A few weeks back, I promised some detailed anime DVD reviews for those of us currently on an anime kick. I also mentioned I'd be gearing them toward the mainstream reader who's cultivating an interest in anime.

Well, I've yet to whip together these detailed reviews, but I thought I'd throw in some quickies for you. Contained herein: Ninja Scroll, Wrath of the Ninja, Ghost in the Shell, Macross Plus, and Record of Lodoss War. More to come!

• Ninja Scroll: EXTREMELY violent and contains terribly gratuitous sex scenes. Also contains a rape scene that's nothing short of disgusting. But if you can stomach this stuff, you'll be treated to some truly awesome anime! The story isn't the most novel, but it's very well executed. The characters are believable and the villains (all eight of them!) are very cool. The animation quality is great, too. Overall, this is an excellent ninja anime.
  
  
  The disc comes with subtitles and English dubbing, and each actually gives a slightly different angle on the characters: the subs lend a more somber atmosphere, while the dubs are a little more playful. I recommend the subtitles; many anime films have horrible English voice acting, and it's good to get into the habit of reading subtitles.
  
  
  
• Wrath of the Ninja: Everything about this disc suggests a ninja movie in the same vein as Ninja Scroll: similar packaging, similar artwork, similar sales pitch. But nothing could be further from the truth. The good aspects of Ninja Scroll are mostly absent here. The characters are shallow and typefied. The story is just all over the map; its pace is absurdly unbalanced and it makes no sense at times. It tries to achieve the feeling of a ninja war, and it fails miserably. The action scenes are generally pretty good, but laughably absurd at times and gratuitously violent (ever seen heads explode and brains come pouring out?) The voice acting is probably the worst I've ever heard, period. This movie is truly AWFUL and I recommend avoiding it like the plague. Watch Homefries first.
  
  
  
• Ghost in the Shell: One of the first animes to reach DVD, this movie is a cross between The Matrix and Lethal Weapon. Most fans like this movie, but personally, I wasn't too fond of it. The story line is pretty good, but characters react strangely sometimes, and the film shifts to philosophy at times - but the transition is uneven and a bit jarring. The atmosphere has a great futuristic feel, much like Shadowrun or any William Gibson novel. Animation quality is good, and sound is at times exceptional (the music accompanying the opening credits is wonderful!) Note: I've been told repeatedly (especially by Jad1) that the subtitles present a much better movie. I'll watch the subtitled version before I do my full review, and I'll present my impressions there.
  
  
  
• Macross Plus, vols. 1-4: This two-DVD series is described as mech combat, but it's more akin to Top Gun. (The planes can turn into mechs, but for 95% of the movie the'yre planes.) Most anime fans froth at the mouth when you mention Macross. I wasn't completely enthralled with this series, but it is pretty amazing at times. The story is so well-thought that it doesn't even seem like anime - very little of the typical anime wackiness. Animation quality is breathtaking at times, and the music is very good JPOP. I'd definitely give this series a hearty recommendation.
  
  
  
• Record of Lodoss War: This Dungeons and Dragons-style fantasy series comes as a boxed set on two DVDs, each with six or seven 20-minute episodes (five hours total.) This is a wonderful series, and I definitely recommend it highly. The series has enough time to present a sufficiently epic scope, and does so quite well. The characters are wonderfully fleshed out, and their development over time is a great thing to watch. The animation is sometimes great but generally OK, and the sound is above average. The English dub is pretty lousy - some of the voice actors are miserable - so you'd better be inclined to reading subtitles for this series! Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this series (I liked it more than Macross.)
  
  
  

Thanks for reading. I hope to have some extensive reviews up soon, either here or on my web site. Sayonara!

- David Stein

David,

Thanks for the reviews. I agree with your assessment of Ghost in the Shell. But I'm willing to give it another go with the subtitles.

Do you know what (if any) relation the Macross series has to the Robotech series shown in the US?

Keep 'em coming!

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-David

AFAIK, none. These series are both technically "mech action" movies, but they're awfully different. IIRC, Robotech was a very mech-oriented, dropship-based series about combatting aliens with extraordinary powers. The Macross OVA is a more character-driven, Top Gun-style competition between jet fighters (which occasionally turn into mechs for a few moments) which leads to a battle between non-alien forces. (no spoilers here )

I do heartily recommend the series. My tone was a bit cautionary just because I didn't feel it lived up to the drooling hype of most otaku (anime geeks.) Still highly enjoyable with great artwork and sfx, though!

