Recommended Anime/Manga?

[DaneSaga]

Come to think of it, is there ANY decent Matsumoto stuff in HD (I'm including Yamato here)?

Arcadia Of My Youth and GE999 movie?

There are few Matsumoto based anime in High Def

Original Space Battleship Yamato
Captain Harlock Arcadia of my Youth
Captain Harlock Mystery of Arcadia
The Cockpit

All the above look lovely and received proper restorations.

The Galaxy Express 999 movies were remastered in 2009 in HD but are unfortunately DNR’d to hell and back, with only Eternal Fantasy looking serviceable.
A bunch of the Yamato movies came out on Blu-ray last year but I haven’t looked into them. Adverts for them claim to feature HD remasters, but its Bandai so take their word with a grain of salt.
Interstella5555 is another upscale and depending where you source it from, 108050i.
The more modern Matsumoto adaptations such as Ozuma, Yamato 2199, & the Galaxy Railways theatrical film have been release in HD, though like the great majority of modern digital stuff, it would be rendered at either 540p/ 720p then upscaled.

does anyone know whether Mazinger Z is being done/has been done well?

Discotek start releasing their sets this month. Will be the best version by default no doubt. Regarding groups, everyone’s dropped the show. The only two floating around are the HK DVD rips and Spanish language version you just mentioned.

[drauch]

God my Godzilla BDs in the mail yesterday. Haven't had a chance to check them out just yet, but goddamn, the packaging is annoying as fuck. They've got nice original poster art on the cover, but the front and back is plastered with obnoxious rhymes and stupid snippets of "lol godzilla" humorous writing. I appreciate the BDs, but this isn't fuckin' Mystery Science Theater.

That's a shame but not entirely surprising, especially if you're a long time Kaiju faithful.
These are the Kraken Showa releases your referring to right? I'm still waiting for my order to arrive. Those Sony double features are yet to budge..

Yeah, it's the Kraken ones. Going to hopefully open them up tonight and see how they look. Looks like we'll never get a good release of the stuff Columbia Tri-Star owned, and now Sony is releasing with the same bullshit dubbing on BD. Well, at least they're widescreen...

[Raytrace]

ssomething I've been wondering - do you think I would like JJBA? I don't know what to think of it, though I like the way the faces kinda look like Kenshro - is it structured like Hokuto No Ken ?

[drauch]

Yeah, I don't see how you wouldn't like it, really. Don't know about the recent animes, but skip the 90s stuff and just go for the manga. JoJo starts off super manly and fun; it's all about buff dudes battling it out and manly tears and melodrama, yet with quite a bit of humor in all the right places--at least after the first story arc. I've only read the first three story arcs, but I know BIL and I imagine a few others have traversed much more. I love his manly art style with his cleft chins and tight sinews and clever fighting strategies, but his character design in the past few years has kinda jumped the shark in my opinion, which is part of the reason I really haven't continued reading (and I don't read enough manga.) His characters have always been flamboyant in their style, but he's kinda bordering on the androgyny of modern anime that dominates the market. I'm fine with manly men making erotic and suggestive poses, but I don't want fuckin' onesies and curls in their hair. I'm more of a Cho Aniki sorta dude, not Prince and David Bowie

[KAI]

People, go watch Ping Pong The Animation, NOW! Anime of the season.

[BIL]

ssomething I've been wondering - do you think I would like JJBA? I don't know what to think of it, though I like the way the faces kinda look like Kenshro - is it structured like Hokuto No Ken ?

Like drauch said, HNK fans shouldn't go too far wrong with the first three JoJo mangas. They're horror/fantasy martial arts as opposed to HNK's post-apocalyptic variant, and they have a decidedly more humourous slant, but they don't skimp on the same kind of brutal, high bodycount action. Badass chins, manly tears and bloody retributions abound.

Part 3 is absolutely excellent, and likely worth reading entirely on its own (its place in the series' timeline makes this quite doable, though it's obviously best to have read parts 1 and 2). It represents the series' move from more traditional manga fighting to its trademark psychic duels, but it's no less deadly. In practice it just means infinitely more ways for combatants to get their shit horribly, sometimes hilariously ruined.

edit: NB that in JoJoland, "psychic" covers anything from manifesting sharp objects within a target's organs to a good ol' Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken-style bone-crushing beatdown (ORAORAORAORAORAORA).

Structuring isn't really like HNK's wasteland justice entwined with DESTINY CONFRONTATION. More of a toxic sibling rivalry descending into full-blown horror in part 1, and seek/destroy road trips across WWII Europe and the modern day Middle East in parts 2 and 3, respectively.

I'm more of a Cho Aniki sorta dude, not Prince and David Bowie

I love you drauch

[DaneSaga]

... and now Sony is releasing with the same bullshit dubbing on BD. Well, at least they're widescreen...

