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NEWS: Funimation Licenses Record of Lodoss War OVA, TV Series


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Vannil



Joined: 14 Jun 2016
Posts: 240
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:13 am Reply with quote
I did not see this license getting revived. I'll probably get if it is a decent price.
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Triltaison



Joined: 03 Jul 2011
Posts: 797
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:19 am Reply with quote
FINALLY. Excited to update my copy of the OVA after all this time, but very surprised that it's Funi doing it. Thanks for that!
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Ouran High School Dropout



Joined: 28 Jun 2015
Posts: 440
Location: Somewhere in Massachusetts, USA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:29 am Reply with quote
Shocked I can die happy now.

After a decade in obscurity, Record of Lodoss War returns! It was one of the very first series I owned complete--on VHS!--and the OVA still stands as the best example of western fantasy (played straight) in anime history. Just hearing the OVA's OP again will be a pleasure!

DAY ONE.
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Blankslate



Joined: 30 Jun 2015
Posts: 425
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 7:00 am Reply with quote
Wow if Funi releases The Tatami Galaxy, Satoshi Kon's library, and somehow gets the Macross license, then pretty much everything I've ever wanted will be easily available for purchase.
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invalidname
Contributor



Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2484
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 7:03 am Reply with quote
Blankslate wrote:
Wow if Funi releases The Tatami Galaxy, Satoshi Kon's library, and somehow gets the Macross license, then pretty much everything I've ever wanted will be easily available for purchase.

That's a mighty big "if".
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3573
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 7:10 am Reply with quote
I loved the OVA back in the days. But I also remember only ever getting past the first 3-4 episodes of the TV series. Would the latter have gotten better later on?
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NJ_



Joined: 31 Oct 2009
Posts: 3115
Location: Wallington, NJ
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 7:11 am Reply with quote
Here's a look at what the Japanese BDs for the OVA look like.

hissatsu wrote:
Lodoss has always been in need of new masters - there have been things in serious need of fixing since the original release that they've never bother to correct. I distinctly remember than even in multi-generation VHS fansub copies from the early nineties, you could still easily see that the OP looked much worse for several episodes after the first (See episode 2 screenshots for 3-5). Several episodes looked rather "muddy" at best. But no matter how many different releases it got (Original VHS and LD, LD box, DVD box and singles) it never got a new telecine. None of the releases look particularly good - no component masters ever. And as for CPM's "remaster" - No, just no. Well, it took more than 20 years, but it finally got what it needed.

This release looks excellent. Massive improvements in detail, color, everything. Film grain has probably undergone some reduction, but it appears to have been done with a light touch - no signs of clumping and the grain is still quite visible. Other than more exorbitant than usual Kadokawa pricing, I have no complaints. The 195 page color book is nicer than what's usually included as well.

DVD screenshots are from the R2J DVD box from some years back (which I'll be keeping for the soundtrack CDs).

(DVD screenshots bicubic resized to 1440x1080, BD screenshots cropped to 1440x1080)

01 R2JDVD | BD
02 R2JDVD | BD
03 R2JDVD | R2JDVD EP. 2 | BD
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As for why the TV series is DVD-only, because there's no Blu-ray in Japan yet and as for why FUNi got it, Kadokawa package deal.
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GeorgeC



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 795
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 7:17 am Reply with quote
At this point in time, I'd give up holding my breath that Macross is coming over here any time soon.

Enjoy what IS available in the West -- Macross II, Macross Plus, and the occasional re-release of the original series on its own or as part of Robotech.

They're more likely to actually PRODUCE a decent Robotech live-action film than get that license out of jams.

Besides, at least half the Macross sequel series aren't very good.
The only Macross I care to own besides the original series (hopefully restored next time in HD) is Macross Plus and the 1984 DYRL movie with Flashback 2012 (as an extra; it's not worth paying for separately for a half-hour remix music videos with maybe 5 minutes new animation).
The rest of it is very forgettable or plain garbage with possible exception being Macross Frontier. Delta and 7 were kids' series designed to sell records and promote idols... At least there was a point to having Minmay in the original series!!!
***********

Great to see Lodoss finally picked up again!

