Despite doubts that the DVD of “Stars: The Best of The Cranberries” (as the Japanese release is titled, as opposed to “Best of Videos”) would be delayed yet another time in Japan, it has finally been locked into a release for next Wednesday, March 12th. This past Monday, Universal Music Japan sent out updated release information on the Japanese edition of the DVD to retailers and online merchants, who responded by removing the ominous “Release Pending” notices found on listings for the DVD. Additionally, online retailers like Amazon Japan and the English-friendly CD Japan have now begun taking pre-orders for the new release, which wasn’t the case less than a week ago.
Zombieguide also reported previously that there was no reported cause for the DVD’s delay, but now we know at least a partial explanation: Japanese subtitles have been added to the release. This is unique to the Japanese release, since the original release of the “Stars” DVD carried no subtitles anywhere in the world, making things like the “Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll” documentary difficult to understand for those who don’t speak English as a primary language.
While the “Stars” DVD was released in most regions of the world (including America) in November, “Stars” originally was slated for a December 11th release in Japan. This date was then moved back to Christmas Day, then to January, and finally back to its current date of March 12th.
Aside from the new subtitles, no other new bonus features or extras have been announced for the Japanese release. The Japanese version of the DVD (cat. number UIBO-1006) will be released on March 12, 2003 with a retail price of 4,200 yen ($35 US, almost double the $20 retail price in America). A tiny shot of the cover, which includes a large Japanese sticker, can be seen below. The disc will be encoded in NTSC format and Region 0 (all region) coding, making it playable on American DVD players.
In related news, The Very Best of MTV Unplugged 2, featuring “Zombie,” will be released in Japan on April 9th with a retail tag of 2,400 yen ($20 US). Still no word yet on a US release.
Source: CD Japan