Advanced Anime Discussion Part III (1 Viewer)

[Matt<>Broon]

Talking of the 'Please Teacher' Box, has anyone had theirs shipped to them yet & if so what do you think?

Rob, can you tell me if you order from right stuf, will they automatically ship the part of the order that's available if you also ordered something that isn't out yet in the same order. I carelessly put the Please Teacher box and the 2nd volume in the same order y'see. :b

I'm beginning to wonder if I should mail them and get them to split the order..

 

[Rob Lutter]

Rob, can you tell me if you order from right stuf, will they automatically ship the part of the order that's available if you also ordered something that isn't out yet in the same order.

Absolutely... you should be fine.
My Please Teacher box has yet to ship from TRSI, neither has Kong's... so I guess they haven't gotten their shipment in yet. I want my sexy sensei :frowning:

 

[Matt<>Broon]

Don't we all. :frowning:
On the plus side I got that Escaflowne box set through the post today. I've left it in the middle of the living room so doubtless when I get home I'll be asked where exactly I'm putting the damn thing.
I'm running out of DVD space rapidly.

 

[JohnAD]

Hey all:
It's been a while, but I was able to pick up 5(!) new anime DVDs recently, bring my total to 158 anime out of 458 total DVDs (if anyone cares ). Some reviews:
Betterman vol 6 + series:
Overall rating: C+
Pluses: Character design, 1.85AR, packaging.
Minuses: Incomprehensible plot, weak middle, mediocre ending.
Basically, I would have to say that Betterman falls in between Lain and Boogiepop Phantom on the weird-o-meter. Unlike those series, however, the plot of Betterman seems to not know where it's supposed to be going. I'm not expecting that a second run through will help, either. While not a horrible series, there are better weird and robot series out there to spend your money on.
Otaku no Video movie:
Overall rating: B+
Pluses: Very funny, excellent liner notes.
Minuses: Not long enough.
If you really want to know the difference between the American definition of Otaku and the Japanese one, this is the show that will pound it into your skull. This show is very funny, and definitely should be in every experienced anime fan's collection.
Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) movie:
Overall rating: A
Pluses: Excellent plot, simply a joy to watch. Lots of trailers(21!).
Minuses: None, really.
My wife and I watched this for the first time yesterday, and we both really enjoyed this movie. She didn't like Princess Mononoke or Grave of the Fireflies, but she did like this one. I'm still trying to figure out some of the symbolism; I guess I'll just have to watch it again .
I also picked up Castle in the Sky and Excel Saga vol. 2.
John.

 

[Matt<>Broon]

Just wondering if anyone had seen FLCL? Is it any good?

Should I be eyeing up the DVD's with a gimlet eye or turning away?

 

[Kong Chang]

Definitely a must watch, Matt.

 

[ShaunS]

Quick question... the local second hand music/movie store has the entire Neon Genesis Evangelion series on dvd for $120 CDN, as well as the films End of Evangelion and the Death/Rebirth dvds for $20 CDN each. I'm pretty sure this is a good deal, as I only have the series on crummy fansubbed vcds and it is by far my favorite anime series of all time. But I was wondering if I NEED to pick up both films or not? I think End Of is just the whole series condensed with some more stuff tacked on. Does it contain anything that is not in Death/Rebirth. If I just get the series and Death/Rebirth is that the complete output of NGE?

ShaunS

 

[Rob Lutter]

End of Eva is the "proper" ending to NGE that couldn't be made because of budget restraints... it's mandatory viewing for fans of Eva (really, it's one of the best anime films ever made [but it would make no sense if watched before the series]).
Death and Rebirth, on the other hand, is a recap of the series that was put in theatres to refresh the minds of moviegoers. It's not really mandatory, but is a must for a completist bastard

 

[Bill Harris]

Seems i lucked out and got my Please Teacher disc before everyone else .
Along with GTO #8 , A.Y.A #2 , RahX #2 and .hack #2..not only am i broke..but im getting behind!.
Speaking of GTO , the live action version rules. Hopefully Tokyopop will jump on it too.

 

[JohnAD]

Bill:

If you've got an all-region player, at least one of the GTO movies has English subs.

John.

 

[Rob Lutter]

Bill... notice my sig?

 

[Woo Jae]

Finished Vampire Princess Miyu TV series and wowsers! Was I surprised by the plot twist that came in the sixth and last disc. Those last two episodes make this entire series worth my time.
Vampire Princess Miyu OAVs deserves
Probably one of the best 4 episode OAVs with atmospheric horror and story.
Vampire Princess Miyu TV Series
Very episodic, with the last dvd being the most shocking of them all. Surprisingly, for a 26 episode TV series, this was a decent watch until the pretty well done end. For the most part, it resorts to "monster of the week" idea until near the end, when everything comes to a head. I certainly was shocked. Miyu, Larva, Reiha, Matsukake, Shiine and all the other characters do leave a mark on you.
(Kong, feel free to disagree with me, as you seem to have disliked this series.)

 

[Morgan Jolley]

About End of Eva and Death & Rebirth...

There are 3 versions of D&R: Death & Rebirth, Death & Rebirth^2, and Death & Rebirth^2 (TRUE). Each one has more footage than the last, but its cumulative, so if you see the third one, you've seen all the footage from them. This footage was added for various reasons in each version, then edited back into the series (this stuff is in the last few episodes, they were released with the footage as director's cuts on DVD in Japan, which ADV recently purchased the rights to).

D&R is pretty much a recap of the series plus an early version of the first half of End of Evangelion (it's sort of a preview film or a refresher more than an actual movie). Everything in D&R is also somewhere else (except for a few scenes from D&R^2(TRUE)).

Personally, I LOVE D&R. I just love how the whole thing is put together and I recommend at least renting it to see what is going on.

BTW, End of Eva has one of the coolest main menus I've ever seen.

 

[JohnAD]

Rob:

Did you pick up the GTO movie, or just get the screen shot from a site? It's on my list of R2 DVDs to get, but I'm sure it will be a while. I also noticed you play Mech Assault. Did you get the MWDA mech figure that went with it?

John.

 

[Rob Lutter]

It's a screenshot from the first episode of the series... if you are interested in seeing a few episodes, send me a PM
And no, I don't have any MA figs. I collect 18" Movie Maniacs, anime figures, and villans

 

[Bill Harris]

Rob : I did notice your sig. Glad your enjoying it

 

[JohnAD]

Rob:

D'oh! How could I have forgotten that?! I completely forgot about the live action series. BTW, I just ordered a couple of Korean movies at asiandb.com yesterday, and I saw that they had DVDs for the GITS series. Of course, you'll need to be able to read Japanese or Korean...

John.

 

[ShaunS]

Well, I picked up the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. How can I tell if disc 0:1 is the old version or the remastered one. I'm noticing alot of "movement" of the film especially in disc 2. It makes tiny jumps all over the place. Was this ever fixed? Otherwise a wonderfull set. I'm finding the series even better this, the second time I've watched it. What other series has Hideaki Anno directed, and how do they compare with this classic?

ShaunS

 

[Rob Lutter]

The jitter is the infamous "Gainax jump"... it is more noticeable to some (I just ignore it myself ). It's perfectly normal...
The newer version is not available separately... only in the Perfect Collection (or if you buy the box + 1 at Right Stuf).
Anno has directed a Gunbuster OVA, Nadia, Evangelion (and its two movies), and most recently Kare Kano (AKA: 'His and Her Circumstances')

 

[Jeff Kleist]

the jitter is caused by uneven film splicing. Supposedly it's one the the things fixed in the new Japanese remasters, but I haven't seen them. They went back to the original film.