Forum - View topicThe Mike Toole Show - Best of Bandai
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BonnKansan
 Posts: 116 |
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Thanks for mentioning Zegapain, one of my favorites that I discovered renting through Netflix a few years ago. I happily preordered the Anime Legends collection, and was horribly bummed out when it was cancelled. Went ahead and paid regular price for all 6 disks when v4 was briefly available at RightStuf. Hopefully one day someone will discover the dragon's lair where the missing volumes 4 & 6 are hoarded
Got most of what I want from Bandai already, though tempted to get Toward the Terra, if only for the Keiko Takemiya interviews. |
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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While Gundam was never a massive seller over here, I still wish Bandai had been able to push out Turn A before the exit. Chances are Gundam is going to be directly handled by Sunrise, so that means any further releases are going to follow the hyper expensive Japanese release pattern. Which is also sad, since ZZ, X and Victory will never show up over here, since those three shows are kind of Gundam's lowpoint.
Last edited by FaytLein on Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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deathfromabove1993
Posts: 120 Location: Chicago, IL |
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I only have a few of Bandai's releases in my collection. (Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain and Gundam Unicorn Part 1 on DVD).
I just wish I had more time buy more of their catalog. But hopefully they will be picked up soon. I've always was curious about Zegapain and I saw an episode back when I used to watch fansubs. But I never did anything. Then, when I realized that Bandai put it out, I was too late and volume 4 had gone OOP. As for most of their catalog, I really hope Zegapain and Galaxy Angel get rescued. (Just saw that show, I really enjoyed it  ).
Also, I really hope that Star Driver gets picked up and gets a dub. I was so disappointed that show never got a dub. Last edited by deathfromabove1993 on Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Kyjin
 Posts: 126 Location: Los Angeles |
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Favorite Bandai release hands down has to be the Special Editions for Code Geass. I was obsessed (still am) with the series when it was being released via fansubs, and put down a preorder on the first special edition disc as soon as they were announced. They really went all out for season 1: dubbed drama cds, soundtracks, and manga added in with the dvds, as well as the gorgeous box with the first volume. R2 didn't get quite as much love, but I still grabbed the special editions for the manga.
My other favorite Bandai release has to be Vision of Escaflowne. I watched the single discs in high school since my library had them, and grabbed the Anime Legends edition when it was released. (I also found the Anime Legend edition of the film, with all the extras, at Best Buy later that year. Great buy!) At this point I'm looking to pick up Planetes, Haruhi S2, and the Haruhi film before they all disappear. I may go for Star Driver as well, though I won't be too sad if I miss that one. |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5434 Location: Iscandar |
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I enjoyed your column a lot Mike. I have all the Bandai Entertainment releases I wanted to buy. My favorite release is Code Geass because it is one of my favorite series, but I like the way Cowboy Bebop and both Gundam Z sets were packaged; it saves a lot of shelf space, as opposed to singles.
I will wait for an R1 release of Cowboy Bebop on BD, but I am willing to buy the BD Japanese release if Bandai Visual adds the English dub. EDIT: I have several Bandai Entertainment releases that I really like, but the cancellation of Turn A Gundam still hurts. That is the first title I want either FUNimation or Sentai to rescue. Last edited by Angel M Cazares on Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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N.R.
Posts: 232 |
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I watched Saber Marionette J in 2008...and I like it!
The story is quite simple, but it's the symbolic value that made it a big success. Simply said the people in Saber Marionette J are all men and the only woman left alive is orbiting in space. The entire show circles around the idea that man (otaku) are scared to interact with real woman and have turned to their Marrionette (which represent their 2D otaku girlfriends) for love. I don't know why people hate the series and the second season was better in every way. I also find it offensive that you say Outlaw Star is ugly and don't bother to say that Planetes is butt ugly. Man, that series looked terrible! I know it was a "realistic style" but it was a realistically ugly style. 
