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Robotech On DVD, Ghost in the Shell 2
Gendou_Knepper writes: "The ancient and beloved proto-anime classic, Robotech, is being brought to DVD by AD Vision at only $15 per six-episode disc. Check out the article at the new official site.
On a side note, the original Japanese version, Macross, is being brought to us by the wonderful folks at Animeigo." Now if only someone would do the same for Starblazers (in Region 1 anyway)... also interesting,
moonboy submitted an AICN story linking to info about Ghost in the Shell 2 .
Why exactly would Robotech be called Proto-Anime? If anything it DEFINED the genre.
Back in an age where Transformers, G.I. Joe and Thundercats were all I had to look forward to after school, you can imagine just how amazed I was to see Robotech for the first time. Believe it or not, it sent me down a different path, and totally changed the way I saw animation.
Personally, I'd like to see a remake of Macross someday. The quasi-realistic militaristic bent of this space opera is not something I've seen duplicated since. The military in this feels like it could be our own, just in the future, everything else is set so far ahead that it's not even the same civilizations being dealt with.
On a side note: Remember how inadequate the animation was, compared to today anyways? How hard would it be to take something like this, and somehow use a computer to turn it from 10-15 frames a second to 25-30? Couldn't you just somehow invent a way to take two existing frames and fill in the logical gap between them? Turn that cheap animation into good animation!
Fuzzy Knights: New RPG Strips Tuesday and Friday!:
http://www.fuzzyknights.com
I'd have to agree fully. Recently I also rented some Starblazers tapes, excited to relive those youthful memories of quality programming. Boy, talk about selective memory. Starblazers is barely entertainment by today's standards. Sure, the story is 'continuous', but there's so much padding in the production that each 30 minute episode could probably be summed up in about 5 minutes by modern standards.
Add to that the fact that the animation style is extremely 'economical' (to put it kindly) and it doesn't compare too favorably to modern fare. Sure, the story continued from one episode to another, but it took about 6 episodes to equal the plot we have nowadays.
Add (again) to that the weakness of anime in general - the plots really never survive the translation from Japanese - I think that the west & east have fundamentally different ideas about what constitutes a 'story' (but that's part of the fun) - and it's pretty hard going.
On the other hand, compared to what was out at the time it was at least an improvement. Except for Johnny Quest (which holds up very well by - far less dated) Starblazers was the only thing out there that at least acknowledged the fact that there were kids watching cartoons beyond the age of 8.
Macross Plus was a 4 part OAV. And Robotech is a great show. I'm really skeptical of your assessment of Robotech and Macross Plus considering you don't even know how many episodes the OAV of M+ is.
Shame the website says "No Canadian/International Orders"
That's crap... anybody knows 'bout where to get StarBlazers in Australia?
I hate to agree with davecrazy but...
Now, I have no idea what the whole beef with Carl Macek is. I vaguely know who he is, and I only know bits and pieces, and I'm not even sure I have those right. So, honestly I don't know enough about the situation to pass judgment.
:) It is what got me "into" anime -- years later, when I was in college, I remember getting into one of those random conversations with a new dormmate friend of mine, and we got around to the subject of "TV shows I liked as a kid", and I mentioned Robotech, then he turned to me and said "Ohhhh, then you'll LOVE this..." and shoved a BubbleGum Crisis tape in my hand (which is now another of my all-time anime favorites).
But... you know what... I DON'T CARE.
Robotech was a series I fell in love with when I was a kid, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. I don't think I will ever learn to hate it, even if I find out that Carl Macek is the spawn of the Devil, or he orchestrated the German Holocaust, or he's the secret head of the RIAA going after Napster, etc. After all, this series had it all: Action. Adventure. Aliens. Robots. Outer space. Lasers (or whatever those weapons were called). Cool spaceships and space fighters that transform. And, of course, female characters who kick ass and look damn fine while doing it.
A few months ago, I tracked down one of my old childhood buddies (ok, I ran into him quite by accident at the local Kinko's), and we got to talking about old times (he and I were grade school friends, and yes, he was into RT too). On a whim I asked him if he happened to have any tapes.. and amazingly enough, he did!! (not very many, and they were all quite crappy quality-wise) So I decided to "test" myself to see if my increased age and awareness of other sources of anime would color my impressions of this series. Yeah, parts of it do seem kinda hokey now, but largely it still holds the same allure as it did when I was a kid.
I have been WAITING and LOOKING and HOPING that someone would release this someday... videotapes would have been great, but DVD is EVEN BETTER!!! So I am glad that it is finally happening. Woohoo!!!
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Yomigaeru Aiyan Geek!!!
I guess I'm one of the old timers - I used to trade for 5th generation fansubs in the mid 80's - before you could rent anime at Blockbuster (anyone remember Heavy Metal: L-Gaim?). Anyway, this year looks really good for anime fans... The classic old-school series, Mobile Suit Gundam (along with a number of sequels and spin-offs) are also coming to DVD and the Cartoon Network sometime soon!
http://www.gundamofficial.com/uc/uc_index.html
"Big O" is also a new DVD series worth checking out, it's a sort of "BATMAN meets GIANT ROBO"
http://www.ex.org/5.1/13-anime_bigo.html
Fair enough, not all dubs are bad, but I can honestly say that I have only ever seen one anime that had a good dub (and I can't remember what it was). In my opinion subs are usually much better, take the dubbed version of Akira for example with the voice actors trying to say long sentences in the same time that it takes to say them in Japanese, nightmare!
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Hollywood representatives have publicly stated that skipping commercials is "stealing."
In the early-mid '80s I followed Robotech all around the schedule trying to catch all the episodes, that were even shown out of order. No wonder it didn't catch an audience in my market. We don't need a dvd release, we need a proper run on the cartoon channel, or something.
