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NEWS: Discotek Licenses 1st Fist of the North Star Anime Film


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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6171
Location: USA
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:11 pm Reply with quote
Oh man that's great news. Man this is a classic. Good to know that some are willing to publish some of the classics.
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GeorgeC



Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Posts: 795
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:13 pm Reply with quote
Gee,

Call me a bit unimpressed. I'm just not a fan of Fist of the North Star.

I've seen the first film... There's a reason it's called a "splatter-toon" and it gets silly after the shock wears off.

I'm a bit upset at Discotek for announcing and then NOT releasing the Lupin Babylon City of Gold movie. I understand the market isn't great for Lupin in the States where I live but there is a little thing called honoring announcements and I wish the film had been released...!
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FireChick
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 2382
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:19 pm Reply with quote
I've never heard of Discotek. Are they good?
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darcerin



Joined: 22 Apr 2005
Posts: 330
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:22 pm Reply with quote
Slightly off topic, slightly on, I'm uh...a little surprised that their catalog page is a mix of adult movies and anime - you'd think they'd organize it or something for those that don't want to see that stuff don't have to.

But I'm glad they have the Happiness of the Katakuris movie. I love that movie for it's utter wackiness!

Fist of the North star. Eh. Not my type of show. But at least going to their link showed me some of the other neat anime they have. Smile
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Descent123





PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:41 pm Reply with quote
Thank goodness for the new DVD release of the film! The Image/Streamline DVD release that was published in 98 is going to crazy amounts of money ($100)+ with OK video quality and no subtitles (and the disc was dual-audio). I'll be buying it in the future because we all love heads exploding!!! Razz
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Cloud992345



Joined: 05 Sep 2008
Posts: 21
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:47 pm Reply with quote
This is good
I love this series,
but I think they need to finish releasing the manga and anime over here too
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Anime World Order



Joined: 05 May 2006
Posts: 389
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 1:55 pm Reply with quote
GeorgeC wrote:
Gee,

Call me a bit unimpressed. I'm just not a fan of Fist of the North Star.

I've seen the first film... There's a reason it's called a "splatter-toon" and it gets silly after the shock wears off.


This is of course the opinion held by roughly 99.5% of American anime fandom, but as I wrote in this article, a lot of that has to do with a combination of late timing along with over a decade worth of questionable localization and marketing efforts in the US. This is one of the single most popular anime properties in the entire world and has remained that way for over 20 years, with new merchandise, manga, and anime being released on a semi-regular basis since. If it was just a "check out the violence!" cartoon, it would not have that sort of longevity.

From the specs, it sounds like Discotek is going to release a Region 1 version of the recent remastered edition that came out in Japan. I have that disc and it is excellent. My only complaint is that even though the picture and sound quality are top-rate, they still used one of the film prints with the color bleeding censorship. Considering the amount of exponentially more violent anime titles that have come out since, I was hoping they'd finally remove that. Supposedly the Italian non-remastered DVD was made from an un-retouched film print, but I myself have never seen it to confirm. I've only ever seen the theatrical trailer for the movie which has a few short clips of the original unaltered scenes. Perhaps the folks at http://heartofmadness.com/forum/ can shed light on this? I know Toei must still have an unaltered original print of this movie somewhere in their vaults, and can only attribute the fact that all the restoration efforts were put into the standard edition as "Japan is weird."
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beelzebozo



Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 308
Location: Aurora, Colorado
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:38 pm Reply with quote
Ho-oly cow, that's news I never thought I'd hear. I get in at least one person a week, if not more, asking about that film in the 7 years I've been in business. Someone's going to make bank. Razz
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nightjuan



Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 1473
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:41 pm Reply with quote
Just having seen this movie less than a week ago and thus not in the best position to say too much about the entire franchise, this is actually pretty good for what it is. I certainly enjoyed it at least.

The over the top violence itself is still a selling point, especially since the movie does it so much more explicitly even with the strange censorship a couple of scenes get (color bleeding? Thanks, didn't know the term), but I would agree that's not all there is to it.

I honestly wouldn't call it "smart" in absolute terms, though it's not trying to be, but even the movie adaptation confirms that it was, indeed, an influential work within the shounen fighting genre. Kenshiro is simple but fairly iconic and so are his main foes (Shin, Raoh), while the silly martial arts still manage to be quite hot blooded and have a certain appeal. I don't really want to steal talking points from present company though, so I would recommend listening to the old AWO podcast on the subject, which helped me see a few things in a better light.

I don't know what is the true commercial potential of the film by virtue of its being so retro and essentially a re-release, but there does seem to be some interest in certain circles. That said, those newer movies and OVAs still seem viable enough and could find a wider audience.


Last edited by nightjuan on Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:47 pm Reply with quote
Oh HELL YEAH! The licensing of Soul Eater is cool and all, but THIS is the announcement that's got me fired up this week. Fist is what got me into anime way back when I was 15 and thought exploding heads was about the coolest thing I had ever seen, and I've since seen the film 50 or 60 times and it NEVER gets old. It's about time I get to own a DVD copy.

Also, I wonder if the new DVD will have the Streamline dub? I know it's pretty dated and all, but it's the way I know the show, and I'd love to be able to still watch it that way.
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TokyoGetter



Joined: 28 Nov 2006
Posts: 416
Location: CA. You can tell by the low moral standards.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:40 pm Reply with quote
Anime World Order wrote:
Another great article.


Every time you link one of your posts I get an afternoon of entertainment to sneak at work. Keep it up!!
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Who Is This Guy!?



Joined: 07 Aug 2008
Posts: 183
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:27 pm Reply with quote
Now we can all re-enjoy Ken blowing up heads.

Ah, what wacky fun.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15271
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:43 pm Reply with quote
Sweet, I just hope it's better than the Toupee version. The company probably can't afford it, but it'd be sweet for them to put out a limited midnight theatrical run of that sucker. I'm way more hyped about this than Soul Bleach. Laughing Time to celebrate.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15271
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:57 pm Reply with quote
George: Look for used "Master Edition" manga off E-bay. It adds the missing details from the movie which give the series depth. Or look for used copies of the Raijin Fist of the Blue Sky, since that's more drama-oriented.

AWO:
Quote:
The Streamline Pictures dub of that movie is probably the absolute worst first impression you could ever make if you wanted to convince anyone this series had even one iota of merit, because not only is it terribly acted with a stupendously inaccurate script on a level that modern dubs cannot even begin to approach, it even includes an alternate ending from the original which is pretty weak.


The dub is fine. The only Macek dub which blows is the one for Harlock. And if they hate bad acting, then why the hell to they continue to endorse Bayformers?

Quote:
Then years later when Manga Video attempted to release the TV series, it was heavily butchered yet again.


The only thing Manga did was change the OP. The Toupee version was always toned down from the manga for kids.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8452
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:31 pm Reply with quote
GeorgeC wrote:
I'm a bit upset at Discotek for announcing and then NOT releasing the Lupin Babylon City of Gold movie. I understand the market isn't great for Lupin in the States where I live but there is a little thing called honoring announcements and I wish the film had been released...!


I've been waiting for that, too, as a huge Lupin III fan. But considering how poor that movie is, maybe you shouldn't.

I just recently got their release of Plot of the Fuma Clan. The dub is terrible, but the subtitles are pretty decent, so that's all right.
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