Anime Film Review: Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love

After the success of Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie, it was decided to produce a second theatrical film. Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love was meant to bring the Space Battleship Yamato franchise to an end; however, when the film was released to theaters in July 1978, fans made it clear that they were not satisfied with how the film ended and wanted more. Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love was re-written into a 26 episode series that changed how the story ended and added new plot elements.

In the film, the Yamato and her crew face the Comet Empire, a civilization from the Andromeda Galaxy that is intent on conquering Earth; this civilization is led by Zwordar the Great. The Comet Empire rescued Desslar, the leader of the Gamilas and the mortal enemy of the Yamato and her crew. Desslar is eager for revenge against the Yamato, in order to avenge the destruction of his home planet.

When the Yamato goes on a mission to try to stop the Comet Empire from destroying the Earth, the ship and her crew are aided by Teresa of Telezart. During the film, the Yamato and her crew must face off with both Desslar and the Comet Empire. While Zwordar’s plan is ultimately thwarted, a terrible price ends up being paid in order for this to happen.

There are several differences between Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love and the second Space Battleship Yamato series. In the film, Saito and the space marines are on board the ship when it takes off from Earth; however, two conflicting stories are given in the film as to why they’re there. In the first story, the doctor claims he enlisted the space marines to join, but later in the film, a high-ranking military officer claims he sent the space marines to accompany the crew of the Yamato. In the television series, the space marines are rescued when the planet they’re stationed on is attacked by the Comet Empire.

Also, in the television series, Teresa of Telezart is a flesh and blood woman who has telepathic powers, instead of the anti-matter woman that appears in the film version. Since she is an actual person in the television series, a romantic interest between Teresa and one of the crew members of the Yamato was added. Since I had seen the Star Blazers version of the second television series before seeing this film, I find the idea of Teresa being anti-matter hard to reconcile.

In many respects, Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love needs to be looked at as an “alternate timeline” story for the Yamato franchise. If a viewer doesn’t look at the film with that thought in mind, then everything that comes after this film would make absolutely no sense. Between the film version of the story and the story as it appears in the second series of Space Battleship Yamato, I personally prefer the second series. One of my personal favorite sections in the second series takes place on Telezart, and that portion of the story is completely missing from Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love.

This DVD release of Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love includes the original theatrical trailer, which runs for about three minutes and is subtitled. There is a promotional artwork gallery, where the viewer can choose to move forward and back and to view the artwork at their own pace.

You can also see scans of the original program book that was distributed at the theaters that screened Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name Of Love; this feature has a similar navigation to the promotional artwork gallery. However, there are two extra buttons: “Detail” and “Text.” “Detail” allows you to take a closer look at the page of the program book, while “Text” accesses a readable translation of the page.

There is also a section labeled “The Making of Farewell to Yamato.” There are two text sections that are available in this section. The first is “The Yamato Story,” which tells the story of how the film came to be, the history of the film, and the audience reaction to the film. The other text section has cast and producer interviews.

Overall, this is a decent DVD release. It definitely needs to be in the collection of anyone who considers themselves a fan of Space Battleship Yamato or Star Blazers.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of the Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love DVD that my husband and I purchased.

Anime Film Review: Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie

When Space Battleship Yamato originally aired on Japanese television in 1974, it didn’t fare very well in the ratings. However, a decision was made to condense the story down to a feature-length film and release it to movie theaters. When the film screened in theaters in 1977, it became a hit and gave a jump-start to the Space Battleship Yamato franchise.

Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie is essentially a “warp speed” version of the story from the original Space Battleship Yamato television anime series. The film version only includes the most relevant events of the series, so the film would fit into a roughly two hour and 15 minute runtime.

