Customer Reviews

Megazone 23 - Part 1 - With Series Box and Mouse Pad

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Its cool that Streamline has finally produced something with subtitled and in its original japanese language, as well as the dubbed version. The plot seems rushed but is otherwise a great anime vid to watch.

Well, I just bought, and watched, my copy of this CLASSIC "Japanamation" (which, for those to young to remember the 80's, is what we use to call "Anime" back in the 80's) OVA (which stands for, Original Video Animation, which meant anything that was animated to go straight to video, and not for play on Japanese TV, as most anime was made for, and you thought that you weren't gonna learn anything, by reading this review... lol) MEGAZONE 23, and am QUITE relieved that the new English dub for this new release, isn't ANYWHERE as BAD, as the past reviewers have said that it was.

Sure, most fans of this title, have grown up with the older Streamline Pictures, English dub, which is a nice dub, except for the fact that the three main girls in the story, all sound like sophisticated ladies, and NOT the young adults that they are actually suppose to be, where as in this new version, the dubbing team has opted for voices that closer mirror the attitudes of the young ladies, which is also nice (my suggestion is that you try and acquire BOTH versions of this anime, so that you can decide for yourself as to which dub you prefer).

Another plus, is the audio commentary (which you should definitely listen to AFTER watching the show if you are new to this title, as there be spoilers afoot, me lads :) which, although, tends to spend more then half of it's time, with the three speakers reminiscing about their old Laser Disc anime collections, does get into some pretty funny good natured kidding about the show itself (i.e. how room items seem to change from scene to scene) and some interesting anecdotal tidbits about the show as well.

The story is shear 80?s, sci-fi-mecha-transformation-actioner, and if you like Macross (or Robotech, as it is widely known here) then you?ll LOVE this, as it?s BIGGER and BADDER, with a nice story.

One thing to take into consideration when watching this though, is he fact that this is part 1 of a 3 part story (actually, really only a 2 part story, as the next part, part 2, really ends the story, where as part 3 is more of an add on to try and cash in on the Akira phenomenon, and, although it has it?s merit, is pretty much a different story) and so, doesn?t have a proper ending, as such, leaving the door WAY open for part 2. So, keep this in mind, as ALL questions WILL be nicely answered, in part 2.

All in all, a nice job was done on this title, and is definitely worth the mula (and for the novice animer out there, this is a title NOT to be missed, trust me ;)

I first saw this movie in 1985. I just fell in love with anime after that. It's full of action, intrigue, and drama. Awesome battle scenes with transforming mechs. The story line is incredibly complex. If you like anime you should definately get this classic.

I was so looking forward to this. The whole series, one dubbing job, done by one of the better anime houses, remastered video, extras, etc., yadda-yadda-yadda. I am so glad my local video store bought a copy first so I could preview it.

In a word, it sucks. Not the movie, mind you - Megazone 23 Part 1 is one of the all time great anime OAVs for a multitude of reasons and you can still get the excellent Streamline dub from a variety of sources. I'm talking about ADV's new dubbing job. It sucks. It stinks. It reeks. It takes bad dubs of classic anime to an all-new low. It sounds like a bad fandub recorded inside a junior high school bathroom back at an 80s retro convention. Yeah, I know all that gnarly tubular "authentic 80s" dialogue was supposed to add to the atmosphere of the show, but it just doesn't work, guys! You had too much fun doing the dub to do a good job, and it shows. And for all that supposedly careful auditioning, some of the voice actors you chose sound just plain awful! I'd rather watch it in the original Japanese without subtitles than put up with any more of Yui's screetching blather in the new dub (and yes, I've seen the original in the original Japanese, so shut up otaku)! And the "new" voice of B.D.?! Don't get me started! ADV were rushed and they admitted as such in the commentary - and it shows, folks. It shows. To borrow a popular 80s catchphrase, it makes me wanna hurl.

