Forum - View topic

First Gundam DVD question.

As for the dub, it should be noted that the original Japanese voice tracks were not properly preserved, and have been lost, so the English dub is what's available (barring Geraldo Rivera finding the master tapes in a basement vault).

The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1979 and the first half of 1980. By the end of 2007, each episode of the original TV series averaged a sales figure of 80928 copies, including all medias it was published in (VHS, LD, DVD, etc.).[1] The first DVD box set sold over 100,000 copies in the first month of release, from 21 December, 2007 to 21 January, 2008.[2]

In other words, Bandai Entertainment could probably license the remasters and release bilingual discs, but they won't, because they don't think they can profit much from a show from 1979.

In other words, Bandai Entertainment could probably license the remasters and release bilingual discs, but they won't, because they don't think they can profit much from a show from 1979.

Sam-I-Am wrote:

As for the dub, it should be noted that the original Japanese voice tracks were not properly preserved, and have been lost, so the English dub is what's available (barring Geraldo Rivera finding the master tapes in a basement vault).

Someone's been pulling your leg, as the series did eventually get a DVD release in Japan:

Wikipedia wrote:

The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1979 and the first half of 1980. By the end of 2007, each episode of the original TV series averaged a sales figure of 80928 copies, including all medias it was published in (VHS, LD, DVD, etc.).[1] The first DVD box set sold over 100,000 copies in the first month of release, from 21 December, 2007 to 21 January, 2008.[2]

Or see here: http://www.gundam.jp/

On May 30th 2006, Bandai Entertainment re-released the English dub of the TV series in a 10 volume DVD set.(3) There was no Japanese audio track included, apparently because Yoshiyuki Tomino felt that the original mono mix was in too poor of a condition to use(4) However, in 2007 the original series was released on DVD in Japan, which sold over 100 thousand copies within a month's time from 21 December, 2007 to 21 January, 2008.(5)

The movies were released again in North America on May 7, 2002 in DVD format, available separately or in a boxed set. But these are available only with Japanese audio with English subtitles. This DVD boxset is identical to the 20th anniversary release of the movie compilation DVDs. The original voice cast members rerecorded their lines with the exception of those who were deceased. The 20th anniversary release is digitally remastered but many of the sound effects are replaced, most notably the futuristic gun sounds being replaced by louder machine gun sound effects. Also, the music soundtrack, while not remixed is rearranged and in some cases removed from some scenes. The vocal songs are rearranged also, especially in the closing credits of the second and third movies.