Forum - View topicThe Mike Toole Show - Let's Talk It OVA
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Swissman
Posts: 768 Location: Switzerland |
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I have the LD of Desert Rose. This anime is special to me because part of the action happens in my hometown Interlaken. Moreover, it is hilarious for me and other swiss fans of anime to see how the japanese imagine a swiss army soldier of higher rank ("Mr. Heineken", complete with sunglasses and a Rambo style knife). |
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Greg Aubry
 Posts: 224 Location: Detroit, MI |
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There's definitely an excitement and excess in the old OVA era that seems to be missing now, but the times have changed and so have the expectations. OVAs used to be markedly superior to TV anime, but the line started to blur in the late '90s. I remember first watching Cowboy Bebop and marveling at it in 1999 or 2000 (whenever the old AnimeVillage VHS tapes started coming out); this was OVA-quality animation in a weekly TV show. Some of those dog fights could almost have been straight out of Macross Plus (which isn't by accident, considering how much of the talent from Macross Plus was involved in Bebop). While a lot of TV shows still show their rough edges and low budgets, the better ones are on par with (or pretty damn close to) what viewers used to get with OVA productions. Viewed through that lens, there are plenty of TV series that carry the tradition of the hyperviolent, brutal OVAs of the '80s and '90s. Attack on Titan, Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne, Cross Ange, etc. OVAs now tend to be anthologies or pseudo-theatrical anime, like Short Peace or Ghost in the Shell Arise. My older OVA on Blu-ray wish list: the Kawajiri library (I'm glad to have Ninja Scroll, at least), Record of Lodoss War, Gunbuster, Giant Robo, Orguss 02, Macross Plus, the cel-animated Appleseed, Riding Bean, Otaku no Video, the list goes on... |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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No doubt it's an OVA if we go by the "home video first" definition. LoGH is much less confusing than the new Yamato 2199, which was released as a movie serial of connected episodes.
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ShaolinWolf
Posts: 96 |
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I never knew there was a Wolfguy anime; I only knew of the manga and the Sonny Chiba adaptation, which miraculously enough, got fansubbed. Not the best of Sonny Chiba's manga-based works - that title would go to Doberman Cop - but there is one bizarre scene where spoiler[Chiba's intestines are falling out but his 'wolf powers' magically re-inserts them back in and his gaping wound is healed. ]
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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I will admit that I enjoyed this column. Man the last half of the 80's and 90's were the days of OVAs. You don't really see many OVAs being made in mass quantity like they did decades ago. Plus, many of the stories were original whereas today they're tied to an already known franchise. I could also say, some even being adapted from stories as well.
I remember quite a bit of these titles. I do own a few of them, but there are some that I may have seen as ads but never knew they existed. Which is why I'm glad that this column exists. Who knows maybe someone at Discotek will take notice and try and bring back some of these titles provided they did have a VHS release in the states. I kind of got into Tenchi years later. I remember when it was airing on CN. It never really drew my attention. But I remember the massive buzz surrounding it. I was shocked to find out later that this series was a 13 episode OVA and not a TV series. Considering the days of anime for me, OVAs maximum number that I had seen were at most 4 or 6. Then the Sci-Fi channel would host the 'Tenchi Muyo the Movie'. I didn't visit this series again until a decades later. Geneon, then Pioneer would go on during that time to try their hand at some odd ventures, like the now never to get off the ground 'Ani-Mayhem', card game (that my "ex"did some illustration work for). Deals were made, incompetence ensued and someone ran off with the money. Oh those were the days. Features like 'Armitage the Polymatrix (not the III), staring Keifer Sutherland and that has-been chick from 'Saved by the Bell's 'Elizabeth Berkley. It would be years later that we would see the original 4-part OVA, with Japanese audio. Yes, it seemed everything was Tenchi. Even down to AIC pretty much applying the house design to everything. I even asked what the hell happened when the company applied other styles, like Toshihiro Hirano, Kenichi Sonoda, Masami Obari, Yasuomi Uematsu, etc... It seemed that after Tenchi, you got a whole host of shows "cloning" the style. El Hazard, a great show. I really enjoyed it. Cool story, great visuals (good budget, that was another thing about OVAs, money could be spent on). I'll admit it had so much potential of being more. It's a shame they ended it where it did. Then here comes the adult OVAs, like Space Opera Agga Ruter, Masquerade aka 'Gosenzo sane'. Again features done by the creator of Tenchi but they just seemed to end on a note, of wanting more. I'll admit the house style made things fun, but after awhile (for me) it was everywhere. Just like Kenji Gotoh, of Nadesico fame, another house style adopted during that time. I never saw Master of Mosquiton but I remember when it was available. Though I have seen Eat-Man. Now there's a title that needs to be rescued. A friend told me about 'Video Girl Ai' as he was a huge fan of Katsura Masakazu. After reading this column, now I may have to consider seeing this title as I had no interest back then. I noticed that you put 'Video Girl Ai', next to 'Iria - Zeiram the Animation. Which is funny since Masakazu was the character designer for the series. I do have to admit the alien had me on edge. Many of these titles that they managed to license for release in the states, of the people I knew that saw them they had done so through the whole pirating scene years before. That was how I got my copy of 'Wolf Guy'. You go to anime con, get connections from someone doing mail order. You contact type out a letter what you want from their catalog and send money. I don't remember the group that I had made purchases from, but this was how I first saw 3 x 3 Eyes and Wolf Guy (as I was big were wolf fan). I never had the chance to finish seeing Wolf Guy. Now I would like to finish. I still have the tape boxed up somewhere. Same with '3 X 3 Eyes'. I had so wanted to finish this series. It took a few years before they finally finished it. Finally we would see a complete release by Geneon only to find out that it wasn't that great to begin with. LOL. But