Akira on DVD? It Might Happen

Xunker writes "I was mooching around, looking for infomation on the mother of all anime films, Akira, when I found an interesting tidbit pertaining to it's release on DVD. The gist of it being that Pioneer got the rights to it after MGM let them slip, and the word on the wire is that they're redubbing it in preparation for a re-release on DVD in 2001! Finally anime newbies like myself can see what all the fuss is about!"

Comments

Re:Akira Was My First Anime

[cpt kangarooski]

You just have to look for something good. Anime is a genre - you can't expect it to all be good, the same way that not all black and white movies are good or bad.

I suggest...

• Castle of Cagliostro
  The best of the many, many Lupin the Third films. Humorous adventure of a master thief. (movie)
• Patlabor 2
  Serious near-future police mystery. Can be a bit slow, but an excellent movie. (movie)
• Cowboy Bebop
  Bounty hunters in space - excellent animation, stories, music (by Yoko Kanno, who's absolutely great) and not to be missed. (26 TV episodes, generally episodic)
• Vision of Escaflowne
  A girl is transported to a hidden sister planet of Earth and is involved in the middle of a war there. Again, music by Yoko Kanno, so it's great. There's a nice payoff eventually for physicists. (26 TV episodes, running plot lines so watch 'em in order)
• Grave of the Fireflies
  Really sad story of a brother and sister in Japan during the end of WW2. (movie)
• Macross Plus
  Good action movie - a love triangle between two rival flight test pilots and a singer in the future. Again, Yoko Kanno music. (4 OAVs - i.e. direct to video episodes)
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
  Big robots, cute girls, the apocalypse, a nice sixties flair but set in 2015. Starts out fine, gets weird fast. Helps to see the two follow up movies after the end of the series. (26 TV episodes)

This is all good stuff. I've tried to stick to things that are on DVD (the entire market is rapidly shifting that way) and of course, I strongly suggest that you watch it in Japanese with subtitles. There just really aren't any good dubs, IMHO. Really, if you asked your friendly neighborhood anime otaku what to watch, and indicated your tastes by naming some US movies you can probably get more suggestions. (e.g. if you like Star Trek you'd probably like Sol Bianca; if you like the Dungeons and Dragons movie you'd probably like Record of Lodoss War; if you like /.'s many NP posts you'd probably like La Blue Girl...) Additionally, many comic book shops and independent video stores rent anime, in case you're unhappy with the prices on the net. Don't even bother with stores, they charge too much.

It's around on VCD or VHS...

[Drakino]

Finally anime newbies like myself can see what all the fuss is about!

What? It exists in other formats now and can be seen. I currently own it on VCD (Official release, nice to have), and I know it exists on VHS. Waiting for a DVD is no excuse to not see anime. Any VHS based anime I want to see, I simply rent from the local anime store here.

The Dialogue: Movie-A-Minute!

[Grendel Drago]

[Neo-Tokyo EXPLODES.]

Tetsuo: KANEDA!

Kaneda: TETSUO!

[Neo-Tokyo EXPLODES.]

[CONFUSING METAPHYSICAL THINGS happen.]

[Credits.]

apologies to RinkWorks,
grendel drago