What Anime are you watching?

just came off of the original eight-episode "Bubblegum Crisis" OVA series (1987~1990) again after some years, holds up well, and the soundtrack, while rather Plagiarist, is still nothing short of fabulous, if you're in to 1980's rock and techno...

 

The first I ever saw of Bubblegum Crisis was the start of the episode Moonlight Rambler. This was sometime around 1990 (I guess it would have to have been 91 according to Wikipedia). A friend was playing it on one of those old giant projection screen TVs. After that, I knew I had to see more.

 

My favorite moments are the chase of the Griffin in Revenge Road, that awesome opening chase in Moonlight Rambler, and the big showdown in Red Eyes. I kind of feel like the OAV just ran out of juice at that point. The remaining two episodes just felt like filler, and Bubblegum Crash just wasn't a satisfactory conclusion and send off. Up through episode 6 everything felt like a big event, and after it just felt like going through the motions.

 

I went through a period of time where I thought Bubblegum Crisis 2040 was better. Now I look back and wonder what I was smokin'. I really can't even watch 2040 any more, but the original is still as fun as ever.

 

There's quite a few songs from original BGC which are still on my playlists. Say Yes and Route California probably get the most play on my part. I even like some of the english versions by The Replicants.

 

Overall, I miss that late-80s/early-90s Cyberpunk aesthetic which shows like BGC really nailed.

i've all eight vols. of the BGC soundtrack, as well as all three vols. of BG CRASH, highest-quality MP3s on CD-Rs that i play most often through my Hi-Fi system the old-fashioned way, via a high-end CD player about as old as the original OVAs are; (1988, PIONEER REFERENCE/ELITE PD-91)

 

 

 

 

 

 

- i agree, Eps. 05 "MOONLIGHT RAMBLER" did indeed start out in quite a powerfully cinematic fashion,

but quickly proceeded to sweep itself under the rug for most of it's remaining runtime.

 

storywise, original BGC is quite uneven. even so, with it's fantastic -however plagiaristic- soundtrack,

it still makes for a wonderfully dynamic, -if often simpleminded- visceral experience...

Thank you for the audio p*rn. It was a feast for the old eyes.

That old Pioneer Elite stuff was beautiful. I used to own an LD-S1 laserdisc player, and have LD-S2 currently in storage that was given to me that someday I need to see if still works.

 

I hate that audio/video equipment is either now low-end and cheap-looking stuff, or mega-expensive stuff (i.e. Krell or Mark Levinson, Pass Labs, etc.) from those few remaining high-end companies with no middle like the older Pioneer Elite or Sony ES stuff. Those names may still be used but the stuff isn't anything like it used to be.

I just finished up an adorable series called "Konohana Kitan". It's about a little kitsune ( foxgirl ) who goes to work at an inn with a bunch of other kitsune and has little adventures. It's absolutely cute as all get out and episode 11 actually has an amazing bit about dolls.

 

One of the girls who works at the inn was a "cursed doll" that was dropped off to be cleansed and winds up working there instead. She finds an abandoned doll in the trash and brings her to the inn to be her friend but the used doll goes into a story of what SHE thinks dolls are all about. I think it really hits home for doll collectors and puts things into perspective really well.

 

If you don't check out the entire series, watch episode 11 just for the doll bit. It's really cool.

 

 

Billy

@baldylox that sounds really cute, actually. I love kitsune-type lore, so I'll have to check it out.

 

Right now I'm about to watch the second season of Love Live! Sunshine. I stopped watching after season 1 because nothing else was out, and now I'm so far behind...

 

Also plans to watch Digimon Tri. I've seen the first 3 movies. Gotta do 4 & 5!

 

Sadly, I'm just really behind on anime right now, so I'll have to peruse this thread more for suggestions.

Konohana Kitan was wonderful! It's right along with Aria, cute feel good anime. I'm watching all kinds right now, but nothing is really sticking out above the rest for me. I'm just enjoying all the current ones I'm watching.

