Star Blazers

[Calhoun07]

I was wondering who here is a fan of this show, dedicated or passing or other wise?

I just got the first four volumes of the five volume DVD collection of the first part of the series, Quest for Iscandar. I watched volume 1 tonight, and was really impressed. I never really got to see this series when I was a kid, which I feel is a shame because I know I would have loved it.

Before there was Robotech, Star Blazers came in 1979 to tv to introduce a realism in animation that you didn't often see before. There was a real story line that didn't go from just action sequence to action sequence, and the decisions of the characters had lasting effects, especially when a character died, they died. This didn't dumb down the story to make it appealing to kids *cough Sailor Moon cough*. I was a huge fan of Japanese animation as soon as I saw it in the late 70s in the form of Princess Knight (also mature animation that did not dumb down the story for kids) and Battle of the Planets (kinda dumbed down but still good fun) and I wish I could say I remember this show as well from my early child hood days, but I don't. I read the comics and was exposed to the series on a very periphreal basis until tonight, when I watched the first five episodes for the first time.

As far as the quality of the DVD goes, it isn't crisp and clean as new anime being released today; the show shows signs of being more than 20 years old. But that wasn't a big deal for me; I am always happy to have a great show like this preserved on DVD, even if it doesn't look as sharp and clean as the animation made today on computers.

The only real complaint I have about the DVD is on the chapter stops. All five episodes are put together so it plays like a 2 hour movie, much like the Starship Troopers Roughnecks DVD. But unlike Roughnecks, which divides the episodes up with chapter stops, the chapter stops on Star Blazers are schitzophrenic at best. There are clear places on the DVD where you can tell the first commercial break was supposed to be and where the episodes end and begin, yet the chapter stops do not divide them up at those breaks. There are only 7 chapter stops on the entire DVD for 5 episodes, and none of them are at the breaks. It makes going to your favorite episode rather frustrating.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by calhoun07
[B]I was wondering who here is a fan of this show, dedicated or passing or other wise?


Before there was Robotech, Star Blazers came in 1979 to tv to introduce a realism in animation that you didn't often see before. There was a real story line that didn't go from just action sequence to action sequence, and the decisions of the characters had lasting effects, especially when a character died, they died. This didn't dumb down the story to make it appealing to kids *cough Sailor Moon cough*.

As a kid, I would've found it more appealing to see Sailor Moon die against Beryl, which she did, in the original. Would've also liked to see the back and forth philosphical debate between the two enemies before they killed each other. But no, none of that.

[LadyEboshiGozen]

Are these DVDs the original uncut episodes of Space Cruiser yamato, or do they only contain the American dubbed edited eps?

[Peace Keeper]

I can't stand old school anime. The animation is horrendous.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by Peace Keeper
I can't stand old school anime. The animation is horrendous.

Style over substance. That's the problem with newer anime. The older titles may have looked worse, but they had 10X more things to say, and had more comprehensible plotlines, too. Old-school rules. And that's the bottom line, cuz Leapin' Larry said so!

[Calhoun07]

Originally posted by LadyEboshiGozen
Are these DVDs the original uncut episodes of Space Cruiser yamato, or do they only contain the American dubbed edited eps?

As far as I know, they are the same as the VHS releases, the same versions as was aired on TV. To my knowlege, they haven't released any subtitled versions. Sorry.

As for old school anime, yes, this series has ALOT of substance to it. This is the kind of animation that really got me into cartoons to begin with, and this is what I hope for from anime today.