Exiled-Destiny's encodes...

[Zalis116]

Something to take into account when deciding which ones should be replaced is that E-D uses rather ugly, aliased, un-restyleable DVD-style graphic subs. I personally think that if a torrent's video quality is about the same as its E-D counterpart and both are softsubs, the old one should stay on box for its styled subs.

It's worth noting that E-D did include unstyled .srt (which of course can be restyled to whatever people want) for many of the series Blanchimont listed, such as Armitage, Snow Fairy Sugar, Genshiken, Kujibiki Unbalance, .hack//SIGN, Key the Metal Idol, Kiki's Delivery Service, Tokyo Underground, The Third (where the Arigatou release on Box only has imagesubs), and Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (same deal as with The Third).

Several of the releases where E-D only did imagesubs already have an a4e or a-S release with .srt or .ass subs on Box, which would be retained even if E-D's releases were uploaded. Such as I Dream of Mimi, Elf Princess Rane, Chobits, Wolf's Rain, and the Shadow Skill OVAs. Most of the others where E-D went imagesub only are unlikely to have comparable video quality, as they're older encodes of older anime. Big O could be a question mark, but I noticed a fair amount of blocking/artifacting in V-A's release.

And "ugly" is a rather subjective term, isn't it? Imo sometimes DVD-subs are the better choice, because they avoid missing lines, jumbled formatting, and OCR errors. That's why I was allowed to replace the old Hentai-Legacy version of Strawberry Eggs with LIME's imagesub release. But I do understand that for whatever reason, DVD-subs aren't favored by the Boxtorrents community at large, which is why I did replace or request replacement of a few E-D imagesub-only releases with other versions, like for Starship Operators and Fafner.

[iindigo]

By "ugly", I meant visually/aesthetically ugly. It really does matter to a lot of people, including myself. DVD subs, to me, are like nails to the chalkboard; a rip in the canvas of a beautiful painting. Subtitles should have the smallest and smoothest presence possible without hampering readability.

For any readers that are confused as to what all the hubbub is about, here's a screen from E-D's release of Girls Bravo, which uses graphic subs:




...and here's a (scaled-down) screenshot of SS-Eclipse's release of Clannad, which uses styled MKV softsubs:





It should be quite easy to see which is easier on the eyes.


It's good to hear that E-D provided .srt sub files for some of their releases, though... I wonder why they aren't present in all of them.

[Zalis116]

I don't see either one as "easier on the eyes, and I don't see why some colors are inherently worse than others on a purely aesthetic scale, either. The colors used in DVD subs like the Girls Bravo ones above don't often occur within any media, which is why they're a good choice to stand out and be readable. To me, "plain but always readable" is easier on the eyes than "pretty but sometimes unreadable."

The reason I say that "ugly" is a subjective judgment is because I don't believe DVD subs are objectively bad. There are plenty of people who only watch anime on DVD, and they rarely have issues with the subtitles. It's only people who compare DVD subs to the styled subs of fansubs and rips that say DVD subs are ugly. Then again, I spent over a year watching anime only on DVD before getting into downloaded versions, so I guess that's why my perspective differs from many others' around here.

I know many have a low opinion of the subbing on R1 DVDs, but at least graphic subs don't make them any worse in the ripped versions by adding OCR errors or screwing up the formatting. Converting to .srt/.ass however, has plenty of potential to make subs worse. To demonstrate, here's a screen from ADV's release of Magikano.



Granted, it's not at fansub levels of styling, but the text translations are in the right places, and it's easy to tell which subtitles are text and which are dialogue. Now take a look at how Arigatou managed to mangle that same screen by converting to .ass (and they did not include the graphic subs as alternate tracks) :



Sure it's styled subs, but at what cost? Everything's completely jumbled together, all one color, and well-nigh unreadable. RaX's release of Best Student Council (which I deleted from my HDD in digust) is the same way but worse, styled subs that completely wreck the formatting of the DVDs and make the show unwatchable.

