Summer Wars (2009)
サマーウォーズ
Animation, Science Fiction • 1h 54m
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Cast: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Hitomi Miyauchi, Mitsuki Tanimura, Sumiko Fuji, Ayumu Saito, Takahiro Yokokawa, Kiyomi Tanigawa, Mutsumi Sasaki, Mieko Nobusawa, Takuya Kirimoto, Sakiko Tamagawa, Ichiro Nagai, Takashi Kobayashi, Yutaka Shimizu, Kaori Yamagata, Tagame Tamura, Tadashi Nakamura, Yoji Tanaka, Hashiya Nakamura, Mitsutaka Itakura, Eiko Kanazawa, Chigusa Takaku, Riisa Naka, Naoto Adachi, Rikito Ota, Yuki Imai, Sumire Morohoshi, Hinano Minagawa
Best English-friendly & video release
· updated 1 year agoGKIDS/Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
GKIDS/Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray review: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23025586&postcount=108
Caps by Cardboard Clown: https://slow.pics/c/BvPVw6C0 Potential sharpening and aliasing?
UHD tiers
Overview
A student tries to fix a problem he accidentally caused in OZ, a digital world, while pretending to be the fiancé of his friend at her grandmother's 90th birthday.
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Sony 4K Blu-ray has the original theatrical Dolby Atmos mix
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
All The Anime/Shout! Factory & GKIDS (UK/US) 4K Blu-ray
(caveat: forced subtitles)
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
review: Disk Kino
Both have better encoding than Disk Kino, some shots are better on Shout! Factory, others on Arrow
Shout Factory still has the best video while Arrow did a questionable regrade. Arrow definitely has less grain in most shots, has a worse encode and is cm v2.9 compared to Shout’s cm v4.0.
Shout! Factory/Arrow 4K Blu-ray has the original mono
Director: Gus Van Sant
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Shout! Factory and Carlotta use the same scan https://slow.pics/c/Wcn5YFlw, the Carlotta has two extra bonus features
Director: Michael Mann
Director: John Carpenter
Sources: blog.sporv.com (opens in a new tab)
1997? Signature Collection LD
Good: 2017 Arrow and 2016 Shout! Factory Blu-ray have the original audio options.
the only track on Universal 4K, which is in DTS:X, has a mixing error of around 6dB too low on side channels, otherwise very similar to other 5.1 mixes.
Director: Henry Selick
2D Version: Laika/Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
3D Version: 2011 3D Blu-ray
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
2D Version: Laika/Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
3D Version: 2011 3D Blu-ray caps
Director: Tsui Hark
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray or Australia Imprint 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
There is a newer 4K restoration by L’Immagine Ritrovata, which should be of better scan quality. The 4K restoration used on all current 4K disc releases stems from a low-quality Cintel scanner. The newer restoration has yet to be released on home video.
Director: David Lynch
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray, confirmed to be uncut
More Animation on Blu-ray
TV series
TV series
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
2026 Japan Studio Ghibli (remastered) Blu-ray
France 4K Blu-ray announced
Remastered Blu-ray only included as a pack-in with the 4K Blu-ray. Includes English subtitles and a dub, which the 4K Blu-ray does not.
Japan Studio Ghibli 4K Blu-ray
UK StudioCanal Blu-ray for the English dub
4K Blu-ray includes the original 5.1 mix in its unaltered form, all other releases after the LaserDisc, as well as the remastered Blu-ray, had its dynamic range lowered.
For the English dub, the UK StudioCanal Blu-ray is the least limited mix.
2014 Japan "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Blu-ray
Japan Studio Ghibli 4K Blu-ray announced for a November 25, 2026 release
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
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Director: Martin Rosen
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
TV series
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative for all episodes
Director: Ralph Bakshi
Edit history
Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.