'Intellectual Properties' are uncontrollable in the wild. To base an economy on them is just stupid.
Nausicaa
Akira
The castle of Cagliostro
Harlock
Galaxy Express 999
Sigged!
Battle angel alita didnt follow the manga, and it was canned by the creator. He hated the results.
Eva has 3 endings, which one are you reffering to?
The better ending for akira is in the manga, which the anime -barely- followed
Macross plus is a four part series. There is already a part two
RABID OTAKU POWAH! PACHOOOOM~
no
Just to back up the anime companies that _do_ use region encoding..
Im in touch with a fairly large percentage of people in the anime biz, and everyone hates macrovision and region encoding. The only reason its ever used on anime disks is when the japanese DEMAND it in the contract. Otherwise they try to avoid it like the plague.
There are alot of region 0 anime dvds
all your fanservice are belong to us.
no
Heh, if you want more plot you should try reading the original manga.
Of course you can fit more than 6 per disc but at what price/quality ? It depends on the type of DVD you use (the cheapest ones (on a per gig base) are the smallest [approx. 4gig?]) If you want to put more eps. on a DVD with the same size you have to reduce the bitrate which leads to a worse picture. Go figure...
Tobias
Just my two cents: I've always though that a lot of classic(Tm) sci-fi novels should be made into japanimation -- The Foundation Series, Ringworld, Helliconia Series or Dune are my candidates!
-C
"Well kids, you tried your best, and you failed. The lesson is, never try." -Homer Simpson
Really, what would make me happy is if they made a version that took out all of that Mimei shit... either that or replaced her with a classic anime chick.. you know, the one that gets molested by the Invid or what have you. She really irritates me. Or just get rid of the singing. That would be so much better.
That said, I've been on the preorder list for 3 days now. I can't wait.. and at such a reasonable price. I was scared they were going to charge 50 bucks a disc or some crap like that.
Brant
Brant
Argle. Bargle.
Well that's the thing: I've pretty much checked out what people say is good and the only anime I actually really liked was "Berserk".
Don't get me wrong here - I'm not saying all the previously mentioned stuff is crap, but stuff like Cowboy Bebop is just extremely good saturday morning cartoons. Evangelion had terrific voice acting and pretty good animation, but the story and the gobs of filler shows just made me puke; Lain.. Lain was OK, but it pretends to be philosophical without saying anything at all.
What I'm really trying to say is that anime isn't crap -- it just isn't what all the american fanboys and geeks like to say it is.
What's interesting though, is that a lot of older anime portrays sex roles like bond movies (especially older ones). I've noticed that newer anime is getting over it (besides the ever present jiggling tits and scant clothing) -- and one has to wonder if that says anything about change in japanese culture (yeah I know, thats like japanese people watching wwf and judging us).
sucks because
1. they normally get us/canada only licenses
2. they only release box sets (which i can't afford)
I'd really love to have the Urusei Yatsura DVDs but I can't afford these Box sets, so I would rather want to buy one DVD per month.
(Or maybe even two DVDs per month would be ok)
And because I live in germany they won't send me the box sets anyway (stupid licensing issue)
Tobias
He is referring to Macross+ The Movie which was a summary of the four part series.
And it did get a little stale when the series went into "gargoyles world tour" mode..
Aaaah, yes, the Minmei attack.
Then again, considering the talent of the voice actress (rumors have it she was drunk a few times while singing), it's not easy to be scared by her. That the American version has a rather untalented musical star rising high is a bit of irony, considering the general lack of talent seen in many of our own rising "musical stars."
I'm confused... I've got 2 episodes so far:
Click Here
I'm not sure what they are doing on the DVDs, but the tapes with 6 episodes each are edited even from the TV version (assuming that you are refering to the FHE version). They took on average 5 minutes per episode out so that 6 episodes would be 90 mins long. I was one of the first people to sign up for animeigo's subbed macross and will most likely buy the Robotech DVDs too, because I grew up with them. I loved the concept of the "Robotech Perfect Collection" that they did a few years ago with 2 episodes in Japanese and then 2 in English. Interesting to compare. The Japanese episodes were always better by several orders of magnitude. Better voice actors, more sensible plot, etc. Unfortunatly they only released 8 tapes of SDF Macross, and 7 tapes each of SDC Southern Cross, and GC Mospeada before the company went belly up. I wonder if anyone will ever release Southern Cross (which in Japan was cancelled for sucking so bad) or Mospeada in Japanese. Animeigo preferably, but they have that whole geologic release timescale problem. (Macross was supposed to be out almost a year ago, and who knows if it will really come out in summer 01)
Interesting fact that DVD has become the standard format for video release. I buy them because I want them to stay around. Why boycott a format that can be backedup. If everyone boycotted the format then production would drop off and the MPAA would be able to market another divx type of media. I personally get a kick outta buying every DVD cause I know how to rip them and that has to piss the MPAA off :)
The problem with that is that they would have to put both the American and Japanese episodes on the DVD seperatly. Robotech frequently reordered scenes and episodes (especially in Southern Cross) so. I don't know if you have the Perfect tapes (I do), but if you do watch them some time. Southern Cross tape one is the best example if I remember correctly (I haven't watched Southern Cross in a couple of years though; dull as toast) If you want the Japanese for Macross, preorder it from Animeigo
I've been waiting 4 years for a GITS2. Now if someone would only finish Battle Angel Alita, make a non-crappy ending to both Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira, and make a Macross+ part two, I could die a happy man.
JoeLinux
...those who can, program...those who can't, manage
Not sure where that's from, but it seemed appropriate. =)
Most non-otaku don't realize that Robotech was three series: Superdimensional Fortress Macross, Superdimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada. All were done by the same animation house, but Macross and Southern Cross were actually designed by the same guy. He also did a third "Superdimensional" series, Orguss, which is also out on tape. (Makes you wonder why Macek just didn't pick up all three of the Superdim. series and glom THEM together. We should count ourselves lucky....)