It's good to hear that E-D provided .srt sub files for some of their releases, though... I wonder why they aren't present in all of them.

E-D only started doing .srt sometime in late 2006 or early 2007, and some of their newer releases are imagesub only for certain reasons.

I don't disagree with the idea of "all other factors being equal, un/styled subs are preferred." I just can't agree that DVD-style subs are inherently bad either.

[iindigo]

Well, it's true that I watched a truckload of fansubs/styled rips before I watched any DVD subs. It's a very rare occasion that I have trouble reading styled subs, but I also have very good vision.

I'm not an expert or anything (haven't attended college for it yet), but as an amateur designer I can tell you that as a rule, bright primary colors will almost always stick out like a sore thumb and almost always clash with what's currently on screen. Yeah, it's readable, but to anybody that hasn't conditioned themselves to them, DVD subs really smack you in the face upon viewing them. They beg for attention so much that they rip your eyes away from the main picture even more than styled subs do, which I consider a bad thing because when watching any subbed material you're already missing a lot of the details in the art from keeping your eyes glued to the bottom of the screen. LOOK-AT-ME yellow subs just make the problem worse.

And that doesn't even consider the aliasing. Aliased subs look like utter crap and incredibly unprofessional. Seriously, this is 2008, not 1985; can't we at least smooth text properly?

As for Arigatou's release, they could have taken the time to place the subs correctly; it's not impossible to do with softsubs. They just decided not to. I'd also like to add that Arigatou's choice of colors wasn't very smart if they were going for visibility - something more like the style shown in the Clannad screenshot I previously posted is much more universal and will remain readable in just about any color environment.

In the end, I still have a burning hate for DVD subs. They're the one of the primary reasons I haven't bought many anime DVDs. I pray that Blu-ray subs look at least a tiny bit better, because if they do, graphic subs won't be quite the torture that they are now once Blu-ray replaces DVD as the standard for video.

[Zalis116]

Well, it's true that I watched a truckload of fansubs/styled rips before I watched any DVD subs. It's a very rare occasion that I have trouble reading styled subs, but I also have very good vision.

I'm not an expert or anything (haven't attended college for it yet), but as an amateur designer I can tell you that as a rule, bright primary colors will almost always stick out like a sore thumb and almost always clash with what's currently on screen. Yeah, it's readable, but to anybody that hasn't conditioned themselves to them, DVD subs really smack you in the face upon viewing them. They beg for attention so much that they rip your eyes away from the main picture even more than styled subs do, which I consider a bad thing because when watching any subbed material you're already missing a lot of the details in the art from keeping your eyes glued to the bottom of the screen. LOOK-AT-ME yellow subs just make the problem worse.

And that doesn't even consider the aliasing. Aliased subs look like utter crap and incredibly unprofessional. Seriously, this is 2008, not 1985; can't we at least smooth text properly?

Well, a non-sarcastic thanks to you for the critique of DVD subs that goes beyond the typical "eww they're so yucky" that I normally hear. I still don't think the "attention-grabbing" of "clashing" subtitles is a bad thing; with DVD subs I find it easier to read the subtitles quickly and send my attention back to the main video. (Then again I can follow what's going on from the audio most of the time anyway.) As opposed to subtitles that try to do the opposite of clashing, that is "fitting" with the anime and usually blending in with hair, clothing, backgrounds, etc. Sure, they may be prettier fonts, but there's potential for more distraction from video if you have to strain your eyes to read subtitles in colors that don't stand out at all. To me subtitles are supposed to be practical, not artistic.

As for Arigatou's release, they could have taken the time to place the subs correctly; it's not impossible to do with softsubs. They just decided not to. I'd also like to add that Arigatou's choice of colors wasn't very smart if they were going for visibility - something more like the style shown in the Clannad screenshot I previously posted is much more universal and will remain readable in just about any color environment.

