The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime

[DragonmasterDan]

I thought EP was synonyms with SLP.  Anyway being born in 1983 I also don't recall ever seeing a VCR that wouldn't do all three speeds.  The first VCR I remember was one of those top loading ones and even it could do all three.

So I decided to spend a whole minute and check wikipedia and discovered.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS#Technical_details

A VHS cassette holds a maximum of about 430 m (1,410 ft.) of tape at the lowest acceptable tape thickness, giving a maximum playing time of about four hours in an DF480 for NTSC and five hours in an E-300 for PAL at "standard play" (SP) quality. Other speeds include "long play" (LP), and "extended play" (EP) or "super long play" (SLP) (standard on NTSC; rarely found on PAL machines). For NTSC, LP and EP/SLP doubles and triples the recording time accordingly, but these speed reductions cause a slight reduction in video quality – from the normal 250 lines in SP, to 230 analog lines horizontal in LP and even less in EP/SLP. The slower speeds cause a very noticeable reduction in linear (non-hifi) audio track quality as well, as the linear tape speed becomes much lower than what is commonly considered a satisfactory minimum for audio recording.

So it seems like the Super Long Play was  uncommon in PAL territories while universal in NTSC-lands.

[esteban]

I thought EP was synonyms with SLP.  Anyway being born in 1983 I also don't recall ever seeing a VCR that wouldn't do all three speeds.  The first VCR I remember was one of those top loading ones and even it could do all three.

So I decided to spend a whole minute and check wikipedia and discovered.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS#Technical_details

A VHS cassette holds a maximum of about 430 m (1,410 ft.) of tape at the lowest acceptable tape thickness, giving a maximum playing time of about four hours in an DF480 for NTSC and five hours in an E-300 for PAL at "standard play" (SP) quality. Other speeds include "long play" (LP), and "extended play" (EP) or "super long play" (SLP) (standard on NTSC; rarely found on PAL machines). For NTSC, LP and EP/SLP doubles and triples the recording time accordingly, but these speed reductions cause a slight reduction in video quality – from the normal 250 lines in SP, to 230 analog lines horizontal in LP and even less in EP/SLP. The slower speeds cause a very noticeable reduction in linear (non-hifi) audio track quality as well, as the linear tape speed becomes much lower than what is commonly considered a satisfactory minimum for audio recording.

So it seems like the Super Long Play was  uncommon in PAL territories while universal in NTSC-lands.

TOTALLY RANDOM: I remember getting a "VCP" for my aunt. That's right. All it did was play videocassettes, hence the "P"....I had no idea such a thing existed until helping her out.

[DragonmasterDan]

I thought EP was synonyms with SLP.  Anyway being born in 1983 I also don't recall ever seeing a VCR that wouldn't do all three speeds.  The first VCR I remember was one of those top loading ones and even it could do all three.

So I decided to spend a whole minute and check wikipedia and discovered.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS#Technical_details

A VHS cassette holds a maximum of about 430 m (1,410 ft.) of tape at the lowest acceptable tape thickness, giving a maximum playing time of about four hours in an DF480 for NTSC and five hours in an E-300 for PAL at "standard play" (SP) quality. Other speeds include "long play" (LP), and "extended play" (EP) or "super long play" (SLP) (standard on NTSC; rarely found on PAL machines). For NTSC, LP and EP/SLP doubles and triples the recording time accordingly, but these speed reductions cause a slight reduction in video quality – from the normal 250 lines in SP, to 230 analog lines horizontal in LP and even less in EP/SLP. The slower speeds cause a very noticeable reduction in linear (non-hifi) audio track quality as well, as the linear tape speed becomes much lower than what is commonly considered a satisfactory minimum for audio recording.

So it seems like the Super Long Play was  uncommon in PAL territories while universal in NTSC-lands.

TOTALLY RANDOM: I remember getting a "VCP" for my aunt. That's right. All it did was play videocassettes, hence the "P"....I had no idea such a thing existed until helping her out.

I vaguely recall my elementary school having such a device that would roll in on a cart along with a CRT so we could watch movies.

[ClodBusted]

So do I recall on elementary and high school. Almost no VHS recorders, mainly top-loading players. For some educational material, there were even Super 8 reels. Man, those were THE thing to me, even if they were outdated even back then.

[NightWolve]

I'm going to be perfectly honest here and say that I didn't really read the post I just quoted. It's way way too fucking huge. It's ridiculous to expect anyone to read that.

