Megazone 23 "Episodes"

[RavenHawk]

According to Wikipedia (so decide for yourself whether or not you choose to believe it) Megazone 23 was originally intended to be a series. The sponsors withdrew funding midway through production, so what we know as Part 1 of Megazone 23 is actually more of a compilation of footage from what had been animated for various episodes of the series. This is essentially the same thing that happened to Robotech II: The Sentinels.

Now, with The Sentinels, all episodes were already plotted out and I believe that most of the scripts were done as well.

Does anyone know if the scripts for the episodes of Megazone 23 are out there anywhere? I'm really curious to see what Megazone 23 was originally intended to be.

Thanks.

[Roger]

I never heard this, but you could ask the authors of the Wikipedia entry.

[Ginrai]

Uh, yeah, long before animation was produced it was intended to be a series called among other things Vanity City. The B-Club Special has some stuff about it as does the Entertainment Bible and that one big Megazone 23 book from the 80's I'm spacing on the name of. However, it was not a compilation of footage from separate episodes. The plan was changed before it was animated, which is why it's a complete story with a beginning middle and end. Some characters intended to have full development are just standing there in the background in the OAV (Shogo's pals from the bike shop for example). There's a bunch of different mecha that never ended up in the OAV including various versions of what became the Garland. Listen to the Anime World Order episode with Ishiguro Noboru, that has some good nuggets too.

I have no doubt it was plotted out, but there's no indication scripts had been written for everything, and this OAV is definitely not footage scavagened from several partially completed episodes like it was for The Sentinels.

[RavenHawk]

Uh, yeah, long before animation was produced it was intended to be a series called among other things Vanity City. The B-Club Special has some stuff about it as does the Entertainment Bible and that one big Megazone 23 book from the 80's I'm spacing on the name of. However, it was not a compilation of footage from separate episodes. The plan was changed before it was animated, which is why it's a complete story with a beginning middle and end. Some characters intended to have full development are just standing there in the background in the OAV (Shogo's pals from the bike shop for example). There's a bunch of different mecha that never ended up in the OAV including various versions of what became the Garland. Listen to the Anime World Order episode with Ishiguro Noboru, that has some good nuggets too.

I have no doubt it was plotted out, but there's no indication scripts had been written for everything, and this OAV is definitely not footage scavagened from several partially completed episodes like it was for The Sentinels.

I believe you, but I'm surprised, since, to me, the pacing feels very uneven in it, so it seems like it would be very believable for it to be made from multiple episodes.

I have the Entertainment Bible, but not the B-Club Special of the Megazone 23 book. Doesn't do me much good though, since I can't read Japanese.

Do you have a link for the Ishiguro Nobory Anime World Order episode? Thanks.

[Phyrox]

I believe you, but I'm surprised, since, to me, the pacing feels very uneven in it, so it seems like it would be very believable for it to be made from multiple episodes.

An anime with bad pacing?? Surely not!

[Ginrai]

http://animeworldorder.blogspot.com/2008/0...u-ishiguro.html

[Ginrai]

The fact that the story in Megazone 23 actually reaches a climax and finishes is pretty obvious proof, whereas the Sentinels just wanders off. In the Sentinels, not once do our "heroes" confront a villain. Shogo has his showdown with BD and loses in classic yakuza movie fashion.

Edited February 13, 2009 by Ginrai

[RavenHawk]

http://animeworldorder.blogspot.com/2008/0...u-ishiguro.html

Thanks for the link!

[RavenHawk]

The fact that the story in Megazone 23 actually reaches a climax and finishes is pretty obvious proof, whereas the Sentinels just wanders off. In the Sentinels, not once do our "heroes" confront a villain. Shogo has his showdown with BD and loses in classic yakuza movie fashion.

I'm not arguing with that. I just meant that there a few scenes that seem a little rushed to me. Mainly, things seem to build at a decent speed, but then the final confrontation seems rushed to me. Might just be personal taste.

[Gubaba]

I'm not arguing with that. I just meant that there a few scenes that seem a little rushed to me. Mainly, things seem to build at a decent speed, but then the final confrontation seems rushed to me. Might just be personal taste.

I think most short-ish OAVs have the same problem...a lot of them seem like they should have been series (or actually WERE series in manga form...remember "Cosmo Police Justy"?) that just got truncated.

I can't tell you how many times I shouted "Wait...that's the END!?!" at my TV screen back in the day...

[RavenHawk]

I think most short-ish OAVs have the same problem...a lot of them seem like they should have been series (or actually WERE series in manga form...remember "Cosmo Police Justy"?) that just got truncated.

I can't tell you how many times I shouted "Wait...that's the END!?!" at my TV screen back in the day...

There are definitely a lot where the ending is somewhat... anticlimactic, which is a valid argument here. Thing is, the final fight just didn't seem that major to me. More of like one of the battles leading up to the actual final one.

