The packaging is definitely the most sturdy feeling of the "book" type releases we've gotten over the last couple of years.
I watched it last night and had a blast. I loved how into it the crowd was throughout, especially the back-to-back-to-back of Chichin Puipui, Mittei Monogatari, and Koroshiya Kiki Ippatsu. There were some nice new mixes of old favorites like Yattsuke Shigoto, and there were performances that sounded strikingly close to the studio recordings (Koroshiya).
As people mentioned, it sure looks like they spent a lot of money on this. Tons of people must've worked on the production, and you can have both a lavish production and a great musical performance (it's not like Ringo is doing it all herself).
Anyone that's worried about too much Aya & Bambi (is anyone worried about that?), they're only in about a third of the songs, and they're in the background or off to the sides of the stage the entire time that they're there. They weren't nearly as prevalent in Ringo Expo as they were in those recent performances with Madonna.
Watching it did make me more interested in seeing the Academic version. There was a lot of interesting stuff on the big screens that I wanted to see more of, like the Ringo video during Kachuu no Otoko.
Definitely a better stage setup than Expo '08. That '08 stage was so for away from the crowd, and that little walkway she had to walk down was so narrow that I always think she's gonna fall off when I watch it.
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