 

As for my backlog, still plugging away at Fate. Recently finished Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya and what the heck! They are just leaving us hanging. How does it end? Is Illya able to find a way to save the day? Come on, do another season or movie to finish it off! Sure I started it because of kawaii magic girls (Cut my teeth on Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor so the genre holds a special place in my heart.), but the twisting plot and character development kept me watching. And it's killing me not knowing how it wraps up.

Currently I'm watching Spirit Pact, Persona 5, Caligula, and Magical Girl Ore. I usually watch only one or two at a time but I've had some time to watch a few after classes.

 

Some of my favorites include Durarara, Kuroshitsuji, Idolish7, Konosuba, My Hero Academia, Inuyasha, Space Dandy and the list keeps going on and on. There's just a lot of awesome anime out there that I don't think I could pick a favorite.

At elianti's suggestion I have watched all of Idolmaster which I quite liked. Makoto was my favorite character followed by Chihaya and Miki. Loved episode 8 where Makoto is wearing a tux and is basically James Bond fighting off bad guys.

 

I had previously watched a few episodes of Cinderella Girls which I didn't like. I tried again after liking the original, but I just can't get into this one. Characters like Anastasia and Rin Shibuya are great but there are just too many annoying brats like Miku in this series.

 

After seeing Idolmaster, it's clear to me what a great job Volks did on turning the characters into DDs. Except for Haruka, who I don't feel looks like the character at all; if they had made her look more like the Yayoi doll that would've worked much better I think.

Just finished the Disastrous Life of Saiki K. I quite enjoyed that one.

 

I'm now watching the Persona 5 anime. I'm a huge Persona 5 fan and so far, I'm loving it. I like the minor changes here and there to advance the plot more smoothly or hearing the game's soundtrack within the anime ^___^

At elianti's suggestion I have watched all of Idolmaster which I quite liked.

Yay! I rewatch some of my favorite scenes pretty often and that battle between Makoto and the yakuza guys in Chinatown is one of them! I always end up tearing up during Chihaya’s songs, and do concert calls along with the audience during hype concert scenes.

 

If you want to watch more of 765pro, there’s also the movie(which is where the Starpiece Memories and Prima Concerto outfits are from). The movie also features some of the other 765pro(Million Live) girls, though imo the movie didn’t do them justice.

 

What did you think of Jupiter? I don’t suppose boy idols are something you’re interested in, but in case you want to know what happened to them after the events in the 2011 anime, then you can watch SideM’s prologue. The prologue connects with their scenes in the movie too.

 

After seeing Idolmaster, it's clear to me what a great job Volks did on turning the characters into DDs. Except for Haruka, who I don't feel looks like the character at all; if they had made her look more like the Yayoi doll that would've worked much better I think.

 

Volks’s take on Haruka was almost definitely because of Haruka’s iconic Nonowa meme(more about that here). I’m not fan of Haruka’s sculpt because she’s too expressive for her character, but then I think Yayoi looks too subdued. If their sculpts were switched and tweaked a bit more to fit the doll body size(since DDP heads are supposedly a bit smaller than most DD heads) it would have been great imo. SQ Lab’s Akane sculpt(here!) is a resin head that I think looks just perfect for Yayoi.

 

Now for what I’M watching this season... I’m watching Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc, Boku no Hero Academia, Golden Kamuy, Hozuki no Reitetsu, Wotakoi, Tadakoi, Piano no Mori, Mahou Shoujo Ore, and of course Pokémon Sun & Moon. xD

 

Out of those I only keep up with CCS’s manga, and the anime just caught up with the manga with last week’s episode. With only one episode left and a whoooole lot of plot threads to answer I wonder what will happen...

Jupiter were pretty cool by the end. At the beginning the way they treated any of the girls bumping into them in the hallways made them unsympathetic but then going from first "do your underhanded crap whatever we aren't part of it and don't want to know" to finally standing up to it and quitting because of it to the extent they became significantly less popular was pretty awesome.

 

I have a lot of issues with Volks' take on Haruka. That it doesn't really get her personality right as you say is part of it, and I also feel that mouth just doesn't look right on a doll; I think it needs teeth, as while that style works in anime I think it looks weird on a doll. But more than any of that I just think she doesn't look like the character; the face shape seems off as is the hair, even accounting for the fact it's probably not always possible to get a wig to quite look right unless you put a ton of styling stuff into it. I went back and looked at her page now https://www.volks.co.jp/idolmaster/dds_haruka.html/ and that top left picture at an angle looks quite a bit better to me than she looks head-on, so I really think there's something just wrong with her face sculpt.

