Animeigo Macross TV DVD set.

[cloakactive]

Well I've finally finished watching the 9 DVD, Uncut, Japanese Track only with English subitiles, Original Macross Tv series Black DVD Box set (wow that was a mouthfull yea?)

Anyways, 36 wonderfull episodes of this series with all the graphics cleaned up was certainly well worth the wait. In all seriousness the show itself is of a completely different flavor when in comparison to the american release (referring to robotech here).

Now onto my personal thoughts on this... (yea you could go read what the people at animeondvd.com thought... but ya know what, i wanna post how i felt about it, and I also want to read what everyone else here in the Macross/Robotech forum felt as well!... the people who get the box set and/or have seen/remembered the series)

Music... whoa, very interesting. It definitely had that certain flavor that the 80s brought to us and all, but it was actually very worth it. Watashi no kare wa Pilot" (My b/f is a pilot). Prolly the only song that was sung a couple of times, but it wasn't nearly as annoying as the English Minmay songs were (At first, the English Minmays voice was ok... but seriously the second time hearing her you seriously want to band your head up against the wall or possibly cut your own ears off to stop the horrible torture. :heh: ) The other songs were just as catchy... Its just to bad I've only gone through the series once all the way through... I'll prolly post more on my feelings on the rest of the songs once I've watched this box a couple more times (Kyuun kyuun kyuun kyunn! Watashi no kare no pailotto.) Actually... lets go one about one other song then I'll talk about the opening theme song. Wait... forget it... I'll just talk about all the songs right now. So lets go from the most memorable and catchy... to what i felt was a really annoying song. Zero G love Good god... its just annoying! The song when heard in its entirety is prolly slightly below ok but when all you ever here is just a segment, and the short clip is always where they are singing zero g love 50 million times over... It just really racks up and makes you want to be in the show itself to shoot that blasted radio. Silver Moon, Red Moon while not catchy, is still highly likeable. I dont' have much to say, but I thought it needed to be played more often. My beautifull place is appropriate, and not overdone. I really dont' have much to say about this song. As for the opening theme song Makurosu... this song is just totally appropriate for this series (its uplifting, its got that old yet slightly new feel). Its just well suited, theres nothing more that needs to be said.

Animation. Yea, true its old, but thanks to modern day technology, all those bleeding colors and lines are really really well cleaned up. I was totally amazed at how much clearer the animation appears in comparison to the original. Simply stunning and mindblowing. As they said on AoD, it would be rather interesting to see how this show would show up with todays animation techniques. :) But still I like it and I will gladly take it as it is. :up:

Characters... 2 people I have to say right away... Lynn Kaifun and Lynn Minmay. :dead: Of all the... why that little... hes such a... what an ass... But anyways... :heh: After rewatching/revisiting this show, the characters and how they are portrayed are somehow totally portrayed to the audience somehow radically different then how characters are portrayed to the audience today. I'm not sure what it is exactly... but somehow you feel so much closer to everyone and just get really into the story... its something you can't really say or place your finger on... but its like an element of story telling that just seems to be lost now a days. :( Another thing that was really impressive was the gradual growth of the characters. You could actually tell! Yes, the first 24 episodes or so takes place after like a year (I think i'm right) But the growth during that time is pretty amazing. Then the fast forward in time to 2 years later was rather cool, and we see something un****ingbelievable... Minamy has grown up! Shes no longer that self-centered, fickle, annoying, teenager! Shes now a self-centered, annoying, teenager who i guess could be a women who is now in touch with her own feelings! (a little late though... argh! :redhot: )

But anyways... theres lots more to be said, and i know that lot of what I feel and have felt have been said in the past... but still.... going back and watching this has brought up a lot of memories. :) Now I feel all warm and funny inside... I'm not sure if its from talking about this awesome series or if its from the really good food I just ate.

Comments and cooking tips are welcome! :)

[isamudyson]

I almost bought the boxed set, but the cost was a bit much for me at this time. Plus the fact that you didn't know exactly when the charge would show up on my credit card didn't help. I'll have to wait till they release the dvds individually later this year.

I can't wait though, it's been a long time since I've seen the original series. The music is deinately one of the most noticable changes between Macross and Robotech. As annoying as any Macross song is, it doesn't get as tiresome as "Stage fright, Go away!" blah blah. Overall, I enjoy the Macross music and it has far more variety than Robotech does.

I know the video on the dvd set has been cleaned up, but how good is the audio? I know AnimEgo wanted to remix the soundtrack and make a stereo one, but didn't as the cost would be too much. I know the mono track has been cleaned up, but is it really good?

Any other goodies come with the boxed set? I can't wait to get these dvds :D

[cloakactive]

The audio track is impressively clean and clear. No distortion or anything else like that as well. Its just overall completely amazing. AoD gave it 5 thumbs up (the highest rating they could possibly give out) and i actually whole heartedly agree with them. The dvd and the work that Animeigo took to restore the audio and visual is just astounding. :up: :D

[cloakactive]

Hers a link so you could see the how clean they made the visuals. http://www.robotech.com/gallery/galimage/viewsubcategory.php?subcategoryid=63&firsttime=1

As far as goodies? There liner notes int 8 out the 9 dvds... which is really really impressive. Also there is a a dvd sized holographic cover (just one though)... thats about all it comes with... The package itself is a very slick looking black box, adn the dvd cases and covers are black as well. I like how it was packed, very nice and an overall clean design. :)

[Kizzim]

About the Macross boxes set. Ive been a robotech fan most of my life so i know pretty much about every inch of robotech, i know all the series released as well as what was changed in everything with the exception of Macross the Series. I understand that Robotech: Macross used part of the original Super Dimensional Fortress: Macross which is the real title of the series. What my question is, is how much more content is there in the original macross series? How much isnt shown on the american version? Does the American version start off at one point and then finish out, or is there alot missing? Can someone who has seen the new revision explain to me the differences?

