ANIME STUFF 5
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"Reviews and information for the anime gourmet!"
This is the 5th in a series of files of comments and reviews of anime
items that we have bought. Please direct all comments to me by E-mail
or post me a message in the Forum. We also welcome any reviews or comments
about anime products or services that you would like to have included in
the next anime stuff article. Also please send us any comments
about any incorrect information contained here. A correction will be
placed in the next ANIME STUFF.
- Tom Mitchell
CompuServe Address : 75156,1067
- Masaki Takai
CompuServe Address : 75106,3257
Addresses for the two best mail-order sources for Japanese Animation goods
in the US:
WYVERN WEB GRAPHICS BOOKS NIPPAN
P.O. BOX 560805 & 1123 DOMINGUEZ STREET, UNIT K,
ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32856 CARSON, CALIFORNIA 90746
A quick note:
I would like to welcome my new partner Masaki Takai to ANIME STUFF!
Since there are now two of us writing this thing, each review will have
our initials by them so that you can see which one of us to get mad at.
VIDEO TAPES AND DISCS
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ORIGINAL ANIMATION VIDEOS:
BLACK MAGIC M-66:
What can I say about this OAV? It has everything: thrills, suspense,
cute girls. The plot goes something like this. During a thunderstorm,
a helijet containing an Army secret project is downed. In the shock of
the crash, the two assassin robots that were aboard in the cargo area
begin to operate. Of course, the Army immediately begins to search for
them but the robots have been programmed well to avoid discovery and it
takes the death of close to 10 soldiers before one of them is subdued.
The other robot, M-66, begins to operate according to the test program it
was loaded with during its testing. Unfortunately, the target it was
programmed with during testing was the inventor's granddaughter, Ferris.
M-66 immediately begins to stalk her, trying to find out where she is.
In the meantime, Sybel, a news photographer, who has been very
interested in this project since the crash, goes to the professor's
house in order to find out more about the robots. She finds the house
trashed by M-66 and a video-note left by Ferris who says that she'll be
home late because she's at Rumpkin,a bar in town. Sybel, who has
previously found out that the robot is after Ferris, immediately
realizes that the only people who know that Ferris is at Rumpkin is her
and M-66! The story gets more and more tense as Sybel tries to protect
Ferris from M-66 until it builds up to its final climax.This is
definitely quality work. If you can't buy this OAV...rent it, borrow it,
or steal it.
(MT)
MEGAZONE 23 PART 2 - FOREIGN EDITION:
Great news! Megazone 23 Part 2 is now available in an English language
version. Bad News: It has been translated by Harmony Gold. This OAV really
has me wondering just why all the CF/O's seem to be raving about this
translation and holding repeat showings of it each month. Don't get me
wrong, I LOVE the Megazone 23 OAV series...it is one of my all-time
favorites. But this English translation is very poor. Harmony Gold just
seems totally unable to do a strict uncut translation of anything without
having to leave their mark on it some how.
Here are the major problems:
DIALOG: The English dialog in this OAV is very embarrassing. It is stilted,
stereotyped and too simpleminded. The biggest thing it seemed like they
wanted to do was just get the dialog close enough to fit the lip movements
of the characters...realistic, creative, and characteristic use of the
English language ignored. In short, a very graphic, mature, gritty OAV is
now populated by characters that now sound like they are on hiatus from
GI-JOE. At least they didn't translate Eve's excellent songs...you
remember what they did to ol' Minmay in Robotech don't you? At least we
were spared that.
CHARACTER NAMES: Aaagh...this is the worst part. Why? Why did Harmony Gold
change the names of some of the main characters? Shogo becomes Johnny
Winters. Yui becomes Suzy Sue. Shogo's call sign from EVE, Bahamoud 6
Operator, becomes Garland 7 Operator? Tokyo becomes an American city...I'd
like to see you they explain an American town were every thing printed is
written in Japanese. Sigh...as always, Harmony Gold assumes that we are
too simpleminded to accept the original names and concepts. Did they think
Americans would have trouble believing a story that took place in a very
western-style foreign city like Tokyo? Did they think that English
speakers don't have the neural development to handle names like "Shogo"
"Yui" or "Tokyo"? It boggles me.
TRANSLATION: Too simple...hey, I'm a first year Japanese language student
and this is probably how I would have translated it. So you know they
could have done a better job. The translation lacks any of the spirit or
detail of the original Japanese. It's flat. They probably had to keep it
simple in order to get those lips to synch again. But hey, they make up
for it by getting more than their money's worth out of the word "punk".
CUTS: Yep, a couple scenes have been re-arranged and some of the sex scene
with Shogo and Yui was cut.