 

Yayoi, you're right in that the personality shown in the doll isn't quite there but I think the look is spot-on.

 

 

I did end up watching the rest of Cinderella Girls and liked it more by the end. I still didn't like it nearly as much as Idolmaster and don't think it's as good in a number of ways. I only felt like I got to really know a very few of the characters. Kaede got an episode that was mostly her yet all I still really learned about her was she put her fans over a chance for a bigger break. Other characters were introduced so briefly I didn't always even catch their names. The "mummy girl" that's paired with Ranko at the end I only know really anything about because Max Factory has a figure of her that I've seen. And while I liked characters like Miku more by the end, there's still a real emphasis here on idols in the 11-12 year old age range which for someone who doesn't like children is a negative lol. This show also lacked the humor for me that I liked so much in the Idolmaster series. A few episodes I really liked, such as Ranko's where it's funny how the producer misunderstands her character and thinks it's about vampires and blood and stuff while Ranko is actually terrified of horror stuff but is also too shy to manage to tell him for most of the episode. Characters I liked best in this series are Rin, Ranko and Anastasia. And thinking about it, the producer who has quite a bit of character development and really stands up for these girls and knows how to stand up to his boss in a way that works.

 

Since I'm not up for doing too much in general while recovering from eye surgery, I've watched a lot of stuff old and new recently. All 100+ episodes of Galaxy Express 999, all of Captain Harlock, Lupin III series 4 and 5, Fractale, Kino's Journey and probably some other stuff I'm not remembering offhand. What I've really liked is Yamato 2199 and now 2202.

Baccano! I just finished FLCL Progressive, so I need something to tide me over until FLCL Alternative comes out...

I recently watched "Violet Evergarden" and have to say it was a pretty good show. The art was very well done and the stories always had an effect on me.... I think I cried to at least half the episodes.

 

Now I'm on the second season of "New Game!" and it's pretty cute. Cute girls working on cute video games is nice and relaxing to watch.

 

I also watched both of the anime Godzilla movies and while I quite enjoyed the first one, the second one was a huge letdown. It was almost entirely story ( which was pretty boring ) and a leadup to the big fight at the end. And THAT was also a letdown. I mean, they hyped the viewer up by naming the big found city Mechagodzilla and it never does anything to actually warrant the name. I was pretty mad when the big ending fight had NO ACTUAL Mechagodzilla anywhere in it. LAME.

 

 

Billy

I also watched both of the anime Godzilla movies and while I quite enjoyed the first one, the second one was a huge letdown. It was almost entirely story ( which was pretty boring ) and a leadup to the big fight at the end. And THAT was also a letdown. I mean, they hyped the viewer up by naming the big found city Mechagodzilla and it never does anything to actually warrant the name. I was pretty mad when the big ending fight had NO ACTUAL Mechagodzilla anywhere in it. LAME.

 

I was watching part 2 this past weekend. I hadn't much liked the first one when I watched it whenever ago, but it was harmless. This sequel felt like the same exact story over again. In fact it felt like it retconned part of the end of the first one just so it could tell the same general story again.

 

I just erased a bit of ranting about it since on preview my spoiler tags didn't work. I'll just close out by saying I didn't like it. The only thing that was remotely interesting was what the one guy whispered into the main character's ear. No, no one needed that stinger at the end to know what it was.

The only thing that was remotely interesting was what the one guy whispered into the main character's ear. No, no one needed that stinger at the end to know what it was.

 

I totally agree. When that whisper happened, I got goose bumps all over and just KNEW what name was said even without hearing it. But waiting til the end of the credits and actually *hearing* it was nice. I do have some hope for the third installment but not much. I hope I'm wrong and it really rocks.

 

 

Billy

I received the Funimation localizations of Yamato 2199, so I've started watching that again.

 

Not really feeling it with the English language voice actors. To me just about everyone is less than ideal for the character, but Starsha and Sanada seem particularly off to me. But as dubs go the first two episodes weren't bad.