[Gubaba]

There are definitely a lot where the ending is somewhat... anticlimactic, which is a valid argument here. Thing is, the final fight just didn't seem that major to me. More of like one of the battles leading up to the actual final one.

Well...it's always good to leave some room for a sequel, right?

But I see your point...the fact that there's a massive space battle just beginning does leave Megazone 23 with a clearly open-ended finale...so the question becomes whether Megazone 23 Part II was what was intended as the encore, or whether they had no idea what happened after the first one, and improvised after Part I proved successful.

I'd imagine it was a little of both, but that's just conjecture on my part.

[RavenHawk]

Well...it's always good to leave some room for a sequel, right?

But I see your point...the fact that there's a massive space battle just beginning does leave Megazone 23 with a clearly open-ended finale...so the question becomes whether Megazone 23 Part II was what was intended as the encore, or whether they had no idea what happened after the first one, and improvised after Part I proved successful.

I'd imagine it was a little of both, but that's just conjecture on my part.

It feels to me like a completely new thing, not based on any plans from Part 1, but it is listed as having the same writer, so who knows?

[Ginrai]

It's supposed to be like that. As I said, it's a reference to old Yakuza movies where the hero gets his ass kicked and is left in the mud at the end of the story. If you want a contemporary movie example, The Most Terrible Time in My Life.

[Gubaba]

It's supposed to be like that. As I said, it's a reference to old Yakuza movies where the hero gets his ass kicked and is left in the mud at the end of the story. If you want a contemporary movie example, The Most Terrible Time in My Life.

Yeah, but most yakuza movies don't end with the first salvos of giant interstellar war being slung.

So although yeah, it IS clearly inspired by the yakuza model (Shogo wearing the headband is a dead giveaway...and the breakers crashing in his eyes during the final "walk of shame" seem appropriate, too), I'm sure the producers were also thinking they could do a sequel if they so desired.

[Hikuro]

So then whatever happened to the rumors a few years back of a possible revamp of Megazone 23 to become a TV series...right around the time the PS3 game was coming to light (which I hear was a pretty bad and pointless game).

[Keith]

I had always heard Megazone 23 was concieved as a sequal to Mospeada in the early pre-production stages. As for the MG23 remake, ultimate letdown with that dating sim, such a tease.

Unless uncourse you count the matrix.

[TheLoneWolf]

I had always heard Megazone 23 was concieved as a sequal to Mospeada in the early pre-production stages.

I have an interview with Ishiguro where he says that Vanity City was suppposed to inherit to takes Mospeada's timeslot after Mospeada had ended. Both series had the same production studio, transforming motorcycles, and the same toy sponsor (Gakken). People have probably misread that as a Mospeada sequel. But Vanity City is to Mospeada what Orguss was to Macross.

[RavenHawk]

I'm listening to the interview right now.

Apparently they had started production, but not animation.

The OAV was 12-15 episodes worth of plot into one OAV.

The ending is so inconclusive because they hadn't come up with one yet at the time when they started working on the OAV.

As far as the video game of Megazone 23, I watched some clips from it on youtube yesterday... awful. Truly awful. It was for PS2 or PS3, but it is really a PS1 roleplaying type of game, which is ok, but not suitable for this content, and not handled well even at that.

[Hikuro]

PS3 game with PS2 like graphics and horrible gameplay from what I hear. There's some sort of a PS1 japanese game that was compared to be Megazone 23 esque with transforming motorcycles but I can't recall what the name of it was.

[E_X]

PS3 game with PS2 like graphics and horrible gameplay from what I hear. There's some sort of a PS1 japanese game that was compared to be Megazone 23 esque with transforming motorcycles but I can't recall what the name of it was.

I think this might be the one you're thinking about. Speed Power Gunbike. Worth the download... even if it's just to imagine it as a Megazone 23 game

Edited February 15, 2009 by E_X

[RavenHawk]

I think this might be the one you're thinking about. Speed Power Gunbike. Worth the download... even if it's just to imagine it as a Megazone 23 game

I've had my eye on that game for a while. Looks fun. Only thing is it goes for like $40 on eBay, and even then it's for the Japanese PS1.

[Hikuro]

Yep E_X that's the one.

[E_X]

It's really a shame the Megazone 23 game went in the direction it did! Gunbike proves that we could have seen a Megazone game that would have kept crazed fans happy... pounding away at that transformation button and crushing police cars....

[RavenHawk]

It's really a shame the Megazone 23 game went in the direction it did! Gunbike proves that we could have seen a Megazone game that would have kept crazed fans happy... pounding away at that transformation button and crushing police cars....

And, between the 3 movies, there would be plenty of material to work with (though it would probably be best to either make a first game out of part 1, or make it take place somewhere encompassing part 1 and 2, with material in between).