Claims he didn't read it, but then it's clear that he did... Complains it's long, then writes a long post himself... The irony of his level of ridiculousness in this incident is apparently totally lost on him... If you're gonna overtly claim you read nothing then F--K OFF already!

If you subtract the response for Raizen and the requote of my unimpeachable review of your actions, it was about as long as yours! It's easy to exit a thread, stop reading when you've lost interest, and the fact is, you should've done so a long time ago but mission accomplished as far as going full retard and digging yourself in an even deeper hole!

Nobody should feel intimidated they'll be called a psychopath in this thread for simply sharing a brief and polite opinion on a movie due to a thin-skinned, hyper-sensitive, arrogant, emotional nutjob who couldn't stand his precious "masterpiece" only being thought of as "alright" and not a favorite of his in the SG library... You've *clearly* lost it and you're not gonna get away with pulling your bullshit on me!

I did want to ask a question though. What on earth makes you think the WP article (which I saw the other day) somehow applies totally to me but somehow not to yourself? You're much more aggressive with people than I am these days. The wind kinda left my sails a few years ago, not sure why. I certainly don't have the energy to write up page long fake quotes of someone.

So you expect me to read all of your posts and answer all of your questions yet whine like a bitch that you refuse to read anything of mine, proving yourself to be the bigot you are that doesn't listen let alone learn from another person that you decided to wildly attack ?

NO, let's go further back, what on earth makes YOU think that "psychopath" somehow applies totally to me but somehow not to your disgusting self ??

I don't care what you think of any movie. It doesn't matter.

Sure you do chief, sure you do! That's what started this whole thing! Now you're not even being intellectually honest with yourself and that's part of what makes you so disgusting to me right now in addition to your continued efforts to hurl as many as possible psychological insults... If I had simply said the following:

I saw that a few weeks ago actually. It's not my favorite in their library, but I liked it! I can't recall seeing an anti-war anime before so that was a first.

Then you never would've attempted to heckle and browbeat me down!

All these Ghibli movies are beloved world wide. Someone not liking one of them doesn't matter. Their image is still pristine.

I agree. It's too bad I won't ever care to discuss them with a nutjob such as yourself.

You're not the first crazed anime fanboy/girl I've ever encountered on the Internet... I learned a long time ago to be nervous and distrusting around them when there's that high-degree of Japanophilia-excess with a mix of fanaticism. All the people that ever did me harm over the Internet were fanatical anime fans and for at least 4 of them, it was the reason that they learned Japanese and one of them works for XSEED Games right now... Maybe just a freak pattern I began to notice, or not...

I called you a psychopath because your reaction to the movie was like a review of a super bowl commercial. Nobody reviews Schindler's List or Three Kings completely removed from the circumstances of the subject matter. I've never read a review of The Great Dictator That didn't mention Hitler. These things just can't be separated.

You did that though. You just brushed that dust off your jeans...like Grave of the Fireflies was a less funny version of Kiki's Delivery service. Anyone who can see a movie that unpleasant and not even comment on how hard it is to watch is pretty fucking numb to humanity. Psychopath? Maybe just autistic.

Listen, snapperhead, did you EVER once in that disgusting, bigoted, arrogant, assumptive brain of yours stop to consider that I kept my comment brief just because I didn't care to go into detail ?? I only felt the need to express that I wouldn't put that particular movie in my favorites list in contrast to esteban. I didn't feel it was THAT good.

That is ALL I cared to mention at the time... Hell, my short 3 sentences even met PunkiCyborg's limit and I missed Twitter's limit by a few words! esteban was 2 sentences, BUT he said it's his favorite and beautiful which met your approval and why you didn't jump down his damn throat like a madman!

WHY is it that you deliberately continue down on a path of choosing every worst possible explanation/conclusion ?? Bipolar much ? Went off your medication ?

Maybe you're so patriotic you can't allow yourself to be drawn into a movie that portrays the Asia pacific campaign as anything but holy. I don't know what it is, I just know it's fucked. I've talked about this movie with a lot of people, and I've read a lot of reviews of it. Nobody is "meh" about this movie unless they are in the John Birch Society or they have Ass Bugers. I mentioned it. I didn't mean it even as an attack but as an observation. How could you have such a half ass "meh" attitude about something so powerful? Oh, it wasn't powerful for you? Well, that sorta proves my point. You're emotionally impaired. Abject human misery rolls over you like water. Great. I'll remember that and not mention it again for fear of massive explosions from the parts of your soul that actually do exist.

