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Retro Anime Discussion |OT|

What retro anime titles are long overdue for a blu-ray release in North America?


  • Total voters
    74
3 X 3 Eyes is one of those "sell me something I already own" titles. It's been in my physical collection for about 8-years now (I bought the Pioneer release that included a water-based tattoo inside the inner sleeve). However, like many in my collection -- it's never been watched. I watched DNA-squared not long ago but why should I watch 3 X 3 Eyes. I'm going to eventually but I have a playlist of all the blu-rays and DVD releases I'm going to watch from now until about next Summer. Anyone want to try to convince me to squeeze this one in there? Space Runaway Space Runaway Or is it worth putting off longer.
I don't know about convincing you but it's a good horror fantasy OVA series (Though I've never watched the 95 sequel OVAs). Characters and story are good, has decent production for a 91 OVA (Dragonball's Daisuke Nishio is directing) and being that it's the early 90s, they make sure to throw in a blood and gore when they can (The main character's "situation" allows for him to get sliced apart and such). I've never read the comic it's adapted from but from what I understand it follows the portion it covers well enough. So if you're interested give it a watch. It's certainly a better use of your time than Vampire Wars. 😋
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
I don't know about convincing you but it's a good horror fantasy OVA series (Though I've never watched the 95 sequel OVAs). Characters and story are good, has decent production for a 91 OVA (Dragonball's Daisuke Nishio is directing) and being that it's the early 90s, they make sure to throw in a blood and gore when they can (The main character's "situation" allows for him to get sliced apart and such). I've never read the comic it's adapted from but from what I understand it follows the portion it covers well enough. So if you're interested give it a watch. It's certainly a better use of your time than Vampire Wars. 😋
I was not aware there was a sequel. I recall that the manga was never finished but basically you get a rough idea of the premise with this short OVA. I bought it on impulse trying to collect a bunch of titles that I suspected would go oop back in 2014-ish. The name always popped up on the old anime sites and I've purchased nearly every one of those classic titles based on memory alone.

Anyway, it sounds "okay" but not enough to bump it into the 2022 line-up. Vampire Wars, you posted something on it probably 16-pages back or so. I thought Vampire Wars had the potential to become a good...not great movie. They had this frivolous idea on the origins of the two "space vampires" and I figured the film would end with a big showdown between the two. Then the movie just ends... I felt it was a bit comedic too the way the credits rushed in too. I think the most interesting trivia from Vampire Wars is the fact that just like you mentioned, Japan never released it on DVD. However, Manga Entertainment U.S. did release it on DVD. That's the release I own. It was even shown for a few seconds in one of Manga Entertainments 90's trailers compilations. Another fun one they threw into that trailers mix was Psychic Wars. The gimmick was pretty much, "it's anime and these guys look cool...just buy it." Trailers in the 90's never showed too much but I like this one despite how it gives no context to the anime shown.

 
I was not aware there was a sequel. I recall that the manga was never finished but basically you get a rough idea of the premise with this short OVA. I bought it on impulse trying to collect a bunch of titles that I suspected would go oop back in 2014-ish. The name always popped up on the old anime sites and I've purchased nearly every one of those classic titles based on memory alone.

Anyway, it sounds "okay" but not enough to bump it into the 2022 line-up. Vampire Wars, you posted something on it probably 16-pages back or so. I thought Vampire Wars had the potential to become a good...not great movie. They had this frivolous idea on the origins of the two "space vampires" and I figured the film would end with a big showdown between the two. Then the movie just ends... I felt it was a bit comedic too the way the credits rushed in too. I think the most interesting trivia from Vampire Wars is the fact that just like you mentioned, Japan never released it on DVD. However, Manga Entertainment U.S. did release it on DVD. That's the release I own. It was even shown for a few seconds in one of Manga Entertainments 90's trailers compilations. Another fun one they threw into that trailers mix was Psychic Wars. The gimmick was pretty much, "it's anime and these guys look cool...just buy it." Trailers in the 90's never showed too much but I like this one despite how it gives no context to the anime shown.



I've actually been considering rewatching Psychic Wars just to see what I think of it now. Considering the people who worked on it I feel like I might have a better appreciation for the production side even if the film itself is whack.

And on the subject of those 90s anime compilation trailers, I've found myself nostalgic for old Streamline Pictures reel



Other than a couple titles that's a nice selection (Of course Akira gets the most screen time) and they set it to 8 Man After's theme. =P
 
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
I've actually been considering rewatching Psychic Wars just to see what I think of it now. Considering the people who worked on it I feel like I might have a better appreciation for the production side even if the film itself is whack.

