HTF Anime Discussion Part VIII (2 Viewers)

[Michael Morris]

I think anime fans being who they are (generally technically inclined people) they all know that there are much cheaper ways of acquiring the shows they want to watch, even dvd quality. Notice I am neither endorsing nor condemning this method, just pointing out that these companies have such a small target market I am not too suprised by this turn of events.


On a different lighter note it has been a long long time since i posted here.

 

[Rob Lutter]

LOL.... this thread so died without me.

I just picked up my first series in a while... Fighting Spirit off of Right Stuf, as I A) knew it was going out of print forever due to Geneon kicking the bucket and B) they had MOST of the discs for $6.99. I say MOST because I had to buy Volume 11 and the Special separately, which was $44 as opposed to $97 for the rest of the discs, heh.

Other than that I recently picked up the second set of Gantz but really most of my buying dollars have shifted to Blu Ray and HD-DVDs on the video side of things.

I've also gone from maybe 200 anime discs to about 100... as the cutesy stuff that I was into a couple years ago no longer appeals to me. Anyone pick up the new Neon Genesis Evangelion tin? Any improvements there? I have been meaning to pick up the Platinum set FOREVER (after selling off my original set) and haven't gotten around to it.

Oh well, just checking in! *runs away to other forum*

 

[Michael Morris]

I love the platinum eva set, its abolutely beautiful


but i did keep my old eva set lol

 

[Chris S]

Are there an difference between the old and new sets or is it just a re-release?

 

[ChristopherDAC]

One of the nice things about buying LDs is being insulated from the glut of cruddy shows. I don't even have to bother about Happy Shiny Candy-Color Alien Bounty-Hunter Mii-Chan or whatever.

 

[TheLongshot]

Wow, this is sad. I'm away from the board for a few weeks, and only 4 new posts in this thread?

I actually just finished off "Anime Runner Kuromi 2" last night. More of the same, really, but it is pure Daichi goodness. I'm also working my way through Scrapped Princess right now and finished disc 5 of D'eon.

Jason

 

[Max Leung]

Hmm, it's been a LONG while since I've been in this thread --- or the HTF for that matter!

I'm enjoying some anime on Blu-ray disc right now...but so far the PQ has been hit and miss (Tekkonkinkreet is a big hit for PQ though).

 

[Tony-B]

This thread has pretty much died off! Looks like it's my lack of activity.

So, how has everyone been doing?

 

[Dean L]

Death Note Volumes 1 and 2!!!!
Volume 3 next month!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Ducked into a Half Price Books yesterday, whille I was out doing something else, and encountered a box-set of anime LDs. As per usual procedure, I bought it.

The box itself is for Those Who Hunt Elves II volumes 1-6. The actual contents are volumes 1 and 2 of Those Who Hunt Elves (episodes 1-4), and volume 1 of Those Who Hunt Elves II (episodes 1 & 2). I get the impression that this is something of a "gag" series, and I won't lose much by not seeing the whole thing.

 

[Edwin-S]

Haven't been watching a lot of anime lately; however, I did see Tekkonkinkreet. Not too bad. Definitely a different animation style from standard Japanese anime.

I also watched PAPRIKA on Blu-ray. Wow, that show was surreal. Kind of hard to follow. Satoshi Kon is in a league of his own when it comes to anime.

Finally was able to see the entire GUNSLINGER GIRLS series. I know this series was heavily criticized. I thought the premise was actually out of the ordinary. For the most part I liked it; however, I also think it was a missed opportunity. That series could have really developed into something if it had had a longer run. As it was, 13 episodes was not enough to really develop a really involving show. The whole thing wrapped up too quickly and the ending was somewhat disappointing.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Speaking of anime on Blu-Ray: What's a good source? I definitely want to pick up Wings of Honneamise, & I liked Paprika quite a bit when I saw it in the theatre.

I've always said I wasn't buying DVDs partly because I was waiting for HD, but now it's here.

