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Since some people have requested it and missed smaller less detailed posts I've made, so I thought I'd do a proper guide to what you'll need to do if you plan to import the first episode of Digimon Adventure tri. from anywhere outside of Japan.
Both the Blu-ray and DVD come out December 18th, 2015 in Japan. (Mostly... more on this later.)
The Blu-ray will MSRP for 8000 yen.
The DVD will MSRP for 7000 yen.
Blu-ray Product links
Blu-ray at CDJapan (This is an affiliate link, so if you buy using this, we'd appreciate it)
Blu-ray at Amazon Japan
Blu-ray at Amazon Japan (Amazon Exclusive Version)
DVD Product links
DVD at CDJapan (This is an affiliate link, so if you buy using this, we'd appreciate it)
DVD at Amazon Japan
DVD at Amazon Japan (Amazon Exclusive Version)
For either Blu-ray or DVD, import from the store of your choice. The links above are for Amazon Japan and CDJapan, two of the most common places to import discs from. There may be import stores near you, or intermediaries who order from Japan on a normal basis who can help you, so feel free to look around.
Some stores may offer a pre-order discount. Also you should be aware that if you order from a store in Japan the price listed may be above the MSRP by a few hundred yen. This is tax. When you add it to your cart and go to checkout at almost any reputable store the tax will vanish (you aren't in Japan, and shouldn't be charged the tax.)
Amazon Japan has a version that includes two bonus items. A B2 sized fabric poster (19.69x27.83 in inches, 50x70.7 in cm) and an A6 sized clear file (4.13x5.83 in inches, 10.5x14.8 in cm.) Outside of these two items there is no other announced difference from the normal Blu-ray or DVD.
Before you order, make sure you look up the payment policies of whoever you order from. Are they charging you when it ships? When you order? Are they charging you in your local currency or in yen? Check exchange rates so you know what you will be paying. If you pre-order does not have pre-pay, be aware that a change in exchange rate could significantly change the price (maybe in your advantage, but maybe not.)
Remember to also find out how long different shipping methods take. $15 or $20 for shipping might seem expensive until your order ships and you realize that discount $6 shipping you paid for means you won't get the disk until it's halfway through January.
It's worth mentioning, Digimon Adventure tri. episode 1 will get a very limited theatrical release on November 21st before it's official Blu-ray release in December. At the 10 theaters it will be playing at limited numbers of Blu-rays will be sold during these screenings. Some import stores and dealers may be able to get you one of these, but you'll have to look around, and expect to pay a premium for it.
For Blu-ray buyers:
First thing to mention, we aren't expecting this disk to have any sort of non-Japanese audio or subtitles. If you're buying this expect to watch it in raw Japanese.
Expect tri. to be a Region Code A Blu-ray. Some stores do not list region codes or list as Region Free if they don't get that information in the solicitation. Do not take a listing of Region Free as meaning it will just work. Expect it to only be Region A regardless of what you see listed.
Region A covers the following areas- East Asia (except Mainland China and Mongolia), Southeast Asia, North America, South America and their dependencies.
Check your specific country's Blu-ray region to be sure BEFORE you order.
Are you in Region A? Then you shouldn't have to do anything else if you have a Blu-ray player.
Digimon Adventure tri. on Blu-ray should be 1080p at 24fps. Any Region A Blu-ray player should be able to handle this no matter how TV is dealt with in your country.
Not Region A? You might need to look into a region free player. Physical players can be found at any number of online dealers. Try and find a place that looks reputable, has a player that looks good to you, and that you can afford. Searching for region free players and looking at movie and tech forums you find will be a good place to start (It's also likely that your local Amazon will have a few players you can look at as a starting point.)
If you are going to watch on your PC, first and foremost, do you have a Blu-ray drive? Do you have Blu-ray playing software? Blu-ray software tends to control the region code and allows a small number of changes (normally 5.) If you can find where it stores the number, you can always change it back to 5. Or if you want to be lazy, buy software that will deal with the region. AnyDVD HD is generally considered the standard for this.
Audio there should be no issues. We expect tri to have 5.1 PCM audio. Just make sure your equipment is setup and know what it can do and change the settings accordingly. Newer equipment will likely pass along the 5.1 PCM data, while some equipment will likely want to stick with 2.0 PCM or 5.1 Dolby. Your speaker setup will also be a consideration.
For DVD buyers:
Same with Blu-ray, don't expect audio or subtitles in your language, we expect this to be all Japanese.
Expect tri. to be a Region Code 2 DVD. Some stores do not list region codes or list as Region Free if they don't get that information in the solicitation. Do not take a listing of Region Free as meaning it will just work. Expect it to only be Region 2 regardless of what you see listed.
Region 2 covers the following areas- The Middle East, Western Europe, Central Europe, Egypt, French overseas territories, Greenland, Japan, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland.
Check your specific country's DVD region to be sure BEFORE you order.
Are you in Region 2? You should be able to play the disk, but don't assume.