Sure, they could have repositioned the subs, but let's not forget they aren't a fansub group; they might not have the knowledge, personnel, or time to do so. I can understand the allure of re-typesetting DVD subs if they're badly formatted (which occurs more often than I'd prefer, sadly), but it seems utterly silly and redundant to go in and re-position subs that were already reasonably formatted in DVD releases like Magikano, Pani Poni Dash (see Arigatou's release), His & Her Circumstances (see LIME's release), and a number of others. And I'm still on the fence about the universality of the Clannad color scheme; I can't imagine it working well in a show like Mushi-shi, at least. DVD subs are designed to be readable in any color environment, not just "most any color environment."

Regarding the aliasing, sure it's not 1985 anymore. But where DVD technology is concerned, it's still 1997. It's not that DVD authoring houses decide not to bother with anti-aliasing, it's that they can't do it. Can't we cut them a little slack and have a little understanding that they're stuck with old hardware specifications and can't evolve like fansub subtitles do?

In the end, I still have a burning hate for DVD subs. They're the one of the primary reasons I haven't bought many anime DVDs. I pray that Blu-ray subs look at least a tiny bit better, because if they do, graphic subs won't be quite the torture that they are now once Blu-ray replaces DVD as the standard for video.

It sounds like the only thing missing from this equation is what you called "conditioning." It's my belief, however naïve it may be, that if people watch X number of releases with DVD subs, the alleged "eyecancer" factor will dissipate. (Let's say X is somewhere between 5 and 10.)

In the end, I don't think the imagesub issue matters too much when it comes to these updates/replacements, because either
1) E-D's releases themselves have un/styled subs as alternatives
2) there will still be alternatives on Box in the form of a4e/AHQ/a-S "special" versions or others like KAA/TV-fansubs
3) for releases where E-D only did imagesubs and no other options exist, there's enough of a disparity between E-D and the old releases that the imagesubs are worth the "tradeoff."

*sidenote: imagesubs are not completely impossible to restyle...all you need is mkvextract, subresync, and a bit of time and patience to press [character] + [Enter] a bunch of times 

[htears]

Blanchimont said in the post that E-D's release of Ocean Waves could be uploaded. If someone wants to upload it, here is a torrent: http://www.tokyotosho.com/details.php?id=193151

[neo1024]

Whisper of the Heart | (no dual audio)
(...LRE's might be preferred)

Tales from the Earthsea | MW

Kiki's Delivery Service | a4e

Ocean Waves | zx

I keep track of Ghibli stuff on Box and these four items drew my attention.

1. There is already a DualAudio LRE encode of Whisper of the Heart on Box: http://www.boxtorrents.com/torrent/142276/Whisper_of_the_Heart.html We also have niizk release up: http://www.boxtorrents.com/torrent/130749/Whisper_of_the_Heart_niizk.html Both are h264, so I don't think we need a third one up...

2. Tales from the Earthsea - in addition to the DualAud MW release you mention, we also have single audio niizk release: http://www.boxtorrents.com/torrent/130793/Gedo_Senki_Tales_from_Earthsea_niizk.html What I don't like with both releases is that they have DTS sound, which does not always translate correctly for analogue stereo systems. I might do my own encode if I get some spare time...

3. We have two DualAudio versions of Kiki's Delivery Service. One from niizk: http://www.boxtorrents.com/torrent/130753/Kiki_s_Delivery_Service_niizk.html adn on, as you mentioned, from a4e: http://www.boxtorrents.com/torrent/129337/Kiki_s_Delivery_Service_a4e.html. I could do my own encode of this movie (I don't like OGG audio tracks in niizk's release and his video is too noisy) and add midhras' Dutch and my own Norwegian tracks for a QuadAudio release

4. Ocean Waves - as you mentioned, only one ZX version exists on Box. I'll soon get the DVD of it and will do my own rip in x264.

[Blanchimont]

LRE's Whisper of the Heart was uploaded after the original post, and the deinterlacing issues in E-D's encode factored in that LRE's was chosen...