[cloakactive]

Originally posted by Kizzim
About the Macross boxes set. Ive been a robotech fan most of my life so i know pretty much about every inch of robotech, i know all the series released as well as what was changed in everything with the exception of Macross the Series. I understand that Robotech: Macross used part of the original Super Dimensional Fortress: Macross which is the real title of the series. What my question is, is how much more content is there in the original macross series? How much isnt shown on the american version? Does the American version start off at one point and then finish out, or is there alot missing? Can someone who has seen the new revision explain to me the differences?

I can't help you out completely, but I own and have completely watched the Macross box set... and I can sorta remember what I do from Macross. I know that there are a couple of scenes that were never shown on Robotech (i think theres a total of 3 or 4 maybe?).... Its basically the edits used for scenese, and the lack of versatility in songs. Robotech repeated the same 2 songs (it feels like one) over and over again. Macross theres like 5 or 6 songs total that Minmay sings (which is a lot easier on your ears ya know?) Besides those scenes, I think its the Music and the fact that you finally get to hear the Japanese Audio track. Umm.... I know thats not a whole lot of help, but I hope that gives you at least a peice of the picture. ^^

[Kizzim]

Hrmmmm, i was going to buy Macross if it had a little bit more than 3 or 4 scenes, from what people were explaining it had a few more episodes difference and thats definatly worth buying the set. But im not going to pay a company 200$ for a redone japanese version of robotech: macross just to have Minmie sing 3 more songs. ADV Films sells this version in english for around 120$, how can this company tack another 80 dollars on it, specially for a sub? Im sure the clean up they did is pretty nice, but still not worth 80 bucks

[cloakactive]

Originally posted by Kizzim
Hrmmmm, i was going to buy Macross if it had a little bit more than 3 or 4 scenes, from what people were explaining it had a few more episodes difference and thats definatly worth buying the set. But im not going to pay a company 200$ for a redone japanese version of robotech: macross just to have Minmie sing 3 more songs. ADV Films sells this version in english for around 120$, how can this company tack another 80 dollars on it, specially for a sub? Im sure the clean up they did is pretty nice, but still not worth 80 bucks

Is there a difference when it comes to the number of eps? I can verify that the Macross box set did have a full 36 eps. I'm not sure how many eps where shown in the Macross Saga of Robotech. But still, One solid Black box looks so much nicer on the shelf then 3 light blue collected volumed from ADV. Plus come on! Who wouldnt' love to hear it in Japanese? From what I understand and first hand saw, there is no Japanese audio track on the ADV releases. :dodgy: And I'm still sorta disgruntled on that fact. :bawling:

[Kizzim]

English Version: Robotech: Macross Saga, has 36 eps also. *sigh*

[isamudyson]

Macross has 36 episodes, but there's alot more to an episode than just video. After Robotech "Force of Arms" it takes a big shift from Macross. There's alot of scenes added into Robotech from Southern Cross to start to tie in Robotech Masters. Needless to say, Macross doesn't have any Southern Cross footage in it, so stuff like Macross character developement was shortened or cut.

Take "Pineapple Salad" from Macross versus "Farewell Big Brother" from Robotech.

**Spoiler*** but it's not the end of the world if you didn't already know




*Spoiler*


Roy dies in both episodes, but there's a major difference in the entire feel of the episode depending on which version you see. Robotech cuts out some scenes with blood and the view of Roy's cockpit which is bloodsoaked, but it has most of the same footage. The big difference is how the characters act and talk in the episode. Lots of small nuances in what they say, which makes their on screen behavior different.

It's mostly the same, but think of it like a bad dub versus a good dub of any anime. It can change the way you view and feel about a series.

Is it worth paying more money for? That's up to the person who's going to pay for it, but it's almost worth it for me to not hear that Robotech narrator talk and talk and talk and talk. Better picture quality, better sound quality, and an unedited story is why I want it.

[Ura]

Well its up to you really Kizzim. I will be getting my hands on a copy as soom as they start shipping them to e-tailers that ship outside the US. Oh and I already have the Robotech Macross Saga.

There are several large differences in the plots too. Remember Macek had to alter Macross to tie it in with 2 completely different series. There were no Robotech Masters, the Valkyries used Nuclear reactors and most importantly there was no protoculture. (I'm pretty sure)

Another reason is Dub Minmay Drives me up the wall. The money is well worth not having to hear another rendition of "Stage Fright"

Another big one is Remember Robotech was a Saturday morning cartoon. Therefore there was a fair bit of sanitization of violence that went on. I can remember that quite a bit was cut.

Couple that with remastered video and original audio and to me the sets wirth it.

[jackal]

Well the closest thing I can get my hands on is the asian release (which I'll hopefully pick up on Tuesday for about $70US :D ) but the downside I'm guessing would be the not as good as US version quality and hopefully it has understandable english subs...

Other stuff that I think were cut out from Robotech (again, nothing major) were just the more violent scenes during combat and slight nudity or people in bed with each other (doing nothing onscreen of course) but it's been a very long time since I saw Macross so I can't really remember it.

If you like Robotech, then stick to that and get the current release that's out, all the other little stuff wouldn't really be worth it if you're not a die hard fan of Macross anyway. But as for me, I can't wait to get it.

[Ura]

I have that Release Jackal. The Video Quality is actually way above the Robotech release. Subs reek of Engrish though