And on the subject of those 90s anime compilation trailers, I've found myself nostalgic for old Streamline Pictures reel



Other than a couple titles that's a nice selection (Of course Akira gets the most screen time) and they set it to 8 Man After's theme. =P

It's pretty cool that about 90% of these titles did get another release before falling partially or completely into the oop zone. I still don't get what the deal is with Discotek not buying NeoToyko yet. It's been oop since about 2011. Doomed Megalopolis has certain elements in it that I could see having at minimum a limited release. I used to own it in this weird double-bound boxset. Wicked City has been through 3 U.S. distributors that I know of. Streamline was the first, then CPM, and lastly Discotek.
 
It's pretty cool that about 90% of these titles did get another release before falling partially or completely into the oop zone. I still don't get what the deal is with Discotek not buying NeoToyko yet. It's been oop since about 2011. Doomed Megalopolis has certain elements in it that I could see having at minimum a limited release. I used to own it in this weird double-bound boxset.
Yeah I have no idea what the deal is with distribution of certain titles. Also I have that Doomed Megalopolis "Special Edition" dvd set from ADV. Only watched it once when I first got it. Maybe I should refresh my memory with it one day. =P

Wicked City has been through 3 U.S. distributors that I know of. Streamline was the first, then CPM, and lastly Discotek.

Don't forget Urban Vision. :messenger_sunglasses:
 
While mentioned earlier in this thread, I'll reiterate since it generally seems kosher to the conversation and relevant due to nearing date: Media Blasters will release Doomed Megalopolis, available on Blu-ray or DVD, on (or around) this coming November 9th. Things to note: the transfer was handled in Japan by the title's rights holder; there is no point of reference on potential quality, since the show hasn't been released in Japan on Blu-ray; the DVD version is listed as a DVD-R and will likely be whatever transfer was created for the BD, meaning the DVD won't be a contingency if the BD sucks.

As for Neo Tokyo, it's another title that has not received a Blu-ray release in Japan, with its home-market DVD from 2003 also appearing to be out-of-print. Going by ADV's last release of it (2004) and a French DVD from 2008, looks like Kadokawa holds the home-media rights. Ultimately, the questions are: is the title even available to license, and what is the condition of the potential film materials?
 
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
While mentioned earlier in this thread, I'll reiterate since it generally seems kosher to the conversation and relevant due to nearing date: Media Blasters will release Doomed Megalopolis, available on Blu-ray or DVD, on (or around) this coming November 9th. Things to note: the transfer was handled in Japan by the title's rights holder; there is no point of reference on potential quality, since the show hasn't been released in Japan on Blu-ray; the DVD version is listed as a DVD-R and will likely be whatever transfer was created for the BD, meaning the DVD won't be a contingency if the BD sucks.

As for Neo Tokyo, it's another title that has not received a Blu-ray release in Japan, with its home-market DVD from 2003 also appearing to be out-of-print. Going by ADV's last release of it (2004) and a French DVD from 2008, looks like Kadokawa holds the home-media rights. Ultimately, the questions are: is the title even available to license, and what is the condition of the potential film materials?
You know, I'm not picky. If they release an SD blu-ray of NeoToyko; I'm not going to complain. I've never been one of those who is nit-picky about quality remasters. The only thing that really matters to me is that no content becomes censored in a re-release. Otherwise, I don't care what the source material is. That would be the same with NeoTokyo. I owned the ADV release and it wasn't that bad that it would demand something high quality. I also look at it this way, most anime collectors who want physical media would prefer something HD but it's not going to be a deal breaker if the composite source isn't upscaled to 4K, 8K, whateverK. We just want to own stuff as dumb and basic as that sounds. I would say the same for Doomed Megalopolis. It didn't blow me away when I first saw it and I willingly sold my DVD copies over 10-years ago. If I wanted it back, I don't want some "limited print 8K steel box remaster anniversary...whatever edition." I'm not that type of collector. I grew from the VHS era in which you took what you could get and that was good enough. If someone gives something extra -- 'wow thanks!' but it's not necessary.

I feel if video collectors are really that passionate now about how their anime comes out. Why weren't more investing into LaserDisc players and buying high-quality anime during the VHS era? Same reason I stick with my old ADV copy of Gunbusters the OVA rather than spending over $100 on a very short OVA "limited blu-ray" release. They didn't censor anything from either or that I'm aware of and regular HD or SD is good enough for me. The only thing you might get me to shell out money on is a remaster of Maison Ikkoku. But I doubt that's going to happen now that VIZ media became nothing more than an entity of Warner Distributions.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Yeah I have no idea what the deal is with distribution of certain titles. Also I have that Doomed Megalopolis "Special Edition" dvd set from ADV. Only watched it once when I first got it. Maybe I should refresh my memory with it one day. =P



Don't forget Urban Vision. :messenger_sunglasses:
Well...I am an idiot. I meant to say U.V. instead of CPM. CPM never had a release of Wicked City that I'm aware of. I know this is ridiculous but I'd love it if someone could buy some of those U.V. titles and give them a quick & simple release. The two I want to see again are Psycho Diver and Legend of Heroes: Dragon Slayer. Those two titles never left VHS. My VHS copies being long gone, I have a digital copy of Psycho Diver (not too bad) but LoH: Dragon Slayer got chopped up into 6 smaller segments for like 2 or 3 short OVAs. Urban Vision's titles were mysterious and unique. I think the only title I didn't purchase from them was Final Fantasy: The Legend of the Crystals. I never touched Strange Dawn either...not my forte.
 