For the most part, it can be hard to tell what changes were made if you aren’t familiar with the original series. However, the main exception to this is when the crew of the Yamato are on the planet Iscandar. Yuki Mori, the main female character, is uninjured when the crew first arrives on the planet; however, in the final scene that takes place on Iscandar, the audience sees that she is wearing a sling on her arm, and nothing was seen onscreen to show that Yuki sustained any injuries. The scene where Yuki sustained the injury was removed from the film, so a viewer who hasn’t seen the original series will be left wondering what happened to Yuki’s arm.

Outside of that continuity issue, I think that a decent job was done of paring down the original Space Battleship Yamato series into a feature film. While I admit to being a little disappointed that there are some scenes that I liked from seeing Star Blazers (the English dub version of Space Battleship Yamato) that didn’t make it into the film, I understand that those scenes weren’t important for the story that the film is trying to tell.

When it comes to the DVD that Voyager released for Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie, the film can only be viewed with Japanese audio with English subtitles; this is due to the fact that English dub has not been produced for the film. There are also several bonus features on the DVD in addition to the film.

The first extra is the original theatrical trailer for Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie, which includes English subtitles. Next is a feature labeled as “Alternate Animation Footage.” It is explained that when the film aired on Japanese television, the section that takes place on Iscandar was replaced with a much shorter sequence in order to get the film down to two hours. In this alternate footage, Stasha is never physically with the crew of the Yamato, and she tells them that she is dying. In this alternate version, Susumu Kodai’s brother, who had been presumed dead, is not on Iscandar. This alternate footage puts the television version of the film into its own kind of “alternate timeline” for the series. This segment ran about seven to eight minutes, and it was subtitled. Personally, I really didn’t like this sequence; as a viewer, I felt rather “detached” from Stasha, and it doesn’t have the payoff for the viewer that the original arrival on Iscandar has.

Another bonus feature on the disc is the original program book that was handed out at the movie theaters that screened Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie; the booklet includes writeups and pictures of the characters. On the DVD, you can choose to see translated versions of the text, as well as views of some of the pages that are closer in. The most interesting thing to me in here was the fact that an explanation for how the Yamato could have been converted so quickly to make the trip to Iscandar is given; this is something I had always wondered, since it was never explained in the series.

There is also a “Yamato Promotion History,” which includes a text feature titled “The Yamato Story.” There are 14 pages of text, as well as a section of posters and graphics. Like the original program booklet, the posters and graphics can also be seen in better detail.

The DVD release of Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie is a must-have for fans of Space Battleship Yamato or Star Blazers. It can also serve as a good introduction to Space Battleship Yamato for new fans.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of the Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie DVD that my husband and I purchased.

Anime DVD Review: “Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross”

Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross is an anime series that is better known to Western audiences as the second portion of the Robotech anime series. In 2003, ADV Films released a five-disc DVD box set of the original Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross series that includes all 23 episodes with English subtitles.

There are some very notable differences between Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross and what appeared in Robotech. The most major change was the reworking of the basic premise to make the series fit into the Robotech universe. Instead of the Robotech Masters heading to Earth to reclaim the last Protoculture matrix from the ruins of the SDF-1, it is the Zor alien race coming to reclaim their homeland of Glorie. The implications of this change in the premise really doesn’t become apparent until near the end of the series; the storylines and motivations for the characters diverge greatly between the two versions by the end of the series.

There were also episodes where, instead of simply cutting scenes for content, the order of the scenes was changed. The most noticeable change is how the scenes of the first episode of Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross (which is the second episode in the Robotech Masters section of Robotech) were rearranged. In the original, it opens with Jeanne (known as Dana Sterling in Robotech) in the brig, pleading to be released. In Robotech, this scene was moved to later in the story, after Dana’s squad is in trouble for participating in a brawl while they were on patrol.

After seeing both Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross and the corresponding Robotech episodes, I have to say that I prefer Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross. The original ultimately makes a lot more sense than what was presented in Robotech; in fact, there were instances in the Robotech telling where elements and ideas weren’t kept consistent. There were times that the dub writers for Robotech forgot something that a character said in a previous episode, and then the same character or a situation later would contradict that dialogue. The worst offender is Dana telling Zor she has a brother, and then the brother is never mentioned again. However, it is later revealed that Dana has a sister that was born aboard the SDF-3 that she didn’t know about.

