- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, English Dolby True HD 5.1
- Subtitles: English
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Discs: 1
- Studio: Funimation
- Blu-ray Release Date: November 16, 2010
- List Price: $29.98
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase RoboGeisha on Blu-ray at CD Universe
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Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:2.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:2.5/5]
RoboGeisha is the sort of genre-crossing action film that could only come from the minds of the Japanese. Beware, however, that there may very well be a lot lost in translation when watching this action/science fiction/horror/slasher film. From the same creators that gave the world Tokyo Gore Police and Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl, RoboGeisha is a bloody, gross-out flick that will definitely have you scratching your head.
Kikuyakko is a beautiful and skilled geisha, renowned for her grace and Yoshie is her mistreated sister banished to living in her shadows. The two sisters are abducted by the Kageno steel-works corporation and transformed into cyborg-like geisha, used as undercover assassins to kill high-ranking members of Japanese society in an effort by the corporation to rule Japan. Ending up on opposite sides of the battle, the two sisters must inevitably head towards a violent showdown.
RoboGeisha is filled with gallons of fake blood, sexy girls in skimpy outfits, geisha with chainsaw faces, women in goblin masks shooting ninja stars out their rears and squirting acidic breast milk from their chests. It’s just about every shocking “whu?” thing you can think of, with little story underlining the violence. There’s a slight air of campiness to it, but mostly, for this sort of film, it falls short and just gets a bit dull after a while. Not even the action is very well sustained. Even the not-so-great Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl was a better film.
Video Quality
[Rating:3/5]
RoboGeisha was captured digitally in HD, but its obvious low budget hampers the image throughout this 1080p/24 AVC/MPEG-4 transfer. There’s plenty of video noise and the image looks generally soft and lacking in high frequency information. Detail is pretty strong on extreme close-ups, but this won’t become a reference title anytime soon.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The original Japanese language soundtrack is provided in Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo and that’s what I used as my reference for this review. There is also an English dub provided in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The stereo mix for the Japanese track provides good dynamics and a generally wide spread of sound across the stereo stage. Dialogue is clear ad generally remains audible above the sound effects.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
There aren’t a hefty amount of extras offered on RoboGeisha, but there is a short film spin-off included that may be even more ridiculous than the original.
The supplements provided on this release are:
- Geishacop: Fearsome Geisha Corps — Go to Hell (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:16.51) — This short film is a spin-off of RoboGeisha and has and looks even lower budget that the original. What it does provide over the original is more genuine “so ridiculous it’s hilarious” laughs.
- Original Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3/5]
RoboGeisha definitely misses the gross out mark. Perhaps one needs to be a bit more in tune with the finer points of Japanese culture to even find the ludicrous premise and insane scenarios of this film so ridiculous as to be funny, but I have to recommend that, although it does technically do what a film like this is supposed to do, most folks would be better off skipping it.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B0040319IU[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase RoboGeisha on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