A BONUS! This video also includes the extra minutes of footage created for
the Robotech Movie, the Robotech-perversion of MEGAZONE 23 Part one. The
least thing I wanted as a "gift for you" was to be reminded of The
Robotech Movie. They run music from the FOUR SPIRITS image album over this
footage. It would have been nice it they kept the dialog intact to that
you could listen to just how the ROBOTECH movie sugar-coated the ending of
the original Megazone OAV.
SUBTITLES: It is obvious that even though this is titled the "Foreign
Edition", it was not meant for distribution outside Japan. Japanese
subtitles are used. That must mean that this edition of the OAV must have
meant to be used as some kind of educational tool. The subtitles are a bit
bothersome since they get in the way of the artwork.
You can tell I really enjoyed this one...(grin)
(TM)
BUBBLE GUM CRISIS PART ONE - THE STORY OF THE KNIGHT SABERS:
I have the same feelings about this new OAV series that Masaki stated in
his review of BLACK MAGIC M-66...This is one hot SF action series. The
folks at ARTMIC/AIC have done it again...Fantastic mecha designs,
beautiful girls, a pounding rock soundtrack and tons of well animated
graphic action.
Be warned though; this OAV has a lot of plot holes that are left open in
this first episode due to the fact that this is supposed to be a series of
OAV's. (According to Artmic/AIC, there are currently 5 episodes in the
works...Parts 1 & 2 are available now and Part 3 should be out sometime
before the end of the year.)
The story centers on a secret high-tech vigilante group of girls who call
themselves The Knight Sabers. Apparently they have formed this group to
avenge the death of one of the girl's father, who was working on a secret
weapons project for the giant GENOM Corporation. The project he was
working on was a new type of super-strong and intelligent humanoid robot
that has become known as the Boomer. Well, some of the Boomers have been
running around and wreaking havoc on the city and the Tokyo police force.
This is where the Night Sabers come in to save the rumps of the Police
from the Boomer menace...and to try and uncover the group of nasty GENOM
executives that are turning the Boomers loose on the city. (Could they be
testing their new weapon by letting them clobber a real heavily armed
police force?).
This first part builds to quite a climax as the Knight Sabers win (did
they really?) their first confrontation with the Boomer androids. They
find some answers and uncover even more questions...stay tuned! By the
way, I like to think of this OAV as taking some of the best elements of
GALL FORCE and mixing it with Megazone 23. If you enjoyed those two shows,
you will love this...all of these were created by ARTMIC/AIC, by the
way. Highly recommended for action fans!
(TM)
GENESIS CLIMBER MOSPEADA - LOVE, LIVE, ALIVE:
Although this show did not achieve good enough ratings to stay on the air,
it did manage to have a great cult following. After the show was canceled,
fans staged a large write in campaign to bring it back. Although the show
was permanently shelved, Tatsunoko Productions showed their appreciation
to the show's loyal fans by creating this OAV.
This programs a quite a mixed bag; It is part Yellow Belmont concert,
part drama, and a collection of best scenes from the show all rolled into
one. Plus it is well recorded, so you get a great collection of Yellow
tunes to boot! The story takes place after the Invid invasion, and
centers on Yellow riding to and performing one of his concerts. Through
out his songs, and interview with a news crew, he flashes back to all the
adventures he had with his friends (hence, the best scene collection).
By the end of the program, a few loose ends left dangling from the
original series are tied up. I won't tell you how or what happens to save
the surprises, but he is reunited with all of his friends.
For fans of the original series, or even fans of Robotech, this is a
fantastic collection of memories from a really fun show. Who knows,
perhaps one day, we will see some more Genesis Climber Mospeada.
By the way, Robotech fans will enjoy seeing a lot of thing that Harmony
Gold edited out of the original.
(TM)
BGM ALBUMS (BACKGROUND MUSIC)
MEGAZONE 23 SONG COLLECTION (COMPACT DISC):
For fans of the Megazone series, this CD (available also on LP and tape,
I think) is a best buy! It contains all vocal songs from both Megazone
23 Part 1 and Part 2. Eve Tokimatsuri's five songs (Senaka Goshi ni
Sentimental, TOMORROW BLUES, Kaze no Lullaby, Himitsu Ku.da.sa.i, and
Lonely Sunset) are on here, plus the ending theme from Part 1
(Sabishikute Nemurenai).
There are songs on here that I don't recall actually hearing in the
soundtrack so there may be image songs on here too. For a final treat, in
the middle of the booklet, there's a Megazone 23 Memorial Illust
Collection which has some outstanding pictures of Eve and Yui. Of
course, HAL (Haruhiko Mikimoto) does the pictures of Eve.
On a side note to this, if you like Eve's voice, Kumi Miyasato, the
singer who voices Eve and sings her songs, has just released her fifth
solo album called, "UNFINISHED". If you're interested, this can be
special ordered through WWG.