"I am an Adept of Tantric VAX."
ZDP--thanks! :o)
As another Star Blazers fan who's been waiting for the series to come out on DVD, I really appreciate your post. Enough talk--time to go promote e-commerce.
Earth has only [insert random 3-digit #] days left....
Thanks again...
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety
Starblazers was such a cool show. Why can't American cartoons have an ongoing plot lines that are longer than the two part stories on ScoobieDoo?
The thing that struck me most when watching Ghost in the Shell was the traditional Japanese? soundtrack. It really all came together to add amazing atmosphere to the movie. My greatest hope for the sequel is a soundtrack of equal or better quality, as that is really what is still captured in my mind from the first.
47.5% Slashdot Pure(52.5% Corrupt)
On a side note: Remember how inadequate the animation was, compared to today anyways? How hard would it be to take something like this, and somehow use a computer to turn it from 10-15 frames a second to 25-30? Couldn't you just somehow invent a way to take two existing frames and fill in the logical gap between them? Turn that cheap animation into good animation!
There already is. It's called interpolation.
Did anyone get that Ghost in the Shell 2 site mirrored before it went down hard?
Good points.
My personal favorite is 'Akira'. Why?
In American movies, things explode, buildings collapse... eh. The people always dive out of the way Just In Time, and we feel safe.
Akira removes that boundary. When buildings collapse, people are crushed into puddles. When a character is in danger (Kaori), she doesn't miraculously escape -- poof, she's squished into soup.
I'm not saying I'm a bloodthirsty ogre -- I'm just struck by the honesty of the violence. (Yeah, I know, honesty goes along with mutating bubblegum-flesh and orbital laser platforms.)
Also, it was a wonderfully pretty movie, even on the crappy VHS copy I have. Can't wait for the DVD. And I liked parts of the soundtrack a lot. (Some parts were just too weird... or "traditional", you might say.) And whoever did the English voice of Colonel Shikishima kicked serious ass.
Not to mention my list of reasons why Princess Mononoke was spectacular. I know... these are exceptions. But when anime is good, it's *spectacularly* good, at least for me.
As a side note, I appear to have developed a fetish for girls with pink, red, purple or blue hair. Must... cut... down!
-grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
With the resurgence of Robotech (heard they are
making a 3D Robotech ala Transformers), what's
the chance of reviving the Sentinels storyline?
I read the books, and they would be awesome (read
some of the comic books based on the outlines too).
Je ne parle pas francais.
Is the tool of the devil.
Anyways, I was unaware that this was originally a comic book/magna piece. Weird since I also am a reformed but still interested comic nerd. What am I doing? I must be slipping.
Anyways, I brought in GitS to work since we have a little DVD Exchange (actually I just loan mine out since everyone else has about 4 movies each, and everyone has a copy of Gladiator..[except for me, but thats another post altogether] while I have about 40 DVDs) and brought in Ghost in the Shell and everyones reaction was the same 'I don't think I can watch a cartoon' ARRRRGHH!!! I had one guy broken down.. I said 'for the love of god its only like 70 minutes long and you won't be disappointed'.. so he took it, but then it never left his car... ass....
www.jackasscritics.com
They put episodes 1-10 out on DVD in region 1... Course they are in english, but they claim to have scenes that were not in the originals.. Like the scene on the history of the Yamamoto... Where it gets sunk by American Warships. I agree though, I'd like to see the Japanese version(prefereably subtitled for us cretins). ;)
I already own the macross set , 6 episodes per tape. What's the DVD going to do for me? I'd rather them finish the sentinals series and do the movie they always promised...
--
www.alphalinux.org
www.alphalinux.org
ADV are also getting flamed for their handling of Farscape. Two one hour episodes per DVD with a list price of $24.98. They could fit at least three on a disk and they're whining that they can afford to ship a boxed set of the first season because the sales wouldn't be big enough. The first Farscape DVD is rank #44 on Amazon's DVD sales; so much for low volume.
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www.lucernesys.comHorizon: Calendar-based personal finance
Come over to the dark side. The first two DVD sets of "Thunderbirds" came out on DVD today. Now there's action/adventure for you!
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www.lucernesys.comHorizon: Calendar-based personal finance
I already have a wall scroll for GiTS 1, and would love to get my hands on another for 2
I wonder if when they do 3rd season, they might include some of the cut Yamato season two footage that shows exactly who got killed and how... ;-)
"But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
-- Joe
The manga is out anyway. Helps if you can read Japanese though, but even if you can't, the target audience will appreciate the gratuitous art...
s /g sb.html
http://members.tripod.co.uk/masamune_shirow/git
The only place I've found in English that sells it, (limited edition box set available only in Japan) is http://www.otaku.com
- "By using this Web site, you are agreeing to the Terms of Use."
Yikes. To me, that's much like a shrink-wrap license (where the license terms are only listed inside the package), as there's no way I could have even seen the Terms of Use without going to the website first!Alex Bischoff
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Alex Bischoff
HTML/CSS coder for hire
*spoilers*
Yeah. I actually liked the ending. It was much better than the stupid love triangle plot and the incessant whining from Shinji and Asuka. It was a sort of dialectic that showed Shinji coming of age (I think).
I haven't actually seen the death, rebirth, and end episodes 'cause the aren't out here on DVD yet, but I'm pretty much satisfied with the original ending.
Ironic, since ADV is widely hated for their handling of the Evangelion dub (it's why Gainax is such an ass to them, moreso than to any other company).
