Bigwest will do a global release of the MACROSS series... Games and Toys too!

[treatment]

So, uhh, after the hype, what now?

Anything actually worthwhile, yet?

Like, say, Macross Zero or Mac+ BD-anime  US release?

 

 

 

[kajnrig]

They're probably still working out distribution deals. For now, FB2012 is streaming on the official Macross Youtube channel (https://youtu.be/kWkKdJ-OVyI), and I think a concert will be streamed live from there as well???, and some merchandise - model kits, the recently-announced M7 figures of Mylene and Basara, I think a couple other things - started showing up on BBTS et al, ie American(?) vendors.

Still waiting on official BD announcements myself...

 

[JB0]

The wheels of the licensing machine grind slowly, particularly where "back catalog" content is involved.

[Sgt Nate V]

At this point for SDFM-specific products, I kinda expect to see Bandai DX VF-1s with HG (and maybe Toynami too) stickers slapped on the box like with those MegaHouse Ride Armors

[TheLoneWolf]

I wouldn't hold my breath on Western Blu-ray releases, it'll be cheaper and quicker to do streaming instead.

[Podtastic]

53 minutes ago, TheLoneWolf said:

I wouldn't hold my breath on Western Blu-ray releases, it'll be cheaper and quicker to do streaming instead.

Could work only if its downloadable. I have no use for a medium where someone else has the ownership and control.

[JB0]

I agree wholeheartedly with Podtastic.

[Einherjar]

Got high hopes for Discotek quality release.  They’re doing pretty good bring out vintage series respectively these days.

[treatment]

5 minutes ago, Einherjar said:

Got high hopes for Discotek quality release.  They’re doing pretty good bring out vintage series respectively these days.

 

Per the PR hype, Funimation got the video/media contract. Not Discotek.

Could be a blessing or a curse or both...

 

[Seto Kaiba]

5 minutes ago, treatment said:

Per the PR hype, Funimation got the video/media contract. Not Discotek.

Could be a blessing or a curse or both...

As long as you aren't holding out hope for a high-quality English dub, it should be fine.

[Einherjar]

2 minutes ago, treatment said:

 

Per the PR hype, Funimation got the video/media contract. Not Discotek.

Could be a blessing or a curse or both...

 

HG PR?  Like they really have a lot of credibility these days.

[treatment]

 

21 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

As long as you aren't holding out hope for a high-quality English dub, it should be fine.

I rather they not bother at all.  At least with their usual Texas crew. Especially with Zero.

With Plus, I rather they keep/get the original Animaze-dub with Walter White back in all the OVA episodes.

If possible, get the same crew back to finally dub the Movie.

 

20 minutes ago, Einherjar said:

HG PR?  Like they really have a lot of credibility these days.

The whole "news/announcement" was first tweeted or something by Funimation themselves a bit before the official BW tweet, iirc.

Edited June 9, 2021 by treatment

[Einherjar]

5 minutes ago, treatment said:

The whole "news/announcement" was first tweeted or something by Funimation themselves a bit before the official BW tweet, iirc.

You’re right then.  Wherever/whenever they stream it avoid any potential dubs done for it and be wary of the first physical release.  Translation might be questionable, but serviceable.

[Seto Kaiba]

43 minutes ago, Einherjar said:

HG PR?  Like they really have a lot of credibility these days.

For the record, Funimation did confirm that they'd struck an exclusive licensing agreement with Harmony Gold back in 2019.

That said, the actual status of the contract is unclear because the actual license was managed by a third party (Kew Media Group) that went out of business about five months after the announcement.

Spoiler

Long story short, Kew Media Group's CFO got caught providing the company's creditors with inaccurate information about the firm's available working capital.  That led to KMG defaulting on multiple loans, selling off many of its assets, ending up in bankruptcy, then in liquidation, and finally folding altogether with the mass resignation of its board.  All in the space of November 2019-March 2020.

So the actual status of Funimation's stake in all this is... vague?  Uncertain?  A complete mystery?

Edited June 9, 2021 by Seto Kaiba

[Ladic]

very nice they reached an agreement

[Biomaster]

18 hours ago, treatment said:

If possible, get the same crew back to finally dub the Movie.

