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[kunonabi]

I'm sort of off amazon since you can't depend on them coming with slipcovers and the poor packaging is starting to grate on me.

 

[JunkerWoland]

At least for DVDs & BDs, my tactic with Amazon is to make small orders (two discs at most) that will fit in the company's various mailer envelopes, ideally a bubble mailer. As long as the delivery agent doesn't mindlessly throw the package under some heavy boxes, the envelopes usually keep cases safe. Slipcovers do tend to be a crap shoot, likely a combination of a release's age and Amazon's outsize ordering. (Slipcovers are also the worst packaging decision to happen to collecting.) Manga, on the other hand, is almost always a lost cause.

I do wish Amazon in North America would pay even a fraction of the amount of care to packaging as Amazon Japan. Even with the occasional beatings applied by customs & DHL and Japan's use of wafer-thin cardboard, the overwhelming majority of my orders still arrive in pristine condition.

 

[Space Runaway]

Running Man was shown on Liguid Television? That's something else I did not know. It fits with the abstract or extreme cartoons which made their run on Liquid. I'm also thinking (although I've never read this) that Aeon Flux' creator was possibly inspired by the works Yoshiaki Kawajiri somewhat in style. I don't want to go too far down that topic as it may go off topic from the OP.

Yeah they showed it in one of the second season episodes. This was still a couple years before I was even aware of anime so I just saw it as some super cool looking short.

Peter Chung has mentioned Kawajiri as an influence (Though it was one of like 20 names he listed off in succession along with the likes of Moebius, Kubrick, Lynch, Umezu and such). So i don't know to what degree Kawajiri influenced his work. His main visual influence is Egon Schiele, which he's mentioned several times and is very apparent in his work.

Though to keep on subject of retro anime, he did say his main influence for his directorial style and such was Dezaki and the Cobra series. He talks about it quite a bit in this interview:

The Animation That Changed Me: Peter Chung on 'Space Adventure Cobra'

Watching the series "was the first time that it really became clear to me what a director does," says Chung.

www.cartoonbrew.com

Regarding Angel Cop...no. I'm not into censored anime and I get that would make it seem less offensive but what I wanted to know - you pretty much already told me. I get they're fictional stories but that's a subject no one should have put into animation. The idea that Jewish bankers/politicians took over the U.S. and Japan sold out to...makes me start to question to beliefs of the writers. That idealology is completely twisted. I would have considered it if they had some conspiracy in the story that stated Jews are completely separate today from those prior to the 1st century. But this was not about their beliefs but rather their heritage. I'll pass on that --- glad I found out here before picking the Blu-ray.

Yeah I didn't know about any of that stuff when I originally saw it way back when, so I just watched it for what it was, b-movie trash you'd expect to see on USA Up All Night or something. =P Although Itano wrote Angel Cop it appears Noboru Aikawa is responsible for the antisemitic content. I'm not aware of any of his other writing having such but he does seem to include political content in a lot of his stuff.

First episode has the "best" scene in the series though. =P

Spoiler

Maybe I'm thinking of something else but was the A-Ko new release given a steel box release too?

I forgot to respond to this the other day but no, it doesn't have a steelbook. It does have a slip case and the cover insert is reversible so you can have the original cover art displayed.

Talking about OVA vs. TV as Dirty Pair is one example. Series even with a less budget per episode (which is almost always the case) was indeed better. However, this might piss some off to hear but...I liked the 'New Cutey Honey OVA' better than the original TV series from over a decade before.

That was like full two decades even. Though I can understand as "New" is feels completely different from the original and has benefit of brevity, whereas the original was just a monster of the week comedy show. Though I did really like the background art and the spotlight motif for said backgrounds in the original.

I do like New Cutey Honey as well though I guess not too many other people did since they ended up having to shorten their planned 12 episodes to 8. =/

I feel most Go Nagai series' can be covered in an OVA and their stretches into TV just seemed to get a bit boring for me. The only exception I'd say in which they needed a series was with the first Mazinger franchise. Then again, I have somewhat of a bias as I've always preferred OVAs more than a series. I appreciate someone who can get their point across in a one to 12 episodes rather than dragging things out until they become of little interest. I feel if I want the full story; I'll buy the manga. I enjoyed the Ranma 1/2 TV series, even though they had to write away from Rumiko after the 2nd volume mostly. However, as mentioned last year when I went through with watching the full 5 seasons of the original Dragon Ball; it was good up until about season 3. After that, it just got worse and worse. I know you all have more takes on this and feel free to share.

My opinion is all over the place when it comes to that subject. Like say, I feel the original Gundam is better watched in the movie form for brevity (And animation fixes) whereas Zeta I'd rather watch the full TV series. I like the JoJo Stardust TV series better than the OVAs but then I prefer the OVA versions of D'arby and the entire final encounter with Dio. Then you have all the long running manga adaptions which can't be told in short form except so many are loaded with filler episodes to avoid passing the comic. Outside of some exceptions I hate those filler episodes. Even worse if they're recaps. So much of it feels like a waste of my time. But then at times they'll do things like extend key sequences or fights and sometimes those end up being an improvement. Blah. Plus now that I'm older I don't have as much time for such undertakings and the old 26 episode season sounds much more agreeable.

There's my TL;DR screed for you. =P

 

[kunonabi]

New Cutey Honey is still my favorite since it was my introduction and I loved the more bodacious powerful body type compared to the smaller versions of her. That said I like every series aside from Universe, ugh, and Live which I haven't seen yet.

On a totally unrelated note my copy of the new road buster bean bandit short arrived today to my complete shock.

 

[Happosai]

I'm sort of off amazon since you can't depend on them coming with slipcovers and the poor packaging is starting to grate on me.

I would agree on the not being able to depend on them to send out those collector's sets. For whatever reason, they tend to mostly send the Discotek releases with the slipcovers. I think they handle the international orders a bit better out here. To me, it would be nice if all releases had slip covers by default. It just seems to me that those of us left buying the physical releases are for those who've been collecting since the 90's or early 2000's.

Yeah they showed it in one of the second season episodes. This was still a couple years before I was even aware of anime so I just saw it as some super cool looking short.

Peter Chung has mentioned Kawajiri as an influence (Though it was one of like 20 names he listed off in succession along with the likes of Moebius, Kubrick, Lynch, Umezu and such). So i don't know to what degree Kawajiri influenced his work. His main visual influence is Egon Schiele, which he's mentioned several times and is very apparent in his work.

Though to keep on subject of retro anime, he did say his main influence for his directorial style and such was Dezaki and the Cobra series. He talks about it quite a bit in this interview:

The Animation That Changed Me: Peter Chung on 'Space Adventure Cobra'

Watching the series "was the first time that it really became clear to me what a director does," says Chung.

www.cartoonbrew.com

Yeah I didn't know about any of that stuff when I originally saw it way back when, so I just watched it for what it was, b-movie trash you'd expect to see on USA Up All Night or something. =P Although Itano wrote Angel Cop it appears Noboru Aikawa is responsible for the antisemitic content. I'm not aware of any of his other writing having such but he does seem to include political content in a lot of his stuff.

First episode has the "best" scene in the series though. =P

Spoiler

I forgot to respond to this the other day but no, it doesn't have a steelbook. It does have a slip case and the cover insert is reversible so you can have the original cover art displayed.





