The vintage (up to 1989) anime bluray thread. Theatrical, Television, OVA

[Vakulinchuk]

I've seen lots of anime related threads here but no one really satisfies my personal field of research: that is, getting info about old anime on bluray, wherever they are published, with the following criteria:

1) Only anime up to 1989 is the focus here.

2) Edition must contain western language subtitles, with strong preference to English, French, Italian

3) The anime are listed chronologically and the list is split depending on the type of medium: theatrical releases, television series or specials, and direct-to-video products (OVA).

So let's start:

Theatrical

'40s
-1945 Momotaro Umi no Shinpei (dir. Mitsuyo). Comes with Kumo to Tulip short (1943). US, UK and French edition exists

'50s
-

'60s
-1968 Taiyo no Ouji Hols no Daiboken (dir. Takahata). Discotek and Dynit releases exist. Upconverted from SD source.
-1969 Sen'ya ichiya monogatari (dir. Yamamoto). Region B release from TWF

'70s
-1970 Cleopatra (dir. Yamamoto/Tezuka). Region B release from TWF
-1972 Panda Kopanda (dir. Takahata) Japanese BD with ENG subs. Dynit also.
-1973 Panda Kopanda Amefuri Circus (dir. Takahata) Japanese BD with ENG subs. Dynit also.
-1973 Kanashimi no Belladonna (dir. Yamamoto). Cinelicious and All the anime releases.
-1978 Lupin III Mamoo no Ichinen (dir. Yoshikawa). Japanese BD without ENG, Yamato release with Italian exist.
-1979 Lupin III Cagliostro no Shiro. (dir. Miyazaki)
-1979 Galaxy Express 999 (dir. Rintaro) Discotek locked ?

'80s
-1981 Jarinko Chie (dir. Takahata). Japanese BD without subs
-1981 Mobile Suit Gundam (dir. Tomino)
-1981 Mobile Suit Gundam II Soldiers of Sorrow (dir. Tomino)
-1981 Unico (dir. Hirata) Japanese Sanrio BD with Eng subs (B friendly?); Discotek also.
-1981 Adieu Galaxy Express 999 (dir. Rintaro) Discotek locked ?
-1982 Waga Seishun no Arcadia (dir. Katsumata). Japaneese without subs. Italian with incorrect OAR.
-1982 Gauche the cellist (dir. Takahata). Japanese BD with ENG subs
-1982 The Ideon A Contact/Be Invoked (dit. Tomino). Maiden Japan A locked.
-1982 Mobile Suit Gundam III Encounters in space (dir. Tomino)
-1983 Unico Maho no Shima e (dir. Murano) Japanese Sanrio BD with Eng subs (B friendly?); Discotek also.
-1984 Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä (dir. Miyazaki)
-1984 Uruseiyatsura 2 - Beautiful Dreamer (dir. Oshii). Discotek A locked.
-1985 Lupin III Babylon Ogon Densetsu (dir. Suzuki). Discotek A locked.
-1985 Ginga Tetsudo Yoru (dir. Sugii). Discotek region FREE
-1986 Hokuto no Ken (dir. Ashida). Discotek
-1986 Tenku no Shiro Laputa (dir. Miyazaki)
-1986 Arion (dir. Yasuhiko). Japanese BD without subs
-1987 Robot Carnival. Discotek region FREE
-1987 Honneamise no tsubasa (dir. Yamaga) US and UK releases. Underscan.
-1988 Tonari no Totoro (dir. Miyazaki)
-1988 Hotaru no Haka (dir. Takahata)
-1988 Akira (dir. Otomo)
-1988 Mobile Suit Gundam - Gyakushu no Char (dir. Tomino)
-1989 Majo no Takkyubin (dir. Miyazaki)
-1989 Patlabor The Movie (dir. Oshii)
-1989 Venus Senki (dir. Yasuhiko). Discotek and Yamato (interlaced).

[Vakulinchuk]

TV series

'60s
-Speed Racer. April 2, 1967 – March 31, 1968 (Tatsunoko, 52 eps). Release is from HD master, but based on the US localization of the series. (No Japanese audio option)

'70s
-Lupin Sansei - October 24, 1971 – March 26, 1972 (TMS, 23 eps). Upcoming UK release; Yamato Italian release. First episodes suffer from frozen grain, but later episodes improve a lot.
-Casshan - October 2, 1973 – June 25, 1974 (Tatsunoko, 35 eps). Italian Dynit release.
-Hurricane Polymar - October 4, 1974 – March 28, 1975 (Tatsunoko, 26 eps). Italian Dynit release.
-Uchu no Kishi Tekkaman - July 2, 1975 – December 24, 1975 (Tatsunoko, 26 eps) Italian Dynit release.
-Yattaman - January 1, 1977 – January 27, 1979 (Tatsunoko, 108 eps). Italian Dynit release.
-Mirai Shonen Conan - April 4, 1978 – October 31, 1978 (Nippon Animation, 26 eps) Japanese BD without subs
-Muteki Kojin Daitarn 3 - 3 June 1978 – 31 March 1979 (Sunrise, 43 eps) (Sunrise, 40 eps) Italian Dynit release
-Captain Future - November 7, 1978 – December 18, 1979 (Toei, 53 eps). French and German releases exist. HD masters?
-Kidou Senshi Gundam - April 7, 1979 – January 26, 1980 (Sunrise, 43 eps) Right Stuf US release and Dynit Italian release. Missing episode 15.

