NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (August 2019): Arrow have transferred Akio Jissôji's Buddhist Trilogy to Blu-ray. Each film gets its own Blu-ray with This Transient Life (1970), Mandara (1971) and Poem (1972) and the set includes a 4th Blu-ray of Asaki yumemishi (1974) It Was a Faint Dream also directed by Jissôji'. They are all dual-layered with high bitrates except Poem where the disc is shared by both Extended (2 1/4 hour) and Theatrical (2-hour) cuts of the film in their own separate transfer (not seamlessly-branched.) It looks to me like these are as good as the available sources - and the image quality appears authentic. We have posted some random screen captures below to give you an idea of the 1080P quality. They all look fine in-motion, on my system, but there was some odd sequences in It Was a Faint Dream (unfortunately the only one without a commentary) because I couldn't tell whether the warped-look was intentional or a function of the condition. I suspect the former as I have never seen damage like it - a sample is the third last captures below. Otherwise this is at Arrow's usual professional video standard.

On their Blu-rays, Arrow use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original Japanese language. For all three films in the Buddist Trilogy the score is by Toru Fuyuki (Super Inframan), and has a classical, traditional and avant-garde 'feel' using violas, violins and harpsichords. It sounds reasonably consistent in the uncompressed. Arrow offer optional English subtitles (see sample below) on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

Arrow include scene-select commentaries on all three films by David Desser (author of Eros Plus Massacre: An Introduction to the Japanese New Wave Cinema). He is great discussing such topics as calligraphy, tradition over modernity, sex, nudity, sets, props, costumes, cameras movement - dollies, cranes, cut-aways, ellipses, the avant-garde approach, challenging cultural, sexual norms, patterns of the films, 90 degree cuts, use of space, framing (use of the entire frame - referencing Ozu - plugging his own book Cambridge Film Handbooks' Ozu's Tokyo Story), time (sound of clocks) and so much more. But there are not for the full three Buddhist Trilogy features but have gaps and are picked-up later. It is very educational and I liked his manner. Desser also gives 10-minute introductions to all three films which are good to watch prior to your first viewing to get some perspective. There are theatrical trailers for Mandara, Poem and the inclusion of the fourth film, It Was a Faint Dream on its own bare-bones Blu-ray with only a trailer as a supplement The limited edition packaging, fully illustrated by maarko phntm, has an illustrated 80-page perfect-bound collector s book featuring new writings on the film by Anton Bitel and Tom Mes.

I didn't find this as artsy as, say, Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism - maybe not as 'taboo' (although there is plenty) and it was still extremely interesting with inventive cinematographic techniques, pushing limits, start black and white photography, probing close-ups etc. and the Arrow Blu-ray set is something to digest over time. The commentaries were of great benefit to this reviewer - and I expect many will feel the same. I love having something like this in the library when I feel at my most adventurous and crave some avant-garde Japanese cinema. Recommended to the right crowd. 

Gary Tooze