Digimon Adventure tri. on DVD should be 480p (720x480 with an anamorphic widescreen flag.) Toei can sometimes be quirky with their DVDs and while the framerate could be 24, it might be 30. Realistically this won't affect your playback, and the next few bits will tell you how to fix them before the disk gets to you.
Region 2 covers a number of countries, but many of those countries use PAL for their DVDs. Japan uses NTSC. Make sure your TV and DVD player can handle playing back an NTSC DVD. I have no experience dealing with NTSC playback on PAL devices, but my understanding is most (all?) modern TVs and DVD players should be able to deal with NTSC stuff perfectly well (I know Madman in Australia has released some disks NTSC and they are a PAL country.) Hopefully some PAL area WtW members will chime in.
If you aren't region 2, look into a region free player, preferably one that can upscale decently since you are likely going to be watching this on an HDTV. Some DVD players have a hidden way to change the region. Search online for your model and find out if perhaps you have a model that can do this. If not, look into buying a region free DVD player. Searching for region free player and looking at movie and tech forums you find will be a good place to start (It's also likely that your local Amazon will have a few players you can look at as a starting point.)
If you want to watch on your computer, make sure you know what region your DVD drive is set. Most DVD drives have region codes in their firmware. You can change them a few times (normally 5) but after that, you can't change them again. Many drives have custom firmware that will make them region free with almost no work on your part. Depending on your drive, region free software might also be able to make the drive region free. AnyDVD is a well known software for this. DVD software you don't really need to worry about, as there are plenty of free solutions that can playback the disk without issues. VLC is a good start for most people.
Expect audio to be normal Dolby 5.1. No issues there, completely standard in every way. Make sure your player and equipment is set properly though. Do you only have a 2.0 Stereo setup? Make sure everything is set for Stereo.
The guide should hopefully cover most, if not all, potential issues with importing Digimon Adventure tri. on Blu-ray or DVD. I won't be covering the potential for dealing with Japanese iTunes, as that can be more complicated and we aren't quite sure what form the iTunes release will take yet, not to mention I think with this being as special a release as it is for many Digimon fans, I think they want the physical product in their hands and on their shelves.
We are taking donations so that we can get a copy of tri and Zero-Two on Blu-ray for With the Will so we can do a full breakdown (as we did for the movie and Adventure Blu-ray boxes.) If you can please donate- For Paypal donate to godofchaos@gmail.com, you can use this new style Paypal.me link, or you can PM or email me if you have another method.
If there are any questions not answered in the guide or if you have further questions (or are confused), please feel free to ask any questions.
Both the Blu-ray and DVD come out December 18th, 2015 in Japan. (Mostly... more on this later.)
The Blu-ray will MSRP for 8000 yen.
The DVD will MSRP for 7000 yen.
Blu-ray Product links
Blu-ray at CDJapan (This is an affiliate link, so if you buy using this, we'd appreciate it)
Blu-ray at Amazon Japan
Blu-ray at Amazon Japan (Amazon Exclusive Version)
DVD Product links
DVD at CDJapan (This is an affiliate link, so if you buy using this, we'd appreciate it)
DVD at Amazon Japan
DVD at Amazon Japan (Amazon Exclusive Version)
For either Blu-ray or DVD, import from the store of your choice. The links above are for Amazon Japan and CDJapan, two of the most common places to import discs from. There may be import stores near you, or intermediaries who order from Japan on a normal basis who can help you, so feel free to look around.
Some stores may offer a pre-order discount. Also you should be aware that if you order from a store in Japan the price listed may be above the MSRP by a few hundred yen. This is tax. When you add it to your cart and go to checkout at almost any reputable store the tax will vanish (you aren't in Japan, and shouldn't be charged the tax.)
Amazon Japan has a version that includes two bonus items. A B2 sized fabric poster (19.69x27.83 in inches, 50x70.7 in cm) and an A6 sized clear file (4.13x5.83 in inches, 10.5x14.8 in cm.) Outside of these two items there is no other announced difference from the normal Blu-ray or DVD.
Before you order, make sure you look up the payment policies of whoever you order from. Are they charging you when it ships? When you order? Are they charging you in your local currency or in yen? Check exchange rates so you know what you will be paying. If you pre-order does not have pre-pay, be aware that a change in exchange rate could significantly change the price (maybe in your advantage, but maybe not.)
Remember to also find out how long different shipping methods take. $15 or $20 for shipping might seem expensive until your order ships and you realize that discount $6 shipping you paid for means you won't get the disk until it's halfway through January.
It's worth mentioning, Digimon Adventure tri. episode 1 will get a very limited theatrical release on November 21st before it's official Blu-ray release in December. At the 10 theaters it will be playing at limited numbers of Blu-rays will be sold during these screenings. Some import stores and dealers may be able to get you one of these, but you'll have to look around, and expect to pay a premium for it.