But I doubt that's going to happen now that VIZ media became nothing more than an entity of Warner Distributions.
Since 2005, VIZ Media has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd. (ShoPro), a joint venture between Japanese publishers Shueisha and Shogakukan, which themselves are part of the larger Hitotsubashi Group. VIZ merely has a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (formerly Warner Home Video), allowing VIZ to leverage the infrastructure & logistics of Warner to get finished, physical product onto store shelves. Warner neither has any ownership nor say in how VIZ runs its business.
 
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OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
I rewatched the first 4 episodes of Cowboy Bebop back to back since it's been on my mind what with the live-action show coming up. So fucking good. So easy to watch. The music, the art, the characters(mostly). The only thing I can fault the show for in 2021 is some dated cg work. That's to be expected. Luckily it's not used super often but it definitely sticks out now.
 
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
I watched the first 4 episodes of Cowboy Bebop back to back since it's been on my mind what with the live-action show coming up. So fucking good. So easy to watch. The music, the art, the characters(mostly). The only thing I can fault the show for in 2021 is some dated cg work. That's to be expected. Luckily it's not used super often but it definitely sticks out now.
It's probably not too dated. As much as I love Golgo 13: The Professional...those CGI scenes define 'dated.' Thanks for bringing Cowbody Bebop up though. It's another anime which I challenge someone to give me an excuse to watch it after the current series I'm on. It would need to bump RoLW but I've owned the Remix set (still sealed) for about 9-years now. Curious about it but it sits behind many other unwatched titles.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Since 2005, VIZ Media has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd. (ShoPro), a joint venture between Japanese publishers Shueisha and Shogakukan, which themselves are part of the larger Hitotsubashi Group. VIZ merely has a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (formerly Warner Home Video), allowing VIZ to leverage the infrastructure & logistics of Warner to get finished, physical product onto store shelves. Warner neither has any ownership nor say in how VIZ runs its business.
I was about to ask about the former Shueisha but I see you've explained that one. Well, it doesn't seem completely hopeless but since you're the expert on releases and licensing...if Japan moved to release it on blu-ray; would there even be a place where Westerners could petition a release on blu-ray. It doesn't seem like this would be a difficult task like it would for some anime.
 
...if Japan moved to release it on blu-ray; would there even be a place where Westerners could petition a release on blu-ray. It doesn't seem like this would be a difficult task like it would for some anime.
First, I'm uncertain what property you're referencing as "it" in the context of a Blu-ray release.

In terms of licensing, hobbyist demonstrating interest and financial support of related or similar products is always helpful, but acquiring rights to shows--particularly from back catalogues--often depends on the Japanese rights holders willingness to license titles and the economics working for both sides. The big U.S. and European localization & distribution companies are often aware of demand for certain products, even those considered niche. Sometimes they just can't get a deal done. As example, it's no accident Neon Genesis Evangelion took six years to be released outside of Japan on Blu-ray nor that the property's main licensee, GKIDS, is essentially acting as a middleman to spread a product overseen and sanctioned by the Japanese creators and rights holders.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
First, I'm uncertain what property you're referencing as "it" in the context of a Blu-ray release.

In terms of licensing, hobbyist demonstrating interest and financial support of related or similar products is always helpful, but acquiring rights to shows--particularly from back catalogues--often depends on the Japanese rights holders willingness to license titles and the economics working for both sides. The big U.S. and European localization & distribution companies are often aware of demand for certain products, even those considered niche. Sometimes they just can't get a deal done. As example, it's no accident Neon Genesis Evangelion took six years to be released outside of Japan on Blu-ray nor that the property's main licensee, GKIDS, is essentially acting as a middleman to spread a product overseen and sanctioned by the Japanese creators and rights holders.
It would be referring to Maison Ikkoku rights to license, release, and whatnot. Seems like a complicated game to be in the business of distributing or relicensing these titles. This would probably indicate a 'no go' for a campaign to see at minimum a DVD release RumikWorld titles like the Mermaid Saga. Last a saw of any of those titles were VHS releases.
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
It's probably not too dated. As much as I love Golgo 13: The Professional...those CGI scenes define 'dated.' Thanks for bringing Cowbody Bebop up though. It's another anime which I challenge someone to give me an excuse to watch it after the current series I'm on. It would need to bump RoLW but I've owned the Remix set (still sealed) for about 9-years now. Curious about it but it sits behind many other unwatched titles.
You haven't watched Bebop? That's remarkable. I envy you. I would love to be able to see it again for the first time. Get on that shit asap.
 