And ADV has been pissing fans off with overlays (on Eva disc 1 and Nadesico where japanese writing is erased in favor of english, the equivalent of a visual dub). Never mind the change of Kenshin to Samurai X...
And no, Gainax would sooner license FLCL to anyone BUT ADV. But why wait, buy the R2 release, it has subs. That's one of the primary reasons no US company has been in too much of a hurry to get it.
As for ADV, they're improving, but they're not the be-all and end-all of Anime DVDs.
That does sound like an interesting idea. Even though Foundation doesn't have many action scenes, I imagine that all of Asimov's different planetary settings (Trantor has lots of potential...) and technology would more than make up for it in terms of visual content. And Dune could be very cool, if only to hear all the psuedo-arabic vocabulary rendered in Japanese. Watching the new SciFi channel series with the Jules Verne theme makes me think his books might be cool in an animated form too.
Oh the poor linux geeks, they hate the MPAA and their region codeing and content scrambleing and developer sueing and government lobbying, but when it comes down to it, you all just rush out and buy the latest crap. You can bitch about it all you want, but if at the end of the day you buy some DVDs, the MPAA will just laugh and count the profit.
After seeing the special "making of" Ghost in the Shell, I immediately went out and bought Patlabor 2 and I have to say that it is probably the best anime out there. I'm a sucker for the quiet musical pondering moments found in both Patlabor 2 and Ghost in the Shell.
Did anyone every play the Robotech RPG???
I used to _love_ the southern cross stuff. awesome!
"Chill, Orrin!"---Trent Lott
Yes, there are two distinct types of Proto-Culture.
/.).
Protoculture the Entity In the beginning Zor, of the Robotech masters set out on a Space Folding search for other "cultures" and exploration. He came across a small planet (Earth) devoid of reasonable life and found a plant with AMAZING powers. He stripped the entire planet of it and brought it back to his galaxy. The flower did not bloom well on his home plante so he set forth to plant it on other worlds (such as the Invid homeworld) to see how it reacted. The "Flower of Life" as it was named was spread throughout the Universe by Zor and it was harvested by the now power greedy Robotech Masters whom lusted for the power in the flowers juices (now called Protoculture). Battles began to break out over control of the Flower.
Actually, as I learned it, Zor seduced the Regis (the Queen of the Invid), who were then a peaceful race in symbiosis with the Flower, and he got the secrets of Protoculture from her. He had already been experimenting with extracting energy from plants, but the flower of Life was on an order of magnitude greater. When the Republic of Tirol (his people) got hold of it, the evil Senator Nimuul and his cronies used it to conquer first their people, then most of the galaxy, calling themselves the Robotech Masters. They used Protoculture, which also has powerful mutagenic / pschotropic properties, to create the Zentraedi, a race of giant warrior-clones brainwashed into beng their obedient and dependant slave underclass. The first mission of the Zentraedi was the razing of the Invid Homeworld. They were sent to take every last flower. The Invid, being dependant on the Flower, basically went berserk over this cruelty and mutated themselves into a race of fanatical warriors led by the Regent (consort to the Regis), and they then waged war on the Robotech Masters for millennia. The Zentraedi and Masters had technology and resources, but the Invid had sheer numbers and even greater ferocity and determination, so the war dragged out. The Regis was just as bitter as the Regent, realizing how Zor had betrayed her trust, though in fact Zor was just another naive scientist putting the keys of power into the hands of evil (how apropos for
Zor, whom died at one such battle against the Invid instructed his General (Breetai) on his last breath to send the SDF1, which contained the secrets of the Flower of Life and Protoculture to Earth so that it would be out of the hands of all in conflict over the Flowers power.
This is incorrect. Zor had a small faction of Zentraedi whom he secretly subverted (via music, emotion, culture etc.) to be loyal to HIM and not the Robotech Masters. His flagship, the SDF-1, contained the ONLY Protoculture Matrix in existence. He commanded his loyalists to take it to Earth, which he had never visited. However, while on the planet Haydon IV, he had a protoculture-instigated vision of the Earth as the nexus where this conflict would come to its end. He foresaw the Regis's final transmutation in this dream, and knew that this possible outcome was the last remaining hope for peace in the galaxy. So his loyalists sent the SDF-1 beyond the Robotech Masters' grasp, shortly before Zor was slain by the Invid. Breetai, in fact, did NOT know where it was sent, which is why it took him so many decades to hunt it down. In fact, as Zor lay dying, he said that if he had not sworn to protect him, he would kill him then and there.
That's when the SDF1 crash landed on Macross island in 1999.
See, the Masters had to pursue the SDF-1, because they were now wholly addicted to the Protoculture, as well as requiring it to drive the war against the Invid. The only Protoculture Matrix was on board, and no new Protoculture Energy could be extracted without it - they had only their reserves to go on. This made the SDF-1 literally the most prized possession in the galaxy - and it landed squarely in the lap of an Earth in the middle of World War III.
Add to this, that the Earth, being the planet in Zor's vision, is in fact the only remaining planet in the galaxy where the Flower can grow, and you can see why the Earth gets invaded 3 times!
What a cool way to start a story!!
(whew) whatta mouthful! But I thought someone might be interested in the in-depth story.
-Kasreyn
Kasreyn: Cheerfully playing the part of Devil's Advocate to hairtrigger
This is just lovely, Oshii[sp?] is gonna take another story by Shrio and strip every last ounce of humor out of it. Leaving the main character a boaring, brooding, 2 dimensional killing maching.
[Yawn]
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
./ed.
does someone have a working link ?
keep it simple.
I thought Starblazers was out on DVD. I had a friend tell me it was. I am thinking of collecting all 3 Starblazer series. I liked all three of them.