That was like full two decades even. Though I can understand as "New" is feels completely different from the original and has benefit of brevity, whereas the original was just a monster of the week comedy show. Though I did really like the background art and the spotlight motif for said backgrounds in the original.

I do like New Cutey Honey as well though I guess not too many other people did since they ended up having to shorten their planned 12 episodes to 8. =/



My opinion is all over the place when it comes to that subject. Like say, I feel the original Gundam is better watched in the movie form for brevity (And animation fixes) whereas Zeta I'd rather watch the full TV series. I like the JoJo Stardust TV series better than the OVAs but then I prefer the OVA versions of D'arby and the entire final encounter with Dio. Then you have all the long running manga adaptions which can't be told in short form except so many are loaded with filler episodes to avoid passing the comic. Outside of some exceptions I hate those filler episodes. Even worse if they're recaps. So much of it feels like a waste of my time. But then at times they'll do things like extend key sequences or fights and sometimes those end up being an improvement. Blah. Plus now that I'm older I don't have as much time for such undertakings and the old 26 episode season sounds much more agreeable.

There's my TL;DR screed for you. =P

Well, it would have been interesting had Peter Chung been able to collaborate with an anime studio back in the 90's. I doubt it would have been quite what he was expecting. Seems like the 90's was when budgets were dropping out and it became standard to see overworked animators coming into work and getting paid very little.

The spoiler either didn't open or I missed the joke

There are certain series' that I would prefer to OVAs and I've mentioned Ranma 1/2. When I first had the opportunity of buying it. The series was spread out on so many VHS' that I never even tried watching it until VIZ released the DVD sets. The OVAs were more convenient but unlike some OVAs (which are a compartmentalized version of a series); there were episodes based on particular short stories from the manga. They're not bad but the series was more enjoyable on my end (minus seasons 5, 6 and 7 having been relatively lackluster).

New Cutey Honey is still my favorite since it was my introduction and I loved the more bodacious powerful body type compared to the smaller versions of her. That said I like every series aside from Universe, ugh, and Live which I haven't seen yet.

On a totally unrelated note my copy of the new road buster bean bandit short arrived today to my complete shock.

New Cutey Honey seemed to give better context to the character in a much shorter time. I agree that the TV series was fun but like many series -- I don't think they were pushing much to excite the audience with it after a few episodes. The character is also presented with most of her "secrets" known as it would be anticipated that the anime was aimed at the audience who'd been reading the manga. The New Cutey Honey seemed to come in and introduce younger audiences to a variation of the story. They seemed to get the point across even though it didn't meet the original planned episodic span.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Speaking of Cutie Honey I need yall's help with remembering what cutie honey I saw. I think it was an ova but I'm not certain. There is this one scene that always sticks out to me. The two girls are training with some hard-ass instructor. They are given these special suits or bands on them that weigh them down and train every muscle in their body at all times. The instructor is giving them shit about their poor performance and they tell him it's hard with these bands on and that he doesn't know. He then takes off all his clothes and reveals he wears the bands 24/7. I always found this scene hilarious.

 

[Happosai]

Speaking of Cutie Honey I need yall's help with remembering what cutie honey I saw. I think it was an ova but I'm not certain. There is this one scene that always sticks out to me. The two girls are training with some hard-ass instructor. They are given these special suits or bands on them that weigh them down and train every muscle in their body at all times. The instructor is giving them shit about their poor performance and they tell him it's hard with these bands on and that he doesn't know. He then takes off all his clothes and reveals he wears the bands 24/7. I always found this scene hilarious.

It's not ringing a bell to me as an episode from the original 73' series or the 'New Cutey Honey' OVA. It could have fallen into any of the preceding franchises though: Cutey Honey Flash, RE: Cutey Honey and Cutey Honey Universe. The latter two spin-offs aren't quite retro in my book even though I get 2004 is not recent (When RE: Cutey Honey was released). If you were able to recall the story of the episode itself -- that may help to better identify which part of the franchise it came from.

 

[Happosai]

New Cutey Honey is still my favorite since it was my introduction and I loved the more bodacious powerful body type compared to the smaller versions of her. That said I like every series aside from Universe, ugh, and Live which I haven't seen yet.

On a totally unrelated note my copy of the new road buster bean bandit short arrived today to my complete shock.

Sorry for oversighting the mention of Buster Bean Bandit. Were you in the Kickstarter campaign early on? How did you get that?

Speaking of Bean, Gunsmith Cats and Riding Bean...seems like we'll probably never see a good remaster of Riding Bean as long as AnimeEigo holds onto that. I know Gunsmith Cats had that limited crowd funded release; but it would be nice if they released a more economical version to retailers. I collect but I'll take one thing over nothing. Internationally, I have to rely on the retailers to get most titles.

 

[jshackles]

My son got my wife and I started watching all the old episodes of Lupin III. This show holds up extremely well for something that's 45 years old.

We also watched Lupin the Third: The First (the CG movie from a few years ago) and I really liked it.

 

[kunonabi]

Sorry for oversighting the mention of Buster Bean Bandit. Were you in the Kickstarter campaign early on? How did you get that?

Speaking of Bean, Gunsmith Cats and Riding Bean...seems like we'll probably never see a good remaster of Riding Bean as long as AnimeEigo holds onto that. I know Gunsmith Cats had that limited crowd funded release; but it would be nice if they released a more economical version to retailers. I collect but I'll take one thing over nothing. Internationally, I have to rely on the retailers to get most titles.

Yeah I was part of the kickstarter since I got a notice from the riding bean blu ray campaign. I had extremely low expectations for it and it managed to miss even those.

 

[kunonabi]

Rightstuf order came in yesterday:

Not super retro but a sweet haul nonetheless.

 

[Happosai]

My son got my wife and I started watching all the old episodes of Lupin III. This show holds up extremely well for something that's 45 years old.

We also watched Lupin the Third: The First (the CG movie from a few years ago) and I really liked it.

Nice to have you posting again jshackles . I haven't heard from you since page 1, I believe. Do you know which part of the older Lupin lll you're watching/had watched? The one that became popular in the late-90's / early-2000's was Part 2 (which a select number of episodes had aired on Toonami or Adult Swim...I forget which one). kunonabi I know has been up-to-date buying every series back to the first (green jacket Lupin). I haven't seen him around in awhile but we had comments in here from one of the people who had worked on the Lupin lll projects with Discotek. By the way, more of a family part of Lupin would be the movies. There are quite a few and as far as I know...they've never stopped making new Lupin movies.

Yeah I was part of the kickstarter since I got a notice from the riding bean blu ray campaign. I had extremely low expectations for it and it managed to miss even those.

Are the kickstarter releases like that of a limited print number? I imagine these would be exclusive to those supporting the campaign and kept in lower numbers.

Rightstuf order came in yesterday:

Not super retro but a sweet haul nonetheless.

What a haul! What a haul! (I never quote my own AV). I must have been sleeping -- I did not know there was a 4K release of Robot Carnival. That's amazing. Thanks for sharing this and just great material. I eager to know how well "Only You" Urusei Yatsura turned out. On the note of City Hunter -- is that set 2 of the original TV run? Where are they at in terms of getting out the entire series released.


I'm looking forward to see if DIscotek can get their hands on Cat's Eye. I wish we had an insider to slip notes like that into the thread.

