Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Blu-ray

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by JMDiaz718

This looks good, but I wish the original, was coming too. Loved running home from school to watch Star Blazers.

They released an excellent box set of Gatchaman! Why no Space Battleship Yamamoto?

I hope we see the original Star Blazers series released on Blu-ray. With Funimation recently putting out all the Speed Racer episodes on Blu-ray we could see Star Blazers eventually. I was about 9 years old when I started watching it, getting home from school, grabbing Doritos and watching every day with my eyes glued to the television.

[themp3000]

Sentai Filmworks released Gatchaman, this is Funimation. Different distributors. As for the original, I doubt the materials are in good enough condition for a BD release, maybe another DVD but highly unlikely imho.

[Darkshader]

Okay. Space Battleship Yamato was among my top anime's when i was 3 or 4 yrs old. My number 1 is Voltes V and Daimos.

I already have a copy of the japanese bluray version. To all the folks who haven't watch this series, you're missing it ... excellent anime and soundtrack. Highly recommended from me

[JMDiaz718]

Off topic, but kinda similar, has anyone watched Harlock: Space Pirate? It's a beautiful looking movie, with excellent sound and 3D. It's a little long, to the point of boring at times, but it's such a good looking movie!

[Zen_Amako]

Originally Posted by JMDiaz718

Off topic, but kinda similar, has anyone watched Harlock: Space Pirate? It's a beautiful looking movie, with excellent sound and 3D. It's a little long, to the point of boring at times, but it's such a good looking movie!

Yes. The story isn't the best, but it is a visual feast, especially if you can watch the 3D version (which I believe is still available from Twilight Time).

[Gorgon]

Originally Posted by Zen_Amako

Yes. The story isn't the best, but it is a visual feast, especially if you can watch the 3D version (which I believe is still available from Twilight Time).

Yep, just bought it before it went on sale!
Love it though and worth the $30 I paid anyway.

[jameslee17]

Not that I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth, but how the heck did Funimation get the rights to this? The rights were held by Voyager Entertainment, who released 4 of 6 volumes under the Starblazers name and then canceled the last two and basically fell of the face of the earth with no explanation. I'm pretty surprised this LE set exists since Voyager Entertainment had the rights locked up in purgatory since 2014. I'm going to make a wild guess and say the rights expired somehow?

[pikagreg]

Originally Posted by jameslee17

Not that I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth, but how the heck did Funimation get the rights to this? The rights were held by Voyager Entertainment, who released 4 of 6 volumes under the Starblazers name and then canceled the last two and basically fell of the face of the earth with no explanation. I'm pretty surprised this LE set exists since Voyager Entertainment had the rights locked up in purgatory since 2014. I'm going to make a wild guess and say the rights expired somehow?

Just making a guess that Voyager let Funi release the series under the Star Blazers name so that they could make money from that while we get a proper release here in the US.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by jameslee17

Not that I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth, but how the heck did Funimation get the rights to this? The rights were held by Voyager Entertainment, who released 4 of 6 volumes under the Starblazers name and then canceled the last two and basically fell of the face of the earth with no explanation. I'm pretty surprised this LE set exists since Voyager Entertainment had the rights locked up in purgatory since 2014. I'm going to make a wild guess and say the rights expired somehow?

I am thinking you are correct, but also could have been a combination of factors, perhaps the rights expiring but also Voyager also screwed up the release, as pointed out, they never completed the Blu-ray release for the U.S. market, thus volumes #5 and #6 were never released, which I assume upset a number of fans. Since I had a beautifully done bootleg set that I had gotten off eBay years ago, which literally looked like official release, I was content with that at the time looking forward to an eventual USA release.

The Voyager Blu-ray USA releases were limited in nature, I believe they made only 2000 of the DVD versions and 1000 of the Blu-ray's at a price point of around $30+ for the DVD and $40+ for the Blu-ray. I am quite happy to see Funimation releasing the entire series over just two volumes instead of six volumes and the collector's box is a nice feature, and at an affordable price point. I will probably just sell off the digital copy when I get mine.

[One-Eye]

Originally Posted by JMDiaz718

This looks good, but I wish the original, was coming too. Loved running home from school to watch Star Blazers.

They released an excellent box set of Gatchaman! Why no Space Battleship Yamamoto?

I used to run home too. Unfortunately, my school bus stop was always the last one and I lived a mile from it which always guaranteed me missing 1/2 of the episode. Voyager Entertainment did release a DVD set I think in the early 2000s, maybe some can still be found on ebay? I suspect the quality was probably not too hot. Oh wait they still have some on amazon. It also used to be up on iTunes (I think I have the first episode) for digital download, but not anymore.

Originally Posted by jameslee17

Not that I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth, but how the heck did Funimation get the rights to this? The rights were held by Voyager Entertainment, who released 4 of 6 volumes under the Starblazers name and then canceled the last two and basically fell of the face of the earth with no explanation. I'm pretty surprised this LE set exists since Voyager Entertainment had the rights locked up in purgatory since 2014. I'm going to make a wild guess and say the rights expired somehow?

According to ANN Voyager was on the production committee. They seem to have ownership of the trademark "Star Blazers", which seems to have been renewed in 2018. The president of the company back in 2013 was Shoji Nishizaki, which according to ANN was the executive producer on the Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection movie and the 2202 movies. Unknown if he had a direct hand in running the company or if he just left it to subordinates. Its possible (total conjecture) that they decided to let a local distributor like Funimation handle it, if they were not happy with Voyager's work. So it might not be a matter of Voyager losing the license as much as the production committee including Nishizaki (?) deciding to give it to someone else to market.