At the next eco-hypocrisy-meeting, count the private jets used to get to the meeting. Should be interesting to see that
The truth is, film is mainly a visual medium, and subtitles seriously reduce the attention you can give to the visuals, unless you are one of the few people blessed with very sharp peripheral vision. And subtitles aren't how the creator of the original intended you to watch the movie - he intended it to be seen in a language to audience understands, unmarred by text at the bottom.
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
--Henry Kissinger
What you are saying makes a lot of sense, but I don't think that it would be possible to like all anime any more than it would be possible to like all novels. Anime is a medium defined by (1) being animeted and (2) from Japan. This medium includes many genres, including sci-fi and romance; much of it is utter crap and some of it is incredibly good. This is true of any medium -- there are good films and bad films, good books and bad books, etc.
It is also important to remember that different people have different taste. I, for instance, really love both EVA and Cowboy Bebop. I agree that Cowboy Bebop would make a wonderful Saterday morning cartoon, I don't see why that is a bad thing. I agree that EVA is wonderfully animated and I found the story to be captivating... but I also like the movie 2001 a lot, and many people don't. It is simply a matter of taste.
What I find irksome is when people say "The only anime I like is..." or "I don't like anime because it is [violent | full o' sex | etc.]." That is like saying "The only movie I like is..." or "I don't like movies becaue they are [violent | full o' sex | etc.]."
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Rhapsody in Numbers
Must be you. I didn't notice any gratuitou tit shots. Presumably because I wasn't specifically looking for them...
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
--Henry Kissinger
Think of good anime not as "exceptions," but as part of any medium.
Don't expect something to be good just because it is anime. Like any other medium (books, photographs, paintings), the majority of anime is crap, and of what is not crap, there is little common ground as to what is good. Do you go to American movies thinking that they are all good, or do you go thinking that it might be somewhat entertaining? There are good American movies and there are a whole lot more bad ones. Same goes for Japanese movies; and American cartoons; and (heaven forbid) Japanese cartoons.
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Rhapsody in Numbers
Crap. Read my #67. I've heard other people claim that a subtitle is less of a disturbance than a voiceover. Get real; subtitles are like banner ads, if you understand the original language you can easily follow the movie without noticing the titles. You lose a part of the screenestate, yeah. But voiceovers totally mess up the *entire* soundtrack, completely change the personality of the character, and unless done very well, they also just don't fit in. Maybe you're right and it is just a matter of personal taste -- but I think that honestly a subtitle is much less interfering with the viewing experience and the director's vision. I'd rather have the sweet, exotic language of an undubbed anime than a japanese backdrop overlayed with some LA/NY style "hey yo wassup how ya doin'" with the phattest accent imaginable.
-james
my $0.02
I've got two volumes, I believe there's a third. Disk two has the historical restrospective on the sinking of the Yamato. That's pretty cool.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
I personally LOVED the original ending to the series. Sad thing is, I almost didn't get to watch it, since my friend doesn't want to admit that the real ending even exists...but that's another story.
Hmmmmmm....I could probably stand to watch that (and some "Kenshin") once again....
I was unaware of animosity between Gainax and ADV. Thanks for the info. I guess that I am one of the few (only?) people on the planet that was fairly happy with the Eva Dub. Oh well...no need to debate opinion, right?
About the FLCL being subbed, you are quite correct, with the exception of the first episode. That doesn't stop me from owning the first 4 though (having friends in Japan can be a good thing). However, I have seen a fan-sub of the first episode, and it is great stuff. I am only reminded that I need to keep studying my Japanese. ^^;;
I understand fully about the anger in the overlays in Nadesico. However, I still feel that the dubbing of that was excellent. As far as Kenshin, AFAIK ADV had no choice but to change the title because Anime Works beat them to the liscensing of the title "Rurouni Kenshin". However, I may be mistaken. Anyway, their dubbing of that was pretty horrible, but it is nice to be able to own all 4 episodes of the Kenshin OVAs for ~$40US vs. however much you will pay to get them from Japan.
I guess the main reason that I would like to see a US release of FLCL is because it currenly goes at about $35 per episode in Japan. Face it, Anime is cheap in the US, especially on DVD (I just bought my friend in Japan the Magic Knight Rayearth box set because it is so much cheaper here than there, plus he wanted the English dubs so he could practice his English comprehension...in exchange he sent me FLCL). Plus, I see the *potential* for a very good and very funny English dub.
My apologies for not being a subtitle-nazi. I have found somethings to be better in English than the Original Japanese, and vice versa (I am mainly referring to the sounds of the voices vs. what is actually said as my Japanese if only about 1 word/phrase in 5-10 right now).
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
Wow. That's a great price!
One of the things I don't like about series anime DVDs is that it costs so much to watch. Like, I saw Neon Genesis: Evangelon (sp?) for $28 for three episodes (saw it in the stores, haven't checked online). Now that's a lot, especially if you need to buy a whole bunch of them.
12 episodes for $30...6 episodes for $60. Ouch. Anime needs to come down in price.
What's with this "in Region 1 anyway" crap? You, of all people, would be the one that I would have thought rebellious enough to get a regionless DVD player. I mean, I did. And it even plays MP3 CDR's! It's not like they are that expensive. Yes, this could be considered a troll, but it's my honest feeling. I would have thought that CmdrTaco, with all his vast wealth, would have invested in a reasonable DVD player that didn't limit his viewing capabilities. I don't know, call me idealistic...
So I just have to know. What the devil is this stuff supposed to be, anyway?
I know some heads out there know what I'm talkin about. Represent!
If you don't pretend to be anyone, are you?
And random Americans aren't who the voices were supposed to be done by.
Subtitles let me hear and enjoy the original voice-acting. It's hard for me to imagine anyone but Megumi Hayashibara doing the voice for Nuku Nuku, for example. And I'm a Megumi fan -- if a movie has Megumi-chan doing a voice, that's a plus that makes me more interested in the movie. If she sings, so much the better.