 

[jshackles]

Nice to have you posting again jshackles . I haven't heard from you since page 1, I believe. Do you know which part of the older Lupin lll you're watching/had watched? The one that became popular in the late-90's / early-2000's was Part 2 (which a select number of episodes had aired on Toonami or Adult Swim...I forget which one). kunonabi I know has been up-to-date buying every series back to the first (green jacket Lupin). I haven't seen him around in awhile but we had comments in here from one of the people who had worked on the Lupin lll projects with Discotek. By the way, more of a family part of Lupin would be the movies. There are quite a few and as far as I know...they've never stopped making new Lupin movies.

I had heard that the first series was pretty dated, so we started with the second series. My son has the DVD box sets so we started with the first one (it's like 6 DVDs) I think it has 40 episodes on it. We're on episode 18 or so, but we've been watching it every night - really enjoying it. He has a lot of the movies as well - like I mentioned we watched "The First" movie and that's what kinda got us into it. He said there are actually new episodes getting released weekly in Japan.

I've been around and have been watching a bit of anime but just haven't posted here much because most of the stuff we've been watching isn't retro. JoJo Stone Ocean got us to rewatching the whole rest of the series (again) but we're back to the middle of Golden Wind so almost back to the end again. Started Demon Slayer and that's been good.

The only other thing I've been watching that's on the fringe of "retro" would be Ghost Stories - the dub from 2006.

The anime is originally from 2001 and was kinda somewhat serious. The dub (we're watching) is from 2006 and is hilariously bad, but extremely funny.

 

[Happosai]

I had heard that the first series was pretty dated, so we started with the second series. My son has the DVD box sets so we started with the first one (it's like 6 DVDs) I think it has 40 episodes on it. We're on episode 18 or so, but we've been watching it every night - really enjoying it. He has a lot of the movies as well - like I mentioned we watched "The First" movie and that's what kinda got us into it. He said there are actually new episodes getting released weekly in Japan.

I've been around and have been watching a bit of anime but just haven't posted here much because most of the stuff we've been watching isn't retro. JoJo Stone Ocean got us to rewatching the whole rest of the series (again) but we're back to the middle of Golden Wind so almost back to the end again. Started Demon Slayer and that's been good.

The only other thing I've been watching that's on the fringe of "retro" would be Ghost Stories - the dub from 2006.

The anime is originally from 2001 and was kinda somewhat serious. The dub (we're watching) is from 2006 and is hilariously bad, but extremely funny.

First series is fun stuff. I'd keep going. As far as I know -- the Lupin lll TV series is still ongoing. Can't beat the first 3 series though.

Ghost Stories still falls in with the hypothetical cutoff year in the OP of 2001. Anime in style was pretty much still mid-90's for TV series at that time. The big change that started in at that time was more so the switch to digital background and digital inking. Cel shading also became less and less as you get closer to 2004. I'm not sure why a dub was thrown into it in 2006. I do recall that Central Park Media was dubbing many 90's anime titles well past 2001.

 

[jshackles]

Ghost Stories still falls in with the hypothetical cutoff year in the OP of 2001. Anime in style was pretty much still mid-90's for TV series at that time. The big change that started in at that time was more so the switch to digital background and digital inking. Cel shading also became less and less as you get closer to 2004. I'm not sure why a dub was thrown into it in 2006. I do recall that Central Park Media was dubbing many 90's anime titles well past 2001.

The video I posted above mentioned that Ghost Stories wasn't exactly well received during it's initial run in Japan, and that the creators were looking for a way to make it appealing to western audiences. They let the voice actors go full ham and ad-lib most of their lines, as long as the show still followed the same general plotlines. It's such an oddity though - a bunch of the stuff would have been super relevant in 2006 but unknown in 2001 like references to the TV show LOST. The Japanese production company signed off on it though, so it's now the official dub. Either way, it's hilarious and (I'm sure) holds up better as a comedy than it would have as a middling spooky anime.

 

[Happosai]

The video I posted above mentioned that Ghost Stories wasn't exactly well received during it's initial run in Japan, and that the creators were looking for a way to make it appealing to western audiences. They let the voice actors go full ham and ad-lib most of their lines, as long as the show still followed the same general plotlines. It's such an oddity though - a bunch of the stuff would have been super relevant in 2006 but unknown in 2001 like references to the TV show LOST. The Japanese production company signed off on it though, so it's now the official dub. Either way, it's hilarious and (I'm sure) holds up better as a comedy than it would have as a middling spooky anime.

Crayon Shin Chan took dub ham to the next level. We're talking about ad libs and throwing a bunch of 2000's American pop cultural and political jargon into it. I recall watching the dub once and there was a character which the English dub team wanted to use as a punching bag for right-wing politicians. It was a kid...and there were references to the George W. Bush administration. It's funny in Japanese but the dub was total crap.

 

[kunonabi]

Nice to have you posting again jshackles . I haven't heard from you since page 1, I believe. Do you know which part of the older Lupin lll you're watching/had watched? The one that became popular in the late-90's / early-2000's was Part 2 (which a select number of episodes had aired on Toonami or Adult Swim...I forget which one). kunonabi I know has been up-to-date buying every series back to the first (green jacket Lupin). I haven't seen him around in awhile but we had comments in here from one of the people who had worked on the Lupin lll projects with Discotek. By the way, more of a family part of Lupin would be the movies. There are quite a few and as far as I know...they've never stopped making new Lupin movies.

Are the kickstarter releases like that of a limited print number? I imagine these would be exclusive to those supporting the campaign and kept in lower numbers.

What a haul! What a haul! (I never quote my own AV). I must have been sleeping -- I did not know there was a 4K release of Robot Carnival. That's amazing. Thanks for sharing this and just great material. I eager to know how well "Only You" Urusei Yatsura turned out. On the note of City Hunter -- is that set 2 of the original TV run? Where are they at in terms of getting out the entire series released.


I'm looking forward to see if DIscotek can get their hands on Cat's Eye. I wish we had an insider to slip notes like that into the thread.

There are usually some leftover copies that be purchased from animeigo after the kickstarter ends but I don't how many usually make it and or how long they stick around. Other kickstarters will do a separate general release after the initial campaign completes.

That's the second half of season 2 of the original series which is the most recent release from discotek as far as I know.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

It's not ringing a bell to me as an episode from the original 73' series or the 'New Cutey Honey' OVA. It could have fallen into any of the preceding franchises though: Cutey Honey Flash, RE: Cutey Honey and Cutey Honey Universe. The latter two spin-offs aren't quite retro in my book even though I get 2004 is not recent (When RE: Cutey Honey was released). If you were able to recall the story of the episode itself -- that may help to better identify which part of the franchise it came from.

Now that I think about it more I'm pretty sure it was dirty pair.

 

[Happosai]

Now that I think about it more I'm pretty sure it was dirty pair.

It could be. If you watched dubs and you saw a dubbed version of Dirty Pair, then it's in the OVA. The OVA is the only earlier Dirty Pair animation that had been hit by Westernization. The original TV series Dirty Pair is only in the original Japanese w/ optional subtitles. If you saw an older looking version that was in Japanese, the episode was likely in the TV series. I haven't watched either in years but I know a few here that have and may know which scene or episode you're referring to. If it is indeed Dirty Pair.