Could be far worse. The pricks at Universal didn't even see fit to release their recent Blu’s of King Kong v Zilla, and King Kong Escapes in their original language. Whats the point? they may as well not even exist.

[Skykid]

Just finished A City for Honest and Heretics.

And interesting set of short stories, although the very first was the best, which is never the best way to go. Not much on Freesia, but then not as fleshed out either, but some interesting stuff in there. And plenty of smut.

[drauch]

... and now Sony is releasing with the same bullshit dubbing on BD. Well, at least they're widescreen...

Could be far worse. The pricks at Universal didn't even see fit to release their recent Blu’s of King Kong v Zilla, and King Kong Escapes in their original language. Whats the point? they may as well not even exist.

Seriously. I'd kill for an uncut copy of King Kong Vs Godzilla! May just be me reading wrong, but you know the new Sony ones don't have a Japanese track as well, right?

[DaneSaga]

Seriously. I'd kill for an uncut copy of King Kong Vs Godzilla! May just be me reading wrong, but you know the new Sony ones don't have a Japanese track as well, right?

I think you're a little confused Drauch. We're both talking about the new Sony Double Feature Godzilla Blu-rays aren't we? http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2014 ... from-sony/
The Columbia/ Tristar Double-bill DVDs from way back were indeed dub only (with a mixture of cropped and anamorphic ratios), but Sony's new releases certainly do have Japanese audio as well as Toho's International Eng dubs.
Where you been man?

[Raytrace]

cools I think I shall try the JJBA manga then

I finfished Megazone 23 Part II rewatch yesterday - I actually sort of prefer it to Part I - the whole 'gang againts the world' thing was nice.

[Raytrace]

People, go watch Ping Pong The Animation, NOW! Anime of the season.

artwise that does look pretty amazing

[drauch]

Seriously. I'd kill for an uncut copy of King Kong Vs Godzilla! May just be me reading wrong, but you know the new Sony ones don't have a Japanese track as well, right?

I think you're a little confused Drauch. We're both talking about the new Sony Double Feature Godzilla Blu-rays aren't we? http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2014 ... from-sony/
The Columbia/ Tristar Double-bill DVDs from way back were indeed dub only (with a mixture of cropped and anamorphic ratios), but Sony's new releases certainly do have Japanese audio as well as Toho's International Eng dubs.
Where you been man?

Well fuck me! I was going off the listing on Amazon (fool's move on my part), which only shows English. Usually I'd seek out a bit more, but I figured they were basically just duplicates of the only shit Tri-Star releases. I don't really venture in any Toho communities, mainly because at this point I've kinda lost hope for good releases. Well, this is certainly good news, then. And to think, I've been bitter this entire time!

[DaneSaga]

Well fuck me! I was going off the listing on Amazon (fool's move on my part), which only shows English. Usually I'd seek out a bit more, but I figured they were basically just duplicates of the only shit Tri-Star releases. I don't really venture in any Toho communities, mainly because at this point I've kinda lost hope for good releases. Well, this is certainly good news, then. And to think, I've been bitter this entire time!

Well be prepared to stay bitter for a little while longer. Early word from those who have the Blu-rays state the GHIDORAH & MOTHRA set use the TriStar versions with no end credits, so unfortunately no Akira Ifukube closing score for those two. Also MECHAGODZILLA II has the TriStar opening credits with the Toho international end credits.
These by themselves aren't huge and certainly not great enough of a deterrent, but Sony did say they were going to be uncut versions. I guess that doesn't apply to OP & ED

[Raytrace]

man it is detailed and intricate enough of an obsession to be watching anime and reading manga regularly, I can't even think of how many layers of complexity getting myself into tokusatsu would add o_O. (I do intend to watch the original Ultraman series at some stage though).

[drauch]

Well fuck me! I was going off the listing on Amazon (fool's move on my part), which only shows English. Usually I'd seek out a bit more, but I figured they were basically just duplicates of the only shit Tri-Star releases. I don't really venture in any Toho communities, mainly because at this point I've kinda lost hope for good releases. Well, this is certainly good news, then. And to think, I've been bitter this entire time!

Well be prepared to stay bitter for a little while longer. Early word from those who have the Blu-rays state the GHIDORAH & MOTHRA set use the TriStar versions with no end credits, so unfortunately no Akira Ifukube closing score for those two. Also MECHAGODZILLA II has the TriStar opening credits with the Toho international end credits.
These by themselves aren't huge and certainly not great enough of a deterrent, but Sony did say they were going to be uncut versions. I guess that doesn't apply to OP & ED

Ha... knew it couldn't be that easy! That certainly is a bummer, but I'd defnitely take that over the Tri-Star and the old Region 3 Universe Laser DVDs...

[Raytrace]

ok I do fully intend to read the manga, but as I saw JJBA (2012) was on Crunchyroll - I watched the first episode- I loved it - so much non stop OTT emotion and revenge stuff - class.

