My Anime shopping list

[NexusSheep]

I'm very new to the Anime scene, but I like what I have seen so far. So after reading numerous reviews at DVDTimes and IMDb, I have decided to buy the following Anime titles:

1) Akira: Special Edition
2) Grave of the Fireflies
3) Kiki's Delivery Service
4) My Neighbour Totoro
5) My Neighbours the Yamadas
6) Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
7) Perfect Blue
8) Princess Mononoke
9) Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend and of the Demon Womb

Are there any in that list that I should not waste money on? Conversely, am I missing any classic must-buys? (BTW, I already have Blood: The Last Vampire and Ghost in the Shell). Wherever my budget allows, I plan on purchasing Japanese R2 versions. I'm assuming they are the best versions, so correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for any advice. ;)

[Sputnik]

Welcome to the forums :)

I'll move this to the flashily titled DVD and Movie Forum to which your topic is more suited :)

Moving......... :p

[NexusSheep]

Sorry mate, that's the second time I've posted in the wrong forum! :o I'll get the hang of it one day....

[Brian Blessed Badger]

1) Akira: Special Edition


Essential - get the R1 2 disc version


2) Grave of the Fireflies
3) Kiki's Delivery Service
4) My Neighbour Totoro
5) My Neighbours the Yamadas


All except 2) are only out on Japanese R2 (30-40 quid each)


6) Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind


not out for ages yet


7) Perfect Blue


You can get the R2 cheap and it's no better/worse than the R1


8) Princess Mononoke


Essential - Either the R1 or the UK R2 are fine


9) Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend and of the Demon Womb


R1 is the way to go

I'd consider all of the above apart for Urotsuk - and you may want to make sure that you really want the Ghibli discs (bearing in mind the price). I'm sure Kanedaa'll be along in a minute with more info

Phil

[kanedaa]

Hi again NexusSheep.

Not doing to well with your placement of topics eh :D

Anyways, i'll offer some advice on each and every title best I can...

Akira - Get the R1 2-disc SE, the Tin is a desirable item but it getting a tad costly. The R2 French and R4 versions are both looking to be lacking in extras, would assume the R2 UK version would be the same while the R2 Japanese disc contains a tasty DD5.1 Japanese Audio track but will most likely lose English subs on most of the extra features...plus the exact nature of the extras will be unknown until its realease - but unless you're a MAJOR fan I doubt the almost £70 asking price will be worth it!!

Ghibli Titles - Nausicaa sadly is not yet available but make sure you buy it when its released :) R2 Japanese is the best choice for all the titles you mentioned, and the only for all but Grave of the Fireflies.

Perfect Blue - R1 and R2 are the same AFAIK, both feature a Non-Anamorphic transfer (quite good though). The forthcoming R4 will hopefully change all that. There is a Jap release on CDJapan, looks to be old though and possibly OOP - no idea what its like.

Princess Monononoke - Handle this Ghibli title separately from the others....Probably the best all round buy will be the UK R2 released Oct 22nd PROVIDING it has literal subs & the branching intro/ending (and it probably will have these). The Jap R2 is looking very nice BUT literal subs are sadly unlikely (but you never know) and due to the extra cost this is really only for major fans...

Urotsukidoji - Probably best picking up the R1 Perfect Collection which is the original uncut episodic version of Urotsukidoji - although that set does have its downfalls. Otherwise the R1 film releases are your best bet.

Out of all those above I personally owned Perfect Blue but sold it on - good film but didn't quite work for me, although a good R4 would make me re-consider and give it another go. Urotsukidoji I wouldn't bother with - i'm intrigued by the uncut versions (only seen the hacked UK releases on VHS) but its just not a very good series/film IMO....

Other titles...?

Wings of Honneamise - wait for the R4 and pray they do it right.

erm, loads of other stuff but it mostly consists of Anime Series and titles not available on DVD now or in the foreseeable future....

I'll leave it there - but if you're interested in more titles i'm sure a few others on these forums will help out and i'll contribute again a little later :)

dave.

[NexusSheep]

Thanks for the breakdown, Phil. Much appreciated.

And Dave, what can I say? Gosh, what a thoroughly, bloody helpful chap! (In my best Tim-nice-but-dim voice). :D

[kaneda]

Pick up Macross Plus vol 1+2 and Kenshin OAV 1+2 + movie (aka Samurai X *ack.. cough splutter*) from one of the Oz suppliers will only cost you about £45.... wow only the same price as 1 Ghibli :D

Avoid Overfiend unless you enjoy tentacle sex :rolleyes:

Please Save My Earth is an old Classic that i've only just remembered

Most of the other stuff are series and become a tad expensive unless you get the Oz versions

Oh and not everyones cup of tea but stylishly done even if they had to butcher the story X the movie

[NexusSheep]

I've just ordered R1 Akira: SE from *********, but only because Play had sold out.

It's the first time I've used *********; I wonder how long it will take before I actually see the thing on my door mat? By the weekend? By Christmas? God, I hope I don't get hit by Customs. Bunch of bloodsuckers.

[mixalot]

Any idea where i can get my neighbour totoro from?

