grain, most release starting from 2007 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0003) are ok.

Best Audio:

Bandai 4K Blu-ray? vs 2008 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): same video but includes Bandai English dub and original mix

Best English-Friendly:

2008 Japan Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): has English subtitles, better than 2015 Maiden Blu-ray which lacks the original mix

Best Video:

2026 Bandai 4K Blu-ray, but completely DNR'd.

For grain, most release starting from 2007 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0003) are ok.

Best Audio:

Bandai 4K Blu-ray? vs 2008 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): same video but includes Bandai English dub and original mix

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.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence poster
Letterboxd
1080p Blu-ray
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.

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.

5 films