You are seriously such a disgusting bigot right now and I can't believe you actually had the f--king nerve to attack my character to such a degree over one f--king movie! AND AGAIN! IN MORE DETAIL! AND WITH SO MANY PREJUDICED-BASED VAST ASSUMPTIONS OVER ONE F--KING SENTENCE !

It's YOU that needs to get your damn head checked, not me!

I think I see what's going on here based on your political commentary, and it's what I guessed seeing your comment about "I always knew" which suggested you had baggage assigned to ME in particular! Your disgusting explosion was because it's "TEH NightWolve, that 'right-winger' over there with his website!" You're a political bigot and figured there was something so much more than meets the eye with my one sentence based on ALL the prejudices that you have for right-wingers!

You were caught in that rock in a hard place because normally you'd have no problem expressing your full hatred and venom for a right-winger being on the Far Left of the political spectrum, but yet the guy was the main man responsible for the Ys IV project and other things, so you showed some teeny tiny level of respect for those accomplishments... However, this situation, seizing on one sentence allowed you the opportunity to vent, and vent you did!!! That'd be my guess, and just a guess! Only you know for sure what's going on inside that bigot brain of yours and the full reasons for it.

I remind anyone reading this, that this disgusting, psycho maniac has made all these vast prejudiced-based conclusions, accusations, condemnations over THIS F--KING SENTENCE: "It's not my favorite in their library, but it was alright."

That is ALL that it took for this maniac to be set off!!! A CLEAR CUT MANIAC!

I'm sorry you feel insulted by my diagnosis.

Then I hope you don't at all feel insulted by my diagnosis of you.

I'm sorry your opinion of me is somehow in a constant state of flux. I don't know why you care. I don't know why you stuck up for me in some dumb chat with who the fucker ever. I don't know what was said about me, why is stuck up for me, why now you aren't, or why you have such a huge emotional stake in this forum politicking crap.

I would not ever again make the mistake of defending a vile, disgusting, certifiable monster like you again, of this I assure you! You're so unbelievably out of line right now, I can't believe you seriously descended down to this level! Like I originally said, go f--k yourself!

And I mentioned it because of how foolish I feel right now for having attempted to disagree with him when I see now he was right all along! I defended you because I used to respect you, some of your insightful gaming opinions and are someone I exchanged PMs with over the years, the last related to metal soundtracks for your Lords of Thunder project! I would've done that for *anyone* I had some level of respect for to remind the other party of the positive aspects of the person. NEVER AGAIN in your case, monster! Not after something like this! And I see why Professor felt 100% justified power-trolling your sorry ass - you're a piece of shit that must've collectively earned it!

A lot of people here can't stand me (a lot more would, but I don't post as much anymore) but I believe I have a decent reputation as someone who is honest about saying what they feel.

You've gained more people that can't stand you and I doubt you can keep your "decent" reputation here after this!

Regardless of how inappropriate my comment was, I *genuinly* did not call you a psychopath for not liking a movie I like.

That is a bald-face lie! I already partly proved it by pointing out you didn't heckle anyone that said they simply liked it. Secondly, I paid attention to your immature troll behavior, and 2 TIMES in the aftermath I added more details that it was a sad/moving/touching/tragic film but you deliberately ignored that and trolled on and on and on, etc..

So here are the quotes of twice referring to the type of movie it is:

Wait, what ? Are you implying because I thought it was "alright" that I didn't think it was a sad or tragic depiction of the costs of war and so worth ? Your leap of conclusion based on what I said is what is psycho... Heh. Yeah, it's a moving/touching/sad/tragic type of movie. You want me to put it at the top of my favorites as far as Studio Ghibli releases else otherwise I'm a "psycho" ?? ...

This particular brother and sister lose their parents, their home, are left to fend for themselves, they try to live with a relative for a time who really didn't want them, so eventually they find a cave and decide to survive on their own. This proves fatal for the brother's sister who dies on him because he failed to find food in time and so forth... So yes, it's a sad/tragic wartime tale and all of that.

AND THEN, this nutjob says this:

Obviously ClodBusted isn't a psychopath because he found the movie too disturbing to enjoy. He is moved by human suffering.

In other words, even after I responded in short posts to disprove his wild accusations, he references ClodBusted to make an indirect troll response about me. HINT HINT, unlike that NightWolve guy, "ClodBusted is moved by human suffering..." Like a little immature manchild, trolling on and on and on...