E-D's dual audio encode (niizk's is single audio) of Tales from the Earthsea would be an improvement over MW's (based on comments, haven't seen this version myself), however perhaps B-A's encode would be preferable as it's more recent and only one file?

As for Kiki's Delivery Service, I admit I failed to notice that , niizk used to do mostly single audio releases (too bad they're gone now, they were one of the better groups out there...)

E-D's encode of Ocean Waves is the best one available, so if it's acceptable, I'll go ahead and offer it...

[neo1024]

Hi,
To be honest, I don't have these films from E-D to judge the quality. I'll have the Ocean Waves DVD sometime during the next week and will be doing an encode of it anyway. I have several encodes on Box (e.g Pom Poko, Ghibli Extras Colelction). You can go ahead and offer E-D version, I'll then have some reference, when doing my own encode

EDIT: I am currently encoding a quad audio version of Kiki with better video, than what niizk has. Recieved Ocean Waves DVD today - will be encoding and offering it in a few days.

[Zalis116]

After 3 years to let the flame wars simmer down, I thought I'd update this thread with some places where Exiled-Destiny releases could represent an improvement, or often the only potential release in a given niche. As per earlier suggestions, releases with decent styled subs or sufficient (non-jumbled) unstyled subs will hold preference over vobsub-only releases. Though E-D rarely does vobsub-only releases anymore, so don't be suprised when E-D's the one offering the non-vobsub option. Titles that are either blacklisted or have an equivalent-category release already on BBT from a reasonably equal or better group will be omitted.

Anime Title  || On BakaBT (or "related" if no release similar to E-D's is present)

* sorting is by "last updated" date on AniDB, in reverse chronological order

Dirty Pair Flash || E-D v1
E-D recently completed a v2.

Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works || Related
1080p/720 from E-D already on BBT, 480p dual-audio version could also be uploaded.

Infinite Stratos || Related
E-D has dual-audio versions in 720p and 480p available. (I'm assuming 1080p was disallowed.)

K-On!! || Related
Likely to be the only Group C dual-audio option.

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea || niizk (single-audio)
Other dual-audio/480p options include COR, Arigatou, and several >2-language rips from non-English groups.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica || Related
E-D is the only dual-audio/480p version available.

Sister Princess || E-D v1
v1: 233 MB, transcoded vorbis audio, vobsub only
v2: 340 MB, original AC3 audio, srt+vobsub

Motto To-LoveRu || Doki-Chihiro
Doki-Chihiro is from JP BD and probably better quality, TS will be better, TL may be debatable. Might be worth just getting E-D's R1 .srt subs and providing them as attachments after appropriate timeshifting.

Nana || Holo-Anime
E-D: Original AC3 audio (for a music show) vs. Holo's AAC, E-D has .srt/vobsub while Holo has only vobsub. Too bad the Utsukushii-Raws/Jinsei release with better subs is a CDR-scrimper.

Honey & Clover || ~AA~
E-D: Original AC3 audio, srt+vobsub vs. ~AA~'s 128 kbps AC3 + vobsub-only.

Honey & Clover II || ~AA~
Same deal as season 1.

Tenjou Tenge || AHQ
Will likely need more detailed comparisons. IIRC AHQ had some no-effect hardsubbed karaoke and hardsubbed TS, so those wanting 100% softsubs may find E-D more appealing.

Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventures || DaHuman
Not sure how DH's encodes measure up to "typical E-D" levels; they may be better. There are some reports of "malformed .mkvs" in DH's files, though that may be a VLC thing.

The Weathering Continent || a4e
a4e's release definitely shows its age, and this would be an .ogm -> .mkv replacement opportunity.

The Samurai || RiP
E-D's release is newer and has better audio specs, but RiP's may be roughly equal quality. Further comparison needed.

Space Travelers || RiP
E-D's is higher resolution and higher video bitrate, though the actual aspect ratio of this OVA seems to be a mystery.

Ellcia || Reb
E-D's specs are better at least, though the Spanish audio in Reb may warrant Group D status.

