Forum - View topicREVIEW: Star Blazers 2199 Blu-Ray 1
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Barbobot
 Posts: 460 |
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The price right now is the only thing keeping me from instantly buying this series. $45 for only 4 subtitled episode is a bit hard for me to swallow. If it wasn't for that I'd buy it in a heartbeat as I absolutely loved this series from start to finish. It reminded me a lot of Battlestar Galactica as I was watching it, an excellent cast of characters on a journey through space looking for the salvation of humanity.
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5507 Location: Iscandar |
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I really appreciate that Mike criticized Voyager Entertainment USA for having renamed this release Star Blazers 2199. I decided to import the Japanese BD's because they are subtitled and having the R1 release renamed Star Blazers really bugged me. I am a big fan of the original Space Battleship Yamato and love 2199, but I refuse to support a company that bastardizes the names of what I like.
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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If anything, it'd be worth waiting for a possible boxset and lower price. I love that the series added in more women and gave them actual stuff to do. While also being progressive, it gives me more nice stuff to ogle on screen aside from the ships.
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RHorsman
 Posts: 151 Location: Loch Loman |
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This is something I've been trying to figure out risk management on. It feels like the series is unlikely to sell well at this price point and in single disc releases. Which means there's a good chance that eventually the discs will be available on clearance for a song. So hey, wait for that... But that means running the risk of that one randomly scarce volume that doesn't have any inventory for clearance and will eventually cost as much used as all the full priced individual releases together. So hey, buy them all at release to avoid that... But that runs the risk that everyone thinks the same thing and the series ends up being really successful and getting a lower priced boxed set release, maybe even with exclusive features, so... ARRGH I thought we were done with this nonsense a decade or so ago |
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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I've been very interested in Yamato for a while now, but never got around to watching it for whatever reason. I'm glad to see that it is a high quality adaptation. It doesn't look like I would need to know much about the previous shows either, so that's a plus.
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evareigoki
Posts: 18 |
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As one who purchased the Japanese release and who wants to proselytize for the American release, I must ask if the translation used in the Voyager release was the same as the Japanese.
The Japanese release had excellent translation and subtitles; hopefully, Voyager got to (or chose to) use the same trans. Anyone have any idea? |
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GATSU
Posts: 15581 |
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Voyager will keep using the Star Blazers name as long as that Hollywood remake of Yamato is still a possibility. As for the price, it's not that far off from that of the Gundam Unicorn Blu-Rays at Right Stuf, which are currently up to seven volumes and with a shorter running time per disc. So within that context, I guess the Voyager discs are a better deal.
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nightjuan
 Posts: 1473 |
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I think those hoping for a cheaper release or box set down the line are taking a big risk by letting their own wishful thinking get in the way of pragmatism. In this case, I believe it's better to be safe than sorry.
The Japanese are essentially releasing this by themselves after apparently not being able to a find a local partner that would cater to their requirements and/or fund an English dub. Voyager is treating this as a limited release and not making a lot of copies, which means that scarcity is more likely to drive prices up after the fact rather than leading to any sort of clearance. Personally, I think Yamato 2199 is more than good enough to justify paying a slightly higher price than usual. It's a great show and I'm glad that this is a more affordable option than importing the Japanese discs. Especially since it's not like you have to pay for all the volumes at once. Even the cosmetic branding issue of calling it Starblazers 2199 is, frankly, unimportant for me given that the actual subtitles aren't changing any of the names. It's just something on the cover. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8503 Location: Penguinopolis |
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It's really like Voyager Entertainment was trying to get people to not buy this release. Actively warding them off with their horrible, horrible business practices. Firing Tim Eldred was the first in their line of terrible ideas, since he was the greatest ambassador to the US the franchise had. Then they insisted on naming it Starblazers again. Then they didn't give it an English dub, or they made a test dub, but then never did a full one. Then there wasn't any real marketing. Most people are probably surprised that this even exists. Where do you even hear this being talked about? Almost nowhere.