So, this psycho nutjob generalizes me by one CARTOON, which is what it is! ONE CARTOON! Which I watched in a gibberish language (since I can't understand a word) while reading text at the bottom of the screen which is just about a brother whose sister dies on him... And from all that, the nutjob accuses me of never having cried in ANY other movie, never having been moved, or touched by human suffering and so forth!

Just what kind of an accusatory nutjob am I really dealing with here ??

I KNOW I KNOW! IT WAS THIS, IT WAS THAT, DURR, UMM, IT WAS RIGHT-WING JINGOISM OR RACISM! IT WAS THAT OR THIS, AND IF IT WASN'T THAT OR THIS, THAN I KNOW IT MUST'VE BEEN ANOTHER CASE OF AN UNFEELING, UNCARING RIGHT-WINGER THAT WANTS TO THROW OLD PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR HOMES AND STARVE THE POOR!!! AND IF IT WASN'T THAT IT WAS BECAUSE YOU'RE A RIGHT-WING WARMONGER AND THE TRUE COSTS OF WAR DIDN'T FIT YOUR RIGHT-WING NARRATIVE SO YOU COULDN'T STAND IT! AHA, IT WAS THAT, WASN'T IT, WASN'T IT ?? DON'T PLAY STUPID WITH ME YOU RIGHT-WINGER! I CAUGHT YOU! I CAUGHT YOU!!! YOU'RE GONNA BE MADE TO ANSWER FOR EVERY POSSIBLE WILD-EYED ACCUSATION, ASSUMPTION, PREJUDICED-BASED CRITICISM THAT I CAN COME UP FOR NOT LOVING IT FOR THE MASTERPIECE THAT IT IS!!!

How's that for wild-eyed, assumptive, accusatory bullshit all over the f--king place, eh Chad ??

One last thing: After you finally finish spewing more of your bullshit, I don't ever wanna speak to you again on this forum. You understand, Chad, f--kface ? If you ever quote me, or post in a thread of mine, you'll only be met with uncivil responses! Someone that does not have the capacity to honestly admit wrongdoing and genuinely apologize is a monster in my book and I've met far too many to let it slide! You're DeuceBag, Lipschultz, DarkKobold to me! Whether it's cause you're a sociopath and lack empathy, or it's partly or totally due to the arrogance/bigotry/pride that screams off the page, I dunno, but I don't ever wanna deal with you again! You're not gonna browbeat bully me down into caring about your f--king masterpiece of an anime! F--k you and your Grave of the Fire Flies!

I really don't have anything else left to say you other than you need to get your snapperhead checked and you need to f--k off. Everything I felt that needed to be said to you in response to your disgusting, pathetic behavior is in this damn post! Read it, don't read it, claim TL;DR as a troll response, I don't care, but it's all here uncensored! Whatever the case, we're done after this.

[esteban]

STATUS: I am glad I kept my popcorn from yesterday. It may be stale, but it turns out I needed it after all.

[xcrement5x]

Man, I was hoping the dramu had subsided.  No offense, but you guys are worse than the EGL community sometimes.

[roflmao]

STATUS: I am glad a kept my popcorn from yesterday. It may be stale, but it turns out I needed it after all.

Yep.

[viper0hr]

Galaxy Express 999
If you can find the original series it's well worth a watch.

[SignOfZeta]

The most interesting thing about the Dirty Pair TV series is that the first episode clearly has a budget equal to the remaining two dozen episodes than follow it. If you are a big fan of that ultra HQ kid 80s stuff from Sunrise (Crusher Joe movie, for example) you want to at least see Dirty Pair EP1. After that it's still fun, but much cheaper.

[PunkCryborg]

Would you all shut the fuck up and talk about anime like grown ass men?
I am rewatching Gunbuster. Cool series with some great art and music but It's a little goofier than I like these days

[ClodBusted]

I love the original Gunbuster series, also because I fall for Mikimoto's character designs. Those cute pseudo-educational intermissions between the episodes are enjoyable too.

[DragonmasterDan]

Galaxy Express 999
If you can find the original series it's well worth a watch.

I watched the entire series on Crunchy Roll some time back. It's free to watch there.

[esteban]

[TR0N]

Would you all shut the fuck up and talk about anime like grown ass men?
I am rewatching Gunbuster. Cool series with some great art and music but It's a little goofier than I like these days

That's a early one by gainax,beside a classic by them.Last year i got it on dvd and brand new through a third party on amazon.It holds up well but like most ova's it's over before you know it.

[xcrement5x]

SuperDeadite's translation is pretty lulzworthy at times:
https://youtu.be/jscfV8T-KTA&t=411

[NightWolve]

Would you all shut the fuck up and talk about anime like grown ass men?

