Comic Party #1: New World (DVD)

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There are many outside references in "Comic Party". While I usually enjoy this sort of thing, I´m afraid that most references will be lost on anyone who hasn´t spent several years living in Japan. The references aren´t confined to just manga or anime, they include old movies, local stores, and puns, practically none of which I was familiar with. The main repeating reference is to an anime/manga/video game series called "To Heart", which I actually got. Perhaps unfortunately, I don´t like this series, so I couldn´t count that reference as a plus.

Video:
The video aspect ratio is 1.33:1 (fullscreen on 4:3 monitors). The quality came out well on the disc, and I had nothing to complain about in terms of color or animation quality. The animation style should look familiar to fans of "To Heart", since "Comic Party" is made by the same people.

Audio:
You can watch the show with either Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Japanese with English subtitles or DD 2.0 stereo English with English subtitles for onscreen text. I watched it in Japanese with English subtitles. The language and subtitle options are bundled in the menu, but you can set them to how you want with your DVD player´s controls. The music isn´t all that memorable, but at least isn´t horrible.

Extras:
The Right Stuf definitely brought the extras with this disc. There´s a lengthy interview with the voice actors for Kazuki, Mizuki, and Taishi (Masami Kikuchi, Riko Sayami, and Kouichi Touchika, respectively). There´s also a five minute short called "Special Mini #1", which takes the main characters to a hot spring. There´s also an Art Gallery, Character Bios, and Translator Notes.

--Miscellaneous--
The cover is printed "manga style", meaning that, relative to the way the cover is printed, the DVD case opens left to right, opposite of what I´d consider normal. The cover is reversible, and the reversed cover opens right to left. A multi-page booklet is included that contains twenty-five notes on the various inside references made in the series.

Film Value:
I have the feeling that, to the right audience, "Comic Party" is a home run. Alas, I am not part of that audience. I´m not familiar enough with Japanese culture to get many of the references, nor have I ever paid any attention to doujinshi. Without those hooks, "Comic Party" only has its plot to rely on, and there´s not much original material there. The bottom line on this series is that, it´s not that it´s bad, it just isn´t very good.

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