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[Hero]

So now that the holiday season is over and I have some extra cash to spare, I was looking around and saw the LE Zeta Gundam boxset at Suncoast.

I've never seen Zeta Gundam before, but I've always been a fan of the Z Gundam itself, I bought a HG model kit of it and it became my favorite. A lot of people told me that Zeta Gundam was the best series overall, and I don't mind the fact that the animation isn't going to be as good as it is today, obviously.

So I was wondering who here bought it, and if you can tell me if it's worth it. The cheapest place I've found it is at deepdiscountdvd.com. If anyone knows a cheaper place, lemme know.

 

[FnordChan]

Zeta Gundam is totally worth it - even if Bandai fucked up and a) didn't get the rights to the original opening and closing theme songs and, more importantly, b) didn't bother to tell anyone about this in advance.

That said, it's awesome. However, make sure you've seen either the three original Gundam movies or the original Gundam TV series itself; you can enjoy Zeta either way, but you'll get more out of it if you've seen the original show.

While the style is dated (in a manner I'm quite fond of, mind you, but dated) the animation is quite good for TV anime by any standards. Don't let that deter you.

As for the series overall, I can't comment just yet, as I've only seen 1/5 of the episodes. Fortunatly, buying Zeta sight unseen was a chance well worth taking; it's definately living up to the hype.

The bonus stuff is pretty nice (though, as mentioned in the latest DVD thread, I'd be much happier with the original opening and ending themes). I haven't flipped through the booklet yet, but the poster is decent (folded, alas, but no biggie) and the pencil sharpeners are quite neat - I now have a small army of mecha duking it out on top of my television.

DVD Price Search agrees that DDD is the cheapest option; hell, that's just as much as I paid for my preorder, and I considered that to be a fantastic bargin.

So, yeah, Zeta is awesome and you should buy it posthaste.

"Go on, fanboy, you know you want it!"

Beleive In The Sign Of FnordChan

 

[Dead]

I got it today And yeah this is among the best Gundam, is pretty much required viewing if you consider yourself even a small fan


Now how long til Turn A Gundam....

 

[Hero]

How didn't Bandai get the original opening and ending songs? Did they even -try-?

And while I caught a few episodes of the original Gundam while it was on CN, I didn't see enough to get the story. What three movies should I see?

 

[distantmantra]

I got the Zeta Gundam boxset for Christmas and ended up marathoning the series over a period of three days. I hadn't seen the show since 1993 (low quality high generation fansub tapes), but it was just as good as I remember it being when I saw it in junior high.

I've never seen ZZ, though, I wonder if it addresses the aftermath of what happens in Zeta, particularly the surviving characters?

As for the OP/ED, it wasn't just a North American problem getting the rights to the songs. Apparently the Korean R3 release of Zeta also has the instrumental opening music. Song rights is probably the main reason why we'll never see Macross 7 in the states.

Once you guys finish the show, I'd love to discuss it with you.

 

[Dead]

How didn't Bandai get the original opening and ending songs? Did they even -try-?

And while I caught a few episodes of the original Gundam while it was on CN, I didn't see enough to get the story. What three movies should I see?

It was basically liscencing issues, I dont think they said more than that....

 

[FnordChan]

How didn't Bandai get the original opening and ending songs? Did they even -try-?

Like DeadStar said, it was apparently some sort of licensing issue. By "apparently" I mean that no major press release and/or apology has appeared regarding the set, so we're still a bit fuzzy on the details. Thanks, Bandai.

And while I caught a few episodes of the original Gundam while it was on CN, I didn't see enough to get the story. What three movies should I see?

"Mobile Suit Gundam Trilogy" was the official title of the US release, available as a box set and as three seperate discs:

There's also a UC Century Gundam Movie box that contains the three original Gundam movies, Char's Counterattack (takes place after Zeta) and Gundam F91 (takes place even later). For the time being, you only need to see the original three Gundam movies. Overstock.com has it dirt cheap.

The original Gundam movies don't have the greatest animation ever, but they characters and story are excellent. Again, it's highly recommended that you watch them before tackling Zeta.

FnordChan

 

[Hero]

Hey, thanks a lot.

I didn't enjoy Gundam Wing too much, it was okay, although I hate how some people who haven't seen the other Gundam cartoons think its the best thing ever. A lot of them refused to watch the original since the animation wasn't as good.

08th MS Team rocked though. Love that series. Short but sweet.