Ah shaddup yourself! While it'd be too much to ask for you to learn to write properly, it's not too much for you to learn how use the quote feature and holding SHIFT + PGDN to quickly select text and delete/empty out what's irrelevant or use the mouse proper to do it! And even if you're dumb as a box of rocks for that or lazy as all f--k, you could've gone a page prior for a shorter post of mine! No, you brought your quoting troll game/stunt out of FS, so you ain't no "thread hero" - stop acting like one!

[PunkCryborg]

Would you all shut the fuck up and talk about anime like grown ass men?

Ah shaddup yourself! While it'd be too much to ask for you to learn to write properly, it's not too much for you to learn how use the quote feature and holding SHIFT + PGDN to quickly select text and delete/empty out what's irrelevant or use the mouse proper to do it! And even if you're dumb as a box of rocks for that or lazy as all f--k, you could've gone a page prior for a shorter post of mine! No, you brought your quoting troll game/stunt out of FS, so you ain't no "thread hero" - stop acting like one!

Please stop insulting me and sending me very weird PMs. You are derailing the thread which is "The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime "
Thank you.

With that out of the way, I am curious about what everyone thinks of the "Gainax Jiggle"?

[esteban]

I am curious about what everyone thinks of the "Gainax Jiggle"?

That clip appears to be a "ROID RAGE" moment....

So, that's a pretty cute young guy with bitch tits.

[ClodBusted]

Is it true there was never an official English language release of Gunbuster that was either uncensored or had the original training music retained?

[NecroPhile]

Would you all shut the fuck up and talk about anime like grown ass men?

.... he said while ignoring that everyone had indeed shut the fuck up five days prior.

Don't poke the embers, toss on a fresh log, then bitch about the flame up.

[NightWolve]

Please stop insulting me and sending me very weird PMs. You are derailing the thread which is "The Anime Thread: Finding Good Anime "

There was nothing "weird," very or otherwise, about my PMs - when you do mass quote bombs of me in the forum publicly, I send you those same mass quote bombs to your PM inbox till you stop doing it! See how that works ? That's ALL it was! That's what it'll take for you to stop thinking that you're funny with it... It wasn't funny the first time you did it, and it wasn't funny the other time you did it either!

Stop heckling/needling me on this forum as you've done for well over a year now -- I really don't care for you -- and then you don't have to worry about me insulting you in response! You're the one that picked the fight with me, brah, or are you now confused a little bit with your own history ??

And as was pointed out, SignOfZealotry moved on with me, he'll find somebody else to call psychopath that says the wrong thing about his favorite "unimpeachable masterpiece" of an anime... You were late to the party Mr. "thread hero." The show was over, don't start another one if you purport to all of a sudden care about the thread so much.

[esteban]

I have heard mixed reviews for Grave of the Fireflies—so, is it worth watching? DISCUSS....

[SignOfZeta]

Is it true there was never an official English language release of Gunbuster that was either uncensored or had the original training music retained?

The original VHS releases are in tact, but I don't know that those were ever dubbed, just subtitled. I think all the JP release are fine.

I'm a huge fan of this show, btw. As far as putting real "hard scifi" into an anime this is the one, IMHO. It also has the totally ridiculous scifi as well, great action, some decent romance, it has everything. One of the very best and probably the ultimate "nobody knows how to make this any more" show.

Currently watching: The Unico double feature BR from Discotek. I'm so grateful this company exists. My best copy of Island of Magic is the LD from the mid 80s and I've never run across an LD of the first movie. These BR transfers are PERFECT. Not overly restored, just very clear and original. The best way to watch these really charming and really weird movies.

[xcrement5x]

Punki's jiggles and other talk of Gunbuster have me interested.  I'd heard of it before but never really looked into it, will have to try and find a torrent or something to give it a go.

[esteban]

Is it true there was never an official English language release of Gunbuster that was either uncensored or had the original training music retained?

The original VHS releases are in tact, but I don't know that those were ever dubbed, just subtitled. I think all the JP release are fine.

I'm a huge fan of this show, btw. As far as putting real "hard scifi" into an anime this is the one, IMHO. It also has the totally ridiculous scifi as well, great action, some decent romance, it has everything. One of the very best and probably the ultimate "nobody knows how to make this any more" show.

