Lucas McCain

I used to watch both of these cartoons growing up and LOVED them. They obviously were the Amercanized dubbed version and I am under the assumption that there are no future upgraded releases of either Star Blazers or Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman) coming soon on DVD and I am wondering what is the best set to buy and what is the best price?

For Star Blazers I looked online and each DVD series (Quest for Iscandar, Comet Empire, and Bolar Wars) is around $100 each for 6 DVDS in each set I think. Is this what I would want to buy or is there another DVD release of it coming? Also, is this the cheapest price?

For Battle of the Planets, should I wait for something better or just order some Gatchaman set? I had never watched the original Gatchaman shows, only the American version and recently saw some on youtube and I liked the uncut Gatchaman even better! My questions then is which DVD set would I want? I noticed there is a Region 2 set from the UK of "The Complete Series" that looks awesome but.....I don't have a Region 2 player. Which is the best Gatchaman or BOTP set that I would want to buy or is there another DVD release of it coming? Also, is this the cheapest price?

Any suggestions are helpful before I spend what is probabably too much money. Thanks!

visitor Q

Not sure about the Japanese versions, but the Voyager (American cuts) releases are available direct from Starblazers.com for $240 + free shipping - Link

I'm actually in the middle of the series as I type this. Just finished Quest for Iscandar this past week. Nostalgic series for me and the transfer looks about like I remembered - VHS quality at best. Be prepared though; I still love the series after having just watched it the first time in about 25 years, but there are some serious flaws in the story and the scripting is borderline stupid, making no sense at times.

If you buy them, approach the experience with an open mind.

(ps - yes, there are six DVDs per series)

Cheato

As for Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman, this is the first of the nine sets that I got, and I think the ones I got are great:
http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/cat...em/65808/4/0/0

That's a link to the first 2 DVDs in a boxed set with a bonus DVD with some other stuff on it. I got the entire set a couple years ago during a sale at RightStuf. There are 18 individual volumes, also available as 9 little 2-DVD boxed sets, or as 9 3-DVD sets, if you want the ones with the "bonus" DVDs. To give you a ballpark area of price, I think I paid about $100 for the entire set of 3-DVD sets during that sale. I have virtually no interest in anime, so I almost never compare prices for things in that genre, but that seemed reasonable to me for an uncut 118(?) episode series. Maybe you can do better, though.

As for Star Blazers/Yamato, the quality is disappointing. As Visitor Q said, basically VHS quality. The movies are just as bad in the 5-movie boxed set. If you're rich or crazy, or both, You can get the originals in better quality from Japan for about $250 per season, though. They have almost no negative reviews on Amazon Japan, so they must be better. A search for "宇宙戦艦ヤマト DVDメモリアルボックス" will turn them up.

james2025a

I bought the complete box set when i was living in the UK and its nicely put together. Not sure if its out of print now though, and looking at Amazon.co.uk it seems a bit pricey at one hundred pounds. I think i paid around 40 when i originally got it. Still its worth getting if you want it all in one nice and simple.

Ash Ketchum

Voyager has all five YAMATO movies on DVD, in Japanese with English subs. You can't go wrong there. They've also got all three seasons of STAR BLAZERS, the U.S. cut, dubbed in English. I see no reason not to get those seasons. It's doubtful we'll ever get the original Japanese series with subs. And it's too good a series, even in its dubbed version, to hold off on seeing it.

As for BATTLE OF THE PLANETS, I see no reason to watch any episodes of that when you can see GATCHAMAN in Japanese with subs. The butchery done by BOTP was far more egregious than anything in STAR BLAZERS.

Kirk76

What he said! I loved it when I was five, but BOTP is completely unwatchable now. ADV's(now Section 23) Gatchaman sets are the only way to go IMHO. Definately watch it in Japanese with subs. The English dub is pretty weak to say the least.

JeffTheAlpaca

Is there a demand to release new remastered versions of the U.S. series dubbed in English? They came out in the early 2000's.

The Box sets are expensive and the picture quality is awful.

I would not mind if they completely redid and retouch the animation & made it more modern with more color but keep the same dialogue, story, and the original music.

Vlyger

BOTP was alright, but this guy was the main reason most folks disliked the show because he was responsible for dumbing-down the whole storyline.