There another problem in the K-ON release that Mike didn't mention. If I remember correctly a song was removed from one of the first episodes. Either way Bandai handled this franchise very poorly. But Mike, you have to be carefull. Just because these girls formed a club and there are no boys in it doesn't make it a "boyless harem". It's just a warm and funny show about girls being girls. I'd love to see a Scrapped Princess Blu-ray release. The Bandai release had issues and it's been OOP for far too long. A BD release of Lucky Star is a day one for me as well. Cowboy Bebop I honestly wouldn't buy. It's a great series, but I can't seem to get myself to watch it again even though I saw it when it originaly aired. Maybe if they release a BD ten years from now I'll think about it. Wait...aren't we forgetting something? Bandai also released .hack//Sign!! I reckon that was a huge success and a very big title for them. They had special editions for each release with awesome extra items. And it's a great series, regardless of how the next series turned out. You should have mentioned it! Last edited by N.R. on Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Surrender Artist
 Posts: 3264 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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Oh, I will miss Bandai. As I look back, a lot titles that have been important to me were Bandai properties.
I adore Cowboy Bebop, which makes it odd that I don't own it. It's and Project A-ko are ultimately why I'm here. (So, there, now you know whose fault it is) I sure hope that somebody licenses the Blu-ray release and puts the English dub on it; damn thing'd sell like hot cakes laced with cocaine. I'd jump on it in a heartbeat. Back in high school, there were four shows that my friends and I would always end up watching: Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, The Big O and Trigun. That's a three out of four for Bandai. I can still remember the time that my friends, whom I would ride home with, roared into my quiet, whitebread suburban 'neighborhood' blaring the theme to Outlaw Star, the time we all got together to watch the premiere of the second season of The Big O at a friend's house or walking into the beginning of my Sophomore year and finding out that my friends were as amazed by Cowboy Bebop as I was. (Gundam Wing had been a big deal when we were in Junior High School, but all'd been quiet on the anime front for a while by high school, so I wasn't sure if they'd fall for it as I had) Goddamn, it makes a fellow sentimental. I'm trying to put together a last hurrah order of Bandai products as I write this. It's proving hard to pick and choose editions (I don't really like that ugly 'Anime Legends' banner, even though those are the cheapest options) and I keep finding things that I didn't expect to be such nuisances. I had quite wanted to see the Galaxy Angel shows after Mike Toole's recommendation, but that doesn't seem so likely now. The only complete series that TRSI has is Galaxy Angel X. But hey, they got nineteen copies of volume one of Galaxy Angel Rune! The funny thing about Saber Marionette J is that it was the first full series that I ever owned. It shocks me to realize that; I'm not sure what I was thinking. To tell the truth, I still see some things to like in the original, although rewatching the whole franchise (Because I bought this dumb thing) when I got back into anime last year almost killed my interest. The first series is probably south of mediocre, but propped up by some wistful nostalgia in my eyes; J Again is lousy and J to X is second verse, same as the first, but covered a Nickelback tribute band. I'll be an honest heretic and admit that I've never watched in Japanese. I have a real soft spot for Maggie Blue O'Hara as Lime and Venus "Blackarachnia" Terzo as Tiger. (The latter, especially, I think gives a genuinely good performance) I've never seen Saber Marionette R, but from what I can tell... it's weird. One thing that does bother me, looking back as I am, is that Bandai made some annoying packaging choices. Too many of their series never got nice, simple artboxes, but had weird packaging with things that I consider dumb gimmicks like figures and CDs. The only figure that I own is Pacifica Casull from when I cobbled a set of Scrapped Princess together earlier this year and had to settle for the figure box version of volume four. It keeps falling apart, so I mostly keep it for the sake of macabre jokes. Still, Bandai loomed large in my fandom. It's a shame that they had to fall down, but, so it goes. So it goes. Last edited by Surrender Artist on Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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CrownKlown
 Posts: 1762 |
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I dont get the gundam comments. It had to be a pretty massive seller considering how many rereleases it got.