When it comes to the actual DVD box set, there are only bonus features on the fifth disc, and they’re on the minimal side. There is a production portfolio, which is basically a slideshow of the production art; however, there is no way to skip ahead in the slideshow. There are also textless versions of the opening and closing credits included.

However, there is an informational booklet that was included in the DVD box set. The booklet includes profiles of the director and character designer, Southern Cross keywords, information on the characters and mecha for both the Southern Cross Army and the Zor, and a Southern Cross Army Organization chart. While there may not be much in the way of on-disc bonus features, I think this booklet helps to make up for that.

If you’re a fan of Robotech and are curious about how the story was originally presented in Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross, then this DVD box set would be worth adding to your home video collection. Unfortunately, this box set is now out of print, so I would recommend looking around at various online vendors that sell used DVDs and trying to find the best deal you can for it.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of the Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross DVD box set that my husband and I purchased.

Anime DVD Review: Pokemon All-Stars

Pokemon All-Stars is a 10-disc DVD set that was released in 2007 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Pokemon. Each DVD features one of the Pokemon characters, and each disc is supposed to feature the Pokemon that is pictured on the disc. The 10 Pokemon that were featured in this set were determined by votes submitted by the fans. The 10 Pokemon featured in this set are: Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Charizard, Squirtle, Blastoise, Eevee, Bulbasaur, Lugia, Charmander, and Mudkip.

The DVDs included in this set are rather “bare bones.” There are no special features included, and the discs go straight into the episodes after displaying a couple of splash screens. The only way to get to a menu is to either hit the “menu” button on your remote as the first episode on the disc begins, or play through all three of the episodes and wait for the menu to come onto the screen after the final episode finishes. I suspect that the lack of bonus features helped Viz Media to justify to economical price tag they put on this DVD set.

The idea for this release is that each disc includes three episodes that feature the Pokemon on the disc. As I watched this set, I found myself wondering why particular episodes were included on their respective discs. For example, I was a little puzzled as to why “Snow Way Out” was included on the Charmander disc. While Charmander does shoot out some fire to create an opening for Ash to make a cave in the snow, that was Charmander’s only major appearance in the episode. I’m wondering if Viz had a hard time coming up with a third episode that featured Charmander, and so decided to use this one in order to have a third episode.

Another example of this is the inclusion of “Fit to be Tide” on the Squirtle disc. While Ash did use Squirtle in one part of his gym battle in this episode, the episode actually had more of a focus on Lapras. Again, Viz must not have actually found a third episode that featured Squirtle and decided to use this one as a third since there isn’t a Lapras disc in this set.

After this box set was released, a second Pokemon All-Stars box was released in 2009. In addition the ten discs that were included in the second Pokemon All-Stars box set were also released individually in 2009. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like releasing that second set kind of diminished the point of the first set, which was to commemorate an anniversary. In my mind, releasing the second set makes this first set feel less important than it did when it was originally released.

The first Pokemon All-Stars set is a decent release for what it is. However, many of the episodes included in this box set are also easily attainable in the three Indigo League DVD box sets that were also released. If you’re a Pokemon fan who wants to own every DVD released for the franchise, then this may be worth purchasing and adding to your DVD collection. However, if all you really want to is to be able to own the entire series on DVD, then I would skip Pokemon All-Stars and focus on collecting the various DVD box sets that have been released for the various seasons of the Pokemon franchise.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of the first Pokemon All-Stars DVD box set that my husband and I purchased.

Anime DVD Review: Super Dimension Fortress Macross Box Set

Super Dimension Fortress Macross is probably better known to American audiences as the first third of the Robotech anime series. The first time this series was made available in its original Japanese form was when AnimEigo released a nine disc box set in 2001. This review focuses on this DVD box set.