I received the Funimation localizations of Yamato 2199, so I've started watching that again.

 

Not really feeling it with the English language voice actors. To me just about everyone is less than ideal for the character, but Starsha and Sanada seem particularly off to me. But as dubs go the first two episodes weren't bad.

Disclaimer: I'm typically always a subs >> dubs person.

 

I agree. I watched the show on Crunchyroll but before I was too far into it I looked at at least part of the first episode dubbed on Funimation's site. It's not a bad quality dub, but the personality of so many of the characters seems different, making the feel of the show seem different overall as well. I think the captain's voice is the one that bothered me the most.

 

Since you got the BD/DVD release, I have a couple of questions. Did they change anything to accomodate the dub? Specifically, the opening or title card? CR's version is still called Yamato 2199 with no reference whatsoever to the Star Blazers name, while all of Funi's marketing and packaging only refers to the show as Star Blazers 2199 which makes me suspect they changed the opening.

 

Second, are the English subtitles forced on if you are watching with the Japanese audio? Certain companies do this in general (NISA) and I dislike it. Funi doesn't do this in general I think though. My understanding of Japanese is not very good, but once I've seen something with the subtitles a few times I like the option to watch it without.

 

While it's more expensive, I'll likely get the Japanese box set (which is less expensive for some reason than the individiual releases, which I'd otherwise prefer for their packaging) since they have the English subtitles as well, if they changed these things. I also like that those are still grouped into the movie format instead of TV-length episodes.

 

Unfortunately that option doesn't exist for Yamato 2202 since the imports aren't subtitled.

That to me is especially weird since 2202 has "Star Blazers" as part of its design logo, a name that presumably means nothing in Japan.

I agree. I watched the show on Crunchyroll but before I was too far into it I looked at at least part of the first episode dubbed on Funimation's site. It's not a bad quality dub, but the personality of so many of the characters seems different, making the feel of the show seem different overall as well. I think the captain's voice is the one that bothered me the most.

 

I first watched the show from the original subtitled Jp BD releases. I'm basically getting this version exclusively for the dub as well as voting that I really want an english version 2202. But your observation of characters feeling different because of the dub is one I share.

 

Since you got the BD/DVD release, I have a couple of questions. Did they change anything to accomodate the dub? Specifically, the opening or title card? CR's version is still called Yamato 2199 with no reference whatsoever to the Star Blazers name, while all of Funi's marketing and packaging only refers to the show as Star Blazers 2199 which makes me suspect they changed the opening.

 

The title for the first two episodes was devoid of "Star Blazers" branding. I believe the title card is identical.

 

Second, are the English subtitles forced on if you are watching with the Japanese audio? Certain companies do this in general (NISA) and I dislike it. Funi doesn't do this in general I think though. My understanding of Japanese is not very good, but once I've seen something with the subtitles a few times I like the option to watch it without.

 

My guess for the answer to this is that you will be forced to deal with the subtitles when watching the Japanese audio. The first thing I did was go into Setup and I noticed the only options were for audio with no mention of subs. I assume the subs are automatically turned on with Japanese audio.

 

While it's more expensive, I'll likely get the Japanese box set (which is less expensive for some reason than the individiual releases, which I'd otherwise prefer for their packaging) since they have the English subtitles as well, if they changed these things. I also like that those are still grouped into the movie format instead of TV-length episodes.

 

I prefer the episode format instead of one long cut. The Voyager Star Blazers DVDs did that as well as the DVD version of Macross II, and it definitely wasn't my preference. But whatever works.

 

The Jp BDs have excellent subtitles.

 

Do you know if a NA localization of Star Voyaging Ark is planned?

 

Unfortunately that option doesn't exist for Yamato 2202 since the imports aren't subtitled.

That to me is especially weird since 2202 has "Star Blazers" as part of its design logo, a name that presumably means nothing in Japan.

 

Yeah, that irritated me as well. I had the first BD pre-ordered and I was PSYCHED! Then it was announced there would be no subs. ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

 

I've seen trailers for 2202 and stuff, but I'm trying to avoid watching any real chunk of it because I want it to be fresh when I finally do get my hands on english BluRays.