Currently watching: The Unico double feature BR from Discotek. I'm so grateful this company exists. My best copy of Island of Magic is the LD from the mid 80s and I've never run across an LD of the first movie. These BR transfers are PERFECT. Not overly restored, just very clear and original. The best way to watch these really charming and really weird movies.

https://archives.tg-16.com/DENGEKI/1993-02/page_0004.jpg

https://archives.tg-16.com/DENGEKI/1993-02/page_0005.jpg

[DragonmasterDan]

Currently watching: The Unico double feature BR from Discotek. I'm so grateful this company exists. My best copy of Island of Magic is the LD from the mid 80s and I've never run across an LD of the first movie. These BR transfers are PERFECT. Not overly restored, just very clear and original. The best way to watch these really charming and really weird movies.

I'm a big fan of Discotek's stuff as well. I haven't picked up the Unico Blu-Ray but you've just about convinced me to do so.

[SignOfZeta]

From the second I put that Unico disc in for the first time the other day I was at once taken back in time to the era...not just an era before anime sucked, but before we ever even though that it might ever suck. When I was a kid anime (actually, animation in general) felt like the most limitless medium possible. We hadn't hit the wall yet, there were no known walls to hit. The talent, the skill, and the budgets all just seemed like they would expand forever.

It's a great disk.

[Grandiloquence]

Ahh, Gunbuster. Love it, but I only have the VHS tapes. Is it available on blu ray? Currently watching the second lot of the Patlabor OAV series on BD that I had to import from the States because it was only available on DVD in the UK. Apparently the first series didn't sell well enough here to justify releasing it on blu ray. A pity, I love Patlabor.
I have also been watching Gurren Lagann which is excellent! I have the Robotech box set to watch next, and the recently released Nadia: Secret of Blue Water on BD after that.

[DragonmasterDan]

From the second I put that Unico disc in for the first time the other day I was at once taken back in time to the era...not just an era before anime sucked, but before we ever even though that it might ever suck. When I was a kid anime (actually, animation in general) felt like the most limitless medium possible. We hadn't hit the wall yet, there were no known walls to hit. The talent, the skill, and the budgets all just seemed like they would expand forever.

It's a great disk. 

I recall renting those Unico VHS tapes when I was a very little kid. So I did just buy that Blu-Ray set which should be here in a few days. Just about everything discotek masters is high quality from a video/audio standpoint.

[ClodBusted]

Oh well, thanks. Good thing Gunbuster was released uncut with the original soundtrack on DVD where I live. There might be hope Discotek may re-release the uncut version in with English subtitles as well? Also I would like to see an official English subbed release of the 1984 Macross movie. The official DVD we got here was alright, but in one or two scenes the subtitles aren't timed right, and the picture and sound quality is typical for very early DVD releases. Funny thing though is that the even earlier released VHS tape had the subtitles set 100% correct and was the base for a TV broadcast. However, our Macross II DVD release was pretty much fucked up sound wise, good thing there was still a working English dub as a secondary sound option, since the Japanese track had some technical problems that made it unwatchable.


EDIT:
Ah, those were the days when VOX (not to be confused with FOX) broadcasted Anime nights every weekend in the late 90s/early 00s. They had shown a lot of the stuff from the golden OVA era, like Record of Lodoss War, Bubblegum Crisis, and Riding Bean. They even threw in the occasional TV series like Neon Genesis Evangelion as well as some T&A in the form of Agent Aika and (cut to fit TV softcore mature ratings) borderline Ecchi/ soft Hentai movies like  Dragon Knight 4 Ever and Midnight Panther.*
Guess what, I still got the VHS tapes with recordings from back then, since a few of the shown shows never saw a DVD release at all.


*The funny thing is: The DVDs from these two series we got here were offically released "cut" as well, but you could punch in a secret 4-digit code on your DVD player's remote to unlock the uncut versions including all nudity and stuff. Codes like "6969" or variations of that were the key.

[SignOfZeta]

[SignOfZeta]

Oh well, thanks. Good thing Gunbuster was released uncut with the original soundtrack on DVD where I live. There might be hope Discotek may re-release the uncut version in with English subtitles as well? Also I would like to see an official English subbed release of the 1984 Macross movie. The official DVD we got here was alright, but in one or two scenes the subtitles aren't timed right, and the picture and sound quality is typical for very early DVD releases.

The Macross movie was released in BR a couple of years ago. Quality is very good, but it is censored slightly, only a few frames, but it is censored. It comes with a PS3 game, Flashback 2012, and a ton of printed material. It's like $150-200, IIRC.

I'm sure someone has fansubbed it by now.