For the most part, the differences between Super Dimension Fortress Macross and the Macross portion of Robotech are actually rather minimal. The primary differences between the two are the fact that the American version removed some shots due to objectional material and that the characters’ names were changed. The storyline itself actually remained rather intact between the two versions of the series.

When it comes to the box set itself, each disc contains four episodes, and there are four ways to watch the episodes: subtitles with Japanese audio, Japanese audio with no subtitles, Japanese subtitles with only music and sound effects, or no subtitles with only music and sound effects. Personally, I really don’t understand the point of the options that allow you to watch the episodes without hearing the dialogue. To me, it just feels unnatural to watch this series and not be able to hear anyone speaking.

The only “bonus feature” on the discs is being able to view the disc info. Unfortunately, this option was designed in such a way that you cannot return to the main menu once you enter into it; you are forced to sit through the credits. When I went to see what this feature was for writing this review and discovered that quirk, I was rather frustrated by it.

Instead of having bonus features on the discs, there were big index cards printed with information about the series that was included as part of the packaging. The information on these cards include episode information, character information, and song lyrics. These cards were probably done as a cost-saving measure, so AnimEigo didn’t have go to the expense to put together on-disc bonus features that would have included that information.

It has to be kept in mind that this box set was produced during the early years of the DVD format. While this set may seem a little lackluster by today’s standards, it really wasn’t that lackluster when compared to other DVDs that were released in the early 2000s.

Unfortunately, this box set is now out of print. If you want to find this particular box set for Super Dimension Fortress Macross, I would suggest looking at websites that sell used DVDs and see if you can locate it. However, if you’re interested in seeing Super Dimension Fortress Macross and aren’t overly picky about which release you want to see it on, I would also suggest seeing if you can find the Super Dimension Fortress Macross releases that ADV Films released several years later.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of the Super Dimension Fortress Macross DVD box set that my husband and I purchased.

Anime DVD Review: Noein: To Your Other Self – The Complete Series

Noein: To Your Other Self – The Complete Series is a box set released by Manga Entertainment that took the five individually released DVDs for the series and puts them together in one package. The first four discs include five episodes each, while the fifth disc contains the last four episodes of the series. There are bonus features included on all five discs.

Noein: To Your Other Self focuses on a violent battle is taking place between the “timespaces” of La’cryma and Shangri’la.

La’cryma is a possible future of our own universe, which is 15 years in the future from where the main characters of the series are. In this timespace, all beings have been transformed into quantum beings at a macro level due to an incident that occurred in the past. There is a group in this timespace known as the Dragon Knights, who protect La’cryma from Shangri’la and enter into other timespaces to find the Dragon Torque. It is believed that the Dragon Torque is the key to stopping Shangri’la’s invasion.

Shangri’la is dimension that is intent on the destruction of all space and time. This timespace was created by a being known as Noein.

The main characters of the series live in present day Hakodate. At the beginning of the series, a 12-year-old girl named Haruka Kaminogi and her friend Yu Goto are about to run away from home. Before they can leave, they meet Karasu, a member of the Dragon Knights. Karasu believes that Haruka is the Dragon Torque, and it appears that Karasu is Yu from 15 years in the future.

The series follows Haruka, Yu, and their friends as they find themselves getting mixed up in the battle between La’cryma and Shangri’la.

Noein: To Your Other Self does wander into the realm of quantum physics, specifically the theory of parallel universes. The series also includes science fiction, action, and even some romance. All these elements come together in such a way that the series works really well and is an enjoyable viewing experience.

The animation in Noein: To Your Other Self is also very pleasing to look at. The combination of traditional animation and computer graphics actually works for the feel that the series was aiming for.