Since you got the BD/DVD release, I have a couple of questions. Did they change anything to accomodate the dub? Specifically, the opening or title card? CR's version is still called Yamato 2199 with no reference whatsoever to the Star Blazers name, while all of Funi's marketing and packaging only refers to the show as Star Blazers 2199 which makes me suspect they changed the opening.

The title for the first two episodes was devoid of "Star Blazers" branding. I believe the title card is identical.

Ok that's nice. I read some speculation on the blu-ray.com fourm that they might have used that name not just for name recognition but something about the licensing; whatever it seems they limited it to the packaging and marketing.

 

You're probably aware, a company called Voyager was originally releasing these but never finished. Theirs were only subtitled but were more changed, calling the ship "Argo" for example...which was really stupid since you can hear what was being said. Or I assume; I never saw any of these but there's some trailers on youtube:

 

Second, are the English subtitles forced on if you are watching with the Japanese audio? Certain companies do this in general (NISA) and I dislike it. Funi doesn't do this in general I think though. My understanding of Japanese is not very good, but once I've seen something with the subtitles a few times I like the option to watch it without.

My guess for the answer to this is that you will be forced to deal with the subtitles when watching the Japanese audio. The first thing I did was go into Setup and I noticed the only options were for audio with no mention of subs. I assume the subs are automatically turned on with Japanese audio.

Yeah if the options are like that probably so. Since the discs are still more expensive in Japan this isn't surprising unfortunately, as it's done by my understanding so Japanese customers won't import the US release.

 

While it's more expensive, I'll likely get the Japanese box set (which is less expensive for some reason than the individiual releases, which I'd otherwise prefer for their packaging) since they have the English subtitles as well, if they changed these things. I also like that those are still grouped into the movie format instead of TV-length episodes.

I prefer the episode format instead of one long cut. The Voyager Star Blazers DVDs did that as well as the DVD version of Macross II, and it definitely wasn't my preference. But whatever works.

 

The Jp BDs have excellent subtitles.

 

Do you know if a NA localization of Star Voyaging Ark is planned?

I haven't seen anything not that I'm all that up on US anime release news. If Funimation is going to do it, I would hope they would release it before 2202 since it takes place between the two series. My first thought is the answer is "no" since it's not on CR or Funi's service now while 2202 is currently going up; however, CR doesn't seem to get movies at all; I don't know about Funi's service.

 

I just watched a little preview of that movie on youtube and without really spoiling anything I will say that if I had been able to watch this before starting 2202 I think that would've been better; I see that the movie introduces another group of Earth resistance that is important in 2202, as well as the new villains. 2202 assumes you know a lot of things when it starts, that I didn't.

 

According to someone on blu-ray.com forum, the Jp BD subtitles are the same as what I watched on CR, so perhaps the same as on this US disc release as well.

 

Is my understanding of the other movie correct? It's a compilation of the series but adds a new ending or battle before the ending, or something to that effect?

 

I hadn't looked in a while, it appears now some of the individual volumes of the Japanese BDs are available discounted so I can buy the 7 volumes for only a little more than the set so I think I will go with that. I prefer the art on the original cases and I also prefer the thicker cases over what's in that set. I just dislike that I can't buy 2202 in this manner...if I actually want to understand it.

 

Unfortunately that option doesn't exist for Yamato 2202 since the imports aren't subtitled.

That to me is especially weird since 2202 has "Star Blazers" as part of its design logo, a name that presumably means nothing in Japan.

Yeah, that irritated me as well. I had the first BD pre-ordered and I was PSYCHED! Then it was announced there would be no subs. ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

 

I've seen trailers for 2202 and stuff, but I'm trying to avoid watching any real chunk of it because I want it to be fresh when I finally do get my hands on english BluRays.

