The new dvd set

[Ray_the_canadian]

Hey everyone!

I just got the DVD set yesterday and i think its worth it for 50 episodes. Its better than being on tv since I can finally see all of them anytime I like. Can't go wrong. As for the voice its been so long since I have seen the 80's version and I have never seen the 60's so I am very used to the 2000's voice. I guess I can't really complain since I never seen any of the unedited versions.

[Thylacine 2000]

I never saw any of the '80s cartoon, but I'd sure say that the new voice is much more masculine than that from the '60s show.

I must say, I was disappointed upon finally viewing the new set all the way through. I kept hoping that the characters would blatantly come out and talk about Astro's real origin, but they never did--not even in the final episode! Even during the longer flashbacks, the dialogue never explicitly established just who Tobio had been, or the teensy little fact that he's dead now.

I'm sure that's old news to most of you, but I had been really anticipating the emotional payoff of the series, basically expecting it more and more after every successive episode in which it didn't happen. And so when they finished without doing it at all.... it was a *major* letdown. How graphic was the Japanese version in establishing Tobio's death?

[Atoman]

Hi Thylacine 2000,

You've just confirmed my biggest fear about the last episode. I thought the American dub would whimp out, compared to the original Japanese version. <_< I'm going to have evan more trouble watching it now. Looks like they messed it up all the way to the end.

Here's what happened in the Japanese version. Tobio died in a car crash in one of those glass car tunnels. He hit a truck head on, just like he did in the 60's and 80's versions. I figured they'd remove that. America treats kids like babbies, they're much more honest to them in Japan, teaching them ethics through true life experiences, instead of just showing comedy. Also in Japan they show Astro Boy and most of there animated shows on primetime, so adults can watch and enjoy it with them, and if needed provide parental guidence through tragic or a more adult situations.

Animation in Japan is not just considered junk for kids, it's another art form like movies and stage plays. 40% of magazine sales are manga(Japanese comic books) and all ages read them, not just kids. Astro is in this format too, since the early 50's.

If you'd like to see what you've been missing. Here's a link to a site that sells the Japanese version with English subs.:
http://www.discountanimedvd.com/detail.asp?dvdno=14599

It's the entire 50 episodes with no editing in proper Japanese order.

If the 62 dollar price is too much, then you can buy the 3 parts separately under the related dvds section. Enjoy. Also the site has some of his manga for sale.

[Thylacine 2000]

Thanks very much for the tip, Atoman. I'll very likely pick that set up sooner or later.

As for why the death scene was cut, I think it's more a case of each individual distributor and network policing themselves, unequally. Remember that in the U.S. version of Digimon season 2, we quite blatantly see Ken's brother getting hit by a car and then they even show us his funeral! Obviously Bandai USA, Saban, and FoxKids were able to get away with that--so I suspect perhaps Sony USA and KidsWB / CartoonNetwork were just being overly cautious with Astroboy.

[Atoman]

You've got a point there Thylacine 2000.

Foxkids seems to show a lot more grit than KidsWB. Take Sonic the Hedgehog. I've seen a lot of violence on that show which reminded me of the 60's and 80's Astro, where he didn't pull any punches. Some networks hated that kind of violence and took off such programs, others took off animation all together, still others continued to show stuff like that. So maybe if Astro were shown on another network, it would have been shown untampered with.

[outerspacerace]

Atoman, the product you keep linking to appears to be a bootleg like the kind I've seen Chinatown Sydney.

The fact that it is released by "Anime Cartoon" and features chinese subtitles is a give away.

Nothing about it looks terribly official and I'd advise people to be very wary of pirated dvd's.

If I'm wrong accept my apologies though on first glance I doubt it very much.

I am however interested to know if an official Japanese release exists with English subtitles and (I'm dreaming now I guess) is it widescreen?

[fafner]

Originally posted by outerspacerace@Apr 11 2005, 01:55 PM
Atoman, the product you keep linking to appears to be a bootleg like the kind I've seen Chinatown Sydney.

The fact that it is released by "Anime Cartoon" and features chinese subtitles is a give away.

I have watched closer and find out that it is a region free code, a strong clue that it is a bootleg. I don't know of any commercial copyrighted material which would use a region free code.

[DrFrag]

Originally posted by outerspacerace@Apr 11 2005, 10:55 PM
Atoman, the product you keep linking to appears to be a bootleg like the kind I've seen Chinatown Sydney.

I can verify this product is a bootleg. Apart from the Chinese subtitles, no region encoding, no file encryption, no menus, no extra features, and the contact adress being cartoon_mac@yahoo.com, THERE IS A CLOCK IN THE CORNER OF THE SCREEN! It's the same TV capture that was being traded on P2P networks once the series began broadcast in Japan, and it's the same TV capture that TV-Nihon used for their fansub.

I am however interested to know if an official Japanese release exists with English subtitles and (I'm dreaming now I guess) is it widescreen?

The Korean dub looks official, and includes the Japanese audio and English subtitles. And it's widescreen!. Notably, it's locked to region 3 and there are no Chinese subtitles.

The number of different covers on the boxes, DVDs and different bootlegs can get confusing, so look for the cover written in Korean:


KoreaPop also has it. It's a lot more expensive there, but you get a puzzle and some action figures and trading cards with box 1.

[DrFrag]

Just noticed Atoman already linked us to the same web shop from this thread. B)

Let us know when you get it!

[Atoman]

Hi Dr. Frag,

I have the Korean box set 2. It's not Season 2 like the add says. It's just episodes 13(the Birth of Uran) through 24(the Teddy Bear episode). No. 20(The Eternal Boy) was skipped, like in the states. Probably due to expensive Disney royalties.

I noticed that the site you linked to has some more false advertising, saying that it's the 60's Billie Lou Watt dub. It's not the 60's series folks, it's the current color version. Don't let it mislead you.

Now for the good news. It's not a bootleg, it's widescreen, in stereo and has Japanese audio with English subs. Only problem is, it's a region 3 dvd, which means you'll need a region free dvd player if outside Asia. I have one. It's worth it. You can then buy all the real Tezuka dvds with no American tampering.