[NexusSheep]

Originally posted by mixalot
Any idea where i can get my neighbour totoro from?

Try www.cdjapan.co.jp or www.amotokyo.com

I have a feeling CDJapan are cheaper, but I could be wrong. These are the only two sites I know of, but there could be others (Kanedaa...?) < This guy will sort you out, make no mistake. ;)

[kanedaa]

conveniently using NexusSheep's profile I pulled up an old post (about 2 days old) of his that I replied to regarding R2 Japanese suppliers - and even more conveniently I used Totoro as a price example :)

so my work is done :D here (http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24815)

my alter-ego - Kaneda - very rightly suggested kenshin (known as Samurai X on R1/R4 dvd) Trust & Betrayal - amazing stuff for around £10 each at Devoted. I've not seen the movie although its on my list.

dave.

[Kit_Taylor]

Princess Mononoke is great, I hate most anime but I really liked this one. If you're buying R1 don't get the canadian Atlantis Alliance release that Play247.com stock as it features more grain and print damage than the US version.

Urotsukidoji is intriguing, as the UK version is cut by more trhan an hour compared to the unedited R1 Perfect Collection. With all it's violence, "force power" battles and imaginative demon rape scenes it's intriguing as fantasmagoria, but it's very trashy and not that well animated.

I'm not sure if this violates the T&Cs but you can find out what's been cut by having a rummage over at Melonfarmers.co.uk.

[Dr_Fruitbat]

You do need...........

Fist Of The North Star

(be prepared to pay big bucks though, it's oop)

[kaneda]

Originally posted by kanedaa

my alter-ego - Kaneda - very rightly suggested kenshin (known as Samurai X on R1/R4 dvd) Trust & Betrayal - amazing stuff for around £10 each at Devoted. I've not seen the movie although its on my list.

dave.

The movie is quite good but not really in the same class as OVA or the Kyoto Story arc from the t.v series...

All i can say is Madman are releasing the t.v series in Oz so it's time everyone started saving pennies!! Action, Adventure, comdey.....

All i need now is the new series to round of the 3rd story arc.

[Roberto]

I don't mean to be contriversal (sp?). But i'm not going to buy the R1 version :eek: why?

Well, the tin is practicly impossible to get now. And even the normal version is £23

The R2 version is in PAL and only £15, The only extra that i'll miss is the doc on the music, THE MUSIC!. It's really not that important, unlike the presentation.

[Budge]

If you're still not convinced about the Ghibli films, there's a very nice (if a little short) article about their output in this months Sight & Sound.

Doesn't explain why Fireflies isn't coming out with the rest of the Studio Ghibli Collection DVDs tho? Does another company have the rights?

[Roberto]

Hey i saw at amazon (R1) if you get Ghost in a shell you also planabor 1 (sp?) for cheap.

Never heard of it, is it any good??

[jimmy_b]

Originally posted by Roberto
Hey i saw at amazon (R1) if you get Ghost in a shell you also planabor 1 (sp?) for cheap.

Never heard of it, is it any good??

If you mean Patlabor 1, I would recommend this title together with Patlabor 2 & and Ghost in a Shell of course :D

[ToffeeCrisp]

All of the studio ghibli titles you listed are currently being shown at the barbican in london as part of a "...comprehensive retrospective of the work of studio ghibli..."

This is running from mid-october to mid-november.

Needless to say I've got some tickets booked :-)

[Budge]

I really wish I could justify taking a couple of weeks off work, moving into a hotel in London for a fortnight, and watching Miyazaki movies all day..

But I cant.....


I think....

:D

[shlunk]

Has Ninja Scroll been mentioned yet? I definitely recommend that - much swordswishing fun etc

[Ruskins]

The Complete Cowboy Bebop Box Set, when its out that is, got the first disk of this to see if it was any good and i have to say its some of the best anime ive seen.

[kanedaa]

Bebop Set (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005QCW4/qid=1003432869/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_7_1/103-3373669-2330234/thedvdforums-20) is 20th November



dave.

[Ruskins]

$180 !!?? OUCH

.....there goes my student loan.....

[Roberto]

A clip of Princess Mononoke was shown on Film2001. It looked very grainy, it this how the film looks?

[kanedaa]

Originally posted by Roberto
A clip of Princess Mononoke was shown on Film2001. It looked very grainy, it this how the film looks?

not sure if you're referring to the film or DVD, but either way the clips on Film 2001 were very poor quality and it looks far better than that....

great show from Jonathan Ross though :)

dave.

[Roberto]

That's a relief :p thanx dave

[Brunnen-G]

Just to be smug and rub it in a bit :p i managed to get the Cowboy Bebop set preordered for an excellent price:

DVD Cowboy Bebop: Perfect Collection (6 Pk) $108.56
DVD Bad Taste (2 Pk) $13.17
DVD Princess Mononoke (japanimation) $17.27
DVD Lord Of the Rings $10.57
Subtotal: $149.57
Shipping: $18.00
Tax: $0.00
Total: $167.57

Thanks to the bargin forum and a 30% off DVD Lair voucher ;) Princess Mononoke arrived a couple of days ago, and the rest are either on their way or not yet released. I'm happy with the deal ;)