 

[kunonabi]

Skip to 11:20

Would this be the scene in question?

 

[Happosai]

Skip to 11:20

Would this be the scene in question?

OmegaSupreme

 

[OmegaSupreme]

OmegaSupreme

Yep! Good stuff. Thanks guys that's been bugging me for a minute. I think tubi has Dirty Pair flash. It might be time for a rewatch.

 

[Happosai]

American fast food references in retro anime Space Runaway . I was talking about this with my wife and the top two we've seen across different anime titles. I'd say McDonald's references are something which are probably popping up in anime until today. In the 80's, I noticed that several anime titles would show certain statue cameos of Colonel Sanders or KFC in general. Not sure which anime it was but I did see in a background city painting (possibly in K.O.R. TV of Carl's Jr.). One that I started seeing pop up moreso in the 90's were references to Denny's. I recall reading a manga which had the restaraunt listed as "Dennis." What are some you've seen and what was the fascination with American franchise fast food in retro anime?

 

[DGrayson]

"Swole Sanders"

 

[Happosai]

Something pretty cool I came across this morning before starting work. I was trying to remember the Anime Websites I used back in the late-90's/early 2000's which are no longer around. Animetric was a big one for me but the site owner "sold it" and is now somehow selling cosemetics through the old domain. I particularly recall one call ABCB and AnimeNext. AnimeNext was pretty simple and was mostly reviews. However...ABCB still exists, for now...

Check this out:

Anime Cafe Home Page - Your complete source for anime reviews

Complete anime reviews, anime trivia, cross-referenced encyclopædia and more!

www.abcb.com

 

[DGrayson]

Something pretty cool I came across this morning before starting work. I was trying to remember the Anime Websites I used back in the late-90's/early 2000's which are no longer around. Animetric was a big one for me but the site owner "sold it" and is now somehow selling cosemetics through the old domain. I particularly recall one call ABCB and AnimeNext. AnimeNext was pretty simple and was mostly reviews. However...ABCB still exists, for now...

Check this out:

Anime Cafe Home Page - Your complete source for anime reviews

Complete anime reviews, anime trivia, cross-referenced encyclopædia and more!

www.abcb.com

I used to love animeondvd . com . Dont go there its spam now. I think that was the name?

 

[Happosai]

I used to love animeondvd . com . Dont go there its spam now. I think that was the name?

I tried to open it and firewall blocked something instantly. Here: https://www.abcb.com/index.htm they're somehow keeping it up - even though I don't see any particular updates since 2003.

I did find an old image of the animeondvd.com homepage. It would have been ideal for me to have seen this back in the day. Looks like forums and that's something genuine. I think the reason it's hard for an independent group to put together an anime webpage is due to the fact that people are relying on social media to get updates/info on anime.

 

[Happosai]

Happy Friday everyone! Thought I'd share some 80's Japanese City Pop. This is the one video I always go to for the song selection and GIFs used. If you you watch from the beginning -- try to guess each anime title without cheating and reading them in the comments.

Funny note, some years ago when I first heard Naoko Gushima's "Candy" - I thought she was singing "Kill Me." Listen...maybe she was

 

[OmegaSpirit32X]

Happy Friday everyone! Thought I'd share some 80's Japanese City Pop. This is the one video I always go to for the song selection and GIFs used. If you you watch from the beginning -- try to guess each anime title without cheating and reading them in the comments.

Funny note, some years ago when I first heard Naoko Gushima's "Candy" - I thought she was singing "Kill Me." Listen...maybe she was

Off-Topic, but when we were talking about the Ushio and Tora remake a while ago, I remember you mentioned you were glad they didn't try to remake Bastard!!

Well guess what their remaking?

 

[Labolas]

Skip to 11:20

Would this be the scene in question?

I know a lot of OG Dirty Pair fans don't like Flash. But I love it, Kei's redesign is simply the best.

 

[Happosai]

Off-Topic, but when we were talking about the Ushio and Tora remake a while ago, I remember you mentioned you were glad they didn't try to remake Bastard!!

Well guess what their remaking?

I know a lot of OG Dirty Pair fans don't like Flash. But I love it, Kei's redesign is simply the best.

First of all O OmegaSpirit32X thanks for jumping in to post. I saw you sharing comments on Ushio & Tora in an O.T. thread yesterday.

Regarding Ushio & Tora the manga, OVA and TV. My opinions only as someone who appreciates great visuals and will bias those above a story:

- Ushio & Tora the OVA for the great animation and a short and fun intro to the characters for those who've never read the manga
- Ushio & Tora the manga for the full story from the original author
- Ushio & Tora to see a more completed story

I put the TV series from (2015???) because I tried about 3 episodes and digital ink and that "glossy glow-look" on modern anime bothers me too much to even get into the story being told. I mentioned some of these things a page ago or so when comparing The Record of Lodoss War OVA to the TV series. I feel someone who's really into Ushio & Tora should watch the TV series...but...watch the OVA first to be able to appreciate artwork in Japanese film before it ink & paint was outed from the industry. Also added: Anyone who can find the Super Famicom game Ushio & Tora ought to buy a Super Famicom for that game alone. Fun stuff!

I'm not going to guess what they're remaking. If it's Bastard!...screw them. I mean, why? Do they have a video game to follow it up with? Trying to pick up loose ends missing from the manga? I'll use this cliché again as I have before --- sometimes we just need to look back and accept the fact that they got it right the first time.

Labolas You know that I'm that guy too. I'll watch a spin-off and sometimes it was my introduction to an older anime series or OVA. That's why I mentioned previously I prefer "the New" Cutey Honey OVA from 1994 over the 1973 TV series. It was my introduction to Cutey Honey and when I purchased the original from Discotek...I just didn't enjoy it as much. There will be those that disagree with that and they're probably right to some degree.

 

[OmegaSpirit32X]

First of all O OmegaSpirit32X thanks for jumping in to post. I saw you sharing comments on Ushio & Tora in an O.T. thread yesterday.

Regarding Ushio & Tora the manga, OVA and TV. My opinions only as someone who appreciates great visuals and will bias those above a story:

- Ushio & Tora the OVA for the great animation and a short and fun intro to the characters for those who've never read the manga
- Ushio & Tora the manga for the full story from the original author
- Ushio & Tora to see a more completed story

I put the TV series from (2015???) because I tried about 3 episodes and digital ink and that "glossy glow-look" on modern anime bothers me too much to even get into the story being told. I mentioned some of these things a page ago or so when comparing The Record of Lodoss War OVA to the TV series. I feel someone who's really into Ushio & Tora should watch the TV series...but...watch the OVA first to be able to appreciate artwork in Japanese film before it ink & paint was outed from the industry. Also added: Anyone who can find the Super Famicom game Ushio & Tora ought to buy a Super Famicom for that game alone. Fun stuff!

I'm not going to guess what they're remaking. If it's Bastard!...screw them. I mean, why? Do they have a video game to follow it up with? Trying to pick up loose ends missing from the manga? I'll use this cliché again as I have before --- sometimes we just need to look back and accept the fact that they got it right the first time.