it's a relic of the past and still fun to watch. I still have it on my list of things to watch. Ushio and Tora was another title that ended up on a order list but was later released commercially by ADV. Again, here's a OVA that went for 10 eps. That's the most I'd seen aside from Tenchi. Also, didn't expect to see that title released. There are so many OVA titles missing from this list that folks are still yearning for. You have 'Bastard', but not Combustible Campus Guardress (which has only been seen in low quality trades). We got 'Bubble Gum Crisis' (which started in the 80's) but not Genesis Survivor Gaiarth. I'm actually surprised that Go Nagai's 'Hanappe Bazooka' got a commercial release (as I've only seen and owned this through the mail order system) and yet it's gone from the radar. I would've just assumed it was never licensed until I actually looked. From the list I looked at it seemed a good deal of titles made it here. Of course there are more obscure titles that not many know exist, so tracking them down to add to a list is the hard part. Some people just don't have that type of time and devotion to do it. Then there's the good amount of adult OVAs that have made it, while others are hiding in obscurity. I was kind of surprised when they finally picked up the rest of 'Classroom Reunion'. They released the prequel years after it's sequel. It's a wonder it got a release at all. I hope that one day we do get to see some of these titles again. I happened across Nineteen19 on YT, at the time I came across this column. But yes, the 90's OVA boom is the golden age of what started in the mid 80's and onward. We got quite a bit of great stuff out of those years. But the 90's was the road that paved the way for what we have today. Great column Mike. 
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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I remember Ani-Mayhem. (Thought I still had a full deck lying around somewhere, or maybe it got lost in a move.) One of the few card-craze games you could play solitaire (since I didn't know anyone else who'd heard of the game), but that they only had the OVA world of Tenchi, El-Hazard, A-ko, and some DBZ movies to draw from--and I had no idea who the EH characters were--I can assume a few reasons why it didn't catch on. Even if incompetence didn't ensue, it was just too early to compete with Pokemon. |
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Chrno2
Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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Hmmm... Cool that someone else remembers that card game. I'd be surprised how many other people at least had some of those cards. Yeah, Pokemon is a monster and still holds that crown for a perfect property to market for generations to come. 
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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Cutiebunny
 Posts: 1747 |
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I loves me some Tenchi. My local PBS station aired the dub in 1996 and I stayed up late (and hid it from my parents) to watch it as it aired on Sunday, and they didn't want me up past 8p.
I was one of those kids who saved up her allowance to buy the $40 for 3 episode VHS tapes they had back then. I really liked Pretty Samy (I refuse to call it "Magical Project S" and yes, it was spelled "Samy"). I was always confused how Sasami could be Tenchi's sister in the OVAs and then be an only child with completely different parents in the TV series. Pixie Misa was an absolute trip, and I loved how, if I recall correctly, the second OVA had her teaming up with Microsoft to take over the world. I'm not quite sure whether I should be saddened or amused by the fact that, almost 20 years later, we're back where we were in terms of anime pricing, with certain companies like Aniplex and Toei releasing many of their series of $40 for 2 episodes. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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Chrno2
Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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Okay, I looked it up and yeah you're right. Which is really surprising that it came out on laserdisc in the states. Because that was a pretty obscure title just like anything else. Plus, at the time it came out during AIC's early rein. You had Iczer-1, BBC, Riding Bean and Gall Force, Good Morning Althea and Dangaioh during the the mid to late 80's. Bubble Gum Crisis, Gall Force and a whole host of other OVAs finishing up the 80s to the 90's. Iczer-3 and Gaiarth working their way into the earlier half. Iczer-3 was another title that was released on laser disc by CPM. I was pretty surprised this was released on this medium before it was re-released years later by MB. I bought this title through mail order. Well, again this was a time where you never imagined that anime would one day become the mainstream beast it has become now. But wow, never knew that 'Gaiarth' was released here. I always wanted to see it. Though it's funny that the 'Ten Little Gall Force Omake' featured characters from BBC and Gaiarth. It was produced during the late 80's. Gaiarth came out in the 90's. I wonder if they were introducing them as part of a new project coming down the pipeline. |
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EricJ2
Posts: 4016 |
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It was common for AIC's comedy omakes to reference all of the studio's work-- AnimEigo continued their AIC deal by pairing 10LGF with Scramble Wars, which was the Wacky Races of all the AIC characters, including BGC, Gaiarth, and Gall Forces old and new. |
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Chrno2
Posts: 6171 Location: USA |
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Ah, I see. I looked it up and I can see that AnimEigo released that too. i guess if you're going to do a deal with AIC it makes sense to get the rest of their properties. I'm really surprised that these titles got released. I've always been curious to see Gall Force as well, but it's been so long that the desire kind of died out. Maybe one day we'll see a re-release fo by someone. If that happens I'll try to check it out then I guess by the time these companies were forming all the titles that I would have consider old and niche managed to get licensed. I guess it was perfect timing even though these titles kind of disappeared soon after and some didn't get DVD releases. Hell, if that was the case how come no one released 'Dragon's Heaven' or even 'Dragon Century'.? . Thanks for that info. 
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jcaliff
 Posts: 156 Location: Houston |
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Of the OVAs you've got in the pictures, I really like Natsuki Crisis and Desert Rose. A lot of that is due to liking the manga though.
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