Gundam Wing had singles, a complete operations set, anime legends part 1 and part 2, and even endless waltz had a toonami and special edition release. Gundam Seed, Destiny, OO, also had set releases followed by anime legend releases. Then you had at least 3 or 4 other shows getting released in their entirety with the original, 0083, zeta, and I believe 08th MS team, not to mention gundam SD. No company would release that much if it didn't sell. Regarding Gundam Age that is not a fair representative of Gundams popularity. Nobody likes it, not even in Japan. It just comes off as a really cartoony show with the kid like character design, so its really off putting. And it also fails in a lot of other categories. Unicorn is an ova series, that also not a fair representation. When they release the next serious Gundam ala Wing, Seed, or OO it will probably eventually make it over here. And just to put in my 2 cents on Future Cyber Formula and Saver Marionette. They are not bad series hence they ran that long, future cyber even has 1 or 2 ovas that never made it here. Combine it with the fact anime did not come out in the same quantities is does now, you probably have 40 plus shows released each year nowadays, and there just wasnt that quantity in those days, so what came out was probably licensed. Quite frankly if you put either of these titles into Media Blasters or CPM or Manga Entertainment library they would be top tier shows. And for the record, Crest of the Stars is easily the best series Bandai was ever blessed to release |
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050795
 Posts: 230 |
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Toward the Terra is a great show I really recommend it. I bought it after seeing only the first couple of episodes (I rarely buy a show without watching all of it first) and I wasn't disappointed. I thought I already had all the Bandai titles I wanted, but after reading this I may have a few more shows to buy....my poor wallet. |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1327 |
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A great list from Mike. A couple other special titles that deserve mention:
Kurokami-This is one of those sci-fi/fighting action shows that starts out cliched, but once you stick with it it really does broaden and expand into a compelling and intriguing story (the concept at the very beginning was enough so on its own), and it ends with an epic and heartfelt bittersweet conclusion that suprisingly touched me. It was Bandai's historic attempt at dubbing a show the very same time they streamed it, and it felt like it took just forever to come to DVD. I'm glad they were able to shortly before they folded. Geneshaft-From the director of Escaflowne, this may be one of those series that none-too-subtly sends the message about a male-dominated world being too violent and thus they had to have more women, but I still really like this show for its intriguing sci-fi world setting and its kickass CGI imagery that I still don't see something similar too much anywhere else. My Hime/My Otome-I'll be honest and say that it's been a while since I've seen it, so I don't remember too much (the perfect excuse to revisit it soon!). I just recall that the first series was very much fun, and the second one was especially interesting for being an alternative world where we see the same characters but with slightly different personalities. And the boxes Bandai designed for both series were just artistically creative, what with the character dioramas and the inner scrapbook imagery, the kind of release that was one of a kind and was never done again by anybody. |
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agila61
 Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
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Ah, a stroll through some of my favorites from my Netflix DVD renting years ... F.L.A.G., Cowboy Bebop and Planetes at the top of the list. And Scrapped Princess (noted at the outset) and Submarine No. 6 in a tier right behind.
Cowboy Bebop and Planetes are available at RightStuf, but all I can see from F.L.A.G. are three of the four singles. And all there is from Scrapped Princess is a single of Vol. 4 with an included figure.
This |
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BonnKansan
Posts: 116 |
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Oh yeah, it's definitely a great show, I enjoyed watching it and the interviews when I rented it from Netflix a few years ago. Didn't grab me quite as much as Zegapain to make it a "must buy NOW" though - I've enjoyed watching a lot of series that I didn't ultimately feel the need to own. At least it has an Anime Legends collection, so I don't need to worry about missing volumes as much.
Yeah, I'm tempted to get that for the Shannon Cassul figure. He doesn't get enough love 
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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I liked Saber Marionette J...but it was probably the fifth anime I watched so just the whole set of aesthetics and conventions that were new to me kept my interest. Even then I could tell it wasn't anything special.
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jacksonh
Posts: 45 |
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I must be in the minority since I own very few Bandai titles (Anime Legends of both Code Geass seasons) and I'm not really interested in anything else they have.
Saw all of Cowboy Bebop years ago but didn't care for it. Wolf's Rain looks interesting and have been told good things by friends and reliable reviewers. I might blind-buy that though IIRC it's already OOP but I have seen some copies for a reasonable price online. |
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Chagen46
 Posts: 4377 |
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I should go into standup comedy for stating objective truths? TTGL vastly outclasses any anime ever made since its airing. Pn a scale of one to ten, it's in the thousands. That's just a fact. |
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