Yeah, that's almost the way I watched it. I watched the OVA's first, then skipped arround the new version to the stuff that the OVA's didn't cover, (did the same thing with Hunter x Hunter), I didn't like the new direction for other reasons, I dislike how they simplified Tora's design and gave both of them spiky hair. I also don't like the muted and gritty color scheme, it just doesn't fit the author's style aswell as the OVA's. I'd love to get my hands on the manga one day, and try both games even if their emulated (There's also an RPG for the Original Famicom called Ushio and Tora: Shin'nen no Daiyou)

Honestly I can't wrap my head arround people who dismiss older anime for being old, even as someone who didn't grow up during that era (like, I grew up in the mid-late 2000's, early 2010's) and while I enjoy newer stuff, older anime looks way more appealing to me. and to be fair, It might've been the stuff I was exposed to. I was always a Sonic fan, and stuff like the intro to Sonic CD and that OVA from the mid-90's introduced me to that style of anime, also two the first anime I ever completed were Mazinger Z and Evangelion, courtesy of my dad.

 

[paolo11]

Has anyone of you watched Baxinger?

 

[Dr_Salt]

What is the best way to watch Patlabor 2 movie? I heard the bluray conversion changed the music and it sucks.

 

[JunkerWoland]

What is the best way to watch Patlabor 2 movie? I hears the bluray conversion changed the music and it sucks.

The Japanese Blu-ray releases of Patlabor 1 & 2 include both the original JP 2.0 stereo tracks and the newer JP 5.1 tracks that contain recreated audio and total (the first movie) or partial (the second film) re-dubbed audio. These releases also contain English subtitles and can be actively imported from various sites, such as Amazon Japan.

For reference, the U.S. releases from Maiden Japan only contained the 5.1 tracks and are out-of-print. The HK versions of the movies seem to be available, but--while I may be wrong--I believe they also only contain the 5.1 track. The Korean releases did have the original 2.0 stereo audio, though they're similarly out-of-print.

 

[Dr_Salt]

The Japanese Blu-ray releases of Patlabor 1 & 2 include both the original JP 2.0 stereo tracks and the newer JP 5.1 tracks that contain recreated audio and total (the first movie) or partial (the second film) re-dubbed audio. These releases also contain English subtitles and can be actively imported from various sites, such as Amazon Japan.

For reference, the U.S. releases from Maiden Japan only contained the 5.1 tracks and are out-of-print. The HK versions of the movies seem to be available, but--while I may be wrong--I believe they also only contain the 5.1 track. The Korean releases did have the original 2.0 stereo audio, though they're similarly out-of-print.

Would you say the original audio is better than the recreation?

 

[JunkerWoland]

Would you say the original audio is better than the recreation?

I've probably only listened to the new audio once, thanks to the DVDs released by Bandai Visual USA in 2006, which only contained the JP 5.1 tracks. To the best of my recollection, there wasn't anything offensive about the new sound; it's merely different and in some instances legitimately an improvement from the standpoint of music and SFX.

I'd still rather have the older and, for me, more familiar JP 2.0 stereo tracks available as my main audio. The JP 5.1 are nice supplemental additions, but since these are cases were alterations were made, I'd rather have the original version of the materials.

 

[Big Baller]

 

[Labolas]

Personally I really liked the new version of Ushio and Tora. And honestly, if it wasn't for that series, I wouldn't found out about the OVA and manga. So I don't think it necessarily having a newer version of an older anime is a bad idea because it does open up a wider audience to an older property (ie Alita Battle Angel). But at the same time, I understand where O OmegaSpirit32X and Happosai are coming from because I love the aesthetics of the OVA of Birdy the Mighty but hated how Decode looked.

vs.

Speaking of the Netflix adaptation of Bastard!, I am skeptical that it's going to be on the level of manga or the OVA.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I used to love animeondvd . com . Dont go there its spam now. I think that was the name?

Chris Beverage! Loved animeondvd.com! I think he made another website but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. I know he shows up on the animenewsnetwork podcast on occasion but I haven't listened to that in years. I find the host insufferable.

 

[JunkerWoland]

Chris Beverage! Loved animeondvd.com! I think he made another website but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. I know he shows up on the animenewsnetwork podcast on occasion but I haven't listened to that in years. I find the host insufferable.

After AnimeOnDVD transitioned into a component of Mania.com, which eventually imploded, Mr. Beveridge returned some years ago with his own site, The Fandom Post.

 

[-Minsc-]

Something pretty cool I came across this morning before starting work. I was trying to remember the Anime Websites I used back in the late-90's/early 2000's which are no longer around. Animetric was a big one for me but the site owner "sold it" and is now somehow selling cosemetics through the old domain. I particularly recall one call ABCB and AnimeNext. AnimeNext was pretty simple and was mostly reviews. However...ABCB still exists, for now...

Check this out:

Anime Cafe Home Page - Your complete source for anime reviews

Complete anime reviews, anime trivia, cross-referenced encyclopædia and more!

www.abcb.com

I just came here to post about the past world which surrounded older anime. A couple years ago I stumbled upon The anime cafe. When I first found it I believe it was around the end of it's activity (Last updated in 2004). There's a vague memory of me noting at that time it was then end of an era. From my understanding that site is old school HTML coded. Want to update a link? Well, you have to update it on every page. I was a little sad because I had slight interest in making a website the old way I remember them being in my teenage years. The days of webrings and the like. But, the way things get done change. It's something I could do today or in the future. The past sweeping changes are now a part of history. A simple old school website would be fun. This guy does it.

As for what I came to post.

A Two-Mix playlist was in my YouTube recommendations.



I was taken back to Gundam Wing airing here on YTV oh so many years ago. Being curious as to when it aired I did a search and came across this article.

Memory, Blog | Gundam Wing on YTV's The Zone - RETRODEF

A look back on the first airing of Gundam Wing in Canada on YTV's The Zone in the year 2000.

retrodef.ca

Within are some nice historical nuggets of the days when anime on TV was on the rise in Canada. Normally I would not think of how the new retro anime was once viewed. On TV there were all the old program blocks and themes which went with them. I never paid too much attention to "The Zone" but it was a thing that was there. To test the waters they preempted DBZ one evening and aired the first three episodes of Wing one after another. Viewers were able to vote whether or not they wanted to keep Wing. Another thing to note is they also aired Endless Waltz later that night. I believe I somehow got word Endless Waltz too placer after Wing so I recorded it to watch later. They really had very little clue what to do with the anime at the time.



As for when it first aired, if I'm to trust the article, April 24 of the year 2000. This was during my final half of high school. When the entire series aired in September I was a free man who was able to watch Gundam Wing in his bedroom at his parents.

Today I'd normally stream an old anime somewhere and not think of how it used to be presented. Watching a show via VHS, DVD or even over the air is retro in on its own. I'm also reminded of the Cowboy Bebop episode where Spike and Jet went on a quest to find a VCR and CRT TV.

This has been a great little trip down memory lane.

 

[Ladioss]

Not really retro per se, but I was rewatching the xxxHolic Midsummer Night's Dream movie this WE. It's a movie I remember loving and being fascinated with back in 2007/2008, which has not really graciously aged, but I can't help but notice strong stylistic similarities with Hosoda's One Piece movie : the surrealism of course, but also how the fictionnal world is openly structured like a stage, and the strong modernist/superflat sensibilities. Only the Eccentric Family series and Yuasa's Night Is Short, Walk On Girl do something somewhat similar anymore, I think ? Strange how this kind of aesthetics kind of disappeared without anyone noticing.