 

[NotMSRP]

Glad I didn't buy it. screwed up release = no sale

 

[duckroll]

I bought it, love it. Awesome release with tons of effort put into it and it's a great show period. This is probably the highest budget Gundam TV series ever, because even at 20 years old it feels better than SEED does. 50 eps with no recaps, very little reused footage, great designs, etc. Totally worth it.

Glad I didn't buy it. screwed up release = no sale

Ok, I gotta make it clear on this forum. Bandai Entertainment did NOT screw up the release. Bandai Entertainment does not produce the Region 1 versions of Gundam, Sunrise has the sole rights to that. Bandai Entertainment acts as a distributor and advisor on the projects and they're in-charge of marketing and product design (the covers, inserts, extras, boxes, etc) while Sunrise decides how they want to get the scripts translated, dubbing studios to use, etc. Tomino is very active in this field when UC shows are involved, and he likes to make painful changes to subtitles injecting "more" meaning to the subtitles and dub.

About the songs issue, both OP songs and the ED song are composed by Neil Sedaka, he owns the rights to them outside of Japan and it would cost more money to license the songs back for usage when distributing Zeta outside of Japan. Sunrise chose not to pay the license fees and hence changed them to instrumentals (not of the same songs). Bandai Entertainment has NO SAY in this matter. For the record the Korean release of Zeta Gundam is also missing the OP/ED songs in the same way. It would pretty much the only way Zeta is ever going to be released outside of Japan itself.

 

[Shouta]

If you really want to see the original Zeta OP/EDs you could always buy the LDs XD.

 

[atomsk]

i've only seen shitty HK subs that were goddamn confusing.

but i would LOVE to own this. lack of funds at the moment though =(

 

[FnordChan]

Bandai Entertainment did NOT screw up the release.

Yeah, but they did screw the pooch pretty hard by not bothering to inform folks of this minor detail in advance. It's not the lack of the songs that bothers me so much as not being told before laying down my hard earned.

That said, otherwise Zeta is a fantastic set and the lack of OP/ED songs or the (apparently) wonky subtitles shouldn't stop anyone interested from picking up the set.

Shouta, in the old school fanboy tradition my VHS copies of the original Zeta OP/ED themes are from someone else's LDs.

FnordChan

 

[duckroll]

Yeah, but they did screw the pooch pretty hard by not bothering to inform folks of this minor detail in advance. It's not the lack of the songs that bothers me so much as not being told before laying down my hard earned.

While I cannot name an official source (as it's off the record), I can say that Bandai Entertainment didn't have much choice in the matter. They don't like it, we don't like it. Blame Tomino.

 

[FnordChan]

While I cannot name an official source (as it's off the record), I can say that Bandai Entertainment didn't have much choice in the matter. They don't like it, we don't like it. Blame Tomino.

Blaming Tomino I can certainly do. Hell, I've got plenty of practice already!

FnordChan Powerd

 

[Dead]

Ugh, Brain Powerd. If that wasnt one of the biggest anime failures ever, I dont know what is :lol

Nice Mech designs though....and music

 

[FnordChan]

Nice Mech designs though....and music

And opening sequence. Musn't forget the opening sequence.

FnrdChan

 

[Dead]

:lol :lol of course

 

[Lindsay]

(Sorry for bumping if to old~)

I also bought Zeta Gundam and have been watching 5 episodes a week since I got it. With just 8 more to go I gotta say buying it without knowing jack about in advance was totally worth it! It lives up to the hype for sure and depending how it ends I may end up liking it over 0080!

Kamille and his Zeta are just plain cool (and cute!). Way more then Amuro even (who seemed to be trying to hog the spotlight early on in Zeta). Mmmm transformable goodness! The MkII + G-Defensor aren't to shabby either. The series is nothing like what I expected and way better then I coulda imagined.

But then again so is the rest of UC Gundam. Which is another reason for bumping this thread~today I just got the dvds for MSG, 08th MS Team, 0083, & CCA! So nows I got all the UC series currently released in the US! There's only 2 more to go, right? ZZ & Victory? C'mon and release them already Bandai!

 

[distantmantra]

As soon as people finish Zeta, I'd love to discuss this with them.

Zeta is what got me into anime, way back in the mid 80s thanks to some cousins who lived in Japan and taped anything that looked like a giant robot and sent it to me. I couldn't understand a word of it until I found some fansubbed tapes in the early 90s, but I was hooked from then on.

edit: To complete the UC collection, you'd also need the Mobile Suit Gundam F-91 film that was recently released in R1. The animation quality is absolutely breathtaking, even if it was
made in 1991.