I kind of wondered why MB didn't go through with it but it could be related to the general disarray the anime industry was still going through in 2010. At least time, we're guaranteed a remaster on the OVA series for the fat lot of good that'll do!

People love Lodoss for the sprawling storyline and character but like many classic anime series it's not particularly well-animated. It's actually WRETCHEDLY animated and no amount of color-correction and hi-def video squee-gee is going to change that. The color are just going to look brighter!

Keep that in mind if you own EITHER of CPM's DVD releases.

Of the two main Lodoss series, the OVA's the one worth owning. The best things I can about the Heroic Knight TV series is that has a great opening song AND at least Parn and Deedlit and are the main couple for the first half of the TV series. I didn't care for a lot of the second half and frankly all the new characters had weak names, too.

Seriously, I have a feeling Funimation was required to acquire the TV series if they wanted the OVA. Anybody who's seen the TV series knows there's no reason other than being a completeness freak to actually pick it up!

Oh, and there's more Lodoss beyond those two. There are at least two Crystania spin-offs and one SD Lodoss War anime short I think. Crystania has a completely different graphic novel and is set so far apart from Lodoss that you really don't have to see Lodoss to appreciate it since they barely mention Lodoss and what happened there in the Crystania series from what I can remember! Crystania was so "memorable" on its own that I barely remember and am fairly certain it was one of the anime DVDs I traded online for store credit. Yeah, it so good I forgot it!
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2353
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 7:18 am Reply with quote
Good times. The TV series is admittedly middling, but the OVA is great.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18483
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 7:41 am Reply with quote
Hopefully the video quality on the DVD release will be improved. I have the original boxed set, which I rewatched for the first time in ages last year, and it's awful.

And yeah, the animation on the OVA series sucks but even amongst the recent group of fantasy series clearly based on RPG mechanics, no series gives you a better "dice rolling behind the screen" feel than that one does.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 8:15 am Reply with quote
The best example we have for something being upgraded with a new master, the difference was night and day.
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LuckyAstei



Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 228
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 8:55 am Reply with quote
GeorgeC wrote:
Delta and 7 were kids' series designed to sell records and promote idols... At least there was a point to having Minmay in the original series!!!


If you had said Frontier and Delta you'd be right but 7 was more reusing old Macross II music plus new stuff from the rock band Humming Bird under the series focus'd band Fire Bomber hell the fact that there's no original background music (even that was a reused track from Macross Plus) created for 7 it was all reused vocal tracks make it a nightmare to license. The song issue is also a big hurdle with Frontier and Delta considering all the artists involved with each.
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1853
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 9:58 am Reply with quote
LuckyAstei wrote:
The song issue is also a big hurdle with Frontier and Delta considering all the artists involved with each.


Macross Frontier's music is all on Flying Dog Records and written by either Yoko Kanno or her associates (Yuuho Iwasato wrote some of the lyrics). No licensing drama at all.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4159
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 10:28 am Reply with quote
Alright, the Record of Lodoss War OVA, the only anime series I know I watched but have no idea how... and the TV series which I actively passed on... Woodchuck went through enough trouble, let sleeping thieves sleep or whatever you call it. spoiler[Grand theft body], that's the thing.

But...

Quote:
Funimation is releasing the OVA series on a combo Blu-ray Disc and DVD, and the television anime series on DVD only. Funimation will release both projects in one box set on July 18.


That's very... precise, calculating, demeaning... what word am I looking for here.... patronizing, that's the one. Guess the Escaflowne debacle made them a little confused on how license rescues work, on how to make them work. Also, not a fan of the term "box set" these days as it means I have to pay for something I don't want... in this case, an entire series on DVD.
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firedragon54738



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 3113
Location: wisconsin
PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 11:02 am Reply with quote
Sweet now I can get a better copy of Chronicles of the Heroic Knight
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