Psychic Force || Psychic Force
If nothing else, E-D's is srt+vobsub while SSP-Corp's is vobsub or external .srt that I created.

Madlax || Anime-MX
While I was an advocate (and the original uploader) of the 352p Anime-MX release, that was because ACX's release had missing content and there weren't any suitable 480p dual-audio releases available. E-D has filled that gap.

Ranma 1/2 || Related
I'm not going to link all the individual incarnations of the franchise. But E-D would be a chance to upgrade from the typically bitrate-starved AniMecha releases or the older aX releases. And for the vobsub haters out there, E-D offers .srt as well.

His & Her Circumstances || LIME
One of E-D's rare recent vobsub-only releases, but that's completely justifiable with this extraordinarily text-heavy series. LIME's was good for awhile, but it is XviD with ~85 kbps Vorbis audio.

ef ~ a tale of memories || Related
E-D's is likely to be the only Group C dual-audio release for quite some time.

ef ~ a tale of melodies || Related
Same deal as previous series.

True Tears || Bakawolf-m33w+w00f
The R1 scripts are decent but not without stupid typos; imo some low-res fansub version should remain as Group D. Another option for Group C would be Doki's 480p BD version, but I'd rather try my luck with early m33w subs and XviD/avi than put myself through the overliteral Rozen-NiceBoat script again.

Kekkaishi || Related
All we have are Y-F's hardsubbed TV-fansubs; E-D's is the only complete dual-audio/DVD-rip/softsubbed version. No-brainer?

A Channel || Related
No Group C version presently on BBT; choices would be E-D or Doki's 480p BD version.

Fancy Lala || A-Et
A-Et is an old XviD release with low bitrate audio, and if E-D's is better, it should replace A-Et and the even older APS single-audio release, which appears to be the same R1DVD subs hardsubbed as-is or with unimpressive styling.

Brave Story || Related
E-D seems to be the best Group C dual-audio version; ACX is DVD source but 720p, COR has 66 kbps AAC audio.

Dragon Drive || a4e
a4e = older DivX release, though it is .mkv and not .ogm.

Adolesence of Utena (Movie) || COR
I'd hazard a guess that E-D's is better (especially audio), though it doesn't have the commentary track like COR does.

Shin Seiki GPX Cyber Formula || Anime-Takeover
A-T's is XviD/avi/hardsub (DVD-style), E-D's is h264/mkv/softsubbed, and likely an indirect v2 from taskforce -- almost certainly an unquestionable upgrade.

Squid Girl (S1) || Related
We have dual-audio in 720p from joseole99, but only Underwater's TV-rips for 480p.

Dirty Pair OVA || E-Dv1
v2 available with AC3 audio, higher video bitrate, & srt+vobsub.

Broken Blade || CBM
Comparison may or may not have been done, I don't know.

Modern Magic Made Simple || CommieRips
Idk, are CommieRips releases considered "Old Shame" by current Commie staff? E-D's would be the only Group C uncensored version. Chihiro's 576p release might work as a replacement fansub/Group D option, if people want it.

Himawari! || GNU
Imo E-D's release would make for a good non-replacing supplement, similar to other shows from the same era like Crystal Blaze and Ray the Animation.

Himawari!! || Yabai
A different situation from S1 as Yabai's is DVD while GNU's was TV. If Yabai's A/V quality and script refinements are good enough, E-D's may not be needed.

.hack//Roots || a-S
Not sure how these line up, though I know I've been planning on uploading Shinsen's release as Group C single-audio since forever...

Love Hina Again || a4e
Forgot to add this before since so much of the Love Hina franchise is Funimation these days. Concerning the other modern rips, AniDB commenters say that ACX boosted the contrast, and RaX lacks IVTC. a4e has slightly higher resolution than E-D, but is DivX and has worse audio.

(stopping at ~40 shows for now, will post more later)

[Al_Sleeper]

I'm going to offer E-D rip as a replacement for dual audio Vampire Princess Miyu TV.