[viper0hr]

Galaxy Express 999
If you can find the original series it's well worth a watch.

I watched the entire series on Crunchy Roll some time back. It's free to watch there.

Ok cool, I remember it being available there for a bit a while back, but they did not have all the episodes.

Finding that series 8 years ago was near fucking impossible because it never saw a US release, it took me over a month to torrent the whole series because almost no one had it back then :/ .

The movie was one of the first things anime related I ever watched back on Sci Fi channel when i was super young haha, it really is a great series, and was extremely influential in sci fi/future space anime that followed.

[viper0hr]

I have heard mixed reviews for Grave of the Fireflies—so, is it worth watching? DISCUSS....

It's...ok?
I'd watch it in Japanese, I only watch anime with Subs due to awful voice acting, except GitS and CB, and a few others :p

With GotF its hit or miss person to person.
I myself really enjoy war time movies and war history as well as anime, and overall "liked" the movie, though some parts were boring/overdone IMO.
I would recommend watching it though, and it's good to remember that the movie is based off of the writer/directors life growing up during WWII in japan.

[esteban]

I have heard mixed reviews for Grave of the Fireflies—so, is it worth watching? DISCUSS....

It's...ok?
I'd watch it in Japanese, I only watch anime with Subs due to awful voice acting, except GitS and CB, and a few others :p

With GotF its hit or miss person to person.
I myself really enjoy war time movies and war history as well as anime, and overall "liked" the movie, though some parts were boring/overdone IMO.
I would recommend watching it though, and it's good to remember that the movie is based off of the writer/directors life growing up during WWII in japan.

Interesting. I prefer subtitles, too, unless the local voice actors are excellent (rare, but it happens).

I am intrigued by this film. 

Thanks.

[SignOfZeta]

Not the experiences of the director,

"Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓 Hotaru no Haka?) is a 1967 semi-autobiographical short story by Japanese author Akiyuki Nosaka. It is based on his experiences before, during, and after the firebombing of Kobe in 1945. One of his sisters died as the result of a sickness, his adoptive father died during the firebombing proper, and his younger adoptive sister Keiko died of malnutrition in Fukui. It was written as a personal apology to Keiko, regarding her death."

The idea that a guy would be so wracked with guilt that he wrote a book decades later to apologize for not being able to protect his 4 year old sister from an undefeatable onslaught of poverty, disease, theft, and the 2nd most aggressive firebombing campaign in history when he himself was only 12-15 years old is something that hits me pretty hard.

This thing is pure tragedy. If you often consider suicide or have a history of depression, think twice before seeing it. I'm not joking even a little when I say this.

[ShadowKitty777]

The Macross movie was released in BR a couple of years ago. Quality is very good, but it is censored slightly, only a few frames, but it is censored. It comes with a PS3 game, Flashback 2012, and a ton of printed material. It's like $150-200, IIRC.

I'm sure someone has fansubbed it by now.

That Japanese BR is really nice, and game is decent too. It sucks that it's censored, but at least its minimal.

[ClodBusted]

I don't give a shit about the Japanese Blu-Ray (that I already know of since) since it has no translation on disc, and it's overpriced, and I'm not sure if I really would want that game, since Macross PS2 would rule it anyway. 2nd thing is I don't watch fansubs.

By the way, dubs can be awesome if the right voice actors are involved, which is usually the case where I live when a movie gets a cinematic release here. For direct-to-video releases it's a hit-and-miss, but all our current anime DVD and Blu-ray releases features  both dub as well as Japanese with subtitles anyway. While in the early days we had mostly just Japanese with subtitles since good voice acting is expensive.

[SignOfZeta]

You make it sound like subs are some old timey thing fans had to endure in lieu of dubs.

Regardless of how "awesome" a dub is, it's not the original work and it never will be. Replacing the entire soundtrack of a movie in order to introduce it to foreign audiences is something you see very rarely in the U.S. outside of anime. French Canadians do it with everything because they are xenophobic assholes yet totally hooked on foreign culture. In parts of the world where illiteracy rates are very high you see it as well. In English speaking cultures, dubbing movies is akin to colorizing them.

Therefore I can think of three reasons why anime gets dubbed constantly and enthusiastically without apology or regret:

Since the mouths are rarely synced well by western standards in anime it's easy to equal if not better the timing while dubbing. In live action it's usually very awkward looking.

Anime fans are idiots.

It isn't valued. It's OK to dub trash. Anime is basically just porn anyway. 