- David Stein

The Robotech series aired in the US was a heavily edited mishmash of THREE anime series. These three were the original Macross TV series, Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospaeda (sp?). Since syndication runs usually need 65 episodes, and the original Macross TV series was 49, Harmony Gold chose to throw in elements from two other completely unrelated series to fill the 65 episode need.

BTW, Animeigo ( http://www.animeigo.com/ ) is taking pre-orders for a subtitle-only version of the original Macross TV series on DVD for $360 (or is it down to $350 now?)


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Peken
My DVD List

$350? Sounds like a bargain to me. I'll just use a Reel coupon and BFL's shipping rebate and one-time-use (heh heh) $25 rebate form, and now it's down to... $315! Wow, what a steal.

Wait, on second thought, instead of buying the series I'll put down a deposit on a Mazda Miata...

- David Stein

Anybody else find Ninja Scroll to be a tad faded and 'chunky'? As if the artists used huge brushes to do the lines. There doesn't seem to be one fine line in the whole thing! That may be a result of it being DTV, but I still find the image a bit faded and dull. It doesn't look much better than my VHS (though the 5.1 sound is awesome).

He had the price wrong on the Macross set
It's going to be better $250-$290 + $10 US shipping, and it's not coming out at Reel and the like, only from Animeigo.com(in the summer anyways).
Later on(I'm assuming around Christmas, and that's in over a year, not this one coming up it will come out on seperate volumes(I'd guess 12)that are each going to be about $30.
Soooo, even with using Reel coupons and the like, you probably will end up paying more doing that, then getting it the other way around. *cough* Macross Plus kicks ass btw

Adam Burakowski

Woohoo! This link got a link from the front page Thanks Geoff!

Like I wrote above, many more anime reviews are on the way. (I just have to wait for the discs to come in...) Stay tuned, campers!

- David Stein

Like Anime & DVDs? Well then u gotta visit this site:
www.animeondvd.com

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My DVD List - [email protected] - ICQ# 15121711

Regarding Macross Plus vol#1-4. the Soundtrack is not Jpop. Listenging to the two soundtracks, theire are only about 5 jpop songs, all of which are sung by the character Sharon Apple. The majority of the 2 SoundTracks is neo-classic or newage.

The story is excellent and doesn't seem like anime, you say. I disagree. One of hte trademarks of Anime is the ability to portray real life situation, drama, comedy with animation. The anime genre encompasses many types of situations and filmmaking styles, but it's not uncommon to see series that are written so well that they would be undicernable from a good live action film.

Anime is labeled to be Sailor Moon, DragonBallz, Pokemon, or tenticle rape and sex. It's difficult to break those molds from the general public. Anime can be medium for serious story telling.

OTOH, I thought the mastering for Mac Plus DVD to be quite poor. There's alot of artifacts and aliasing and not to mention the 6 month delay in release date.

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Ska! It's 10x cooler in Orange County!

amsze - The only technical problems I found with the Mac+ discs was the lack of any sound coming from the center channel in the English 5.1 track. I didn't notice any artifacting or aliasing at all. Which player did you watch these on? (Creative Dxr2 myself)


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Peken
My DVD List

Amze-
I couldn't have said it better. The music on Mac+ is VERY diversified and ranges from a little Jpop to a little jazz to a little classical. And the composer is Yoko Kanno ICYDK.
As for the transfer of the dvds. I couldn't agree more. The image is somewhat satisfactory but there are artifacts aplenty to be found. And the picture is quite dark. In fact I had to turn my contrast and brightness settings all the way up to 100! My dvd player? Toshiba 3109. My TV? Toshiba TW65G80 65' Widescreen. Cables? Monster Component Video Z-series.
The missing center channel is nothing more than a frivilous quibble IMHO. It's barely noticable.
Quite frankly though, I love this series sooo much, that if it had came out in mono and had a tranfer quality equivilant to a bootleg vcd, I'd still pick it up in a heartbeat. So I really shouldn't bitch about it.

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Yo Quiero The Matrix!!!