Laserdiscs

[Char Aznable]

And here is the Tenchi Muyo! "Book of Earth" LD set, which contains episode 8-13, along with the Mihoshi Special. Also, included are two pretty neat special features, a 'video picture book' titled Here Comes Jurai 2 and an interview with the voice talent.

[greg]

I can't pretend to be a Tenchi Muyou fan since I never really got into the show, but those box sets of yours are real classy!

[Drew_Sutton]

I was thinking the same thing as greg - not much of a fan but those boxes look great!

[SteveH]

I think something got lost over time, about Pioneer. Remember, their whole purpose in entering the anime market in the U.S. was to sell LD players. In service of that they put 100% effort in making their U.S. releases on a par with then-current Japanese standards. They were able to 'enable' the snobbish attitude of the collector and hence charge premium prices for their product.

And let's not forget their early releases were, to be frank, kinda sorta knockoffs of other shows. If not knockoffs, surely at least it was hoped they would ride the 'coattails' of shows such as Urusei Yatsuta and 1992's Most Important Anime, Giant Robo.

[Char Aznable]

Next up is an image of my Lensman laserdisc. This one's not a Pioneer disc, but released through Streamline Pictures.

I originally remember reading about Lensman in an old issue of Starlog Magazine (issue probably came out in 1990 or so) and the article promoted the so-called 'Anime Invasion', though the only two films primarily discussed were Akira and Lensman. I still have the issue somewhere, so I'll have to scan a page or two. And, speaking of Akira, I'll post some images of my Akira Criterion Collection laserdisc in the near future. Akira is probably one of my favorite US LD releases, Criterion did an amazing job on that LD -- especially considering it was released at a time when anime received little fanfare in North America. That thing came loaded with special features in a pre-DVD age.

[greg]

LENSMAN! OH MY CRAP! NICE!

I'm currently hoping to yoink the Japanese ones on YAJ, since I am here. I wouldn't mind having that Streamline one too, though.

[Char Aznable]

The Streamline one's not bad, it's great that it comes with both the English dub and Japanese language track. I do spot this LD on eBay from time to time.

If I'm not mistaken, Lensman still hasn't received an official US DVD release. I believe it did make it onto VHS back in the 1990s, but that might have only been the dubbed version.

[greg]

Yes, although I do not own them, there are two VHS tapes of the Harmony Gold dubs of Lensman. One is of the Lensman movie and the other is the first several episodes of the TV show condensed into a feature-length movie. I am surprised that your LD has the original Japanese track! Harmony Gold's dub also included music recycled from Robotech in the Lensman shows. So not only does Lensman have many of the same voice actors as Robotech, but the music as well.

[Char Aznable]

Ha, Harmony Gold really knew how to recycle their material, didn't they? I may have to track down one of those Lensman VHS tapes in the near future. Speaking of Harmony Gold, Robotech: The Movie is one laserdisc that has always eluded me. It doesn't help that the only LD version of the movie was released in the Netherlands, making it quite a rarity. The last time I spotted a copy on eBay was back in 2011 and the guy who won the auction posted a video about it on YouTube.

[ZenAmako]

I dunno where I stand on the story, but I LOVE the art for Macross II.

Macross II has always been the worst anime with the best cover art. Even the art for the new Blu-ray set is really great. It's enough to make you consider buying it. But the series itself... I still remember the first piece of promotional art I saw for Macross II - I was like "WOW" and I got very excited. And then the actual videos came out and it was mediocre to bad. Just my opinion, of course.

It reminds me of the OP to the Record of Lodoss War TV series - amazing opening, truly one of the best. But the show itself...