The old-school anime DVD/BD news thread.

[greg]

Hell hasn't quite frozen over. Apparently you can't get the Japanese episodes without the stupid Robotech episodes. I already have my AnimEigo Macross box sets, as well as ADV's sets of Southern Cross and Mospeada. I'll definitely sit this one out.

Hell would REALLY freeze over if HG would be so kind as to allow Macross: DYRL on DVD, as well as the rest of the shows like 7 (ugh), Zero, and Frontier.

[usamimi]

Hell hasn't quite frozen over. Apparently you can't get the Japanese episodes without the stupid Robotech episodes. I already have my AnimEigo Macross box sets, as well as ADV's sets of Southern Cross and Mospeada. I'll definitely sit this one out.

Hell would REALLY freeze over if HG would be so kind as to allow Macross: DYRL on DVD, as well as the rest of the shows like 7 (ugh), Zero, and Frontier.

Right. I actually don't mind too much, since I'd toyed with getting one of the (TOO MANY) Robotech releases eventually...I was never able to afford the Macross box sets in the past (and I never could seem to find them in stores near me), so that's not a deal breaker for me. I wish they weren't putting 9 eps per disc, but for $20 I'll take what I can get, I guess.

I REALLY wish they would. But...idk. Baby steps. At least they'll letting original Macross sell, in this weird-ass way.

[llj]

My big fear with Macross DYRL is that when we eventually get a US release (and it will happen, someday) we will never get the "uncensored" version as the recent Japanese blu ray release edited out a few seconds of violence and that may be the master print now going forward. It's not a big deal in the bigger scheme of things, but I'd counter that those "questionable" scenes weren't such a big deal that they needed to be edited in the first place.

On the other hand, there are a lot of famous anime that were edited years ago that many fans never knew about. I think I heard Megazone 23 originally had a few shots that were eventually edited out after the first home release in the 80s and that edited print is the one we've been getting ever since. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

[usamimi]

My big fear with Macross DYRL is that when we eventually get a US release (and it will happen, someday) we will never get the "uncensored" version as the recent Japanese blu ray release edited out a few seconds of violence and that may be the master print now going forward. It's not a big deal in the bigger scheme of things, but I'd counter that those "questionable" scenes weren't such a big deal that they needed to be edited in the first place.

On the other hand, there are a lot of famous anime that were edited years ago that many fans never knew about. I think I heard Megazone 23 originally had a few shots that were eventually edited out after the first home release in the 80s and that edited print is the one we've been getting ever since. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Yeah, I've heard about that, too, in regards to DYRL. Megazone 23, I'd never heard of those edits, though!

[SteveH]

My big fear with Macross DYRL is that when we eventually get a US release (and it will happen, someday) we will never get the "uncensored" version as the recent Japanese blu ray release edited out a few seconds of violence and that may be the master print now going forward. It's not a big deal in the bigger scheme of things, but I'd counter that those "questionable" scenes weren't such a big deal that they needed to be edited in the first place.

On the other hand, there are a lot of famous anime that were edited years ago that many fans never knew about. I think I heard Megazone 23 originally had a few shots that were eventually edited out after the first home release in the 80s and that edited print is the one we've been getting ever since. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Yeah, I've heard about that, too, in regards to DYRL. Megazone 23, I'd never heard of those edits, though!

Yeah, I have to second this. I think that 'missing scenes' thing is generally a myth generated by Robotechies. I have a copy of Megazone 23 (4th gen VHS, raw Japanese of course) from back in the day and I didn't see any difference between it and the more recent ADV release.

Megazone 23 wasn't a movie that would be changed after screening to conform to some 'focus group' or 'protest' demands, it was an OVA with a tight budget that wouldn't waste money by shooting scenes to be discarded.

Now, does that mean that maybe at the storyboard stage there could have been scenes planned but not shot? Yep. It's possible. That's a different thing.

[llj]

Megazone 23 wasn't a movie that would be changed after screening to conform to some 'focus group' or 'protest' demands, it was an OVA with a tight budget that wouldn't waste money by shooting scenes to be discarded.

That doesn't have to be the reason to change something. DYRL wasn't edited because of some 'focus group' or 'protest', it was edited because some people involved in the original production (like Kawamori in particular) simply felt like editing it. Years later. And you'd be surprised how much discarded footage there are in some low budget OVAs.

Never underestimate the power of post-release tampering urges in creative people.

[usamimi]

It's a shame that Megazone 23 was never all that popular here, because now this has me pretty darn curious!! But I doubt another other than possibly Discotek would ever look into re-releasing it and finding out if that's true or not...

[llj]

Well, this 'other' version of Megazone 23 was just an easy example that came to mind. Like SteveH, I'm somewhat skeptical about whether it's true. If there is some "lost footage" at all, it probably only makes up a handful of seconds at best. My point was that minor edits taking place over successive releases of one film over time without many fans ever knowing of it isn't an uncommon occurrence.

[usamimi]

Well, this 'other' version of Megazone 23 was just an easy example that came to mind. Like SteveH, I'm somewhat skeptical about whether it's true. If there is some "lost footage" at all, it probably only makes up a handful of seconds at best. My point was that minor edits taking place over successive releases of one film over time without many fans ever knowing of it isn't an uncommon occurrence.

*nodnod* That's true. I guess we're also not used to it because usually when they edit or change American films, there's usually a big deal made over them (like the edits to Star Wars, ET, etc.)

[greg]

My big fear with Macross DYRL is that when we eventually get a US release (and it will happen, someday) we will never get the "uncensored" version as the recent Japanese blu ray release edited out a few seconds of violence and that may be the master print now going forward. It's not a big deal in the bigger scheme of things, but I'd counter that those "questionable" scenes weren't such a big deal that they needed to be edited in the first place.

Wow. I did not know this! I wonder if it is the scene in which Millia steps on the Zentran's head and squishes it? Or that one split second towards the end when that Macross citizen gets beheaded due to the transformation. Those are the only two scenes of grotesque violence that I can think anyone would edit for content. So I imagine the regular DVD version is still good? I never bothered since I own the movie on LD.