It would be referring to Maison Ikkoku rights to license, release, and whatnot. Seems like a complicated game to be in the business of distributing or relicensing these titles. This would probably indicate a 'no go' for a campaign to see at minimum a DVD release RumikWorld titles like the Mermaid Saga. Last a saw of any of those titles were VHS releases.
Following a more expensive two-part release from 2013 & 2014, Maison Ikkoku received a priced-down Blu-ray set in Japan in 2017, although it still retailed for approximately $380.00. Conceptually, the material is available. What's potentially telling is despite Rumiko Takahashi's international popularity, especially in Europe, older series like Maison Ikkoku and Urusei Yatsura haven't seen Blu-ray releases anywhere outside of Japan. Ranma 1/2 is the one anomaly, thanks to VIZ's Blu-rays and a BD release that just started this year in Spain. Keeping in mind Europe has traditionally seen notably cheaper licensing fees than the U.S., we can guess series like Maison Ikkoku aren't currently being made available to license or the rights holders are asking exorbitant fees.

As for more minor Takahashi works like Mermaid's Scar, most saw their last release in Japan on now out-of-print DVDs. The lack of HD materials for titles of already marginal interest probably means few--if any--companies are actively inquiring about them.

There's a good chance series along the lines of Mermaid's Scar will remain lost, until Japan starts making renewed movement on them. I suspect the international markets will see the likes of Maison Ikkoku, once the Japanese rights holders are less concerned about devaluing their property through cheaper overseas editions.

:: edit ::
I need to slightly amend the above. Italy recently saw a release of Urusei Yatsura, across four sets, from late 2020 through mid 2021. The priced-down Japanese re-releases of the series are also of a 2017 vintage, with those two sets costing Y38000 & Y40000, respectively. The four Italians sets are each retailing at Euro 45,00 for the DVD versions and Euro 53,99 for Blu-rays; they also seem to have locked subtitles, when playing the JP audio track.

With the Japanese BDs of Ranma, Urusei Yatsura, and Maison Ikkoku no longer seeming to be in active production and some series leaking into Europe, the takeaway may be Japan is starting to consider international releases for this material. The situation also make me wonder if the Japanese rights holders ultimately regretted allowing VIZ to begin selling their Ranma 1/2 Blu-ray editions less than a year after the first Japanese set hit retail. For context, without any usual discounts, the three Japanese sets for Ranma had a combined total cost of Y129600 ($1,296), while purchasing all seven of VIZ's sets at full retail price would have cost $384.79 for the LEs with the standard editions currently running $349.93
 
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Ya and watch it before you are tempted to watch that live action ... show.
I believe it will happen. My wife and I co-op through watching the classic anime collection. I'm not a fan of modern cinema -- so, I think I can avoid the live action. Same way I avoided watching Jim Cameron make a big-budget version of a simple OVA/manga (Gunnm - Battle Angel Alita). Question: is the Remix DVD release any different than the standard release of Bebop? Remix is the one I own.
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
I believe it will happen. My wife and I co-op through watching the classic anime collection. I'm not a fan of modern cinema -- so, I think I can avoid the live action. Same way I avoided watching Jim Cameron make a big-budget version of a simple OVA/manga (Gunnm - Battle Angel Alita). Question: is the Remix DVD release any different than the standard release of Bebop? Remix is the one I own.
Remix has the 5.1 soundtrack I think? Maybe a few extra special features. Certainly nothing different in the show itself.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Remix has the 5.1 soundtrack I think? Maybe a few extra special features. Certainly nothing different in the show itself.
That's what I wanted to know too. Making sure it was an intact release. I bought it on impulse but should have just waited for the blu-ray release. Seems like during that time (the late 2000's) it could have been a misleading release title. I recall how Best Buy used to sell huge cardboard boxsets for DVD series releases and they'd stick a single disc inside and sell it for 19.99. For those who were not buying online back then...that was frustrating. You'd buy the package thinking they just compartmentalized all episodes into one disc and gave you a fancy box. Turns out it was about 5 episodes and you had to wait for the other episodes to either be released or buy them separately.
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
That's what I wanted to know too. Making sure it was an intact release. I bought it on impulse but should have just waited for the blu-ray release. Seems like during that time (the late 2000's) it could have been a misleading release title. I recall how Best Buy used to sell huge cardboard boxsets for DVD series releases and they'd stick a single disc inside and sell it for 19.99. For those who were not buying online back then...that was frustrating. You'd buy the package thinking they just compartmentalized all episodes into one disc and gave you a fancy box. Turns out it was about 5 episodes and you had to wait for the other episodes to either be released or buy them separately.
I bought the hell out of those collector boxes back then. Looked good on the shelf. I still have a bunch.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
I bought the hell out of those collector boxes back then. Looked good on the shelf. I still have a bunch.
I have a couple left. Like the first 2 seasons of YYH and Trigun. I completed buying the Trigun set...many years after and a few years before they released slim boxes with all the episodes on only a couple discs. I think it was DGrayson DGrayson that pointed out how much they squandered out of us on anime during 2000's releases of series'. They had the ability to release a 50 + episode series on only a few discs and the same on blu-ray on 2-discs but would bolster these monsterous 8 clamp case DVD boxsets. The size wasn't the big issue only. It was paying like 80 or more for 1 boxset out of 6 or 7. Today you can buy a full series for the price of what one of those costed.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Anyone with some nostalgia for the VHS days might enjoy this channel:


