GKIDS & Shout! Factory
Released Nov 14, 2023
Anyone who did not catch Spirited Away: Live on Stage can enjoy the best of both versions on home video! Although this release doesn’t contain any bonus features that look at behind the scenes, to have the two shows as played by Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi in the title role, Chihiro, in one single release is a Ghibli fan’s dream release come true.
I wasn’t sure if this film would play in Canada, as locations and dates weren’t offered many weeks in advance. Thankfully, Cineplex eventually added more screenings which included my home town, but I was in Seattle that weekend. I didn’t plan to visit the States just to get my Ghibli fix–it was pure luck that I was at the right place and right time. What was presented at the Regal and where I sat made me feel like I had a front row seat to a live show rather than something broadcasted on a screen. My experience can be read here.
In a home theatre environment, this release looks just as gorgeous and crisp. In this Blu-ray, the blacks are deep to hide where the orchestra is playing from, and the spotlight balances out the crisper whites when I viewed it on dynamic mode in my home theatre setup. The saturations are perfect, and the only distraction still lies in mostly noticing the stagehands as they move props, or assist with the scene changes as the rotating set moves around. The surround isn’t played up, and when you’re watching a live show, what one hears is front heavy, anyway.
It’s not fair to say which version of Spirited Away: Live on Stage is better. I can watch either and not think one is superior because nothing is staged differently. There might be a difference in where the cuts are made, but I’d need a dual monitor setup to watch both side-by-side to notice. In this release, both versions get their own disc instead of being compressed into one!
As for packaging, the design matches the rest of this collection’s releases, and any completest will be glad to know this distributor is paying attention to the visual aesthetics of type design instead of breaking it up. No Studio Ghibli Blu-ray collection can be complete without this live action release.
This release could’ve been made better by including the soundtrack like the box set anniversary releases, but that’s okay. It’s an idea in hindsight, since there weren’t that many musical numbers to warrant an individual release. It might happen as an anniversary thing, but fans will have to wait five years before such a release is considered.
Spirited Away: Live on Stage Theatrical Trailer
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