(MT)
DIRTY PAIR - THE MOVIE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK:
This album has some very lively, bouncy pop and rock instrumentals. Just
perfect for the lively, bouncy action film these tunes are meant to
punctuate. Not a lot of musical depth or great composition here, just a
lot of toe tapping fun. But the fun is bogged down a bit by the two
over-long, dull, and totally uninspired instramental pieces "Love Theme From
Dirty Pair" and "If I Turn". Compact Disc owners have a definite advantage
on this album since they have the option of programing their players to
skip these tracks (track 4 & 6), and enjoy a string of toe tapping action
tunes uninterrupted. Oh, and there really is some toe tapping on this
album! Track 1, "Mystery Zone", actually uses the toe-tapping feet of
Mimwako Matsuki to help with the percussion...neat effect!
(TM)
AREA 88 BGM COLLECTION (COMPACT DISC):
This disc is fantastic...it's probably the most brilliantly arranged
selection of BGM from an anime production ever assembled. The variety of
music here is amazing...ranging from bold instrumental war music, calipso
ballads, contemporary jazz, sweet violin solos, throbbing pop, and heavy
metal. The songs, and vocals are great...singers include popular Japanese
female vocalist MIO, and the smooth, sure voice of Derek Jackson.
It's interesting to note the arrangement of the songs on this
album...Instramentals and songs take turns. There are 10 instramentals
called "Missions" (Music used for the combat scenes, etc.), and each is
followed by a song by either Mio or Derek. The emotional swings of the
songs and instrumentals really does underscore the story of Area 88.
This album will paint a picture of Area 88 and Shin's personal struggle
all by itself.
This really makes for some varied and textured listening...Never a dull
moment. One word of warning though, this album ends with a track of an
actual recording of fighter jets taking off, so watch the volume on this
one! Highly recommended!
(TM)
BOOKS:
THE DIRTY PAIR MOVIE BOOK:
Even if you haven't seen the Dirty Pair Movie, I would recommend this
book to all fans of the Dirty Pair. It has scenes from the entire movie
plus a very detailed plot summary (admittedly in Japanese). It has
pictures of Yuri and Kei from all three versions (TV, OAV, and movie).
It has character sketches used in this movie for Yuri and Kei. There are
big full page illustrations of Yuri and Kei scattered throughout the
book. It has pictures of the main cast and staff. It has pictures of
what the inside of a major Japanese animation studio looks like. It
has...need I say more? It's a great quality book (it's the book they sold
in the cinema while the movie was playing). It retails in Japan for 1000
yen so you should be able to find it here for about $12-$15. Should be
able to be ordered from WWG. BN also but I'm not sure.
(MT)
For those of you who are trying to collect all the episodes of this show,
this book is a great reference guide. It contains plot summaries and TONS
of pictures from each of the 24 episodes of the show that were broadcast
in Japan. Plus a summary of the first Dirty Pair OAV, THE NOLANDIAN
AFFAIR. Also featured are interviews and profiles of all the major folks
involved with the creation of the show, two posters of Kei and Yuri,
plenty of original art, some funny manga spoofing the Pair, and even some
Dirty Pair Cut-Out Dolls...(heehee). If you can only get your hands on one
book on Dirty Pair, this book is as good as any too own. It is lacking in
good character design profiles though. And it is a bit dated since it does
not feature episodes 25 and 26 (released on home video only...), or the
Dirty Pair Movie.
(TM)
GALL FORCE MOOK:
This book is a great value...A really beautiful and glossy publication, it
covers just about every aspect of Gall Force 1. The complete story is told
through a great selection of pictures from the show, plus the book is full
of great character and mecha designs, and fantastic pencil test
renderings. A bonus section shows a preview of the STAR FRONT book. This
book features fantastic diarama and model representations of the Gall
Force characters. The book also shows how the creators of the show spent
some time playing war games and familiarizing themselves with firearms to
help them get a feel for the weapons they would be creating for their
characters. Neat book!
(TM)
MAGAZINES:
ANIMAG:
I highly recommend that you check out this magazine. This is probably
the first really serious attempt at an American Japanimation publication.
Produced by some of the same folks involved with the publication of this
year's BayCon Book, this first issue is really well done. The focus of the
magazine seems to be an accurate and fact-filled presentation of summaries
of some of the more popular anime series, movies, and OAV's...and they
succeed! Presented in this first issue are articles on MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM
(The featured show in this issue...), Area 88, and Laputa. I got my copy
through Books Nippan, and I assure you, you will not be dissapointed.
Unlike some of the other attempts at anime publications in the US done in
the recent past, these folks look like the are in for the long-haul. Let's
hope they become the first American ANIMAGE! By the way, this issue also
contains the BEST plot summary of the Area 88 OAV's that I have ever seen!
(TM)
End...Until next time...we are off to check out more Anime Stuff!