I hadn't really watched much of anything anime in years because I didn't have much way to access it. I had hotspot/cellphone internet with very limited data until about a year ago and was so used to not having access to anything like this didn't even think about it until earlier this year when because of some health issues I was looking for a way to kill time so I looked to see what was on CR and found 2199. At that time I watched I think the first 10 episodes and gave up, because I was having some issue where many of their ads wouldn't play for me and I'd have to start over and hope I could get through an episode and it finally became what seemed like about a 1 in 100 chance of success. A few months later I tried again with more success and got to the final episode which was locked to their paid service. Was annoyed and dropped it again. I didn't realize the series was going up at the time and they were locked for a while and then unlocked; some months later I checked again and it was watchable and 2202 was being added as well.

 

Anyway, my point was I watched most of 2199 together and I did prefer that as it was easier to keep up with everything and rememember details. I was impatient and am watching 2202 week by week and I don't think I enjoy it as well that way.

 

==============

 

On the subject of Japanese anime BDs with English subtitles, you might know the answer to something else I've been trying to be certain of. I have read that the two Macross Frontier movies in this PS3 game package have English subtitles, and that it is the only release of these movies that do, and for that matter the only release of anything Macross F that does:

https://www.play-asia.com/gekijouban-macross-f-30th-d-shudisuta-b-box-blu-ray-hybrid-disc/13/707jo1

You're probably aware, a company called Voyager was originally releasing these but never finished. Theirs were only subtitled but were more changed, calling the ship "Argo" for example...which was really stupid since you can hear what was being said. Or I assume; I never saw any of these but there's some trailers on youtube:

 

I've been told the subtitles on the actual released discs did not match what was shown in the previews, and that the whole "Argo" thing had been ditched. One person told me the subs on the Voyager discs are exactly the same as the JP discs. I have no way of knowing for sure, because I never picked up any of the Voyager discs.

 

Yeah if the options are like that probably so. Since the discs are still more expensive in Japan this isn't surprising unfortunately, as it's done by my understanding so Japanese customers won't import the US release.

 

A further addendum. There wasn't even the option to change audio or subs on the PS3 outside that setup menu. The audio and subtitle options on the PS3 popup menu are greyed out and disabled.

 

 

Is my understanding of the other movie correct? It's a compilation of the series but adds a new ending or battle before the ending, or something to that effect?

 

I haven't seen Voyage of Reminiscence. In fact, I forgot it existed. I couldn't tell you anything about that one.

 

Star Voyaging Ark begins sometime after the Yamato has left Iscandar but before the final episode. It's basically structured like two "lost" episodes.

 

On the subject of Japanese anime BDs with English subtitles, you might know the answer to something else I've been trying to be certain of. I have read that the two Macross Frontier movies in this PS3 game package have English subtitles, and that it is the only release of these movies that do, and for that matter the only release of anything Macross F that does:

https://www.play-asia.com/gekijouban-macross-f-30th-d-shudisuta-b-box-blu-ray-hybrid-disc/13/707jo1

 

That's correct. I have the set you link (GEKIJOUBAN MACROSS F: 30TH D SHUDISUTA B BOX) and it has both Frontier movies with english subtitles. The PS3 disc isn't a game, but is instead a kind of data disc you can install to a PS3 to look at pictures and stuff (I installed it, looked at it a few minutes, and then deleted it).

 

Furthermore, you are also correct that none of the other Frontier BDs have english subtitles. I have both of the individual releases of the Frontier movies (they do have PS3 games) as well as the series box set and none of them have subs.

You're probably aware, a company called Voyager was originally releasing these but never finished. Theirs were only subtitled but were more changed, calling the ship "Argo" for example...which was really stupid since you can hear what was being said. Or I assume; I never saw any of these but there's some trailers on youtube:

I've been told the subtitles on the actual released discs did not match what was shown in the previews, and that the whole "Argo" thing had been ditched. One person told me the subs on the Voyager discs are exactly the same as the JP discs. I have no way of knowing for sure, because I never picked up any of the Voyager discs.

That makes sense. I never found much info on the Voyager discs. Their website (starblazers.com) is still up but hasn't had an update since 2014 and at that time there was an apology message about the delay of the last two volumes of 2199. Been a really long delay by now...

 

Yeah if the options are like that probably so. Since the discs are still more expensive in Japan this isn't surprising unfortunately, as it's done by my understanding so Japanese customers won't import the US release.