As for the show itself, it's a reasonable remake of the original series, but something is definitely lost. Susumu Kodai, for one. He's supposed to be the main protagonist, but he's been whittled down to mere vehicle for the plot who's barely even a factor in the narrative. He no longer has much of a rivalry with Shima (you're wrong there, Mike, their rivalry is practically nonexistent in 2199), or a relationship with Captain Okita, and there is spoiler[no reunion with Mamoru (he's dead for good)] as a payoff. He's so bland and forgiving, as if to better suit the watered down Japanese youth of today. The show does a much better job fleshing out the Gamilions, making them different from the mustache-twirling sociopaths they were in the 70s, and even adds some much-needed female leads onto the Yamato crew, and I love that they largely kept the original Japanese background music from the original series, as well. But it all comes at the cost of the center of the show, Kodai, and his relationship with the other characters.spoiler[ Even his romance with Yuki Mori is sort of just there for show (though you could argue that's all it ever was).] As for Nishizaki, come on. It was Matsumoto doing most of the work in the original series. Nishizaki's original ideas were terrible, and Matsumoto came along and made them palatable. It's why Nish couldn't get anything working when he parted company with Matsumoto, whereas Matsumoto had an illustrious career outside of Yamato. Matsumoto was always the talent. Last edited by penguintruth on Thu Apr 17, 2014 5:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Sandstar
Posts: 196 |
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Thanks for the spoilers. Anything else you'd like to spoil IN A THREAD FOR DISCUSSING THE FOUR EPISODES? Last edited by Sandstar on Thu Apr 17, 2014 5:46 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8503 Location: Penguinopolis |
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It's a remake of a 40 year old show. The story predates my birth by a decade. |
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ValkyrieZeroZeroOne
 Posts: 434 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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So what? The remake doesn't. Keep anything related to 2199 under spoiler tags. |
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Sandstar
Posts: 196 |
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The part about Kodai's brother is absolutely a spoiler for THIS SHOW. |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8503 Location: Penguinopolis |
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spoiler[Mamoru Kodai's death] is the first thing that happens in this show. The only difference between this show and the original is that spoiler[he doesn't show up again later not dead after all.] I don't know why I have to explain why complaining about spoilers for this is absurd. Nothing I said should be any surprise whatsoever. |
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ValkyrieZeroZeroOne
Posts: 434 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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It's a great review, but there are a couple of inaccuracies I'd like to address.
I'll challenge this piece of the article. spoiler[In the original, yes, the space battleship Yamato was built from the wreck of the IJN Yamato. That's not the case in 2199. Firstly, the original was made before they found the wreck of the ship in 1983, where it was found to have broken up into several pieces. Secondly, the Yamato in 2199 is much larger than its Imperial Japanese Navy namesake at 333m long to the original's 263m (source: http://yamato2199.net/mecha/earth_sn01.html). Even if the original ship were intact, the massive size difference dismisses this possiblity. (A note: this actually was the originally intended length of the ship in the original series, as long as the Tokyo Tower is high; the dimensions of the bridge in the original proportionally match a 333m long Yamato. The decision that the ship must be the same size as the IJN was Nishizaki's.]
I disagree with this as well. spoiler[There was never a love rivalry between Kodai and Shima over Yuki. In one episode in the original series he hinted at being interested, but the only other time he mentions such a thing is in his death scene in Final Yamato. He has a relationship with Teresa of Telezaart in Yamato 2, but other than that there is no focus on any Shima romance in the entire saga. In 2199, Shima's only seems to find Yuki cute in the episodes you're reviewing; he doesn't express any interest in her. Furthermore, Shima and Kodai's rivalry in the original was almost exclusively about tactics and decision making - Kodai constantly wanted to attack the enemy or take action; Shima constantly wanted to avoid battles and be passive]. Other than that, a great review. Having seen the entirety of 2199, I would be amazed if you were disappointed from here on. Last edited by ValkyrieZeroZeroOne on Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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