For Blu-ray buyers:
First thing to mention, we aren't expecting this disk to have any sort of non-Japanese audio or subtitles. If you're buying this expect to watch it in raw Japanese.
Expect tri. to be a Region Code A Blu-ray. Some stores do not list region codes or list as Region Free if they don't get that information in the solicitation. Do not take a listing of Region Free as meaning it will just work. Expect it to only be Region A regardless of what you see listed.
Region A covers the following areas- East Asia (except Mainland China and Mongolia), Southeast Asia, North America, South America and their dependencies.
Check your specific country's Blu-ray region to be sure BEFORE you order.
Are you in Region A? Then you shouldn't have to do anything else if you have a Blu-ray player.
Digimon Adventure tri. on Blu-ray should be 1080p at 24fps. Any Region A Blu-ray player should be able to handle this no matter how TV is dealt with in your country.
Not Region A? You might need to look into a region free player. Physical players can be found at any number of online dealers. Try and find a place that looks reputable, has a player that looks good to you, and that you can afford. Searching for region free players and looking at movie and tech forums you find will be a good place to start (It's also likely that your local Amazon will have a few players you can look at as a starting point.)
If you are going to watch on your PC, first and foremost, do you have a Blu-ray drive? Do you have Blu-ray playing software? Blu-ray software tends to control the region code and allows a small number of changes (normally 5.) If you can find where it stores the number, you can always change it back to 5. Or if you want to be lazy, buy software that will deal with the region. AnyDVD HD is generally considered the standard for this.
Audio there should be no issues. We expect tri to have 5.1 PCM audio. Just make sure your equipment is setup and know what it can do and change the settings accordingly. Newer equipment will likely pass along the 5.1 PCM data, while some equipment will likely want to stick with 2.0 PCM or 5.1 Dolby. Your speaker setup will also be a consideration.
For DVD buyers:
Same with Blu-ray, don't expect audio or subtitles in your language, we expect this to be all Japanese.
Expect tri. to be a Region Code 2 DVD. Some stores do not list region codes or list as Region Free if they don't get that information in the solicitation. Do not take a listing of Region Free as meaning it will just work. Expect it to only be Region 2 regardless of what you see listed.
Region 2 covers the following areas- The Middle East, Western Europe, Central Europe, Egypt, French overseas territories, Greenland, Japan, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland.
Check your specific country's DVD region to be sure BEFORE you order.
Are you in Region 2? You should be able to play the disk, but don't assume.
Digimon Adventure tri. on DVD should be 480p (720x480 with an anamorphic widescreen flag.) Toei can sometimes be quirky with their DVDs and while the framerate could be 24, it might be 30. Realistically this won't affect your playback, and the next few bits will tell you how to fix them before the disk gets to you.
Region 2 covers a number of countries, but many of those countries use PAL for their DVDs. Japan uses NTSC. Make sure your TV and DVD player can handle playing back an NTSC DVD. I have no experience dealing with NTSC playback on PAL devices, but my understanding is most (all?) modern TVs and DVD players should be able to deal with NTSC stuff perfectly well (I know Madman in Australia has released some disks NTSC and they are a PAL country.) Hopefully some PAL area WtW members will chime in.
If you aren't region 2, look into a region free player, preferably one that can upscale decently since you are likely going to be watching this on an HDTV. Some DVD players have a hidden way to change the region. Search online for your model and find out if perhaps you have a model that can do this. If not, look into buying a region free DVD player. Searching for region free player and looking at movie and tech forums you find will be a good place to start (It's also likely that your local Amazon will have a few players you can look at as a starting point.)
If you want to watch on your computer, make sure you know what region your DVD drive is set. Most DVD drives have region codes in their firmware. You can change them a few times (normally 5) but after that, you can't change them again. Many drives have custom firmware that will make them region free with almost no work on your part. Depending on your drive, region free software might also be able to make the drive region free. AnyDVD is a well known software for this. DVD software you don't really need to worry about, as there are plenty of free solutions that can playback the disk without issues. VLC is a good start for most people.
Expect audio to be normal Dolby 5.1. No issues there, completely standard in every way. Make sure your player and equipment is set properly though. Do you only have a 2.0 Stereo setup? Make sure everything is set for Stereo.
The guide should hopefully cover most, if not all, potential issues with importing Digimon Adventure tri. on Blu-ray or DVD. I won't be covering the potential for dealing with Japanese iTunes, as that can be more complicated and we aren't quite sure what form the iTunes release will take yet, not to mention I think with this being as special a release as it is for many Digimon fans, I think they want the physical product in their hands and on their shelves.
We are taking donations so that we can get a copy of tri and Zero-Two on Blu-ray for With the Will so we can do a full breakdown (as we did for the movie and Adventure Blu-ray boxes.) If you can please donate- For Paypal donate to godofchaos@gmail.com, you can use this new style Paypal.me link, or you can PM or email me if you have another method.
If there are any questions not answered in the guide or if you have further questions (or are confused), please feel free to ask any questions.