You mean the Plus Movie? I heard Bryan Cranston is really not that fond of anime these days, especially now after he got his big break in Breaking Bad. 

[Keith]

On 6/9/2021 at 10:35 AM, Seto Kaiba said:

For the record, Funimation did confirm that they'd struck an exclusive licensing agreement with Harmony Gold back in 2019.

That said, the actual status of the contract is unclear because the actual license was managed by a third party (Kew Media Group) that went out of business about five months after the announcement.

  Hide contents

Long story short, Kew Media Group's CFO got caught providing the company's creditors with inaccurate information about the firm's available working capital.  That led to KMG defaulting on multiple loans, selling off many of its assets, ending up in bankruptcy, then in liquidation, and finally folding altogether with the mass resignation of its board.  All in the space of November 2019-March 2020.

So the actual status of Funimation's stake in all this is... vague?  Uncertain?  A complete mystery?

Mystery solved.

https://www.rightstufanime.com/Robotech-Part-1-The-Macross-Saga-Blu-ray

New mystery, did they get access to Big West's Blu-Ray masters?

[pengbuzz]

At this point, I'm done speculating on what they might release. I'll have more to say when they release some merchandise into the North American market.

[treatment]

1 minute ago, Keith said:

Mystery solved.

https://www.rightstufanime.com/Robotech-Part-1-The-Macross-Saga-Blu-ray

New mystery, did they get access to Big West's Blu-Ray masters?

I say NOPE!

Highly likely it'll be the same old HG/ADV crap that Funi  is "restoring" or "remastering" into BD format.

Highly doubt it's Bandai Visual's BD masters since those don't need to be restored nor remastered at all.

 

 

[Keith]

Yup, found the full box set link, and the one screenshot they show (an odds choice of Minmay's room, and definitely sub par to the Japanese blu-rays.

https://www.funimation.com/blog/2021/06/18/robotech-suits-up-on-funimation-streaming-blu-ray-and-more-this-fall/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=org-social&utm_campaign=announcement&utm_content=robotech-june-18&sf146016312=1

[treatment]

The only way we'll actually get any non-HG crap out of this whole fake-hype  is IF (maybe when?) DYRL actually gets a definite official US BD release announcement from Funi.

 

Of course, they could still majorly bungle that up, too, by getting the censored-edition instead...

 

 

 

 

[Chronocidal]

I don't think we can call any of these releases a post-armistice version until we get a dual-audio remaster.

[Seto Kaiba]

1 hour ago, Keith said:

Mystery solved.

https://www.rightstufanime.com/Robotech-Part-1-The-Macross-Saga-Blu-ray

Hey RightStuf, that's the wrong stuff!

 

1 hour ago, Keith said:

New mystery, did they get access to Big West's Blu-Ray masters?

Did they even?  It would not be the first time Harmony Gold "cheated" a little on a media format change and just transferred what they already had.  Like how the initial Robotech DVD releases were transfers from degraded VHS tapes.  My money's on this being an upsampling of Robotech Remastered.

[TMBounty_Hunter]

5 hours ago, Keith said:

Yup, found the full box set link, and the one screenshot they show (an odds choice of Minmay's room, and definitely sub par to the Japanese blu-rays.

https://www.funimation.com/blog/2021/06/18/robotech-suits-up-on-funimation-streaming-blu-ray-and-more-this-fall/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=org-social&utm_campaign=announcement&utm_content=robotech-june-18&sf146016312=1

Based on this screenshot from the article it looks like they got access to the raw film scan, before it was denoised and color corrected for the Japanese BD release. It's way grainer and way brighter. Though if any of that grain survives is yet to be seen, since despite what Funi says about preserving it their history of filtering it flat is a big source of hate for DBZ fans.

What should be the same frame from the Japanese BD Box (there's 3 frames total with those cels, this one matched the best as far as random film artifacts went but I could be off):

 

[treatment]

5 hours ago, TMBounty_Hunter said:

Based on this screenshot from the article it looks like they got access to the raw film scan, before it was denoised and color corrected for the Japanese BD release. It's way grainer and way brighter. Though if any of that grain survives is yet to be seen, since despite what Funi says about preserving it their history of filtering it flat is a big source of hate for DBZ fans.