A further addendum. There wasn't even the option to change audio or subs on the PS3 outside that setup menu. The audio and subtitle options on the PS3 popup menu are greyed out and disabled.

Yeah then for sure it's an intentional choice, part of their contract with Bandai probably.

 

Is my understanding of the other movie correct? It's a compilation of the series but adds a new ending or battle before the ending, or something to that effect?

I haven't seen Voyage of Reminiscence. In fact, I forgot it existed. I couldn't tell you anything about that one.

 

Star Voyaging Ark begins sometime after the Yamato has left Iscandar but before the final episode. It's basically structured like two "lost" episodes.

Oh...what I read I may have misinterpreted or it was wrong then, probably, because what I had remembered reading about what was added to the first one sounds like your description of Star Voyaging Ark. So the first might just be nothing but a digest of the series; I'll see what else I can find on it.

 

On the subject of Japanese anime BDs with English subtitles, you might know the answer to something else I've been trying to be certain of. I have read that the two Macross Frontier movies in this PS3 game package have English subtitles, and that it is the only release of these movies that do, and for that matter the only release of anything Macross F that does:

https://www.play-asia.com/gekijouban-macross-f-30th-d-shudisuta-b-box-blu-ray-hybrid-disc/13/707jo1

That's correct. I have the set you link (GEKIJOUBAN MACROSS F: 30TH D SHUDISUTA B BOX) and it has both Frontier movies with english subtitles. The PS3 disc isn't a game, but is instead a kind of data disc you can install to a PS3 to look at pictures and stuff (I installed it, looked at it a few minutes, and then deleted it).

 

Furthermore, you are also correct that none of the other Frontier BDs have english subtitles. I have both of the individual releases of the Frontier movies (they do have PS3 games) as well as the series box set and none of them have subs.

Ok thanks. It doesn't matter to me, but I didn't realize the PS3 stuff was a separate disc that also isn't a game. That makes a little more sense in that I didn't really understand how this was different than those individual releases and why those didn't have the subtitles.

 

I'll look into getting this too. Probably somewhere else if I can find it still; I don't really like Play-Asia and prefer to avoid ebay.

 

On the topic of Macross BDs, I'll bring up another set of differences between releases because I'm not sure how known this is since I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere...maybe no one but me cares though. I bought the version of Macross: Do You Remember Love that included the PS3 game. Then there was the later version without the game that Bandai advertised as a new transfer/digital remaster/whatever. I sold the first one and preordered that one, and when I got it immediately knew I'd made a mistake and rebought the earlier one. The big thing for me was, they cut down on the video + audio options. In the earlier release you could independently choose between movie "version" and which audio you wanted. I don't remember how they're named now but there was the theatrical cut with the black background credits at the end, and the one where the Flashback 2012 footage is used and there's a text prologue to the movie as well. I don't like that version because I'm used to the original and also because the Flashback 2012 footage always looks like garbage for some reason (practically like it's sourced from VHS), so I want to watch the theatrical version, but with the stereo soundtrack. In the later release you can no longer do this; theatrical gets you the mono audio and you can't change it. It's not just that it's mono, it's very harsh sounding.

 

That aside, there's the usual I have seen griped about online. The "remastering" is pretty bogus. They minimized the visible film grain in black areas by crushing blacks, and they tried to improve the scenes that look blurry with extra edge enhancement, which makes them look worse instead. For those scenes, my theory is the original film print is like this. In at least some of those scenes, not all items are out of focus, so I believe it's an error in the original cel compositing where the camera wasn't focused properly. When I got the first BD I also still had one of the DVDs of this movie, and comparing, those scenes are blurry on the DVD too; it's just far less obvious since the overall resolution is lower so they don't stand out compared to the rest the way they do on BD.

 

[Note: If my rambling about anime blu-rays is considered too far off topic here I can stop...]

On the topic of Macross BDs,

...snip...

Macross: Do You Remember Love

 

I have the DYRL box set with the bonus game, PS1 DYRL game code, Flashback 2012, the booklet, and all the art sheets.