ZZ takes place right as Zeta ends, and Victory takes place way into the future of the University Century.

Turn A Gundam has ties to the UC, so it may be worth picking up if it's ever released (it's a Tomino show with music by Yoko Kanno, it needs to get here soon!!).

 

[Lindsay]

As soon as people finish Zeta, I'd love to discuss this with them.

Zeta is what got me into anime, way back in the mid 80s thanks to some cousins who lived in Japan and taped anything that looked like a giant robot and sent it to me. I couldn't understand a word of it until I found some fansubbed tapes in the early 90s, but I was hooked from then on.

edit: To complete the UC collection, you'd also need the Mobile Suit Gundam F-91 film that was recently released in R1. The animation quality is absolutely breathtaking, even if it was
made in 1991.

ZZ takes place right as Zeta ends, and Victory takes place way into the future of the University Century.

Turn A Gundam has ties to the UC, so it may be worth picking up if it's ever released (it's a Tomino show with music by Yoko Kanno, it needs to get here soon!!).

Aaaah sure maybe someone could make an all UC Gundam thread or something! I'll finish Zeta next Friday so discuss then! I just hope my Kamille gets a happy end after all he's been through!

Afterwards I'll begin watching all of UC starting from the beginning @ one episode a week (watching at that speed should allow for Bandai to get them other series out). No worry about F-91 I've had it since December but refuse to watch cause I'm a continuity nut. ^_^; Oh ya I didn't know that about Turn A! Sounds good aside from the odd title.

 

[bjork]

We've sold about ten of these at my store. Seems steep to me, but Gundam fans tend to have really crazy spending habits, so it works out.

 

[distantmantra]

Aaaah sure maybe someone could make an all UC Gundam thread or something! I'll finish Zeta next Friday so discuss then! I just hope my Kamille gets a happy end after all he's been through!

Spoiler

A happy ending in Gundam?

Have you seen any UC material before?

I'll be looking forward to your reaction to the conclusion of the series,

Spoiler

especially seeing how nearly everyone dies and Kamille is reduced to a vegetative state.

 

[luxsol]

Are they going to release this series volumes seperately? I like the UC Gundams but I don't know if I want to buy a complete box set blindly.
Does Bandai do preview DVDs like ADV, where they release one episode of a series on a mini-DVD?

 

[Lindsay]

Have you seen any UC material before?

Ya I've seen these before. +1 for Cartoon Network! But it has been awhile so I mostly forget them and they never did finish MSG so~dunno. From what I remember anyway 08th & 0083 had happy enough endings?

Are they going to release this series volumes seperately? I like the UC Gundams but I don't know if I want to buy a complete box set blindly.

Doubtful. The series is 20 years old now so releasing it as a limited time boxset seems like a "get it out of the way" move.

 

[distantmantra]

Are they going to release this series volumes seperately? I like the UC Gundams but I don't know if I want to buy a complete box set blindly.

Bandai was talking about releasing individual volumes of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, but then the TV deal with CN to air Zeta fell through, and the box set apparently isn't selling as well as we all thought it would. I figure it's highly unlikely that you will see individual volumes of Zeta for sale in the DVD format.

Does Bandai do preview DVDs like ADV, where they release one episode of a series on a mini-DVD?

Nope.

 

[distantmantra]

Ya I've seen these before. +1 for Cartoon Network! But it has been awhile so I mostly forget them and they never did finish MSG so~dunno. From what I remember anyway 08th & 0083 had happy enough endings?

You probably should've finished watching Mobile Suit Gundam (the film trilogy as that is considered to be what really happened as opposed to the TV series) prior to starting Zeta. Zeta was made by the creator of Gundam, Yoshiyuki "Kill Em All" Tomino. Tomino loves killing off characters right and left, as evidenced by Mobile Suit Gundam. I shall say no more.

 

[Lindsay]

You probably should've finished watching Mobile Suit Gundam (the film trilogy as that is considered to be what really happened as opposed to the TV series) prior to starting Zeta.

Are you saying I bought MSG and its not canon? Nuts to that~Tomino having interest enough to hack an episode out of its US release makes it canon enough to me! ^_^ Besides 3 movies to 50 episodes = no. I don't want to guess how hacked up Zeta will be when they convert it to a movie trilogy X_x

And I couldn't help not finishing MSG before Z. It was cancelled and I wasn't much of a dvd collector at the time ;.;