The best thing about DVDs is that you get the sub version and the dub version at the same time. When small kids come over, I wish I had a dub version of Nuku Nuku to show them, but when I watch I want the subtitles. (If and when I see a DVD of Nuku Nuku I'll buy it.)
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
Er. You're judging a MEDIUM, not a GENERE.
Lain, Key, GitS, Akira, are all seen as classics in there genere in the anime medium, not unlike how Casablanca and Gone With the Wind are considered classic movies.
Then you have Tenchi, which is Friends gone horribly wrong. Or, there's Kite and such, the Rambos of anime.
You have BubbleGum Crisis and sequels, the A-Team of anime, if you will.
Then you have things like Evangelion, Key and Lain, which have no parallels I'm aware of. Which I think is why they're so popular.
Or perhaps I'm completely off base here. Either way, I'm going to go back to watching Tenchi in Tokyo.
Way back when, they released four episodes/tape, two Robotech episodes, two of the original show (Macross, Southern Cross or Mospeada), subtitled but original soundtrack and voices left intact. They need to this for the DVD version. Now.
BOTP was based on Gatchaman. No DVD's that I'm aware of, but there is an OAV 3-tape VHS box set that you can get from the likes of Amazon, etc. The OAV is quite nostalgic, but doesn't measure up to the original series.
An animated feature based on BR2 would be great...I nominate Bruce Timm and Paul Dini to work on this...since Warner Bros. owns the Blade Runner "property" they would be a natural choice. Get the original actors who worked on the original BR movie to do voices...it just wouldn't be the same without them. This would be an animated feature intended solely for adults. I doubt that young children would be interested in a sequel to BR anyway.
If only Timm and Dini had such freedom in "Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker"...I have seen the unedited version of this and it's really strong stuff. The cuts emasculate it completely.
This would make sense because 20+ years on none of the actors who did BR look like they did, and the story takes place a year after the events in BR, so that wouldn't work, right? In animation you would be able to make everyone look like they did way back in 1980, when BR was made.
This would rock.
----
http://www.msgeek.org/
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
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http://www.msgeek.org/
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
And the Dirty pair scripts weren't "butchered" as many repeat as GOSPEL from 3rd hand heresay, while YOU don't and never will understand a lick of Japanese. Sure, there were some inane lines made up as filler (e.g., the bit about aerobics in the Eden movie). But nothing to drastically change the meaning. The changes for Robotech, on the other hand, were necessary to hook the 3 series together which in turn, was necessary before any TV station would air it, hence the running "protoculutre" theme. If Carl stood by YOUR principles, few would know of Macross and anime fandom might still be small and cult like, and we wouldn't have the piles of quality R1 DVDs with both dub and sub tracks available, that we have today thanks to Carl. Yeah, you heard me. I guess you long for the days when all anime was only obtainable 13th generation EP VHS bootlegs?
And all the while you whine, the original stuff was, is , and will always be there so WTF is your problem, fanboy? It's you hardcore types that really give us all a bad name. Truly, "shut the hell up geek."
hehe, you are not alone in your distaste for her vocal talents. As a matter of fact, the horrible power her voice weilds shows up in the [damned longest, and quite possibly best] fanfic called Undocumented Features. check www.eyrie.net for all the text files [including the description of how Minmei's singing nearly dooms the whole universe].
-={(Astynax)}=-
-={(Astynax)}=-
"Darkness beyond Twilight"
I think your reasons to prefer subs are mostly ones you constructed in your mind and which have not much to do with reality.
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
--Henry Kissinger
The Lensman anime movie is *much* closer to Star wars than to the novels. It's a rental folks, don't say I didn't warn you.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
I don't know about anyone else here, but I could not dare to think of what my childhood would have been like without Robotech.
Mod me down, I don't care. I feel like rejoicing!
--
SecretAsianMan (54.5% Slashdot pure)
Washington, DC: It's like Hollywood for ugly people.
You're forgetting Danguard Ace, Gaiking and the Space Keteers. "I am Jessie Dart the invincible! Astrobat!" ICEPHREAK
With G-Force.
That ruled.
The above post is an editorial, the poster cannot and will not be held responsible for all or in part for it's contents
Robotech is the cut up Americanize version of Macross. The real version is Macross which is reintroduce by http://www.animeigo.com/products/macross.t
You might also want to check out Macross: Do You Remember Love. One of the best anime movie ever made!
Yep ADV is not a good anime company for the reason you just mention. They really produce bad DVDs. Eva the best anime of the '90s and they have to just screw it up. Kenshin to Samurai X was bad. Samurai X has one of the worst dub. Thank God they didn't get Love Hina.
Instead of $1200.
Woo-hoo!
www.eissq.com/BandP.html Ball and Plate System. Amuse your friends. Crush your enemies.
My collection of non-suck anime, te-he. :)
You might want to try our recommended list then again I think you already made up your mind.
http://icomic.com/afn/dvdrecommend.htm
Everyone hate overlay. I just bad. I don't think a single anime fan like overlays. USA anime company like ADV is just too cheap to use DVD-9 (12 cm, SS/DL: 7.95 gig (8.54 BB), about 4 hours) DVDs. Instead they use DVD-5 (12 cm, SS/SL: 4.37 gig (4.70 BB) of data, over 2 hours of video) and compress the hell out of the video. We all know what happen if video is compress the hell out off. For those that don't know that much about DVDs you might want to go to this site: http://www.dvddemystified.com/ FAQ: http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
I have been and continue to be impressed with the quality and selection of anime that ADV releases in the US. Adding this classic to the mix is yet another example of ADV's excellence. I have so far enjoyed just about everything that I have seen come from them, from Evangelion (which, IMHO, they did a pretty good job with the dubbing) to the Kenshin OVAs (a.k.a. Samurai X...no flame wars about the title change, please) to Nadesico (which, IMHO, the English dub is actually better than the original Japanese dub).