Originally Posted by JMDiaz718

Off topic, but kinda similar, has anyone watched Harlock: Space Pirate? It's a beautiful looking movie, with excellent sound and 3D. It's a little long, to the point of boring at times, but it's such a good looking movie!

It looked great, but I found the story and dialogue to be very underwhelming.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by One-Eye

I used to run home too. Unfortunately, my school bus stop was always the last one and I lived a mile from it which always guaranteed me missing 1/2 of the episode. Voyager Entertainment did release a DVD set I think in the early 2000s, maybe some can still be found on ebay? I suspect the quality was probably not too hot.

I still have those original DVD releases of the first two series, I don't think I have the third series though. Hopefully we will see an eventual Blu-ray release.

[Gorgon]

So I guess I'll ask an obvious question.
Do I put in my pre-order now at Funimation or will this come to Amazon?
I'm flex either way but just curious.
Oh and no, I'm not a stock-holder of Amazon I just find them easy to deal with when "issues" in shipping arise...

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by Gorgon

So I guess I'll ask an obvious question.
Do I put in my pre-order now at Funimation or will this come to Amazon?
I'm flex either way but just curious.
Oh and no, I'm not a stock-holder of Amazon I just find them easy to deal with when "issues" in shipping arise...

That's actually a good question. I would have to think it would hit Amazon as well, but it would not surprise me if the collector's edition slipcase box and art book was exclusive to the Funimation store site as it is being advertised as a "limited edition" on their store's site. I will reach out to Funimation and inquire and report back with what they say.

[Kinsella5]

Well I guess I should have looked better on Funimaton's website but I did contact them with some questions so when/if they respond I will report back. But with regards to the Yamato 2199 Part 1 upcoming Blu-ray set, they actually have two listings for it.

The first listing which was in my initial thread-starting post is for the limited edition version that they have up for $63.74
https://www.funimation.com/shop/home...-le-bld-00735/

The second listing they have is for standard edition for $48.74 is the same as the above but does not contain the art book or the collector's edition slipcase box. https://www.funimation.com/shop/home...mbo-bld-00734/

I would have to guess that the limited edition version is exclusive to the Funimation website store and the standard edition will probably be available via Amazon, Best Buy, etc. The $15 difference get you the art book and the special slipcase box.

[themp3000]

You can buy the LE anywhere, which is generally always the case. Most places just don’t have the listing up yet.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by themp3000

You can buy the LE anywhere, which is generally always the case. Most places just don’t have the listing up yet.

That's good to know, I did inquire with Funimation if that version will be exclusive to their site or if it will be available elsewhere, just waiting on a response and then I will report back here with what they say.

[One-Eye]

Originally Posted by Gorgon

So I guess I'll ask an obvious question.
Do I put in my pre-order now at Funimation or will this come to Amazon?
I'm flex either way but just curious.
Oh and no, I'm not a stock-holder of Amazon I just find them easy to deal with when "issues" in shipping arise...

Originally Posted by Kinsella5

I would have to guess that the limited edition version is exclusive to the Funimation website store and the standard edition will probably be available via Amazon, Best Buy, etc. The $15 difference get you the art book and the special slipcase box.

The LE is up for pre-order on RightStuf now, so I would expect it to have high probability to come to other retailers. They are calling it Star Blazers for a reason and that's the nostalgia factor and Imho it should get much more traffic on the Amazon store from casuals than limiting it to the Funi store. I think the standard edition that Kinsella5 linked to is also a good indicator that the series will be sold in multiple retailers. However, that is not a guarantee that the LE will be in stock for long. Some Funi LEs have sold out real fast in the past (Steins;Gate for one) and many people were unhappy with Voyager's release so there's probably demand for it. I know I'll be ordering.

Happy hunting!

[darkness2918]

Looks interesting. Might blind buy this.

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by One-Eye

The LE is up for pre-order on RightStuf now, so I would expect it to have high probability to come to other retailers. They are calling it Star Blazers for a reason and that's the nostalgia factor and Imho it should get much more traffic on the Amazon store from casuals than limiting it to the Funi store. I think the standard edition that Kinsella5 linked to is also a good indicator that the series will be sold in multiple retailers. However, that is not a guarantee that the LE will be in stock for long. Some Funi LEs have sold out real fast in the past (Steins;Gate for one) and many people were unhappy with Voyager's release so there's probably demand for it. I know I'll be ordering.

Happy hunting!

I absolutely agree with you with regards to calling it Star Blazers as that is pretty much what anyone watching it as a kid knew it as back when it first aired. True on the Voyager releases on Blu-ray, their communication was really bad with regards to if the series would be released in full here, and at the $40+ price tag per Blu-ray, and no English dub, had they released all six volumes, it would have ran a person over $250 and they were essentially the same releases as the Japanese Blu-ray releases which were $80+ per disc. I'd much rather have the entire series over two Blu-rays than half a dozen or so. I will be jumping on the limited edition more than likely through the Funimation site as well, as you mentioned, sometimes those tend to be quite limited indeed and sell out rather quickly.

[Kinsella5]

Funimation support got back to me rather quickly, here is their response, nothing that people don't already know though but I figured I would post anyways:

Thank you for contacting Funimation Support. We appreciate your business.

The upcoming release of Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 Part One - BD/DVD Combo - LE will be a limited edition release that includes Collector’s rigid box with room to house Parts 1 & 2 as well art book, 40-page art book, Special feature with voice actors and Funimation staff. At this time there are a possible number of retailers that will be able to sell this product, so you'll have to be on the lookout for those.

As far as the 2202 and classic versions to this show, we have not announced anymore information about them at this time. Please refer to our blog at https://www.funimation.com/blog/ as we announce everything there first!

Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.