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REVIEW: Star Blazers 2199 - The Complete Series


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ValkyrieZeroZeroOne



Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 432
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 5:21 pm Reply with quote
ZeetherKID77 wrote:
Easily my favorite anime of this decade by far. Love the take on the story and the stuff about Gamilas being expanded on is great. I'd say the dub was pretty great too, especially spoiler[Chris Wehkamp's Kodai getting emotional over Yuki's "death" in the final couple of episodes]

I just wish we could get Ark of the Stars here. I don't want to import it just yet because 2202 isn't finished being released and I'm still holding out hope Funimation will pick it up down the line (I can only wonder if sales are doing good, the LE for 2199 sold out just recently and I heard of quite a few folks getting 2202's LE as well but obviously none of us seem to know what constitutes something doing good enough for another license to happen)...plus I love the dub and while the sub would be fine I'd also be going "god why didn't this get a release here with a dub??". It's really puzzling why they haven't gotten it, Italy got a dub and release for crying out loud. I'll stop beating the dead horse though because I've done it in basically every thread about 2199 etc at this point.


I'd get it while it's still available in Japan. Sooner or later it will be out of print there and then you'll be at the mercy of being able to find it second-hand if Funimation never end up releasing it. It's about 5400 yen at CDJapan now, and you might find it for less second-hand at Mandarake.
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Fluwm



Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 881
PostPosted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 9:22 pm Reply with quote
Guess I'm the only one here okay with the B for the music? It's good, I agree... but (aside from the awesome OP) not exactly great, or terribly memorable to me (again, aside from that one exception).

I haven't seen the funi BDs, though I really want to buy the series (just as the user with the Yue avatar said, it's easily one of the best shows in the last 10 years--only Lupin's fifth series comes close for me) because I've heard some troubling things. Can anyone confirm/deny? Last time folks were talking 2199, unless I'm confusing it with another show, they were saying it wasn't properly translated. IE dubtitles instead of more accurate subtitles. Maybe not a huge deal in and of itself, but coupled with that "Star Blazers" prefix, it makes me hesitant.
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NeedMoreCats
Subscriber



Joined: 06 Oct 2018
Posts: 299
Location: Westchester, NY
PostPosted: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:34 pm Reply with quote
I put this show in my username because this show started it all. When I was a kid, I used to race home from school to watch Star Blazers. I can still hear the captain’s whiskey-gravel voice, still picture him looking out at space while the countdown clock showed the days ticking away. A true space opera, and I was riveted.

This show helped fuel my lifelong love of science fiction (Star Trek started it), and was the driving force behind finding anime as an adult: searching for Star Blazers, I found Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Gundam. A treasure trove of stories that sparked the imagination and grew into a genuine passion for anime as a whole.

While nowadays I tend to favor more character-driven shows and slice-of-life series, there’s always a special place in my heart for Star Blazers.
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Levonr



Joined: 19 Nov 2003
Posts: 807
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 2:00 am Reply with quote
ZeetherKID77 wrote:

Also I disagree with the B in music too, it's a wonderful update to the original score and easily one of the best anime soundtracks I've listened to. The 70s style is still there and gives it this very distinct flair that I cannot help but fall in love with.


Same, I absolutely love that they basically remastered the classic music. Also the updated retro sound effects. I crank my sound system up very high for this show, sounds so great.
Personally I don't think the dub deserves to be in the negative. Sure its nothing jaw dropping but I think the mostly subtle acting was intentional, its not this over the top cheesy dub which I welcome.
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Jose Cruz



Joined: 20 Nov 2012
Posts: 1767
Location: South America
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 6:43 pm Reply with quote
Yamato 2199 is one of the best shows of the decade. I have not watched the original and I guess it is not rated A+ because it is just a remake of the original but from the perspective of someone who has only watched the remake and taking it as it stands it is a masterpiece, of course, mainly because it is an updated copy of an already existing masterpiece, but still there is very little in the anime medium that can compare to it in sheer greatness. One might be tempted to classify it as the best space opera show ever made.
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ValkyrieZeroZeroOne



Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 432
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2019 7:27 pm Reply with quote
Jose Cruz wrote:
Yamato 2199 is one of the best shows of the decade. I have not watched the original and I guess it is not rated A+ because it is just a remake of the original but from the perspective of someone who has only watched the remake and taking it as it stands it is a masterpiece, of course, mainly because it is an updated copy of an already existing masterpiece, but still there is very little in the anime medium that can compare to it in sheer greatness. One might be tempted to classify it as the best space opera show ever made.


It took a cornerstone anime series and improved it. It's a benchmark for how remakes should be done. Masterpiece of what was already considered a masterpiece in Japan.
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ZeetherKID77



Joined: 17 Jun 2007
Posts: 980
PostPosted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 12:52 pm Reply with quote
Levonr wrote:
ZeetherKID77 wrote:

Also I disagree with the B in music too, it's a wonderful update to the original score and easily one of the best anime soundtracks I've listened to. The 70s style is still there and gives it this very distinct flair that I cannot help but fall in love with.