A Two-Mix playlist was in my YouTube recommendations.

I never was a fan of Two Mix, but the cameos in Detective Conan were funny, and the White Reflection clip was pretty good back at the time - it really captured that late 90s "anime americana" aesthetic we had from series like Cowboy Bebop and Macross Plus




Not related, but I just wanted to listen again to one of my favorite 80s anime song :

 

[Happosai]

Personally I really liked the new version of Ushio and Tora. And honestly, if it wasn't for that series, I wouldn't found out about the OVA and manga. So I don't think it necessarily having a newer version of an older anime is a bad idea because it does open up a wider audience to an older property (ie Alita Battle Angel). But at the same time, I understand where O OmegaSpirit32X and Happosai are coming from because I love the aesthetics of the OVA of Birdy the Mighty but hated how Decode looked.

vs.

Speaking of the Netflix adaptation of Bastard!, I am skeptical that it's going to be on the level of manga or the OVA.

When I worked in animation -- I became nitpicky about coloring. I worked storyboards and layouts in Chicago as a student animator from 2006-09. Everyone saw the prospect and affordability of using digital inking. Aside from cel shading, there's that 'real' texture that gets lost in digital ink in anime. Now, to your point about new series' like Ushio & Tora bringing fans back to the manga and OVA; I agree 100%. I've actually stated this before but, I can't discard modern anime at all due to the fact that it keeps it from fading away. Reboots do often turn newer fans back to older work. Birdy is a great piece of work but I haven't gotten around to picking up the DVD/Blu-ray. It'll happen.

Chris Beverage! Loved animeondvd.com! I think he made another website but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. I know he shows up on the animenewsnetwork podcast on occasion but I haven't listened to that in years. I find the host insufferable.

Many of these site owners do attempt to repurpose those old pages. I still can't get past the fact that Rowena Lim Lei claims that she got "sick" of anime and "sold" animetric for that reason. If she really sold it...did she buy it back? Last I checked, she was selling her cosmetics through the old domain. She reviewed everything and honestly helped introduce me into the titles which actually made me a fan of anime some 21-odd years ago. I wish she'd at least placed the reviews in dropbox in a ZIP folder. I mean, nothing left. Animeondvd was a forums format. Very relevant of it's time.

I just came here to post about the past world which surrounded older anime. A couple years ago I stumbled upon The anime cafe. When I first found it I believe it was around the end of it's activity (Last updated in 2004). There's a vague memory of me noting at that time it was then end of an era. From my understanding that site is old school HTML coded. Want to update a link? Well, you have to update it on every page. I was a little sad because I had slight interest in making a website the old way I remember them being in my teenage years. The days of webrings and the like. But, the way things get done change. It's something I could do today or in the future. The past sweeping changes are now a part of history. A simple old school website would be fun. This guy does it.

As for what I came to post.

A Two-Mix playlist was in my YouTube recommendations.



I was taken back to Gundam Wing airing here on YTV oh so many years ago. Being curious as to when it aired I did a search and came across this article.

Memory, Blog | Gundam Wing on YTV's The Zone - RETRODEF

A look back on the first airing of Gundam Wing in Canada on YTV's The Zone in the year 2000.

retrodef.ca

Within are some nice historical nuggets of the days when anime on TV was on the rise in Canada. Normally I would not think of how the new retro anime was once viewed. On TV there were all the old program blocks and themes which went with them. I never paid too much attention to "The Zone" but it was a thing that was there. To test the waters they preempted DBZ one evening and aired the first three episodes of Wing one after another. Viewers were able to vote whether or not they wanted to keep Wing. Another thing to note is they also aired Endless Waltz later that night. I believe I somehow got word Endless Waltz too placer after Wing so I recorded it to watch later. They really had very little clue what to do with the anime at the time.



As for when it first aired, if I'm to trust the article, April 24 of the year 2000. This was during my final half of high school. When the entire series aired in September I was a free man who was able to watch Gundam Wing in his bedroom at his parents.

Today I'd normally stream an old anime somewhere and not think of how it used to be presented. Watching a show via VHS, DVD or even over the air is retro in on its own. I'm also reminded of the Cowboy Bebop episode where Spike and Jet went on a quest to find a VCR and CRT TV.

This has been a great little trip down memory lane.

-Minsc- Did you ever get a chance to see Ranma 1/2 TV on YTV? I never saw it air on U.S. TV and am skeptical that it ever did. I know that VIZ pushed the DVD releases as early as 2003 but I have no evidence that they had a regular run of the show on U.S. TV. Back to YTV, did they censor certain parts of the show? I'm curious as my wife saw the version ported to Mexico and they had censored certain parts. Normally, when Mexico would show 80's-90's anime; they would rip U.S. or Canadian TV episodes and dub the English scripts. They were often censored. By the way, did any of the TMS anime titles run on YTV back in the day?

Not really retro per se, but I was rewatching the xxxHolic Midsummer Night's Dream movie this WE. It's a movie I remember loving and being fascinated with back in 2007/2008, which has not really graciously aged, but I can't help but notice strong stylistic similarities with Hosoda's One Piece movie : the surrealism of course, but also how the fictionnal world is openly structured like a stage, and the strong modernist/superflat sensibilities. Only the Eccentric Family series and Yuasa's Night Is Short, Walk On Girl do something somewhat similar anymore, I think ? Strange how this kind of aesthetics kind of disappeared without anyone noticing.



I never was a fan of Two Mix, but the cameos in Detective Conan were funny, and the White Reflection clip was pretty good back at the time - it really captured that late 90s "anime americana" aesthetic we had from series like Cowboy Bebop and Macross Plus




Not related, but I just wanted to listen again to one of my favorite 80s anime song :

I mean, the term retro anime will keep changing as titles from the early 2000's now start getting older. It's really about perspective and depending on the time in which you started watching. xxxHolic had a great artstyle and seems like it would have been fitting for a video game (not sure if there was one). However, going back to my mention of the lack of cel shading; this was apparent at that time. The way many here have identified as retro would be 70's, 80's and for some 90's anime if you started watching anime in the 90's when it was scarce on Western TV and VHS was the main mode of viewing/collecting. I know many started watching anime as it seemed to be gaining popularity again around 2003/04-ish too. That group would remember Desert Punk, Full Metal Alchemist, My Hime, Midori Days, Bleach and what have you. <-- Those titles would now appear more so as retro now that we're in 2022. However, I believe the more appropriate term would be 'classic' rather than retro. A classic doesn't have to really be that old but something that does so well that it becomes timeless. I'd give the term retro to titles such as: City Hunter, Lupin the lll (1st - 3rd seasons onward), Urusei Yatsura, Space Runaway Ideon, Macross, Dragon Ball (original) and the myriad OVAs produced from 83' until about 93'.

You need both. I mean, I still keep thinking that without modern anime...we wouldn't have the JRPGs that we have?

