Unboxing: Serial Experiments Lain – The Complete Series (Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack) [AUS]

With the numerous American Serial Experiments Lain Blu-ray Collections being REGION LOCKED, and a UK Blu-ray release of the series no where to be found, fans of this anime classic who want a Region B compatible disc will have to look elsewhere. Fortunately for us salvation can be found in the Australian Blu-ray (Combo Pack) release, and today i’ll be taking a look at what its got to offer.

For those unaware Australian Blu-ray’s are Region B, the same Region as the UK, so if a Blu-ray is Region Locked within America (and is not getting a UK release) it might be worthwhile having a look at some Australian stores (especially Madman Entertainment or BeatTheBomb) as you may find end up finding what you want. The reason why Australian Blu-rays aren’t listed on this site is because by default they are REGION B, which means they will always work on UK Blu-ray players. Ironically however Australian DVD’s are encoded Region 4 – which is a compatible different region to both the UK and US; but amusingly this particular set is encoded Region 2 which means that the DVD Disc will also work perfectly fine on UK Players.

Anyway this Australian Blu-ray & DVD Combo Pack release of Serial Experiments Lain – The Complete Series contains the exact same content as the American (FUNimation) produced version, the only difference here is the packaging as it comes bundled inside a DVD sized case as opposed to a Blu-ray case; and lets not mention the artwork either. While the outer artwork isn’t impressive this release does have a few interesting features, such as a fold-out cover and fully coloured disc artwork, something which has become absent from FUNimation blu-rays and DVDs as of late.

This Blu-ray /DVD Combo Pack of Serial Experiments Lain is everything you’d expect it to be, which is the complete Series, and a short selection of extras, on both DVD (Region 1, 2 & 4 compatible) and Blu-ray (Region B only) with a few extra features. As it stands there isn’t a UK release planned, and with the US version Region Locked the only way of getting it working on UK players is by importing the Australian version.