Btw, my elitist shit talking doesn't necessarily apply to everything. Things that have no "original" track, such as HK action movies where all dialog is ADR, to accommodate a dub they know they'll need just to cover China and also because live sound is a pain in the ass. Another example might be something like later Ghibli movies or Ghost in the Shell where the dub is in progress very early on in production. This still ends up being a replacement track done by less involved people, but it's still better than listening to "Valspeak" coming out of cartoon characters that predate such affectations completely, making them both geographically and chronologically very far removed from the visuals.

The most frustrating thing about dubsters is that they demand more from translations but invariably pay less. This was fine during the boom years in the 2000s since punter dollars were expanding the industry, but now I see them as mostly just parasites. I wish all those "awesome" dubs never got made. Then maybe some of these companies would still be in business.

This reminds me of something else...

At some point, the early 80s I would guess, someone came up with the brilliant idea of colorizing Betty Boop cartoons, either for broadcast or home video, I don't know. What's amazing is that instead of the computerized methods used by Turner's shitty colorizations they actually paid animators in Korea to TRACE THE ENTIRE SHORTS! Yeah, American animation from the 30s traced by Koreans in the 80s. Talk about fucking with something. Then, years later, when it was obvious that anyone who is going to want to watch Betty friggn Boop was going to want it to be b/w, some home video collections used the fucked up Korean tracings and just dropped out the chroma leaving you with something neither original nor color.

[esteban]

Wait , I never knew about the Betty Boop stuff...I have crappy transfers of the originals, but I am curious about the Korean versions...

What an oddity!

[DragonmasterDan]

Wait , I never knew about the Betty Boop stuff...I have crappy transfers of the originals, but I am curious about the Korean versions...

What an oddity!

I'm a pretty big Fleisher cartoon fan and was unaware of this as well.

[SignOfZeta]

It really is weird. The differences are obvious enough that there is at least one misspelled sign.

Which I would say is similar to watching something dubbed from Streamline where the main charactor's name is pronounced differently by every voice actor in the show because their direction sucks so bad they can't even homogenize pronunciation.

[ClodBusted]

Zeta:
Too long, didn't read what you said.

[SephirothTNH]

Which I would say is similar to watching something dubbed from Streamline where the main charactor's name is pronounced differently by every voice actor in the show because their direction sucks so bad they can't even homogenize pronunciation.

I will agree that this is somewhat annoying to an extent.  But it is a phenomenon that happens in real life.  I've had friends whose names started with an "A" and even among their friends there was always a mix of pronouncing it like the word "all" or the name "Al."

[esteban]

Which I would say is similar to watching something dubbed from Streamline where the main charactor's name is pronounced differently by every voice actor in the show because their direction sucks so bad they can't even homogenize pronunciation.

I will agree that this is somewhat annoying to an extent.  But it is a phenomenon that happens in real life.  I've had friends whose names started with an "A" and even among their friends there was always a mix of pronouncing it like the word "all" or the name "Al."

Yeah, that's true. Even better, it happens when we talk about destinations...my friends and I have no universally-agreed pronunciation for:
Costco
Caribbean
Worcestershire
Etc.

[Emerald Rocker]

Yeah, that's true. Even better, it happens when we talk about destinations...my friends and I have no universally-agreed pronunciation for:
Costco
Caribbean
Worcestershire
Etc.

Objectively correct pronunciations:
/kawst*koh/
/Kerry*bean/
/wurst*er*sha*ear/
/etts/

[esteban]

Kuh Rib Eee Anne
Kween

According to Billy O, but I say

Kuh Rib Eee Uhhn
Kween



Or do I say:
Kuh Rihh Bee Uhhn
Kween

[DragonmasterDan]

Kuh Rib Eee Anne
Kween

According to Billy O, but I say

Kuh Rib Eee Uhhn
Kween



Or do I say:
Kuh Rihh Bee Uhhn
Kween
?

I pronounce it Care Bear Countdown

[SignOfZeta]

Which I would say is similar to watching something dubbed from Streamline where the main charactor's name is pronounced differently by every voice actor in the show because their direction sucks so bad they can't even homogenize pronunciation.

I will agree that this is somewhat annoying to an extent.  But it is a phenomenon that happens in real life.  I've had friends whose names started with an "A" and even among their friends there was always a mix of pronouncing it like the word "all" or the name "Al."

That's totally true. I fraternize with both fans of Ree-yu and Rye-yu. The difference between this and dubbed anime is that if everyone is Japanese exactly zero people in a group will say "Rye-yu" because native speakers all know that that would be Raiyu, a totally different word.