'80s
-Densetsu Kyojin Ideon - May 8, 1980 – January 30, 1981 (Sunrise, 39 eps) Maiden Japan A locked.
-Seisenshi Dunbine - 5 February 1983 – 21 January 1984 (Sunrise, 49 eps) Sentai region B friendly?
-Cat's Eye - July 11, 1983 – July 8, 1985 (TMS, 73 eps) Italian Yamato release.
-Meitantei Holmes - November 6, 1984 – May 21, 1985 (TMS, 26 eps) Japanese BD without subs
-Kidou Senshi Z Gundam - March 2, 1985 – February 22, 1986 (Sunrise, 50 eps) Right Stuf and All the Anime releases.
-Kidou Senshi Gundam ZZ - March 1, 1986 – January 31, 1987 (Sunrise, 47 eps) Right Stuf All the Anime, and French releases.
-Kimagure Orange Road - April 6, 1987 – March 7, 1988 (Studio Pierrot, 48 eps). Discotek locked?

[Vakulinchuk]

reserved for OVAs!

[Dailyan]

Every "Lupin III" project, except for "The Fuma Conspiracy", from 1971-1989 is available on Blu.

[Dailyan]

There's an easier way to find vintage anime if just click on "anime" for movie appeal on a product page and then sort by "production year".

[Lum]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

Every "Lupin III" project, except for "The Fuma Conspiracy", from 1971-1989 is available on Blu.

Thanks. Too bad the USA release of Mystery of Mamo is DVD, not blu.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by Lum

Thanks. Too bad the USA release of Mystery of Mamo is DVD, not blu.

Every time I see a Discotek monthly announcement and not see a Mamo Blu:

[Show spoiler]

I do have the UHD coming but I’d gladly double dip.

[redrum666]

your missing
Fist of the North Star movie 1986 and TV series 1984-1988 (Blu-ray SD) both from Discotek Media

[Pyoko]

Why such an arbitrary cutoff? Wouldn't a much more useful partitioning for a classic anime thread be any show produced using film and cels? It's just one decade away anyway. And there were a lot of properties like Bubblegum Crisis that bled over from the '80s into the '90s, but only a couple of long-running shows and sequels that made the switch from film to digital.

[professorwho]

This is pretty much a useless thread. The cutoff date is odd, and you can look it up with the search bar here. Now, I have a thread for upscales of cel based anime, which is a better thing worth cataloging than a complete list.

[Vakulinchuk]

Originally Posted by Pyoko

Why such an arbitrary cutoff? Wouldn't a much more useful partitioning for a classic anime thread be any show produced using film and cels? It's just one decade away anyway.

Otaku in Japan famously declared anime dead in 1988. I have a hunch they had a point. The cutoff is not anymore arbitrary than any other, it ends with the eighties and as such contains a certain style, mood and tone that the decade did carry, and that surely didn't translate into the next one, despite the physical support of cels being still used. Of course, in those cases like Bubblegum when the series originates in the eighties but crosses the decade, it will be listed fully.

Originally Posted by Dailyan

There's an easier way to find vintage anime if just click on "anime" for movie appeal on a product page and then sort by "production year".

You get a list of releases that way, sure, but you can't distinguish at a glance between feature films, tv series or OVA. Nor you can add any sort of note to the releases. For example, if one release is marked region A but is instead region free. Or if the release is nominally on BD, but actually upconverted or taken from an SD master.... For those info, you are forced to check each release individually, looking for reviews or separate threads. Here you can gather all the information together.

Originally Posted by redrum666

your missing
Fist of the North Star movie 1986 and TV series 1984-1988 (Blu-ray SD) both from Discotek Media

Thanks, I'm sure I miss a lot of stuff, it's very much a work in progress. I'll update frequently.

[Dragon78]

When did Japan stop using cel based animation?

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Dragon78

When did Japan stop using cel based animation?

Around the year 2000.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by professorwho

Around the year 2000.

I'd say about 2005. There was still stuff like "Noir" and "Mahoromatic" that was made on cels. Then you have an exception with "Sazae-san" that was still being done on cels until 2013.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

I'd say about 2005. There was still stuff like "Noir" and "Mahoromatic" that was made on cels. Then you have an exception with "Sazae-san" that was still being done on cels until 2013.

Well, sure, but most (as in 95%) of the productions went digital around 2000-2002, that’s why I said 2000.

[solarrdadd]

April 4, 1975 - March 26, 1976 (50 episodes) this was my life as a 13 year old teenager in Brooklyn NY! funny story, it was only available on a Spanish Network in NY when it was broadcast, couldn't understand the commercials or the show itself, thankfully, they had subtitles!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SloHs5O4S48

wish I could find this in a well mastered DVD, hell, I'd take a half well mastered DVD of the series!

I so this show!

[professorwho]

Here's some I'd add:

Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (1988-1997) Upscale; Sentai Collector's Edition is Region Free
Kimagure Orange Road (1987) (I'll check the region coding when my copy arrives)
Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam (1985)
Kidou Senshi ZZ Gundam (1986)
Seisenshi Dunbine (1983) Sentai BD is Region A locked
Densetsu Kyojin Ideon Series and Movies (1980, 1982) Maiden Japan BD is Region A locked

[professorwho]

This is still an insanely useless thread, though... also, there's a lot of listings here with just an Italian release listed. You do realise this is a primarily English language site? It's really odd in its inclusion.

[MOONPHASE]

Dragonball Z The Movie 1 Dead Zone (1989)
Ranma, DBZ, and Patlabor TV started in 1989 (Patlabor Early Days OVA Series was 1988)

[Pyoko]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

There was still stuff like "Noir" and "Mahoromatic" that was made on cels.

Both of those were 2001, and along with things like Figure 17 and Shingu, I believe that was the last year with any significant amount of new film productions. A couple of shows like Hajime no Ippo stretched into 2002, but I don't know that there was anything new started that year.