Same, I absolutely love that they basically remastered the classic music. Also the updated retro sound effects. I crank my sound system up very high for this show, sounds so great.
Personally I don't think the dub deserves to be in the negative. Sure its nothing jaw dropping but I think the mostly subtle acting was intentional, its not this over the top cheesy dub which I welcome.

The old sound effects being redone is a huge plus too. They are VERY iconic, stuff like the shock cannons firing and the WMG charging is something you cannot change.
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ValkyrieZeroZeroOne



Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 432
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 5:31 pm Reply with quote
ZeetherKID77 wrote:
Levonr wrote:
ZeetherKID77 wrote:

Also I disagree with the B in music too, it's a wonderful update to the original score and easily one of the best anime soundtracks I've listened to. The 70s style is still there and gives it this very distinct flair that I cannot help but fall in love with.


Same, I absolutely love that they basically remastered the classic music. Also the updated retro sound effects. I crank my sound system up very high for this show, sounds so great.
Personally I don't think the dub deserves to be in the negative. Sure its nothing jaw dropping but I think the mostly subtle acting was intentional, its not this over the top cheesy dub which I welcome.

The old sound effects being redone is a huge plus too. They are VERY iconic, stuff like the shock cannons firing and the WMG charging is something you cannot change.


If they went and changed the sound effects and the music, they'd have very quickly alienated their primary target market not only for the box office (keeping in mind that all of 2199's releases were in limited-distribution cinematic seasons), but far more importantly, for the merchandise: fans of the original between the ages of 40 and 60 who in many cases were bringing their kids (or even grandkids) to see the remake. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of the current generation who were in attendance, but when I went to Japan to see four of the cinematic releases over the course of the last six years, the ones there on opening day lining up to spend tens of thousands of yen in the merchandise store were always largely in that age group. That's a lot of money to lose by alienating those fans.

It really isn't Yamato without them.
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Sandstar



Joined: 06 Dec 2006
Posts: 196
PostPosted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 8:37 pm Reply with quote
ZeetherKID77 wrote:

The old sound effects being redone is a huge plus too. They are VERY iconic, stuff like the shock cannons firing and the WMG charging is something you cannot change.


Which is funny, because they did for the old Star Blazers cartoon, and it's probably just my familiarity with it, but without the "whinney" it's just not the same.
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4784
PostPosted: Sat Nov 09, 2019 10:48 pm Reply with quote
ValkyrieZeroZeroOne wrote:
It took a cornerstone anime series and improved it. It's a benchmark for how remakes should be done. Masterpiece of what was already considered a masterpiece in Japan.
Yamato is how I wish the original Macross could be remade for modern audiences.
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ZeetherKID77



Joined: 17 Jun 2007
Posts: 980
PostPosted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 12:35 am Reply with quote
Sandstar wrote:
ZeetherKID77 wrote:

The old sound effects being redone is a huge plus too. They are VERY iconic, stuff like the shock cannons firing and the WMG charging is something you cannot change.


Which is funny, because they did for the old Star Blazers cartoon, and it's probably just my familiarity with it, but without the "whinney" it's just not the same.

I actually find the old SB dub interesting because even with that change and the whole "they were robots"/"they got away" censoring it's still made clear it was a Japanese property, even going so far as to acknowledge the source material and staff in the credits (Robotech doesn't even do that) and they even kept in all of the original music! (save for a few instances) It's a little cheesy but I honestly can't bring myself to dislike it because, as Tim Eldred put it, you have to appreciate what was left in as opposed to what was removed.
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Sandstar



Joined: 06 Dec 2006
Posts: 196
PostPosted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 12:11 pm Reply with quote
ZeetherKID77 wrote:
Sandstar wrote:
ZeetherKID77 wrote:

The old sound effects being redone is a huge plus too. They are VERY iconic, stuff like the shock cannons firing and the WMG charging is something you cannot change.


Which is funny, because they did for the old Star Blazers cartoon, and it's probably just my familiarity with it, but without the "whinney" it's just not the same.

I actually find the old SB dub interesting because even with that change and the whole "they were robots"/"they got away" censoring it's still made clear it was a Japanese property, even going so far as to acknowledge the source material and staff in the credits (Robotech doesn't even do that) and they even kept in all of the original music! (save for a few instances) It's a little cheesy but I honestly can't bring myself to dislike it because, as Tim Eldred put it, you have to appreciate what was left in as opposed to what was removed.


Oh, i agree. I think Star Blazers is amazing for an anime localized in the late 70's/early 80's. I absolutely love it, and it's responsible for my love of the franchise. Yamato 2199, and to a lesser extend, 2202, is an absolutely fabulous remake, everything you'd want from a remake: respecting the source, while updating it, and basically making it even more awesome.

You have to give sunbow credit for letting Ganz and Bane die, even if they did change it from intentionally trying to ram the Argo to accidentally ramming it. They still died. (they did edit out some deaths of the heroes in the assault on the pluto base, but c'mon, they weren't going to show someone being electrocuted on tv in the early 80s). I think it's about the best they could've done for the time period they're in. It's a pity that Funi's dub is so aggressively mediocre, and doesn't get anywhere close to as good as a dub from 40 years ago.
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