[jackoneill]

Adolesence of Utena (Movie) || COR
I'd hazard a guess that E-D's is better (especially audio), though it doesn't have the commentary track like COR does.

I believe you'll find ZUM's remux is better: http://zum.ohtori.org/2012/03/shoujo-kakumei-utena-adolescence-mokushiroku. It has EnterTheBlog's video, COR's commentary and dub tracks, and nicely styled subtitles.

[Krudda]

I see Love Hina is blacklisted, but there is Love Hina Again here.
Also the soundtracks and manga. Anyway, I have a copy of [E-D] L.H.A. and think the quality is worth a comparison, I only flicked through, so I might be wrong, but I'll add a comparison anyway. (That is the point of this thread right?)
Edit; I don't have A4E version, but here are some shots from E-D.
The filename is the approximate time in m-s format
All snaps from episode 1

(click to show/hide)

By krudda at 2012-07-25

By krudda at 2012-07-25

By krudda at 2012-07-25

By krudda at 2012-07-25

By krudda at 2012-07-25

E-D has 4 subtitle tracks. English subtext, Japanese subtext, English vobsub, Japanese vobsub. The pictured subtitles are the Japanese vobsub, the subtext is unstyled, therefore not worth screenshotting. The English vobsub is the same styling as the Japanese version.

(click to show/hide)

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Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 30ms
Stream size                              : 41.2 MiB (8%)
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #1
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text #2
ID                                       : 5
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #3
ID                                       : 6
Format                                   : VobSub
Muxing mode                              : zlib
Codec ID                                 : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info                            : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Text #4
ID                                       : 7
Format                                   : VobSub
Muxing mode                              : zlib
Codec ID                                 : S_VOBSUB
Codec ID/Info                            : The same subtitle format used on DVDs
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Menu
00:00:00.000                             : en:Chapter 1
00:01:30.500                             : en:Chapter 2
00:13:49.033                             : en:Chapter 3
00:28:11.033                             : en:Chapter 4
00:29:11.333                             : en:Chapter 5

[Cuan]

Bear in mind that E-D often overcrop their video and generally don't produce great encodes, they just tend to throw more bitrate at them than other rippers.

So unless the existing releases have grave encoding problems themselves or use SRT where VobSubs are superior, there is little reason to turn to them for replacements.

Also, they mislabel their subtitle streams.

[OnDeed]

Bear in mind that E-D often overcrop their video and generally don't produce great encodes, they just tend to throw more bitrate at them than other rippers.

And inbetween the overcrop and encoding, they throw in a pretty brutal smoothing, effectively pushing any source into quality levels common in 2006.

[mastrboy]

Not only that, whatever smoother they are using it destroys everything in dark areas, just look at their berserk encode, there's nothing left but something resembling a water painting in the darker areas.

[Zalis116]

Bear in mind that E-D often overcrop their video and generally don't produce great encodes, they just tend to throw more bitrate at them than other rippers.

Also, they mislabel their subtitle streams.

And inbetween the overcrop and encoding, they throw in a pretty brutal smoothing, effectively pushing any source into quality levels common in 2006.

I tend to think of the labeling as a "different scheme" rather than "mislabeled." Unless people are dealing with releases containing actual Japanese subtitles on a regular basis, it doesn't really matter if the main subtitles are tagged Japanese. One little setting in Haali can cover E-D's scheme as well as typical naming schemes (which are more likely to result in "forced to change manually because the stream I don't prefer is the first 'English' stream" situations), so I don't see that as a dealbreaker.

And yes, I realize that E-D is not the be-all, end-all of great encoding. But surely 2006 quality levels would beat the ~2002-2004 levels shown in some older encodes, and 2006 quality is certainly better than nothing in the many cases where E-D's release is the only one available in its category. And I also feel obligated to point out that if certain other groups/encoders had provided the same viewing options that E-D does, there wouldn't be a need to consider E-D's releases.