As for the DVD set itself, the episodes can be seen with an English dub or with the Japanese audio and English subtitles. Both language tracks are available in 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Stereo. The first three discs, as well as the fifth disc, have a “hidden” link; on the first disc, it’s simply labeled as “Noein,” while on the other discs the link includes the volume number in addition to “Noein.” If you click on the “hidden” link, it takes you to “bloopers” done by the English dub cast; the “bloopers” include dialogue and subject matter that’s aimed at adults, as well as characters mumbling lines. It should be noted that on the fifth disc, the box mentions the bloopers, while the boxes for discs one, two, and three do not.

One of the bonus features in this set has the director of Noein: To Your Other Self, along with the Japanese voice actor for Haruka, going around the city of Hakodate. This feature is split into three parts, and is spread across the first three discs in the set.

Over the course of the feature, the real life counterparts for various landmarks and locations that appear in the series are seen. As I watched the feature, it struck me just how much detail the animators went to in order to recreate as much of Hakodate as they could in the series. This was probably my favorite bonus feature in this DVD box set.

On the first disc, there were two alternate openings included; however, one of the alternate openings felt like it was more of a “coming attraction” teaser than the opening for an anime sees. The second alternate opening includes some exclusive music that isn’t heard anywhere else in the series; this was a great piece, and it’s disappointing that it never found its way into the actual anime series. This disc also includes textless versions of the opening and closing, six Japanese promos for Noein DVD releases, and two promos for CDs recorded by Solua, the artist that recorded the ending theme song for Noein: To Your Other Self.

The second disc has a bonus feature labeled as “Player Cards.” Basically, the concept of a still image gallery was used, except doing it in such a way that it appears to be playing cards. Each card has a picture of one of the “good” characters in the series, which is accompanied by a quote made by the character and which episode the character made their first appearance in.

The third disc has a “storyboard to screen” feature that is about 18 minutes long. Six scenes are included in this feature, and each scene is seen in three forms: full animation, a key frame version, and then a full frame animation version. While I thought this was an interesting feature to include, I do wish it had only been about three or four scenes instead of six. By the time I reached the fourth or fifth scene, I began to lose interest in what I was watching. This disc also includes an image gallery of still shots from episodes that appear on this disc; unfortunately, the framing for the stills could have been a little better.

On the fourth and fifth discs, not as much effort was put into the bonus features. Both discs had an image gallery similar to what appeared on disc three, except the stills were from episodes included on discs four and five, respectively. Both of these discs also included the same textless opening that appeared on the first disc.

Overall, Noein: To Your Other Self – The Complete Series is a decent box set, and is the best way to acquire all of the episodes of the series. Unfortunately, this box set is now out of print, so you will need to look at outlets that sell used DVDs in order to find it.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of Noein: To Your Other Self – The Complete Series that my husband and I purchased.

Anime DVD Review: “Cowboy Bebop Remix Volume 6″

The Cowboy Bebop Remix Volume 6 DVD includes the final four episodes of Cowboy Bebop: “Brain Scratch,” “Hard Luck Woman,” “The Real Folk Blues (Part I),” and “The Real Folk Blues (Part II).” This “remix” version of the Volume 6 DVD includes new Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mixes of the episodes and it also includes bonus features that were not included on the original release of Volume 6. The audio options on this disc are English Stereo, Japanese Stereo, English Dolby 5.1, and Japanese Dolby 5.1. You can also choose to watch the disc with or without subtitles.

During the episodes on this disc, we see the crew of the Bebop trying to track down the mastermind of a new religious cult, two characters find links to their pasts that cause them to leave the Bebop, and Spike and Julia are finally reunited.

I definitely have to give the Japanese writers credit for writing out one of the characters that they did; considering the tone of the final two episodes, this particular character wouldn’t have fit into the story. I also appreciated how the Cowboy Bebop series ended; with how the story of the series evolved, it wasn’t surprising that there wasn’t a “happily ever after” ending.