It's kinda pointless with most of these titles being available on dvd and such but I still find it a neat channel. So yeah, pointless nostalgia. =P
Cool. I saw Dragon Knight in there. That sorta disappeared into nowhere. I remember it being very comedic and adult humor. That title never made it to DVD that I'm aware. Seems this guy was willing to watch...anything. Some pretty awful titles in there too...Judge. How did he sit through that?
 
Cool. I saw Dragon Knight in there. That sorta disappeared into nowhere. I remember it being very comedic and adult humor. That title never made it to DVD that I'm aware. Seems this guy was willing to watch...anything. Some pretty awful titles in there too...Judge. How did he sit through that?
Not a dissimilar selection to what you'd see at Suncoast or Sam Goody. Or the local rental store. 😋
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Not a dissimilar selection to what you'd see at Suncoast or Sam Goody. Or the local rental store. 😋
That is basically the environment that he gives by uploading the videos with the box art as a thumbnail. The only difference being no rental fee. In true VHS anime style...it's sub or dub; you don't choose...you take what you get. That would never work with the whiny crowd today. Dragon Half subbed but Princess Rogue dubbed in English. I actually owned Legend of the Last Labyrinth on VHS subbed. Again, I took what I could get and that strange "The Police Andy Summers-type" guitar on the main theme. Check that out.

 
That is basically the environment that he gives by uploading the videos with the box art as a thumbnail. The only difference being no rental fee. In true VHS anime style...it's sub or dub; you don't choose...you take what you get. That would never work with the whiny crowd today. Dragon Half subbed but Princess Rogue dubbed in English. I actually owned Legend of the Last Labyrinth on VHS subbed. Again, I took what I could get and that strange "The Police Andy Summers-type" guitar on the main theme. Check that out.


Didn't they release one version of that in a plastic clamshell case or something? lol

Yeah used to just take what you could get at rental stores. If it was dubbed, so be it. There also used to be the situation, where say, Blockbuster would have the first couple tapes of the Guyver but the third tape would be at the other Blockbuster across town(Or the next city). Trying to locate and watch every episode of Bubblegum Crisis was a pain in the ass. Fun times. =P
 
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DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
oh this is awesome!

Perfect Blue is a recent upload. I just saw it for the first time a couple months ago. Super good
I remember buying Perfect Blue on DVD in Best Buy right before Christmas 2004. I was watching trailers on the X: The Movie (terrible movie but great animation by CLAMP) and saw trailers for Perfect Blue and Blood: The Last Vampire. If you were seeing anime movie trailers back then, it was pretty cool because you were likely to find the titles for sale not too far. I recall buying both Perfect Blue and Blood: The Last Vampire. I've subbed to that YouTube channel. Just in case you didn't purchase one of the titles before they went oop; it's pretty easy to download one as an MP4. Sadly, at least half those titles have not been relicensed that I'm aware of.
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
I saw city hunter on that channel and got excited for a minute. Then I realized I was thinking of bio hunter. I really need to check and see if i ever picked that one up.
 

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
I remember buying Perfect Blue on DVD in Best Buy right before Christmas 2004. I was watching trailers on the X: The Movie (terrible movie but great animation by CLAMP) and saw trailers for Perfect Blue and Blood: The Last Vampire. If you were seeing anime movie trailers back then, it was pretty cool because you were likely to find the titles for sale not too far. I recall buying both Perfect Blue and Blood: The Last Vampire. I've subbed to that YouTube channel. Just in case you didn't purchase one of the titles before they went oop; it's pretty easy to download one as an MP4. Sadly, at least half those titles have not been relicensed that I'm aware of.

I don't remember if I discussed it in this thread or if it was in a PM with OmegaSupreme OmegaSupreme but the X series was where I started to lose interest in anime. I remember I was so hyped for it, the previews looked incredible. The special edition DVDs really hooked me.

Art was great but the story made no sense that shit was confusing as fuck.
 
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OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
I don't remember if I discussed it in this thread or if it was in a PM with OmegaSupreme OmegaSupreme but the X series was where I started to lose interest in anime. I remember I was so hyped for it, the previous looked incredible. The special edition DVDs really hooked me.

Art was great but the story made no sense that shit was confusing as fuck.
I think that was in here. I liked that one. The art and music carried it. I think the original story is pretty much nonsense too to be fair lol. Still liked it. I haven't rewatched it in years so it might not hold up.
 