 

[Ladioss]

I mean, the term retro anime will keep changing as titles from the early 2000's now start getting older. It's really about perspective and depending on the time in which you started watching. xxxHolic had a great artstyle and seems like it would have been fitting for a video game (not sure if there was one). However, going back to my mention of the lack of cel shading; this was apparent at that time. The way many here have identified as retro would be 70's, 80's and for some 90's anime if you started watching anime in the 90's when it was scarce on Western TV and VHS was the main mode of viewing/collecting. I know many started watching anime as it seemed to be gaining popularity again around 2003/04-ish too. That group would remember Desert Punk, Full Metal Alchemist, My Hime, Midori Days, Bleach and what have you. <-- Those titles would now appear more so as retro now that we're in 2022. However, I believe the more appropriate term would be 'classic' rather than retro. A classic doesn't have to really be that old but something that does so well that it becomes timeless. I'd give the term retro to titles such as: City Hunter, Lupin the lll (1st - 3rd seasons onward), Urusei Yatsura, Space Runaway Ideon, Macross, Dragon Ball (original) and the myriad OVAs produced from 83' until about 93'.

You need both. I mean, I still keep thinking that without modern anime...we wouldn't have the JRPGs that we have?

Not sure the time I started watching anime has a real impact in this. I started watching anime when I was a kid in the 80s as a lot of anime series aired on TV at the time in my country, yet I don't really see a retro/non-retro dichotomy between animes I watched as a kid or anime I watched as a young adult. I tend to agree with you about the use of digital ink (and, more generally, the shift away from a classical, hand-drawn, anime production pipeline), roughly between the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s (depending of the studio), as distinctive - in passing, digital ink may be too specific and doesn't cover all the impacts of the shift to digital production, like SFXs (for example, for me the use of the "backlighting" effect is one of the most recognizable and distinctive special effect in classic anime). But the shift to digital production is not the only parameter, I think; also of note, and happenning roughly at the same time, is the change in source material (using light novels as source material is not new, but saw nonetheless a meteoric rise around the time of Haruhi), the generational shift among anime directors starting with the passing of such important figures as Dezaki Osamu in 2011, and the evolution in the fictionnal genres covered in anime (with the decrease of adventure and SF/mecha anime, and the almost complete domination of chara-driven productions)... it's an holistic thing, plenty of deep reaching evolutions in almost all aspects of anime production happening roughly at the same time.

 

[Happosai]

Not sure the time I started watching anime has a real impact in this. I started watching anime when I was a kid in the 80s as a lot of anime series aired on TV at the time in my country, yet I don't really see a retro/non-retro dichotomy between animes I watched as a kid or anime I watched as a young adult. I tend to agree with you about the use of digital ink (and, more generally, the shift away from a classical, hand-drawn, anime production pipeline), roughly between the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s (depending of the studio), as distinctive - in passing, digital ink may be too specific and doesn't cover all the impacts of the shift to digital production, like SFXs (for example, for me the use of the "backlighting" effect is one of the most recognizable and distinctive special effect in classic anime). But the shift to digital production is not the only parameter, I think; also of note, and happenning roughly at the same time, is the change in source material (using light novels as source material is not new, but saw nonetheless a meteoric rise around the time of Haruhi), the generational shift among anime directors starting with the passing of such important figures as Dezaki Osamu in 2011, and the evolution in the fictionnal genres covered in anime (with the decrease of adventure and SF/mecha anime, and the almost complete domination of chara-driven productions)... it's an holistic thing, plenty of deep reaching evolutions in almost all aspects of anime production happening roughly at the same time.

Adaptations chosen for classic anime seemed to be chosen by production companies with select directors aimed at a story that would either sell well on video (OVAs) or to TV. The theme and generational shift seems that the majority of an audience demands slice of life anime in many cases. However, I can't pinpoint the story themes of anime as a 'modern' thing either. I mean, during the huge passing of OVAs in the 80's...there were many themes that could have become repetitive. However, I'm not sure why certain genres died out.

Now, Direction is something a bit chaotic today in anime. The majority of screen writers and directors in anime tend produce anime that seems more fitting toward a juvenile or adolescents target. Now, in the 80's and 90's you had anime being produced with a larger volume of titles coming out target toward adults. From all the newer titles I've come across in anime -- I can't picture an adult watching these titles and enjoying them. Case in point, Kawajiri directed films...the only one I would call a "family" film that he worked on was Lensman. The other titles were written for an adult audience. No one's doing anything like that today and that was one thing that I always felt made anime different from Western animation. Western animation had been widely targeted toward children and teens for the most part. If an adult joke was made -- it had to be masked relatively well and often caused backlash. I get it that Americans from the 90's would say...but there were adult themed cartoons and mention: Beavis & Butthead, the Simpsons, Family Guy etc. However, those were all comedies and there were few Western animators who could write a serious drama, horror or sci-fi animation target toward adults. Now, I just don't find that distinguishing factor in anime anymore and (maybe it's just me) but it almost seems as if Japan directly markets modern anime for Western audiences. That's not bad but Westerners as an audience will easily ask for the same story over and over when it comes to film. That's why Hollywood continues to put out the same themed films every season.

I don't dislike modern anime but generationally...I can't relate to what's being produced today and it's just not entertaining. If I'm going to nitpick -- I'd also point out that the drawing of adults in anime...they looked like adults. The art style if you crop out the head of a 12-year anime character's face and paste it to a 30-year old's body -- they look the same. Is that just laziness or is there a reason why all characters now are drawn like children?

 

[Ladioss]

However, I can't pinpoint the story themes of anime as a 'modern' thing either. I mean, during the huge passing of OVAs in the 80's...there were many themes that could have become repetitive. However, I'm not sure why certain genres died out.

The case of the SF and mecha genres is the strangest to me. I mean, it was still going strong at the end of the 90s (Bebop, Outlaw Star, Gasaraki), and the early 2000s were promising (GITS SAC, Crest/Banner, Ryvius, that bloody masterpiece which is Planetes in 2003, Denno Coil at the end of the decade), and then it kind of.. died off ? There was Space Brothers ten years ago, but other than that ? Nowadays Gundam seems to be the last franchise to still attemp to do some serious SF (Thunderbolt is 90s anime military SF at its finest), which, given the history of the franchise, is kind of funny. Not entirely sure what happened here either, maybe international audience is a factor, maybe it's generational.

For adventure-with-kids anime, I think Fushigi no umi no Nadia, Ashita no Nadja and Now and Then Here and There killed it. Nothing can top those three.

Now, Direction is something a bit chaotic today in anime. The majority of screen writers and directors in anime tend produce anime that seems more fitting toward a juvenile or adolescents target. Now, in the 80's and 90's you had anime being produced with a larger volume of titles coming out target toward adults. From all the newer titles I've come across in anime -- I can't picture an adult watching these titles and enjoying them. Case in point, Kawajiri directed films...the only one I would call a "family" film that he worked on was Lensman. The other titles were written for an adult audience

I'm still surprised when I rewatch a Crying Freeman OVA, Mad Bull or a Kangetsu Ittou - I mean, who watched that at the time ? It's the anime equivalent of old-fashioned seinen manga, I can't imagine anyone but hardcore yakuzas watching this.
The 1980s loved testing new audiences for its OVA offerings : older girl enthusiasts (the Takemiya Keiko movies, Kaze to ki no uta, etc), avant garde (Oshii, some Rintaro stuff), occults maniacs (Mad House/Kawajiri), history maniacs (the Sangokushi trilogy) - shame they all kinda collapsed.

And anime targeted at the family was Ghibli's job, after all.