And it’s no surprise that more music references appear in the episode titles on this disc. “Hard Luck Woman” is a reference to a song by Kiss, while “The Real Folk Blues” is a reference to a series of blues compilations released between 1965 and 1967.

Just like the previous five Cowboy Bebop Remix DVDs, the menus on this DVD are animated. By the time I reached this disc, I was used to the navigation of the menu, so this really wasn’t much of an issue at this point. The look and feel of these animated menus far surpass the menus on the original pressing of the Cowboy Bebop DVDs.

The main bonus feature on this disc is an audio commentary on “Hard Luck Woman,” which is provided by Megumi Hayashibara and Aoi Tada, the Japanese voice actors for Faye and Ed. The commentary is in Japanese, with English subtitles that provide a translation of what’s being said. Unlike the audio commentary that appeared on Cowboy Bebop Remix Volume 4, this commentary includes a combination of seriousness and humor; personally, this is a lot more like what I would expect from an audio commentary than what we got on Volume Four.

The extras menu also includes the DVD credits, as well as trailers for other DVD releases that Bandai was promoting at the time this DVD was released. In other words, extras that have become rather standard on anime DVD releases.

If you don’t already have Cowboy Bebop in your home video collection and want to add it, you can either buy the six individually released Cowboy Bebop Remix DVDs, or you can purchase the Cowboy Bebop Remix DVD Collection that takes the six individual discs and collects them into one box set.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of Cowboy Bebop Remix Volume 6 that my husband and I purchased.

Anime Film Review: Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is an anime film produced by Toei Animation and supervised by Leiji Matsumoto. The members of the band Daft Punk specifically asked Matsumoto to make this film to bring their album, Discovery, to life.

One of the most fascinating things about this film is the fact that the story is only told through animation, music, and minimal sound effects; there is absolutely no dialogue in the film. However, the lack of dialogue doesn’t hurt the production, because a viewer can piece together what’s taking place in the story with relative ease.

The film begins with a group of four blue-skinned aliens performing the song “One More Time” on an alien planet. As they finish their performance, a team of humanoids crash into the venue and subdues the crowd and the band with gas. The band members are kidnapped and taken aboard a space vessel; however, unknown to the kidnappers, a distress signal has been sent to a nearby spaceship. Shep, the pilot of the spaceship is a fan of the band’s female bass player, chases the kidnappers into a wormhole and crash-lands in a dense forest.

In an underground facility, the band is stripped of their clothing, have their memories erased, have their skin color changed to a human tone, and given human clothes to wear. The band also has mind-control devices implanted on them. Their captor presents himself as the band’s manager and calls them The Crescendolls. “One More Time” becomes a big hit for The Crescendolls, but the band members find that the fame is quickly wearing them out. Shep attempts to free the band from their captor’s control, and the film follows what happens to the band.

Overall, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is an incredible viewing experience; Matsumoto was able to effectively utilize the music and visuals to convey the story. However, for me personally, seeing Stella and Arpegius (two of the band members) in their human versions, is a little disconcerting; in their human forms, they look remarkably similar to Yuki Mori and Susumu Kodai from Space Battleship Yamato (these characters would be known better to American audiences as Nova and Derek Wildstar in Star Blazers). However, that means that Interstella 5555 fits in perfectly with the rest of the works in the “Leijiverse.”

When I watched Interstellla 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, it was on the DVD release of the film, so this is the version this review will be focusing on. On the DVD pressing, there were a few bonus features included.

When you the DVD comes up, you are given an option to choose between French and English for your language before the main menu comes up. The menu allows you to watch the film, choose chapters, choose your audio option, view the special features, and see the DVD credits.

The first special feature is the “interactive play” feature. In this feature, a symbol occasionally appears on the lower right-hand corner of the screen; when you select the symbol with your remote, you get a screen with a picture (or pictures) that go with the symbol. Next is “character files,” which is basically pictures of each character with no text; the character files in this feature are also used in the “interactive play” feature.