[OnDeed]

Yeah, of course their video can still be better than alternative. If there even is an alternative at all...
(But I couldn't resist complaining.)

BTW, this might be the case for Rozen Maiden. The Hitsuji rip is IIRC haloed and has weird colors. I think the R1 rip by E-D looked better, actually (...)

Not only that, whatever smoother they are using it destroys everything in dark areas, just look at their berserk encode, there's nothing left but something resembling a water painting in the darker areas.

That's what I meant desu!

[mastrboy]

Haha, indeed. Exactly what i was referring too, the sword case in the middle of the image is completely destroyed.

[Zalis116]

I believe you'll find ZUM's remux is better: http://zum.ohtori.org/2012/03/shoujo-kakumei-utena-adolescence-mokushiroku. It has EnterTheBlog's video, COR's commentary and dub tracks, and nicely styled subtitles.

I did vaguely remember seeing that release on nyaa awhile back, and I guess the main thing against it is that it'd be nice to have the original AC3s instead of COR's low-bitrate transcodes. Though I guess it wouldn't matter for the commentary, since it's mainly talking. Of course, if EtB had just included those audio tracks to begin with, everything would be a lot simpler.

Anyway, I deleted a few of the more unlikely items from the first post, so here's a few more:

.hack//Twilight || B-A
B-A's is XviD with ear-numbing 55-60 kbps AAC.

Vampire Princess Miyu (TV) || AniMecha
I certainly wouldn't mind taking down the old .ogm AniMecha version, once Al_Sleeper offers it. Imo this could also replace the single-audio anime.fin release, which is just the DVD subs hardsubbed as-is. (Not listing the OVA as E-D's is unlikely to be better than either G_P or OnDeed.)

Maid-sama || Eclipse+FFFPeeps
Imo the Eclipse+FFFPeeps version should stay as Group D for better typesetting and other fansub considerations, but E-D's represents the only low-res disc release with animation fixes.

The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya || Related
E-D = only Group C dual-audio option.

Rozen Maiden Oveurture || R-X (single-audio / fansub)
Rozen Maiden Oveurture was not dubbed until recently. Currently, the only option aside from E-D is C-W, which is vobsub-only and lower video bitrate.

Nyoron Churuya-san || Related
No other Group C dual-audio options. (And why De.us only included the English audio on the 1080p release and not the 720p is beyond me.)

Tsukikage Ran || ZX
ZX vs. E-D comparison here; zx also had some missing subtitle lines.

MM! || Ryuumaru
I doubt the R1 subs can beat out Ryuumaru's hilarious script, but if there's any uncensored material, E-D's version would make a nice supplement. Plus it has the specials.

K-On! || Related
Same deal as Season 2, E-D = only dual-audio Group C option.

Ghost Hound || Arigatou (single-audio)
ACX would also be an option here, but it would make sense to replace Arigatou's single-audio version with a DA release, and perhaps get Shinsen's 400p release restored for Group C single-audio.

Allison&Lillia || AniYoshi
If we're looking for a DVD version to supplement AniYoshi's TV release, E-D's should at least be more complete than the terminally lazy Tamashii release. And supposedly there is a bit of uncensored content, too.

Lost Universe || COR
COR's release is low-bitrate audio as usual.

Xam'd Lost Memories || Related
Besides, E-D, other Group C DA options include Arigatou (vobsub only) and ACX (unknown specs). If the subs are the same ones used in the PSN version, the GGR SA release could also be replaced.

Kashimashi ~Girl meets girl~ || ~AA~
~AA~ is vobsub-only vs. E-D's srt+vobsub. And for some reason we still have the redundant Blitz single-audio R1 release, possibly because it has .srt subs?

Durarara!! || CBM
Idk how much esteem CBM's encodes are held in these days. If nothing else, E-D does provide the .srt option and untouched AC3 audio.

Banner of the Stars II || A-Et
Anime-Eternal's is older/XviD, and only 360p.