 

In terms of quality, all I have to compare it against are a VHS of Clash of the Bionoids and a few VHS dups of the same movie and Flashback 2012. The dups were of tapes a friend brought back from a convention he attended, so they are an absolute minimum of 2 copies away from whatever retail source was copied. And those distant "masters" were probably VHS tapes, because I don't think the Macross LDs existed at that point.

 

So yeah, I can't complain about anything regarding that release, because it's so far beyond what I had access to before.

 

I prefer watching the version with the 2012 animation at the end. What does bother me about that version is the 2012 animation is rearranged from the Flashback version, and therefore the sequence feels a bit off to me.

On the topic of Macross BDs,

...snip...

Macross: Do You Remember Love

I have the DYRL box set with the bonus game, PS1 DYRL game code, Flashback 2012, the booklet, and all the art sheets.

That was the one I bought the first time as well. When I ordered the supposedly-upgraded release I decided to sell that one as I decided I didn't really care much about the stuff outside of the movie, while it was a nice package. I did that before the new one came out thinking if it was a real upgrade the value of the set might go down.

 

When I rebought afterwards I just got the regular edition. At the time I had to get that via some random Japanese seller on ebay because it wasn't available at online shops. I see now it's in stock at HMV Japan and Play-Asia so somewhat more readily available.

 

In terms of quality, all I have to compare it against are a VHS of Clash of the Bionoids and a few VHS dups of the same movie and Flashback 2012. The dups were of tapes a friend brought back from a convention he attended, so they are an absolute minimum of 2 copies away from whatever retail source was copied. And those distant "masters" were probably VHS tapes, because I don't think the Macross LDs existed at that point.

 

So yeah, I can't complain about anything regarding that release, because it's so far beyond what I had access to before.

I first saw the movie at some anime convention. It was fan-subbed and Nth-generation where even the subs were hard to read. This was mid-to-late 1980s when there wasn't yet any legit official anime market in the US really. Sometime after that I bought a laserdisc of the movie; probably was the earliest release that I believe is from Pioneer (it has a white cover with Mikimoto portraits of Hikaru, Misa, and Minmay). I still own it but haven't watched it in years as my LD player is in storage and I don't know if it even still works. Back then that disc looked great to me but I suspect it's not so great now.

 

I prefer watching the version with the 2012 animation at the end. What does bother me about that version is the 2012 animation is rearranged from the Flashback version, and therefore the sequence feels a bit off to me.

Previously, I only saw Flashback once, also back in the late 80s or early 90s. I lived in Houston back then and had a friend that belonged to some by-mail anime club where you mailed blank tapes and they made you Nth-generation copies of stuff. I watched with him as it was of course VHS and I owned Beta stuff; I used it mostly as a rental service to see stuff I might want to get on LD. FB2012 I never got as it was expensive for what it was and contained so little footage.

 

I wanted to get the CAV LD box of the movie but never did so. I believe that was the first time the FB2012 footage was put at the end of the movie. Discussing that LD with an online friend they mentioned this issue with that footage having what looked like compression artifacts. When I got one of the DVD releases much later was the first time I saw this version of the movie and saw that same thing, and of course it's there on the BD. I don't mind any of the stuff with the movie itself as it's pretty clear it's from the original film, but whatever is going on with that FB2012 footage does bug me. The separate FB2012 disc in the BD box looks the same way, so I'm sure it's some issue with whatever source they have to work with.

 

Anyway, I realized I prefer the black credits because I feel the impact of the song itself is lessened when there is accompanying video. But it's also great that version of the BD has all the options to watch it either way with the different audio options, and it's a shame they removed that with the newer release.

 

I'm sure it's a controversial opinion, but I also like that this release of the movie has the few seconds of gore cut out of it. I don't like that stuff anyway, but it always felt out of place to me in this movie. Those scenes are restored in the rerelease though, which seems to invalidate various online theories that some of the Macross creators wanted the scenes removed. I think it's more likely that it's because it's a PS3 game and any content on the disc would affect the CERO rating; with no game on the newer release that was no longer an issue and the footage came back.

Since I didn't really like anything this season, I've started slightly older stuff that was on my to-watch list. So, I've recently finished Made in Abyss and am now watching The Ancient Magus' Bride and Acchi Kocchi.