Okay, enough of that. There are actually three good things - small but notable - I have to say about the Megazone 23 Part 1 re-release. One, ADV did a helluva job of cleaning up the video. Only the two Hong Kong DVD import releases come close to the visual quality of this video. Two, after you hold your nose to the audio of the redub, switch over to the commentary track and educate yourself in the lore of two-and-a-half otaku (no, the lady doesn't talk all that much) who really know their anime and really know their stuff about Megazone 23. I wish their enthusiasm could have carried over into a better dubbing job. Three, there is the slight (yet to some notable) advantage of having all three installments of the Megazone 23 trilogy all dubbed with the same cast. Again, minor points but noteworthy ones.

Me? I'm not buying it for any of those. In fact, I'm not buying it, period. Not wasting my money on this one. If you had gone ahead and put in the extra 10 minutes of Megazone 23 Part 1 that were created for the Robotech movie as a little bonus extra and dubbed those too, then maybe. As it stands, it goes back on the shelf and my money goes back in my pocket. I'm sticking with the Streamline dub of Part 1 and will hope ADV does a helluva better job with Part 2. Yeah, I get tired of hearing the same voices over and over again in Streamline dubs, and the dialogue's not always 100% accurate, but at least those people could act. I wish I could say the same for ADV's Megazone 23 Part 1 cast. This dubbing job is almost as bad as a CHE/Peregrine release from the 1990s. Yeah, I see the smiles. You remember those. Does "Revenge of the Ninja Warrior" and "Vengeance of the Space Pirate" ring a bell? Okay, maybe not that bad ... but it's in the ballpark, nonetheless.

Out of the zone, ADV. Take it back and try again.

cool animation,awesome soundtrack and familiar storyline.it all makes up for an awesome retro/futuristic robot anime! Reminds me of Robotech in a way ,some of the dubs sound overexagerated at times but it's not too bad.I'd still like to watch the original vhs verson,I am a fan of the older dubs myself.A few too many nudy scenes for my taste but it follows the story so it's okay.The robot bike is pretty tight!
(:

I had the opportunity of watching this anime about seven years ago in VHS, about one week ago , I saw it on DVD and wow !!! it was really a good experience to see it again. It is a shame that the story seems somewhat incomplete we never get the opportunity to see Megazone 23's enemies and there is no conclusion to the BD problem..is he evil or not?, what is he tryint to do? , there is a sex scene here, and also a love story inside the movie. I hope someday , a director tries to improve the story and the characters in an updated version of Megazone 23, it is truly a classic.

The animation is good overall , considering that it was 1986 when this anime was released.

The excellent story line in this anime could have led to a classic in the Sci-Fi Anime genre, however, the ending left me saying, "Huh?"

It's not a cliff hanger ending either, just a bit of a thud... reminiscent of the animated Lord of the Rings ending. Remember that one? :-)

I love the visuals, though most of the animation is unpolished by todays anime standards.

Megazone 23 was one of the earliest OAV series produced, and was considered groundbreaking when it was released. I'm really happy that Streamline made part one available on DVD! Unfortunately, they haven't released the second or third parts yet. I asked one of the guys working at the Streamline booth at Anime Expo 2001 when they were going to do so, and he said that he didn't know when or even if they were. Hopefully he was wrong, and the rest will be released domestically!

The Megazone 23 part is the first in a three part series. Our hero named "Shogo" stumbles into a secrect military project that forever changes his views on where he lives while at the same time he falls madly in love with the woman of his dreams. There is so much more in this stroy it is hard to write about it in a review. Believe me, if you like anime then you will love Megazone 23. If you never watched anime, then this is one of the best ones you could ever watch. There is Megazone 23 part two and a part three but these will hopefully become avaliable to us again. I hope you get to watch those as well becuase you can complete the expericance that the creators of the series meant for you to have. If you can only see the first one you will still be left with a mystery but you will still have an all time classic tale as well.

It was an excelent movie, but the ending seemed like there was supposed to be more, and they just cut it off. I don't know if they planned on a part 2 and that is why it ended like that.