Gundam Wing Endless Waltz in 4K — Pt.2 — Screening Impressions
If you haven’t read Part 1, I recommend doing so first!
Today, I parked myself down 🍿 at the lovely Dolby Cinema at the Marunouchi Piccadilly in Yurakucho — in anticipation (and slight trepidation) for a brand new 4K HDR remaster of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz. So how did it hold up? Here are some impressions.
Short version: I think many viewers and reviewers will consider it the cleanest, ‘best’ version of Endless Waltz to date. The reality is a bit more complex.
HDR
This was my first time viewing a Dolby Cinema 4K HDR projection, and the experience was surprisingly good. Whilst it’s hard to beat a high-end OLED panel, the scale and sound was breathtaking at times.
The expanded HDR palette was applied as anticipated here. The charged intensity of electric lines streaking across the screen; glowing Gundam eyes piercing the darkness; and more — the Tallgeese III’s introduction was particularly spectacular, powerful. Certainly one of the more exciting examples of HDR in Gundam to date.
It wasn’t always applied consistently though. Some elements (especially repeated gunfire) didn’t reach the same brightness peaks in all scenes; and I’m left wondering whether the decision was related to health and safety, vs artistic intent.
One of the movie’s standout scenes in HDR.
Film Grain
What grain?! You might think after watching this release. A denoising filter has been heavily applied, removing the majority of grain and noise throughout — resulting in a very clean look. If you look carefully, you’ll notice that a grain layer appears during panning or movement, to then dissipate when the scene settles into its final position.
The majority of the movie looked quite good, rarely veering into full ‘smearing’ territory. Fine details are mostly left intact, some arguably more-so than the existing HD version (which also has some denoising applied). I think many viewers will prefer this presentation, though personally I’d be all in for full-OG-grain!
The texture present in this screenshot has all but been eradicated, with smoother-looking characters and backgrounds.
Dirt and artifacts
Along with the grain, most of the dirt and spotty artifacts are no longer present. I did notice some pop in here and there, but there’s notably less than the existing release.
I can’t recall this scene in particular, but imagine 90% of the purple-highlighted marks having been removed.
Image clarity
This is an interesting one, and in many ways, an improvement over the existing HD release. Text credits look naturally sharper, without turning into upscaled mush. UI graphics look equally good, nicely clean without notable detail loss or smudging. The generally soft image also stays intact, with the team thankfully avoiding the temptation to over-sharpen, or artificially boost contrast.
The only negative is that some of the ink lines now look a little too heavy, though thankfully much of the texture is retained within the strokes.
Compared to the existing HD edition (seen here), UI graphics now look much sharper. With little smudging or forced-contrast.
Ringing artifacts
I’m extremely pleased to say that there is almost no edge ringing! The harsh bright lines present in the HD release are gone. There is however, something new… … …
Thankfully the edge ringing present in this screenshot has been quashed.
Edge inner-shadowing
A prominent effect visible in much modern anime has been introduced — with mixed results. The aesthetic difference may be a turn off for some, though fans who love the look of recent anime may appreciate its addition. That is, a soft inner glow/shadow applied to all character edges.
I’m in two minds about it. Firstly, the positive. Endless Waltz was never ‘flat’ looking, with an abundance of shading in its backgrounds and effects. Adding soft tones to the characters does contribute to a more cohesive image, especially after the grain having been mostly removed.
The negative. Some of the time, there’s a grey-green tinge to this shadowing. I noticed character skin tones veer towards this greenish color numerous times. In one notable scene with Heero and Relena towards the end of the movie, Heero’s face looked quite prominently Shrek-like! Ok, Shrek is an exaggeration. But there was a muddy grey-greenish tint all over, where the shadowing application seemed to have overstepped its bounds.
Reference the soft darker glow around the inner side of the skin areas, in this screenshot from Attack on Titan. Now imagine this applied to characters throughout the entire Endless Waltz movie, sometimes with a grey-green tint.
Cropping
Original 4:3 aspect ratio! No obvious cropping.
And… breathe a sigh of relief for a continued respect of the movie’s original framing.
Audio mix
Hard to compare due to the cinema environment, but the movie sounded great. Deep where it needed to be, crunchy and crisp in others. The Atmos mix felt faithful to the original intent - no 360° sweeping sounds introduced, etc.
The screening I attended was extremely loud though! First time I’ve ever felt the need for ear plugs. Some of the higher frequencies felt a bit much at this volume, but I can’t see it being an issue with the dial turned down a couple of steps.
Part 3 coming later this year
I assume this new release will receive a 4K UHD Blu-ray at one stage — maybe around Christmas? Once available, I’ll be excited to rewatch and perform a more direct comparison with the existing HD disc. I’m also exploring the idea of adding LaserDisc and DVD releases into the mix, for a comparison-to-end-all-comparisons. But that’s one for another day… 🔬
The Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz (movie edition), is screening at 10 cinemas across Japan between September 5th - 18th. A US theatrical release has also been confirmed, but no dates specified yet. It may be limited to Dolby Cinema venues.