[BIL]

Holy shit, yeah, had to check out a couple episodes myself. Definitely captures the seething enmity with regular eruptions of extreme physical and/or psychological violence that defines the early Joestar/Brando days. ^__^ Dio may not be as colossally intimidating as a Raoh but he cannot be outdone for 110% pure vitriol.

[Raytrace]

Holy shit, yeah, had to check out a couple episodes myself. Definitely captures the seething enmity with regular eruptions of extreme physical and/or psychological violence that defines the early Joestar/Brando days. ^__^ Dio may not be as colossally intimidating as a Raoh but he cannot be outdone for 110% pure vitriol.

yeah I really liked the ultra intense sortof still frames that were laid out like manga - yeah that Dio guy is one hell of a dick - the second he kicked that dog, and then said he hated dogs I was making my best Kenshiro rage faces at the screen already .

[Raytrace]

rewatching MZ23 III (a) atm - shows impeccable shmup taste by having a 'Gradios' machine in the arcade .


the main machine they're all playing is called 'Hard On' though o_O.

[BIL]

Really liking JoJo 2012's take on part 1/Phantom Blood. As melodramatic, violent and incandescently hot-blooded as the manga. Interested in Stardust Crusaders (2014) now. Ta for mentioning this Raytrace.





SONO CHI NO SADAME / JOOOOOO-JO

[Raytrace]

yeah I'm on episode 4 of the 2012 JJBA anime and I'm really pleasantly surprised - I had no idea JJBA was so hot-blooded! Seriously from all I see on tumblr I thought it was some kindof weird fashion show :p. I love how, while not necessarily always direct references, the 'spirit' of Hokuto No Ken can be felt in it very often.

I like it's combination of 100% badass with 'foppery and whim' - the wine glass training scene is a perfect example of this :p.

[soprano1]

Really liking JoJo 2012's take on part 1/Phantom Blood. As melodramatic, violent and incandescently hot-blooded as the manga. Interested in Stardust Crusaders (2014) now. Ta for mentioning this Raytrace.





SONO CHI NO SADAME / JOOOOOO-JO

Speedwagon is so dramatic in this and Battle Tendency, he's funny as hell.
Anyone watched the ED in Stardust Crusaders episode 3? Song came out of fucking nowhere, but if you think about it, JoJo is all about the music references.

[Hagane]

Read all of Bambino, and overall I enjoyed it very much. It manages to tell an interesting story about cooking without shounen-esque exaggerated abilities or stuff like that. Just interesting characters and situations with a pretty realistic approach to the chef career. It does have a few dumb moments later on

Spoiler

lets decide the future of our mafia gangs... with a cooking contest!

and a very very forced and silly death of a relevant character as a plot device, but Bambino Secondo seems to be back to the good levels of earlier volumes.

I'm also reading Otoyomegatari. Although I'm not really a fan of the way the artist draws faces, she puts a lot of work into clothing and details. Story is slice of life stuff about brides in the middle east sometime in the 19th century (from what I gather, it must be close to the Crimean war). Focuses mostly on marriage customs and the daily life of brides, with some tribal conflict from time to time. Very interesting and refreshing.

[BIL]

if you think about it, JoJo is all about the music references.

I catch most of them but I didn't twig that the JoJo name itself was a Beatles reference until the end of Stardust Crusaders.

Been fun getting reacquainted with all the Phantom Blood ones, like the vile zombie DOOBIE.

[soprano1]

if you think about it, JoJo is all about the music references.

I catch most of them but I didn't twig that the JoJo name itself was a Beatles reference until the end of Stardust Crusaders.

Been fun getting reacquainted with all the Phantom Blood ones, like the vile zombie DOOBIE.

I loled in Battle Tendency with the "new" names of the villain trio because of copyright infringement.
edit: I saw the anime with the official subtitles, btw, so it might be just that...

[KAI]

Reading Steel Ball Run (JOJO part.7) right now. I can't recommend it enough. It's about people fighting while riding horses across the USA, so manly.
Since it's a "standalone alternative universe" you can read it as an original manga inside the JBA series.
Gyro, the MC, is one of most charming manga characters of all times.

[soprano1]

Reading Steel Ball Run (JOJO part.7) right now. I can't recommend it enough. It's about people fighting while riding horses across the USA, so manly.
Since it's a "standalone alternative universe" you can read it as an original manga inside the JBA series.
Gyro, the MC, is one of most charming manga characters of all times.

I haven't read that in 3 years, need to finish it. The Dio in SBR is quite the carnivore (nudge nudge, wink wink).

[Raytrace]

yeps I am completely loving this JJBA stuff which I really thought I never would :p. 3rd episode of Captain Earth is on tonight, I sincerely hope it starts to develop a story I give a shit about...

[KAI]

Duuuuuuude! drop that shit and watch Eureka7! All the other sci-fi/Mecha series produced by Bones are crap in comparison to it.