Video:

This is a really old dvd and it's still has a high quality look to it. still has it's share of flaws but not to bad.

Audio:

nothing special.

Subtitle:

no problems with the english subs and it gets bonus points in my book for having japanese subs

Comment:

This story is obvious old just by the look of it. It's enteresting to compare Takahata's old and new works together.

Video:

Ripped from the R2 DVD. This film was already 20 years old by the time it made it to DVD, so the video is not flawless. You can see that there were some scratches on the original print, but it still looks very nice.

Audio:

No problems, but it's not going to set your world on fire either.

Subtitle:

Note: This disc contains English and Japanese subs, no Chinese. Professional subs ripped from the R2, so overall these are excellent. The timing is very slightly off in some places, where the subs appear maybe half a second before the line is spoken. I didn't start to notice this until the last 10 minutes or so, and this is not a dialogue-heavy film, so it's no biggie. No missing subs, but for some reason, a couple of one word expressions (like "hai" and domo") are not subbed in English, but are subbed in Japanese. I don't think these subs are missing, I just don't think they bothered with them on the R2 at all. There are 2 or 3 grammatical errors that I noticed, but they're barely worth mentioning, even for the extremely nitpicky. ^_^

Comment:

NOTE: Thanks to whoever copied this synopsis to the item page. I couldn't get it to work for me. SYNOPSIS: Goshu is a young cellist with a local orchestra. As the group prepares to play Beethoven's sixth symphony at an upcoming concert, Goshu receives some fairly harsh criticism from the conductor (his timing is off, and his playing just generally lacks soul). As the days pass, a frustrated Goshu finds his practice interrupted by a series of visitations from animals who live nearby. Each of the animals (who can speak) has their own reason for seeking Goshu out, and each teaches him a valuable lesson about music, though he does not fully understand them until the end of the film. EXTRAS: Lots of interviews, including a long one with Isao Takahata, but they are all, sadly, unsubbed. There's also a trailer. I wasn't able to access the sixth option in the extras menu, though. Tried it on two players and got nothing. Goshu the Cellist was written and directed by Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbors the Yamadas), and based on a short story by Japan's beloved writer Kenji Miyazawa. It pre-dates the establishment of Studio Ghibli, but there are definite parallels to be drawn between this and Takahata's later work. It's the kind of film that can be enjoyed on many levels, and you will likely notice some different facet each time you watch it. Definitely worth picking up, especially if you are a fan of Takahata's work.