Banner of the Stars I || A-Et
Roughly the same deal as BotS II, though resolutions are the same. A-Et's audio for pretty much all their releases is 80-90 kbps Vorbis or AAC, as well.

Angelic Layer || Anime-Takeover
This would be an indirect v2 as well as an .ogm -> .mkv replacement.

Divergence Eve || Anime-MX
Anime-MX's is only 400p, with somewhat low (185 kbps AAC)) bitrate for the English 5.1 audio.

Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles || cLT
cLT is only 368p, possibly has the wrong framerate (29.97 when everything else is 23.976 or VFR), and has even lower bitrate (128 kbps AAC) for the 5.1 English audio.

Sakura Diaries || LIME
LIME was the only uncensored DA version available at the time; it's XviD, vobsub-only and 85 kbs Vorbis.

Crest of the Stars || ZX
ZX's release is DivX with ~ 80 kbps Vorbis. Additionally, the vobsub option in E-D provides at least some formatting and separation for the signage in this series. This would also be an .ogm -> .mkv replacement.

Kurokami || Related
Group C DA is the only version not on BBT. The only other option is ~AA~, and that's vobsub-only and probably hard to obtain.

Shin Koihime Musou || Commie
Same deal as Otome Tairan, though in this case Commie should be kept as Group D due to subjective differences (chibis!) between the broadcast and disc versions. (Not listing the 1st season as Sentai re-used some failtastic early CR subs.)

Hidamari Sketch *** || Tortoise
From what I've seen, Shaft did some super-widescreen stuff that results in more image being present on the disc versions. Though it would be a shame to completely lose Tortoise's, as it's the only non-localized translation.

Angel Beats! || Related
Several other Group C DA options exist, such as CBM, RaX (<-both vobsub-only), and ACX, which seems a little bitrate-starved at ~850 kbps. According to AniDB anyway, E-D's release is a BD downscale rather than a DVD-rip. I could also see how well a remux with Doki's 480p release would work.

Demon King Demon King || ~AA~
Yet another E-D vs. ~AA~ faceoff.  .srt available in E-D, and there wouldn't be too many formatting issues beyond the TL notes in the 1st episode.

The Sky Crawlers || Related
Other Group C DA options include CBM (396p), ACX, and COR.

Hayate the Combat Butler! || SS-Eclipse
Given reports of poor quality in the R1 DVD release (interlacing issues), I'd hate to see my SS-Eclipse torrent completely replaced. Who knows, perhaps the DVD audio from the SS-Rawako 720p remux would also work with the XviD release and make it into hardsubbed dual-audio .mkvs?

EDIT: 9 more entries added.

Doujin Work || FuktLogik
At least E-D's wouldn't have untranslated content...

Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity || Ayako
Ayako probably should be left as Group D as it's 576p. But if there is any uncensored content in this series, E-D's release is the only low-res way to get it.

Canaan || Related
Unlike ~AA~ and ACX, their competitors in this range, E-D has 5.1 Japanese audio.

Tears to Tiara || Related
No other Group C DA releases available.

Ninja Nonsense || a-S
A questionable proposition, as people may prefer the styled subs in a-S over the .srt/vobsub in E-D. a-S's file sizes are kinda low though, with

Parametric Stereo. Not really what you would want on non-streaming media. But anywho, it's really neither mono nor stereo, more of a middle-ground.

Perhaps a-S's .ass/.ssa files can work with E-D's video?

Ushio & Tora || Z~Z
Z~Z is vobsub-only...

Code Geass R2 || Related
Group C DA is the only option not available on BBT. Beyond E-D, other choices include Arigatou, Z~Z (<- both of which are vobsub-only), and ACX (60 kbps AAC, probably bitrate starved video to achieve CDR/3 size).

Ghost Slayers Ayashi || Arigatou
Arigatou is vobsub-only...

Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit || Arigatou
See previous entry.

Pretty much everything older is either already on BBT, or has already been considered and decided against.