SirTerry-T

Member
Fella called Teeaboo has started reacting to Giant Robo on YouTube, well worth a watch just to see someone fall in love with all the gorgeous stuff that show did with art, direction and music.

 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
I don't remember if I discussed it in this thread or if it was in a PM with OmegaSupreme OmegaSupreme but the X series was where I started to lose interest in anime. I remember I was so hyped for it, the previews looked incredible. The special edition DVDs really hooked me.

Art was great but the story made no sense that shit was confusing as fuck.
X the series made a bit more sense than the movie. The movie came first and I remember buying it after seeing it in a magazine ad (it didn't take much for me back in 2000 to buy something). Found the VHS in Sam Goody and was with them for the first 5-minutes. Then...it all went to hell. Not even the whole premise of "purifying the world of it's modern state" is remotely original and it seemed extremely slow paced.

This is the complete movie ripped from either the VHS or LaserDisc that Manga Entertainment put out. Unfortunately, it's dubbed but that's the same version I was sold. In it's entirety, the bloke who uploaded this one even thought to leave the trailers in the begginning entact. Now try getting through 15-minutes without falling asleep or turning it off. It's one of those titles that sells extremely well if you only look at the movie from the trailer.

Full Manga Entertainment release:



Manga Entertainment trailer:



From the trailer it looks amazing. Maybe if the story was shorten into a basic 2 episode OVA it wouldn't have been that bad. Not sure that would have changed the outcome. Can't help but laugh at how they botch Japanese names in the dub. Back in 2000 it wasn't very noticeable but it sorta brings out a cringe to hear the English actors attempting to pronounce the Japanese names.
 
I only ever saw the X: The Movie. I did like it conceptually. The whole fighting in barriers that blow up the area upon loss thing gave instant stakes to each fight's outcome and the movie does have some neat stylish direction/visuals (It is Rintaro) along with this kinda nihilistic tone I'm a sucker for. Unfortunately you got what feels like this giant story with lots of characters stuffed into a short runtime and the whole thing feels messy and shortchanged. There's so much exposition while the most of the cast has little depth due to so much focus on trying to tell this story that when they die it's very "Well, that person died". If memory serves, even the action scenes get the "quickie" treatment after the first few. Doesn't help my experience with it was that rough dub too. =P It's possible one could appreciate the movie if they're familiar with the comic but I really can't say as I've never read it or watched the series.

Honestly, other than maybe (maaaybe) Rayearth, I don't really like Clamp's work. I still remember this tape I bought from Chinatown had clips of a couple action scenes from RG Vega. Seemed cool but once I watched it, turns out those couple scenes were the only entertaining part in either OVA. Damn you Clamp, burned again. =p
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
I only ever saw the X: The Movie. I did like it conceptually. The whole fighting in barriers that blow up the area upon loss thing gave instant stakes to each fight's outcome and the movie does have some neat stylish direction/visuals (It is Rintaro) along with this kinda nihilistic tone I'm a sucker for. Unfortunately you got what feels like this giant story with lots of characters stuffed into a short runtime and the whole thing feels messy and shortchanged. There's so much exposition while the most of the cast has little depth due to so much focus on trying to tell this story that when they die it's very "Well, that person died". If memory serves, even the action scenes get the "quickie" treatment after the first few. Doesn't help my experience with it was that rough dub too. =P It's possible one could appreciate the movie if they're familiar with the comic but I really can't say as I've never read it or watched the series.

Honestly, other than maybe (maaaybe) Rayearth, I don't really like Clamp's work. I still remember this tape I bought from Chinatown had clips of a couple action scenes from RG Vega. Seemed cool but once I watched it, turns out those couple scenes were the only entertaining part in either OVA. Damn you Clamp, burned again. =p
That was one particular thing that stuck with me regarding lack of depth with the supporting characters. They seemed interesting but were killed off fast enough to not give them a second thought. Visuals were great. That's why I shared the trailer. You could have sold this movie on that alone or some still images. Funny thing I remembered about the VHS was the awkward placement of an R-rating by the MPAA on the back of the box. Was that necessary? I recall seeing it in the magazine ad too.
lflGocc.jpg
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Did Crispin Freeman do Fuma in the movie version? I thought he was pretty good in the series. I like X. Sue me lol
Correct. He voiced Fuma in the movie and a short OVA that came out in the early 2000s. Freeman is pretty much a English dub career man. I'm a half-and-half guy on dubs vs. subs. I like both equally depending. I don't watch 70's-80's anime dubbed but...I grew up on much of the 90's stuff dubbed. Freeman as Zelgadis in the Slayers beat the original Japanese VA...in my opinion.
 

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
Dubbed vs Subbed I think is such an overrated discussion. There is no best way to view anime for me. Its just the way you prefer. Usually its the way you saw it the first time. As long as the visuals are not edited and the translation is good its not a big deal for me.