 

[Edwin-S]

Well, I don't think there is a lot of anime out on Blu-ray yet. I picked up PAPRIKA from Amazon when they were doing a 50% off promo for Blu-ray discs. TEKKONKINKREET was also available on Blu during that sale. I didn't pick it up because I wasn't sure if the film would have enough rewatchability. I'd like to get WoH on Blu, but I didn't see that one on the Amazon site.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Found it! It's a BD + DVD set, & there's a HD-DVD + DVD version also — this is Bandai Visual's new re-master, & they apparently didn't think it was worth releasing it without a High Definition version, whigh is an attitude I surely approve of although the prices are certainly high enough.

 

[Ralph Jenkins]

Bandai Visual's more recent releases aren't easy to find because they lost their distributor (Geneon). I can recommend either Right Stuf (rightstuf.com) or Anime Corner Store (animecornerstore.com).

The anime I own so far on Blu-ray: Wings of Honneamise, Jin-Roh, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Paprika, Tekkonkinkreet, Transformers the Movie (not sure that counts).

The Jin-Roh Blu-ray doesn't have a lot of HD "pop" (the movie has a lot of dark scenes and a subdued color palette), but it's a considerable improvement over the DVD. The import version is packaged with a (region 2) standard DVD, but the U.S. release includes a thick storyboard book.

The Blu-ray version of Ghost in the Shell (currently only available as an import) is disappointing. You might think you're looking at a regular DVD at first (not good for something that costs around $90). It is actually a lot better than the U.S. DVD, but it's still a lackluster Blu-ray.

Tekkonkinkreet is excellent from a technical perspective (picture quality and animation), but I thought the movie itself was only average. I feel the movie the animation studio behind Tekkonkinkreet did a few years ago, Mind Game, is superior. I'm not sure why it's taking so long for that to come out in the U.S., but I read a while ago that an American producer was planning to "Westernize" it.

The only anime I've watched recently are Tekkonkinkreet and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. The latter is good (it has high quality animation and likeable characters, and is a bit Ghibli-esque) and will be getting a U.S. release in the near future. I'll probably be checking out Appleseed: Ex Machina when that hits Blu-ray next month.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Found the Honneamise BD set at Fry's for $60 while buying a new power supply for my PC. Interestingly, the HD-DVD set was still marked the same price ; I might have bought it on closeout, because the documentary In the Shadow of the Moon came out on HD-DVD in Europe & with two discs I might justify buying a marked-down player, but not at full price.

 

[Andrew Beacom]

Finished Trinity Blood and it was quite enjoyable after a slow start. I could have done without all the crying by certain characters. The way it ended I have to assume there will be a second season.

I have also finished Crest of the Stars and Banner of the Stars after the recommendations here. They were both very enjoyable and very well done.

Has anyone watched Blood+ yet? Saw it at BB and wondered if it was any good.

 

[Edwin-S]

Not a lot of anime talk anymore. Anyhow, I watched some old Ranma1/2 episodes on youtube yesterday. I found that I still think the series is quite funny, even though I have not watched any of it for years. It got me to thinking that I would like to pick up some of the DVD sets.

I noticed that a "Digital Dojo Box", consisting of 161 episodes, is available for 160 bucks on Amazon; however, someone noted that the box set consisted of Chinese boots. I'd like to know if that is the actual case, since I'm not interested in buying bootlegs.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Because it was Fathers' Day, I considered watching Giant Robo ("the theme of this production is 'fathers and sons'"), or maybe Nuku-Nuku (a show about bad parenting, for sure), but finally settled on the last three episodes of Nadia. Man, what a wallop.

 

[RickER]

I just got the repackage of Burst Angel Veridian Collection: The Complete Series and OAV, and for cheap too i might add. BB had them mispriced in store, and i had my $10 reward coupon. So, i paid $20 for it. I had rented the first disc, and liked it. It doesnt break any new ground, but it looks good, its pretty well animated, and sometimes all you want is a little fluff between Ghost in the Shell: SAC.