The “Animation Editing of Digital Love” is basically a version of “Digital Love” that combines storyboards and in-between animation with the finished animation. A karaoke section includes karaoke versions of “One More Time,” “Harder Better Faster Stronger,” and “Face To Face.” There is an interactive game included, but I haven’t figured out how it’s supposed to work, since no instructions are provided. The special features also include a trailer for the film and biographies of Leiji Matsumoto and Daft Punk.

I would recommend Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem to fans of Daft Punk’s music, to fans of Leiji Matsumoto’s work, as well as to anime viewers who appreciate music. However, from comments I’ve read about the Blu-ray release of this film, it appears it would be better to get a hold of this DVD; I’ve heard from various online reviewers that the video quality on the Blu-ray looks terrible.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem that my husband and I purchased.

Anime DVD Review: “Cowboy Bebop Remix Volume 5″

The Cowboy Bebop Remix Volume 5 DVD includes four episodes of Cowboy Bebop: “Wild Horses,” “Pierrot Le Fou,” “Boogie-Woogie Feng-Shui,” and “Cowboy Funk.” This “remix” version of the Volume 5 DVD includes new Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mixes of the episodes and it also includes bonus features that were not included on the original release of Volume 5. The audio options on this disc are English Stereo, Japanese Stereo, English Dolby 5.1, and Japanese Dolby 5.1. You can also choose to watch the disc with or without subtitles.

During the episodes on this disc, we learn how Spike acquired his fighter, the Swordfish; we meet the daughter of one of Jet’s old acquaintances, and the young woman is gifted in the art of Feng-Shui; and we also meet a literal-looking “space cowboy” who makes a hobby out of bounty hunting, and he ends up becoming a thorn in Spike’s side.

The bounties in these episodes include: three individuals who are trying to infect ships with a virus, a seemingly invincible psychotic killer, and a man known as the “Teddy Bear Bomber” who dresses in a teddy bear costume and blows up teddy bears to try to get attention for the causes he believes in.

A couple of music references appear in the titles of the episodes on this disc. “Wild Horses” is named after a song by the Rolling Stones, while “Boogie-Woogie Feng-Shui” is an homage to the song “Boogie Woogie Woman” by B.B. King.

Just like the previous four Cowboy Bebop Remix DVDs, the menus on this DVD are animated. While I do have some issues in regards to navigating these DVD menus, I believe that the overall look and feel of these menus is a major improvement over the menus on the original pressing of the Cowboy Bebop DVDs.

This disc includes several bonus features. The first is Cowboy Bebop Session #0, which is a roughly half-hour long Cowboy Bebop documentary. Over the course of the half-hour, a lot of information is crammed in. Included in this documentary is stats and information on the main characters; interviews with the animation front liners, the director, the series composer, the producer, and some of the voice actors; an “unaired TV episode digest”; and “music” video for the Cowboy Bebop theme song; and a textless version of the ending credits. Tacked on after the end of the documentary was a video for a remix of the Cowboy Bebop theme song that was done by DJ FOOD, as well as an “information” section that lists the various Cowboy Bebop DVDs, CDs, and videogames that are available to purchase.

When I watched this documentary, I realized that portions of it had been previously released as extras on the original pressings of the Cowboy Bebop DVDs. However, it was nice to see them as part of a cohesive unit. At the end of Session #0, I found myself wondering why the remix video and the information page were tacked on at the end. Personally, I wasn’t terribly impressed with DJ FOOD’s remix of the Cowboy Bebop theme song. Also, I thought the remix video and the information page could have been included as additional extras to select from the extras menu instead of being tacked on to the end of Session #0.

The extras menu also includes the DVD credits, as well as trailers for other DVD releases that Bandai was promoting at the time this DVD was released. In other words, extras that have become rather standard on anime DVD releases.