 

[-Minsc-]

-Minsc- Did you ever get a chance to see Ranma 1/2 TV on YTV? I never saw it air on U.S. TV and am skeptical that it ever did. I know that VIZ pushed the DVD releases as early as 2003 but I have no evidence that they had a regular run of the show on U.S. TV. Back to YTV, did they censor certain parts of the show? I'm curious as my wife saw the version ported to Mexico and they had censored certain parts. Normally, when Mexico would show 80's-90's anime; they would rip U.S. or Canadian TV episodes and dub the English scripts. They were often censored. By the way, did any of the TMS anime titles run on YTV back in the day?

I do not remember YTV airing Ranma 1/2. My brother did borrow some VHS tapes many years before.

Since I never saw Ranma 1/2 on TV I can not comment on censoring. Anime on YTV was censored, to a degree. Some were censored the same as in the US, others were less so. From my memory I don't recall Gundam Wing looking censored. This is not to say it wasn't. We only got the 1st opening and and instrumental closing. We got the version of Escaflowne which was pulled from Fox Kids after a short run. Gundam Seed had some censoring but nowhere near as what aired in the US. There were no "laser hand guns". There was one episode of Ghost in the Shell: SAC that was initially skipped then aired later.

 

[Happosai]

The case of the SF and mecha genres is the strangest to me. I mean, it was still going strong at the end of the 90s (Bebop, Outlaw Star, Gasaraki), and the early 2000s were promising (GITS SAC, Crest/Banner, Ryvius, that bloody masterpiece which is Planetes in 2003, Denno Coil at the end of the decade), and then it kind of.. died off ? There was Space Brothers ten years ago, but other than that ? Nowadays Gundam seems to be the last franchise to still attemp to do some serious SF (Thunderbolt is 90s anime military SF at its finest), which, given the history of the franchise, is kind of funny. Not entirely sure what happened here either, maybe international audience is a factor, maybe it's generational.

For adventure-with-kids anime, I think Fushigi no umi no Nadia, Ashita no Nadja and Now and Then Here and There killed it. Nothing can top those three.



I'm still surprised when I rewatch a Crying Freeman OVA, Mad Bull or a Kangetsu Ittou - I mean, who watched that at the time ? It's the anime equivalent of old-fashioned seinen manga, I can't imagine anyone but hardcore yakuzas watching this.
The 1980s loved testing new audiences for its OVA offerings : older girl enthusiasts (the Takemiya Keiko movies, Kaze to ki no uta, etc), avant garde (Oshii, some Rintaro stuff), occults maniacs (Mad House/Kawajiri), history maniacs (the Sangokushi trilogy) - shame they all kinda collapsed.

And anime targeted at the family was Ghibli's job, after all.

Anime really had a global impact with those titles you mentioned. Many ended up having live action adaptations, influenced Western animators/filmmakers and many shared admiration toward Western film the same. The studios collapsed but we're still talking about these great works of animation some 35 + years after they were introduced. Studio Ghibli I believe had all the right intentions as a studio to be family oriented. However, I think the issue today is that things have to be "cute" and silly. Silly isn't bad and it's what made Dragon Half so great or Project A-Ko. But, it's just something today that even the fans get tired of. That's why you're hearing people write about anime today asking "what's coming on Spring season?" I think back to the OVA days and people were buying a title with little knowledge of what they'd be watching unless they read the manga first. The box art itself sold a lot of those titles. Where did that go?

I do not remember YTV airing Ranma 1/2. My brother did borrow some VHS tapes many years before.

Since I never saw Ranma 1/2 on TV I can not comment on censoring. Anime on YTV was censored, to a degree. Some were censored the same as in the US, others were less so. From my memory I don't recall Gundam Wing looking censored. This is not to say it wasn't. We only got the 1st opening and and instrumental closing. We got the version of Escaflowne which was pulled from Fox Kids after a short run. Gundam Seed had some censoring but nowhere near as what aired in the US. There were no "laser hand guns". There was one episode of Ghost in the Shell: SAC that was initially skipped then aired later.

I believe Ranma 1/2 showing on YTV was the first instance of the series being aired to an English audience in North America. The U.S. became the leading distributor by VIZ of the Ranma 1/2 series in the early 2000's. But, had Ocean Studios in Vancouver not done the work they did -- it not have come to the Americas complete or at all. I mean, look at Urusei Yatsura. Another Takahashi adaptation to anime that had a popularity which was beyond Ranma 1/2. Yet, there was never a complete official release during the DVD-era of video to get it released in volumes. It was just scattered in random VHS or DVD titles. We have some of the movies released on Blu-ray but the series still remains unseen by many in the West.

The reason I asked about whether or not it had been censored is because my wife saw a version in Mexico that was home dubbed and clearly ripped from TV (either the U.S. or Canada). When I gave her the full 7 DVD boxsets she was surprised that so much was censored in the version she saw. I explained to her that Mexico didn't cut those scenes as they typically don't do much editing when a series comes in like that as Mexico never bought TV rights or distribution. Therefore, the version had already been censored and their "dub" was clearly not taken from the Japanese script but translated from the English dubs.

Canada has had a special appreciation for anime and many titles were given a physical release in Canada long before they were in the U.S. I recall this Canadian YouTuber in like 2007 who collected classic titles. I remember trying to find them on eBay or Amazon at that time and we didn't have any of them. One that stood out was Abashiri Family OVA by Go Nagai. I think it had one U.S. release on VHS but disappeared after that.

 

[-Minsc-]

I believe Ranma 1/2 showing on YTV was the first instance of the series being aired to an English audience in North America. The U.S. became the leading distributor by VIZ of the Ranma 1/2 series in the early 2000's. But, had Ocean Studios in Vancouver not done the work they did -- it not have come to the Americas complete or at all. I mean, look at Urusei Yatsura. Another Takahashi adaptation to anime that had a popularity which was beyond Ranma 1/2. Yet, there was never a complete official release during the DVD-era of video to get it released in volumes. It was just scattered in random VHS or DVD titles. We have some of the movies released on Blu-ray but the series still remains unseen by many in the West.

The reason I asked about whether or not it had been censored is because my wife saw a version in Mexico that was home dubbed and clearly ripped from TV (either the U.S. or Canada). When I gave her the full 7 DVD boxsets she was surprised that so much was censored in the version she saw. I explained to her that Mexico didn't cut those scenes as they typically don't do much editing when a series comes in like that as Mexico never bought TV rights or distribution. Therefore, the version had already been censored and their "dub" was clearly not taken from the Japanese script but translated from the English dubs.

Canada has had a special appreciation for anime and many titles were given a physical release in Canada long before they were in the U.S. I recall this Canadian YouTuber in like 2007 who collected classic titles. I remember trying to find them on eBay or Amazon at that time and we didn't have any of them. One that stood out was Abashiri Family OVA by Go Nagai. I think it had one U.S. release on VHS but disappeared after that.

I didn't get cable and YTV until September 1998 and don't recall Ranma airing then. Don't see it listed here either. It must have aired in the US where it's highly certain to have been censored.

Can not comment too much on physical released since I didn't buy too much in store. I did buy Cowboy Bebop volume by volume back when Future Shop was a thing. Also bought the Vision of Escaflowne movie from Future shop. I remember having to return it due to a defect in the disc. Their entire batch of DVD's was defective. Eventually I did watch it online, hopefully legally.