Keep up the good work ADV. And please, please, please, please, PLEASE get the rights to the US release of FLCL.
Disclaimer: please, no dub vs. sub debates and other various flame wars from this. This is my opinion. It doesn't have to match yours. ^_^
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
I'd be happy to boycott them. Most of hte anime companies do not, but the only list of companies I see on the mpaa's website says members "include"
Walt Disney Company;
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.;
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.;
Paramount Pictures Corporation;
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.;
Universal Studios, Inc.; and
Warner Bros.
Is there a complete list of members anywhere?
-- your Web browser is Ronald Reagan
hm.. now what am I going to do with my Terapin VideoCD recorder. Just as I was finishing up trasfering my oriignals.
make Linux, not Microsoft. sin(beast) = -0.809016994374947424102293417182819
I dunno if you'd count them as classics... but I always imagined Neuromancer and Snow Crash as anime. Neuromancer because if it didn't inspire several anime (Serial Experiments Lain, Ghost In The Shell to name 2) then it bloody well should have, and Snow Crash because, well, I am reminded of it's sheer insanity everytime I watch FLCL.
It's weird though... when I read a book these days I automatically imagine it as anime... I've been doing it for about 5 years now.
Oh yeah... an Neuromancer *is* being made into a film... directed by Chris Cunningham no less...
life is a canvas/and the paint is hope and promise/the world is ours/no one can ever take it from us.
Exactly. Just like people kill peple WITH guns. The retarded one is you, for not getting this rather obvious point...
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
--Henry Kissinger
Actually some has, very poorly from what I've heard from the Lensman FAQ, EE Smiths Lensmen was done in anime and the results are said to be horrid. eht
I didn't like the way that the movie took a series of independent stories from the comics and associated them all with the "puppet master". The AI was also not aggressive in the comics (and was only in two stories if I recall).
Is GITS2 going to be based on Man-Machine Interface? Or is it going to be an independent story?
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Perhaps my language was a little ambiguous, but I was struggling to find *any* anime to like. I wasn't categorizing (or if I was, I apologize) and then taking the mean as a reason to put down the medium.
This is what I am struggling with:
I often hear that anime is sometimes a medium for adults, sometimes children, sometimes both. A lot of people in the subculture tend to believe that a lot of anime is somehow superior, not just in animation and sound, but in character development and story and portrayal of reality.
When I ask these people what shows or movies are good, I expect their general sentiment about the medium to pan out. So far what I've found, despite open mindedness and effort is that a lot of it is very much hype -- for example, character development and story in some anime that I am pointed to only live up to the hype when compared to childrens cartoons like he-man. They may talk about their feelings, make sexual advances, and develop as characters in a story -- but overall it's very juvenile stuff.
I'm not insulting the medium, I'm just saying that it doesn't live up to the hype -- at least in my experience so far. My confusion then might be not with anime, but the people recommending this stuff to me. That they are 20 or so (like me) and they find joy in entertainment potentially made for = 14 year olds.
That said, I'm not saying that I hate most of the anime I've encountered. I like some of the action movies. What triggered my original comment was people who believe Ghost in the Shell is so amazing, and who think that some shows are generally superior when they are pretty much parallel with television shows like "Saved by the Bell".
Yes, I know it's just entertainment.
Geepers, some of us have been watching Japanese Animation, Anime, since the 80s...Macross, which was repackaged for the NA market as Robotech, was a good show, and as was Lupin, Cat's Eye (my fave), Mobile Suit Gundam (which Canada's YTV has been playing recently), and a host of other shows were what we traded for, or watched at those who traded.
ttyl
Farrell
Early Adopter of...Anime, Linux, PCs, Paganism, etc...
CAN-CON 2019 - Ottawa's only book oriented Science Fiction Convention! October 18-20, Sheraton Hotel, Ottawa, Canada h
Oen of the first DVDs I bought ebcause I had heard so muchabout it.
The animation is interesting, but for my tastes they coule have taken out half the gun battles to make room for some moee plot. The thing ends just as its starting to get interesting.
GITS2 soudsn promising, maybe they could actually finish the story they started...
The ending saga of Robotech from Jack McKinney. I'll settle for Robotech 3000 though either way.
Meh. I keep hearing that, but I can't see it. There are quite a few anime that are really good in terms of the animation quality and sound. (though _everyone_ cheats on the animation. When you know what to look for it gets a little sad. Plot is a different story. A well written anime is more important to me than a good looking one, though that would be the #2 concern.
But really, GitS was just okay. I think that the fact that it had CGI, and invisible cyborg chick warriors is what actually makes it popular. Not the quality of the plot, really. Personally, as far as near-future sf movies by Oshii Mamoru go, I'd put my vote solidly behind Patlabor 2. If you can believe it, it's even slower than GitS is; don't be put off by this however.
Now probably the best sf anime ever is Wings of Honneamise. Don't bother with the R1 DVD though, reports are that they really fucked up the transfer.
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
Regarding Jules Verne, yeah Miyazaki would be okay, I guess. (really he's into flying - check out Porco Rosso)
But look for Nadia and the Mysterious Seas. (aka Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water) Lovely little 39 part TV series set in the late 19th century and incredibly heavily based on Jules Verne. Mostly 20,000 Leagues and the Mysterious Island. Very good show.