If you don’t already have Cowboy Bebop in your home video collection and want to add it, you can either buy the six individually released Cowboy Bebop Remix DVDs, or you can purchase the Cowboy Bebop Remix DVD Collection that takes the six individual discs and collects them into one box set.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of Cowboy Bebop Remix Volume 5 that my husband and I purchased.

Anime DVD Review: “Megazone 23 Complete Collection”

The Megazone 23 Complete Collection is a three-disc DVD set, and it includes the entirety of the Megazone 23 OVA series. This set was released by ADV Films in 2007.

When I first saw the cover for this set, I was wondering why the characters were drawn with blue skin, since there are no blue-skinned characters in Megazone 23. As for the rest of the packaging, it’s designed like a single DVD box, but there’s a flap inside that can hold two DVDs; there’s also a spot for a third DVD on the inside back of the box.

The first disc in the set contains the first Megazone 23 OVA. In the first story, a delinquent named Shogo ends up getting his hands on a prototype military motorcycle called the Garland, and also learns that it’s also actually 500 years later than he thinks and that he and the others in his community actually live on a spaceship. Shogo finds himself being hunted by the government, which has been trying to hide the truth from the people. In my opinion, this first story of Megazone 23 is the best; it has an interesting story to tell, and it’s rather easy to follow.

The first disc also contains several extras. First, there is a slideshow of production sketches; included in the sketches are drawings for characters, mecha, and locations in the story. There is a version of this episode of Megazone 23 that includes an audio commentary track by Matt Green (the director of the English dub), David Williams (the ADR producer), and Janice Williams (the DVD coordinator). I thought the commentary gave interesting backstory and history for both Megazone 23 and the anime industry in the mid-1980s. The remaining two extras on this disc are the DVD credits and trailers for properties that ADV Films was promoting at the time this DVD set was released.

The second disc contains the second Megazone 23 OVA. This episode essentially picks up where the first episode of the OVA ended, but only four characters carry over: Shojo, Yui, Eve, and B.D. Overall, this was a decent continuation of the first story, but the major issue for me was the drastic change in animation style between the two episodes. While the first episode looked like cartoon, the animation style in this episode gives the characters more of a “realistic” look; basically, think of the animation style in Akira. Most of the characters from the first OVA that appear in this episode were redesigned so drastically, that you only knew who they were supposed to be when someone referred to them by name. In addition, this episode has more violence and sex included than the first episode.

The second disc had less in the way of extras than the first disc. The only “real” bonus feature of this disc is a slideshow of production sketches that was done in the exact same manner as the production sketch slideshow on the first disc. Outside of that, the only other bonus features are the DVD credits and trailers for properties that ADV Films was promoting at the time this DVD set was released.

The third disc contains the rest of the Megazone 23 story. The remainder of the story takes place roughly 500 years after the end of the second episode, and the only carry-over from the original story is EVE (the AI program from the first two episodes). Early on in the story on this disc, I was wondering how much of a connection this final installment of the story had with the rest of Megazone 23. Later on, though, the story does tie back in better with the earlier portions of the story; unfortunately, by the time I finished this installment of Megazone 23, I wondered if it was truly necessary. While it appeared to try to wrap up the franchise, I was still left with unanswered questions or questions that I didn’t think had been answered satisfactorily.

The final disc has three extras. The first was another slideshow of production sketches, the second was the DVD credits, and the third were the trailers for the properties that ADV Films was promoting at the time this DVD set was released.

My biggest complaint with this set is the fact that the font used for the menu text can be rather hard to read; I found myself having to squint to try to figure out some of the letters. Outside of that, though, this is a decent DVD release for Megazone 23, and it allows viewers to have the entire story in one DVD set. Unfortunately, this DVD set is now “out of print,” which means you’ll have to look around for either new or used copies that are being sold through third-party sellers at sites such as Amazon.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of the Megazone 23 Complete Collection DVD box set that my husband and I purchased.