What should be the same frame from the Japanese BD Box (there's 3 frames total with those cels, this one matched the best as far as random film artifacts went but I could be off):

 

 

Yeah.

It really does seems that Funi's "remastering/restoring process" is pretty much just upping the brightness levels on the same old crappy HG tapes to lose even more color and other cell art details, and then to artificially adding "grain" to try to mask their shenanigans.

/facepalm

 

[technoblue]

It's too bad the license didn't go to a studio that prides itself on older anime titles. A studio like Animeigo or Discotek Media. I would have been keen to see that release. With Funimation backing it, I'm not so keen. I have their 'restored' version of Cowboy Bebop on Blu-ray and it's regarded as the worst visually of all physical releases worldwide. The Italian Dynit release is regarded as the best.

[Keith]

1 hour ago, technoblue said:

It's too bad the license didn't go to a studio that prides itself on older anime titles. A studio like Animeigo or Discotek Media. I would have been keen to see that release. With Funimation backing it, I'm not so keen. I have their 'restored' version of Cowboy Bebop on Blu-ray and it's regarded as the worst visually of all physical releases worldwide. The Italian Dynit release is regarded as the best.

I'm still hoping Discotek gets plus.

[technoblue]

55 minutes ago, Keith said:

I'm still hoping Discotek gets plus.

That would be nice.

[Knight26]

Who cares about a RoboCrap BD release?  Let's get a stateside Macross BD/streaming release based on the Bandai masters. 

 

[Biomaster]

1 hour ago, Knight26 said:

Who cares about a RoboCrap BD release?  Let's get a stateside Macross BD/streaming release based on the Bandai masters. 

Well as long as R gets releases it means HG gets royalties. Apparently there will be 2 discs that will have OG Macross on it, and if nothing else we will also get the very first release of SDC Southern Cross on BluRay anywhere in the world, because even the Japanese forgot about it. 

Edited June 20, 2021 by Biomaster

[Keith]

1 hour ago, Knight26 said:

Who cares about a RoboCrap BD release?  Let's get a stateside Macross BD/streaming release based on the Bandai masters. 

 

It's the first post announcement media release, and confirms that Funi still has the Robotech license which could also lead to them releasing Macross, Mospeada & Southern Cross as well.

It's definitely news.

[Knight26]

6 hours ago, Keith said:

It's the first post announcement media release, and confirms that Funi still has the Robotech license which could also lead to them releasing Macross, Mospeada & Southern Cross as well.

It's definitely news.

Yes, but the SDFM streaming release be based on the RT BD or the Bandai BD?

[Keith]

40 minutes ago, Knight26 said:

Yes, but the SDFM streaming release be based on the RT BD or the Bandai BD?

Probably still based on ADV's DVD's.

[Shawn]

Damn, you guys are really getting me down with all the 'robocrap' talk and what not. If you don't want to buy it fine, but try to stop all the echo-chamber negativity. Damn.

Not sure what you are all seeing, but I definitely see an improvement in picture quality and not just cranking up the brightness and sharpening.
While I'll hold out for a possible Japanese language set with english subs, I'm also able to recognize that this picture looks really good. Definitely interested in the source material they were able to get for this.

 

[Keith]

3 hours ago, Shawn said:

Damn, you guys are really getting me down with all the 'robocrap' talk and what not. If you don't want to buy it fine, but try to stop all the echo-chamber negativity. Damn.

Not sure what you are all seeing, but I definitely see an improvement in picture quality and not just cranking up the brightness and sharpening.
While I'll hold out for a possible Japanese language set with english subs, I'm also able to recognize that this picture looks really good. Definitely interested in the source material they were able to get for this.

 

What we're seeing there is a restoration from what looks to be the same masters HG has always used (the same source Animeigo was given for their remaster). No one is saying it's not a legit remaster, just not of the same quality as the Japanese release from almost 10 years ago.

My interest there being that so far, HG isn't getting new materials to work with.