Akira I like dubbed with teh late 90s dub as thats how I saw it the first time. Same with DBZ with the 90s dub. For plenty of other animes I prefer subtitled as thats how I saw it the first time.
 
Dubbed vs Subbed I think is such an overrated discussion. There is no best way to view anime for me. Its just the way you prefer. Usually its the way you saw it the first time. As long as the visuals are not edited and the translation is good its not a big deal for me.

Akira I like dubbed with teh late 90s dub as thats how I saw it the first time. Same with DBZ with the 90s dub. For plenty of other animes I prefer subtitled as thats how I saw it the first time.

For me I tend to go subbed just because I always want watch the product as it was originally intended. This goes for things outside of anime too. Though I can't really ascribe to the "what you heard first" aspect as there's plenty of stuff I watched dubbed for years due to owning only a dubbed tape, yet find them difficult to go back to. Especially for older stuff where they had really low rent voice acting or questionable decisions like AnimEigo re-recording vocal songs in English with new instrumentation for stuff like Bubblegum Crisis. Course in the end it's preference and there are dubs better than their JP counterparts, though I wonder if "current year" warriors at places like resetera would consider dubs a form of racism. lol

I do have a soft spot for Streamline Pictures as they carried over all the Robotech VAs who were pretty experienced and entertaining in their deliveries(Barring some exceptions). Though the big caveat with Streamline was they would always completely rewrite the scripts to make them more appealing to the American audience. I don't fully blame them for doing that during the early years as anime was less than niche and they were desperate to get people into the product. You do end up with some really fun stuff like the Fist of the North Star dub, which transformed the movie into this giant piece of Cannon films-like cheese with endlessly quotable dialogue. =P
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Dubbed vs Subbed I think is such an overrated discussion. There is no best way to view anime for me. Its just the way you prefer. Usually its the way you saw it the first time. As long as the visuals are not edited and the translation is good its not a big deal for me.

Akira I like dubbed with teh late 90s dub as thats how I saw it the first time. Same with DBZ with the 90s dub. For plenty of other animes I prefer subtitled as thats how I saw it the first time.
Big time. I agree with Space Runaway Space Runaway about watching foreign film in it's original format but it really comes down to preference. Most Westerners were introduced to dubbed anime. So, even those who claim to "hate dubs" today -- they have fond memories of at least one dubbed title they saw years ago. Not going to speak for everyone here but I believe that OmegaSupreme OmegaSupreme 's favorite dubbed anime is Hellsing, kunonabi kunonabi Ranma 1/2 (agreed), DGrayson DGrayson Akira or DBZ (it's possible you're referring to the Ocean studios dub or streamline if 90's; unless Funimation had a dub finished before 2000). As for me, anime which I've watched both subbed and dubbed - yet prefer the dubbed versions:

- The Slayers
- Ranma 1/2
- Bastard! (pretty cool voices)
- Photon: the Idiot Adventures (they really took these voice roles seriously...especially Tristan Goddard)
- Dragon Half (possibly my favorite OVA of the 90's)

To name a few that seemed to do surprisingly well with their roles. Years before I joined GAF there was an old thread which debated dubs vs. subs (probably like 2014 or 2015...but I'm not reposting to avoid a necro-bump). Seemed statistically that 85% of the many comments in GAF preferred subs and that's why I never made a thread to revive that discussion. Anyone who likes a dub, even if the majority of the titles they watch are subbed is looked on a culturally ignorant in a way.

Titles like Lupin the Third, Kimagure Orange Road, Project A-Ko, Bubblegum Crisis and even Outlanders (that crazy OVA from the late-80's) are the type of anime I was introduced to subbed and I stick by the original Japanese dialogue.
 

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
Ah ya and we often forget about these but all the Ghibli movies I watch dubbed, although for these the voice actors are usually top notch (bigger budgets etc).

But to give the counter example i watched Evangelion subbed and I could never watch that dubbed.
 
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Ah ya and we often forget about these but all the Ghibli movies I watch dubbed, although for these the voice actors are usually top notch (bigger budgets etc).

But to give the counter example i watched Evangelion subbed and I could never watch that dubbed.
There were two dubs for Evangelion which may explain the reason not to watch it dubbed. Both were pretty bad. The first was the ADV dub from the 90's; Netflix then took that mediocre piece and only salted the fire worse.

Ghibli movies work both ways with me. Not a huge variety of the titles I still watch but I prefer the pre-Disney VAs if they're in English. I recall my younger sister buying a boxset of all the movies and seeing them place multi-million dollar English actors names on the front cover. My thoughts were, some of the old dub actors actually enjoyed anime. These big dogs Disney paid had probably never even seen Speed Racer...
 

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
There were two dubs for Evangelion which may explain the reason not to watch it dubbed. Both were pretty bad. The first was the ADV dub from the 90's; Netflix then took that mediocre piece and only salted the fire worse.

