The Old School Otaku Lounge

One of the interesting things about Mazinger Z is how long it takes Koji to learn how to control Mazinger Z. Even as late as episode 6 he still has problems with basic movement! A lot of scenes have Koji just randomly pushing buttons and flipping switches hoping something will happen. A lot of times it won't even do anything unless Koji flips levers and pushes buttons in a certain order.

Mazinger Z is truly the manual transmission of super robots.

2016 Anime Casual Critique:
Return of the Heroes Medals: GOLD - JOJO, SILVER - BERSERK, BRONZE - didn't watch the new Sailor Moon, but senshi fans seemed to like it.
Unexpected New Favorites: Heavy Object - unusual mecha battling swirled with comic relationships. Bungou Stray Dogs - what sounds lame on paper is proven to be a dramatic, and exhilarating ride. Fune Wo Amu - mature slice of life about craftsmanship and the importance of language.
Alternate Media Collab Prize: Thunderbolt Fantasy - kung fu puppets replace 2D art...like a 21st century school project by GAINAX.
Rotten Daicon Award: PATLABOR returning with barely more scenes than a trailer and minus Noa. Runner-up is Macross Delta, for continuing to cook with more and more idol-spice, losing the original touch-of-kawaii flavor.

This one's more for SteveH if he hasn't picked it up yet, but I got ZZ Gundam vol 1 on BD and gave it a quick looksee. I'm not too familiar with this series, but I'll try to go through the main concerns:

OP: "Not an anime!" is there
ED: "The Era is Crying."

Aspect ratio: 4:3

Subtitles--removable

1st episode (a clip show) is not 1080p

I'll dig into more when I watch the series. Will also order ZZ Gundam vol 2 soon. I'm still trying to complete my Zeta Gundam re-watch right now.

llj wrote:
1st episode (a clip show) is not 1080p
.

Just to clarify, the rest of the show is in HD except the first episode

llj wrote:This one's more for SteveH if he hasn't picked it up yet, but I got ZZ Gundam vol 1 on BD and gave it a quick looksee. I'm not too familiar with this series, but I'll try to go through the main concerns:

OP: "Not an anime!" is there
ED: "The Era is Crying."

Aspect ratio: 4:3

Subtitles--removable

1st episode (a clip show) is not 1080p

I'll dig into more when I watch the series. Will also order ZZ Gundam vol 2 soon. I'm still trying to complete my Zeta Gundam re-watch right now.

Thanks and good to know! I'm honestly surprised that clip show is there, I was under the impression it was no more than a 'space filler' generated by the network. I considered it 'episode zero' back in the day. So Sunrise calls it the true episode 1? huh. I mean, I'm glad it's included, it's completely in keeping with the tone of the first part of the series and it does work as a 'breather' after the death-fest those last couple of Zeta Gundam episodes were.

Glad to hear positive news about ZZ BRs; I should get around to buying them.

SteveH wrote:Thanks and good to know! I'm honestly surprised that clip show is there, I was under the impression it was no more than a 'space filler' generated by the network. I considered it 'episode zero' back in the day. So Sunrise calls it the true episode 1? huh. I mean, I'm glad it's included, it's completely in keeping with the tone of the first part of the series and it does work as a 'breather' after the death-fest those last couple of Zeta Gundam episodes were.

I know when I saw the series fansubbed from the JP DVDs, that episode was included as episode 1. I'll have to dig my Sunrise Anime 2001 reference book out since it has broadcast histories (dates, times, titles) and see if Sunrise considered it truly episode 1 during the pre-DVD times.

Totally agree that it serves as a great transition piece moving from the end of Zeta and easing into a new cast of characters.

ZZ Gundam actually moves along quite quickly. I've already hit the 2nd OP (Silent Voice) and I have to say, the first half of the series is really not as bad as its rep among fans. Sure, there is *comedy* but nothing really happens that breaks the rules of the world's physics. This is not Looney Tunes comedy here, like some fans had suggested. In fact, the comedy in the 1st half is more like Patlabor.

Anyway, the show has gotten progressively more serious and now it's pretty much full on traditional Gundam again.

llj wrote:ZZ Gundam actually moves along quite quickly. I've already hit the 2nd OP (Silent Voice) and I have to say, the first half of the series is really not as bad as its rep among fans. Sure, there is *comedy* but nothing really happens that breaks the rules of the world's physics. This is not Looney Tunes comedy here, like some fans had suggested. In fact, the comedy in the 1st half is more like Patlabor.

Anyway, the show has gotten progressively more serious and now it's pretty much full on traditional Gundam again.

I'll tell ya, I think the 'bad rap' ZZ Gundam had was due mainly to some 'name' fans having a dislike for it since it wasn't EXACTLY LIKE Zeta Gundam. So since those 'important' fans didn't like it, others figured they wouldn't like it either, sight unseen. This happened quite a lot.

It's like the hate for Dragonar in some parts. It's not a GREAT show but it hits all the proper marks.

I recall there was a segment of fandom that loathed Dougram, not because of what the show WAS, but because people were taping it instead of God Mars, the tape traders in Japan who 'fed' much of fandom second and third and fourth hand.

And there's very little love for Tatsunoko's 80's output.

Speaking of, has there been any more movement by Sentai/ADV with their Tatsunoko license? I think maybe they forgot.

I think Sentai announced recently that Gatchaman 2 is coming out soon, but dvd-only

llj wrote:I think Sentai announced recently that Gatchaman 2 is coming out soon, but dvd-only

Oh yes! I believe I heard this as well. Makes sense, as probably a significant less amount of people will pick that one up than the first set.