Lupin III 2nd series on DVD

Treadwell

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Pioneer/Geneon released the first 79 episodes, but what about the remaining 75?

Does anyone know of a source that has JUST the remaining eps? I've seen the entire series offered here and there (legit and not), but never have come across a "pick up where they left off" set at a convention bootleg table or whatever.
 
I'm interested to hear news on this too. I have a feeling that it got shafted just like Higurashi though.

Man, now I gotta watch Castle of Cagliostro tonight.
 
Lupin gets no love from any companies over here. I was just talking to my friend about how hard it is to find good anime now when everything is flooded with crap or the stuff cartoon network aims at kids.
 
Which series had the Albatross episode? I have that on VHS and love the art style for that one (comparable to Castle of Caglistro), compared to some of the other series.
 
That was the 2nd series. But they didn't get far enough on the Geneon DVDs. The VHS is it for that one. (Unless this thread unearths other options...)
 
Lupin gets no love from any companies over here. I was just talking to my friend about how hard it is to find good anime now when everything is flooded with crap or the stuff cartoon network aims at kids.

The kids stuff sells way bette in the US. Same in Japan... It's just in Japan they tolerate the niche market for the older kids stuff better than they do here in the US. Animation niche markets have never been a huge target for big companies. There's just not the million sellers there that big companies would want to bother with!

The best-selling Japanese stuff in the US is generally things like Pokemon and the Ghibli features. At best, the Ghibli features might sell a few hundred thousand units but that pales besides the millions of units the big Hollywood features can potentially sell.

******

We were lucky we got as much Lupin III TV as we did.

Geneon really took the series as far as they could in the US but it just wasn't a big seller. It was also a ratings failure on Cartoon Network. (It was one of the few shows I could watch over and over again without getting bored! It has much more life in it than any of the Viz/Shonen Jump crap that's shown on Adult Swim now... I hate the current anime line-up on CN and skip that ****.)

I got most of those Geneon Lupin volumes for sale dirt-cheap when a lot of Geneon inventory was being cleared out at $5 per DVD. I think I have most of the Lupin DVD releases for the US except for 2 of the Discotec DVDs and the short-printed Streamline DVD collection of Miyazaki episodes from the first Lupin III TV series.

Funimation also released something like over half the feature films and TV specials but at the end of the day threw in the towel, too.

Right now, the only company actively going after Lupin III licenses for the US is Discotec/Eastern Star. They've already released the live-action Lupin III film as well as their version of Fuma Conspiracy (which was released previously by AnimEigo) and Episode 0: First Contact.

Last I read was that Discotec has negotiated for the first Lupin III TV series and will begin releasing that show on DVD next year...

In the meantime, a restoration project is being worked on for the Lupin III TV series in Japan and they'll begin releasing it on Blu ray within the next year. DVD sales for anime are getting close to all-but-dead in Japan. DVD's doing better in the US for anime --- Blu ray is still a bit too expensive for many people and really not worth it over half the time since most anime TV series in hi-def are still video upscales(!) -- but even the anime snobs in the US pretty much won't get anything on DVD unless there's no chance of a Blu ray release.

Again, the decision to buy or not buy BD for anime depends on the series. For older TV shows, they really weren't designed for hi-def so there's no point in buying something like the original Gundam or Macross TV series on BD. The detail just isn't there for hi-def and you'll only notice the scratches and mistakes all that much better in HD. For anime features, BD releases are generally the better buy...
 
The kids stuff sells way bette in the US. Same in Japan... It's just in Japan they tolerate the niche market for the older kids stuff better than they do here in the US. Animation niche markets have never been a huge target for big companies. There's just not the million sellers there that big companies would want to bother with!

The best-selling Japanese stuff in the US is generally things like Pokemon and the Ghibli features. At best, the Ghibli features might sell a few hundred thousand units but that pales besides the millions of units the big Hollywood features can potentially sell.