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
I have not seen Orguss, but I have watched Orguss 02, which I assume is the second Orguss series and thought it wasn't too too bad. You can actually view Orguss 02 on the web. It is dubbed, but I still found it fun to watch. You can find Orguss 02, as well as some other short series or single episodes that have all been released by Manga Entertainment in North America at this site ( http://www.sputnik7.com/vod/anime/index.jsp ). Sure, all the anime that is there is dubbed, and you must be able to play Real media files or Microsoft .asf's, but the fact that it seems to be legit through a partnership between Sputnik7 Manga Entertainment or the like makes it pretty cool in my opinion. Free anime can't be an entirely bad idea :)
The record for Most Gratuitous Tit Shots in a movie not ostensibly about tits.
I mean really! Every ten seconds, guns are blazing, tits are flying, and someone's head comes off.
Well, at least the tits part.
-grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Don't believe me? Check out http://www.starblazers.com/
Fire the wave motion gun! For great justice!
Starblazers Episodes 1-13 are already on DVD, the rest are being released quickly. http://www.starblazers.com
...what non-otaku means!
.sig: Open Source, Open Mind
Why yes! Good guess! It's dead, btw. I wrote on it "RIP spam-drive".
Mazingar (Tranzor-Z)
Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets)
Yamato (Starblazers)
Maha Go (Speed Racer)
Go Lion/Dairugger 15 (Voltron)
And a variety of other more obscure ones. There were a number of "pioneers" who brought anime to American TV, going back to the 60's; the big shows being Tetsuwan Atom (Astroboy), Jungle Taitei (Kimba) and Maha Go (Speed Racer). These were shown on network cartoon prime time (Saturday morning), not afternoon syndication like Robotech.
The reason anime took off around the time of Robotech was due to three convergences:
VCRs - prior to the 80's, VCRs were non-existant, or highly priced. Once VCRs were affordable, tape trading became possible (one has to admire the early anime collectors, who had to get their Astro Boy on 16mm)
The Internet - this enabled isolated anime fans to make contact, and establish trading networks. More importantly, it enabled the sharing of information (plot summaries and scripts). Before this, knowledge was horded and often inaccurate.
Desktop Video - affordable computer video tools enabled the start of fan subtitling. Prior to the availability of fansubs, people sat in rooms watching videos in Japanese. Switching to an all sub/dub format made anime clubs far more accessable to the masses.
Macek just happened to have been butchering anime at the right time in history. And make no mistake, it was butchery. Cheap-ass dubs with bad acting and altered scripts. Robotech was mild compared to the travesty Macek made of Captain Harlock and Queen of 1000 Years.
I agree.. It's the first anime I ever saw - years ago - and it's still the best I've seen. Truly breath taking. That's why I was so happy when I saw it on DVD some time ago in a store here in Helsinki. I immediately bought it and was crushed when I played it at home and noticed that the sound was lagging with about 1 second. I watched it and then took it back to the store. I figure it must have been a bad master so I didn't bother to even try another disc. :(
One would think evolution would have taken care of that. The scary thing is, it hasn't.
Will work for bandwidth
The most amazing parody was "Robotech 2 - Not Necessarily the Sentinals". I almost died...
My favorite line was "Just a pile of rust was all they found on that isle, but who would realize that just 10 years later, super space fortress Macross would arise?"
It came, of course, from the opening theme song of the first video only Macek release of Macross, before Robotech. In it, Hikaru was named "Rick Yamada", before becoming "Rick Hunter". And that song!
"Kinghts and crusaders of a new age... Macross!"
That last message is so far down the line, I bet nobody will ever see it again :) But I was just wondering about a few things...
I'm not sure if I follow the arguements here. Would you concider a Proto-Human to be human? A prototype vehicle is something that predates the production model, with lots of bugs and kinks left to work out.
Proto implies "just before", so Proto-Anime would mean it's a show that happened just before it could be concidered Anime (and good point previously about Anime being a medium, not a genre. It's a medium like print literature, graphic novels or movies are mediums).
Macross is not, to me, proto-anime. But I certainly won't put my foot in my mouth and say it was the first, either. My knowledge of Anime and Manga is about 1% that of your basic expert.
Proto-anime would have to be something which is animated, and almost, but not quite, captures that "anime" feel.
Or, to use a literature analogy. People tend to call William Gibson the "Father of Cyberpunk". While Philip K. Dick (author of what is now called "Blade Runner" and "Total Recall") is often called the "Grandfather of Cyberpunk". Philip K. Dick would be proto-cyberpunk, while Gibson is not.
I could be wrong, but it's worth concidering.
Finally, a question. Someone mentioned using interpolation to fix the crappy animation of Macross. How hard would that be?
Fuzzy Knights: New RPG Strips Tuesday and Friday!:
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I don't understand.
Will work for bandwidth
There are other things I could recommend, but if none of these are entertaining to you, then I don't think I could come up with anything else to convince you. If you are still willing to give the medium a chance, try to find genres that appeal to you and watch what you can within those. It does you no good to watch Star Wars when you like Gone with the Wind; likewise it does you no good to see Macross Plus (a sci-fi mech show) when you prefer Kiki's Delivery Service (a cute coming of age story about a 13 year old witch).
Well, good luck.
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Rhapsody in Numbers
Well, you've got to remember that OAVs are sort of like TV episodes over there. Who owns every episode of 'Full House'?!
But people religiously collect Ranma 1/2. Go fig.
Anime is a lot like media here. Subject to Sturgeon's law. Some people forget this and claim that anime will save us all!, forgetting that it's possible to make crappy anime.
To summarize: don't get sour on the whole idea; there's plenty of good anime out there. I'm sure someone has a better list than I do, so I'll refrain.
-grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
ehh, I don't know why everyone hates the original Evangelion ending so much... I thought it fit a lot better with the rest of the series than the movie-ending did (which I also liked, but I didn't think it worked as well). Just because everything didn't blow up, people don't like it... apologies in advance if I've lumped anyone into this category undeservedly, but I'm describing most of the people I've talked about it with.
the coolest club on