Ghibli movies work both ways with me. Not a huge variety of the titles I still watch but I prefer the pre-Disney VAs if they're in English. I recall my younger sister buying a boxset of all the movies and seeing them place multi-million dollar English actors names on the front cover. My thoughts were, some of the old dub actors actually enjoyed anime. These big dogs Disney paid had probably never even seen Speed Racer...

I see your point but I never watched the old dubs, and I would say, just picking 3 examples, the dubs for Howls, Ponyo and Totoro are all excellent.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
I see your point but I never watched the old dubs, and I would say, just picking 3 examples, the dubs for Howls, Ponyo and Totoro are all excellent.
Those that you mentioned aren't that bad whichever version you saw. Spirited Away gets a bit lost in the translation, though. The Japanese and English are clearly a bit different in context.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Burn Up! I watched this OVA over the weekend with my wife for the first time in 14-years. Very short, fun, fast-paced police/action OVA from 1991. It would appear it was a success and was originally marketed on LaserDisc (which is where the artwork below comes from) and VHS. I have the 1st printing by ADV on DVD -- although this was not the first North American release that I'm aware of. I believe there was a release by AnimeEigo prior. We enjoyed it about the same way I would with something like Gunsmith Cats, Bean Bandit, Dirty Pair the OVA, A.D. Police or even to a more extreme extent...MadBull 34.

The one thing that confuses me is the runtime. After watching it, the fade-up to credits starts at about 41-minutes. While the credits role -- animation pre-production shots and an ending gag run on a small screen cropped in the upper-left hand corner of the credits. With this, the final runtime sets at about 47-minutes. However, on several webpages I see different runtimes listed for the original Burn Up making me wonder...was something cut out of the ADV release? One page lists the runtime at 55-minutes, another 50-minutes (including Wikipedia), the back of the ADV DVD lists 50-minutes and another page has 47-minutes listed. The one I would ask on this who may know would be Space Runaway Space Runaway . Was there a longer version of this somewhere and what was cut out, if anything?

Below I'll throw in a few of the pop cultural tributes I saw that popped up in the OVA...

Burn Up! LaserDisc cover art.

QdEblRv.jpg



Burn Up "Quest Dragon" digital billboard promo (Dragon Quest)

Mp1Ro2x.jpg


Burn Up "the dog creature" from John Carpenter's "The Thing"

fDozMes.jpg


Various aliens including the Big Chap A.K.A. 'The Xenomorph' from "Alien"
YCkSSTC.jpg



Rambo 12??? movie poster to Rambo lll predicted long before an actually Rambo 4 or 5 existed.

DMwPnjl.jpg
 
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Burn Up! I watched this OVA over the weekend with my wife for the first time in 14-years. Very short, fun, fast-paced police/action OVA from 1991. It would appear it was a success and was originally marketed on LaserDisc (which is where the artwork below comes from) and VHS. I have the 1st printing by ADV on DVD -- although this was not the first North American release that I'm aware of. I believe there was a release by AnimeEigo prior. We enjoyed it about the same way I would with something like Gunsmith Cats, Bean Bandit, Dirty Pair the OVA, A.D. Police or even to a more extreme extent...MadBull 34.

The one thing that confuses me is the runtime. After watching it, the fade-up to credits starts at about 41-minutes. While the credits role -- animation pre-production shots and an ending gag run on a small screen cropped in the upper-left hand corner of the credits. With this, the final runtime sets at about 47-minutes. However, on several webpages I see different runtimes listed for the original Burn Up making me wonder...was something cut out of the ADV release? One page lists the runtime at 55-minutes, another 50-minutes (including Wikipedia), the back of the ADV DVD lists 50-minutes and another page has 47-minutes listed. The one I would ask on this who may know would be Space Runaway Space Runaway . Was there a longer version of this somewhere and what was cut out, if anything?

Below I'll throw in a few of the pop cultural tributes I saw that popped up in the OVA...

Burn Up! LaserDisc cover art.

QdEblRv.jpg



Burn Up "Quest Dragon" digital billboard promo (Dragon Quest)

Mp1Ro2x.jpg


Burn Up "the dog creature" from John Carpenter's "The Thing"

fDozMes.jpg


Various aliens including the Big Chap A.K.A. 'The Xenomorph' from "Alien"
YCkSSTC.jpg



Rambo 12??? movie poster to Rambo lll predicted long before an actually Rambo 4 or 5 existed.

DMwPnjl.jpg
That's funny I just rewatched that a couple weeks back. Felt they were wrong to give Maki a super high pitched child voice. =P

For runtime, the JP LD lists 45 minutes on the sleeve and runs slightly over 46, counting credits. The ADV 50 min runtime seems to just be including the post-credits "production portfolio" material. Should be slightly longer than 50 mins as the production stuff goes on for 7 minutes but I guess they just rounded down both that and the general runtime to get a"clean" number. Prob where all the discrepancies are coming from.
 
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