..

You're viewing this all wrong - Pokemon and the "fluff" as you call it is looked at as cartoons while the more adult features are held in the same category as non-animated adult fare.
There's no "toleration" - characters from Evangelion, Fists of the North Star, Lupin and others are marketed and used in a much more broad capacity - Pachinko machines, alcohol, car sales (yep, saw an Evangelion car ad the last time I was i Tokyo), and a wide assortment of other things.

People are correct when they say Lupin simply gets no attention or love over here - in Japan he has his own store.

Evangelion Pachinko machines are available here
IMG_2631.jpg

Osuka greets you at the entrance
P1010007-3.jpg


Entrance to the Lupin store at Tokyo dome called "Lupin Station"
4055783209_5a7dda68c4.jpg


These programs are HUGE in Japan and their characters are cultural icons. If I was on my master computer I could post more pics but I think you get the point.


:wacko
 
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There is good anime being brought over but you have to find it via trial and error since the stuff on tv tends to be kid friendly. I mean Neon Genesis barely lasted on cartoon network. I'm amazed Ghost in the shell and cowboy bebop are lasting. Then again adult swim seems to have a thing against anime fans.
 
Again, the decision to buy or not buy BD for anime depends on the series. For older TV shows, they really weren't designed for hi-def so there's no point in buying something like the original Gundam or Macross TV series on BD. The detail just isn't there for hi-def and you'll only notice the scratches and mistakes all that much better in HD.

If the series was produced in 35mm (we're talking pre posting-on-video era here), there would indeed be a benefit to going HD. The 16mm stuff (which, granted, is usually the case) would be grainy, true. But still an improvement.

Didn't know about Discotek, that's great that they're doing the first series.
After a quick search I see that they've released a few of the features/TV movies. Did they release any 2nd series episodes?

Come to think of it, I need a "where they left off" release of Battle of the Planets, too. I know there was a complete series set in the UK. I do have all of Gatchaman (series 1), which is the most important thing, but it is fun to watch the BOTP version of an episode right after the original to see how much it was butchered. ;)
 
I only remember Evangelion once a year on Cartoon Network for giant robot week.

But it was massively successful in the states. More than Lupin.
 
^ I remember back in 97-98 when it first got over here as fan subs at the art institute. That was back before anime was all over, most of what we had around here was fan subs or the really bad stuff Manga was putting out. I never heard of Lupin until cartoon network showed it.
 
The first time I saw Lupin, it wasn't even a lupin cartoon. it was this
CLIFFHANGER arcade opening credits - YouTube
I went to a convention where they were showing two anime movies that, little dod I know, would have such a large impact on my life - one was called "Project A-Ko", which anyone who has seen Sky High now knows exactly where it came from and the other was Lupin the 3rd and the Castle of Cagliostro . Castle is a perfect movie. That movie is still something I can pop in and enjoy the hell out of . After i saw it, I told myself then and there that if I ever had a daughter I would name her Clarisse - and lucky for me my wife liked the name, so my little girl is named after the princess in Castle. I managed to get an un-dubbed, un-subtitled copy of the movie a few moths later - along with " Macross: Do you Remember Love?", also in straight up Japanese as well as the Daicon Convention opening animation (the first thing ever done by Gainax who would later do Evanelion)
DAICON IV Opening Animation (HD - Remastered audio & video) - YouTube
I wore those tapes to the core.
 
The first time I saw Lupin, it wasn't even a lupin cartoon. it was this
CLIFFHANGER arcade opening credits - YouTube
Same here! :lol

About a year later the anime guy at my comic store had an after-hours showing of a bootleg VHS of Cagliostro. The (poorly translated) subtitles* were on the print and hard to read, but I was HOOKED.

It's almost too bad that the first one I ever saw was the best one, as nothing could possibly compare, but I still loves me some Lupin. ;)


*Zenigata was named "Ed Cott" :confused
 
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