Babylon (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

Babylon (バビロン) is a 2019 television anime series based on Mado Nozaki’s light novel series of the same name with illustrator Zain. The series was adapted by studio Revoroot, and the staff credits include director Kiyotaka Suzuki, series composition writers Minaka Sakamoto, Naohiro Fukushima & Yutaka Yasunaga, character designer Keisuke Goto, and music composed by Yutaka Yamada. The series first aired in Japan on October 2019.

Background:

“Everything can be connected to something else if you dig hard enough, and when you’re investigating a crime, it usually doesn’t take too long before you start finding the clues you need, if you know where to look. When Public Prosecutor Zen Seizaki starts investigating a case of apparent fraud by a major pharmaceutical company, however, he quickly finds himself entangled in a nightmarish web of lies, intrigue and murder on a global scale. And even worse, how can he fight a foe without a face, one that’s protected by members of the highest echelons of society and government, and seems to be able to convince its own victims to kill themselves? The nightmares of modern science are powered by old-fashioned corruption and greed, and one man may be the only force that can stop them.”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, July 2024.

During a brief period about half a decade ago, Amazon had a few exclusives for their anime section and among those were special partnerships with Japanese producers like Fuji Creative Co. with the NoitaminA programming block, a few Aniplex titles here and there, and a select number of anime from Twin Engine. The Twin Engine titles were few but very intriguing and I watched most of them on the Prime Video streaming service during simulcast, namely Babylon, Dororo, KOKKOKU: Moment by Moment, Pet, and the first season of Vinland Saga.

All of the Twin Engine titles that Amazon streamed eventually got rescued by Sentai Filmworks for home video with streaming made available at a later point via HIDIVE. Out of the lot, I only picked up KOKKOKU: Moment by Moment as Anime Limited managed to secure UK home video rights for the show. Babylon eventually followed suit by the distributor during a failed live stream back in February 2024 and released recently.

Now Babylon is an interesting anime because it has a super strong first half, with two story arcs that were really good and makes you want to watch the next episode to see what happens next, and then we have a pretty disappointing second half where the story struggles to reach the heights of the earlier episodes and a direction that just didn’t work. I would compare the series to how Death Note went as it’s got similar issues, though with that show it does have strong points here and there and manages to hit the landing.

Babylon is based on a novel so I have no clue if the anime adaptation fully adapted the entire story or went into a different direction, but either way I felt that there was just enough enjoyment for me to pick up the series on Blu-ray.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

Babylon did not receive a collector’s release by Sentai in North America, meanwhile Anime Limited produced their own for the UK market.

This edition is presented with a rigid box containing a Scanavo case to house the discs. Alongside the case is a 20-page booklet and four art cards. The booklet includes episode synopsis, character designs and interviews with the novel author and director of the series.

The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray parts are 1000 units each printed for an SRP of £69.99. A standard edition Blu-ray will also made available not long after the release.

The collector’s edition Blu-ray was made available to order directly through Anime Limited’s online store as an early bird during the month of June, on offer for £39.99 (with the Anime Unlimited membership lowering the cost down to £36.99). This is where I received my copy of the set.

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with Scanavo packaging and clean artwork
• Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
• 20-page Booklet
• 4 Art Cards

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 8th July 2024

The collector’s edition release for Babylon contains the entire series, 12 episodes in total, across two Blu-ray discs, with the encode & authoring produced by Sentai Filmworks from their 2021 release.

The audio options available are Japanese with English subtitles and the Sentai Studios English dub. The yellow subtitles are locked during playback and the regions are compatible with Blu-ray players set to A & B.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio
Region	A B
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	Yes
Discs	2 (1 BD-50, 1 BD-25)

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Disc 2:

• Clean Opening Animation “Echoing” Ver. 1 & 2
• Clean Closing Animations “Live and let die”, “Inochi Hamu Soul (イノチ食ム魂)” & “The next new world that no one knows (blood-stained ver.)”
• Disc Credits

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

Babylon is available to purchase on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The collector’s edition Blu-ray release can be bought through the AllTheAnime Store.

For the standard edition, it will be available across different retailers including Amazon UK, AllTheAnime Store, and Anime-on-Line.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)