Rating: 
Summary: The Classic Returns
Review: Let's first get this out of the way. *ahem* This is NOT the best DVD set ever made. Well, that being said, I can finally get tot he good stuff. "Star Blazers" was one of the greatest(if not "the greatest") anime of all time. Sure, it doesn't reach up to "Mobile Suit Gundam" level, but what "Star Blazers" lacks, it more than makes up for.There isn't anything I can say about this title that hasn't been stated before. It is revolutionary in all aspects. Calling this "space opera" wouldn't do it justice. "Star Blazers" (or rather "Space Battleship Yamoto" as it was called before the 70's dub) brings all the aspects of a "human" story together. You want love? It's here!
You want drama? You got it!
You want excitement? Look no further!
You want heart-wrenching-excitement-and-character-devolpment-beyond-the-naked-eye-can-see?.......okay I'll stop, but you get the idea! Of course this series is from 70's so the animation seems dated. But for those of you who CLAIM to know anything about anime, you should know that "state-of-the-art" animation is not always the best thing (after all, look at "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" or "Blue Submarine No. 6"), in the end, it's the story that outshines everything else. So, if you are an otaku, old or new, buy this and you can die a happy man/woman knowing that you have watched a significant landmark in anime. "Star Blazers" I salute you!
-RW
Rating:
Summary: A great story...
Review: Not only does it have a great plot (your basic Quest), but it was somewhat ahead of its time. It had space warps, tachyon particles and holo-rooms along with the space storms, massive space battles and Bee-like aliens. Lots of missile attacks, an artificial sun and the powerful Wave-Motion Gun are just some of the plot devices to rush us along. Also full of hate, love and fear, making the characters almost, but not totally realistic. After all, Heros should not be too realistic. We watch the crew change, some fighting to overcome the problems they face, while others are overwhelmed by the Quest.
Rating:
Summary: "Searching for a distant star..."
Review: Now, for the actual DVDs. Let's be honest, some of the dated animation is quite frankly, laughable by today's standards...and I love it! What sets this show apart from all the shows of my youth is the simple fact that it doesn't sound like a kid's show. There are phrases like "tachyon particles" and words like "antiquated" in a kid's show? Not likely. Also, what propells this show are the absolutely great ideas for any science-fiction adventure story. George Lucas even took ideas from this series and slightly changed them for the first "Star Wars Trilogy." I noticed just the other episode that the "Star Force" salute is identical to the "Thermian" salute used in the film "Galaxy Quest." Coincidence? There are also many goofy, yet charming phrases strewn throughout, like: "dynamic do-all" and the always intimidating "ultra-menace missle." Some of the characters are also comically evil, like Lord Desslok, who sounds more like a demented Roddy Mcdowall on laughing gas than the leader of the Gamilons. Again, I love it! Then there are always the gross miscalculations of the crewmembers: "We went thousands of light-years in less than a minute!" Of course, Venture was referring to the distance between the Earth's moon and Mars. Even as a child I knew better than that! Anyway, this is a priceless piece of nostalgia for me, and for anyone who grew up loving the this series as a child. They certainly don't make them like this anymore...and that's too bad.
Rating:
Summary: "Searching for a distant star..."
Review: Now, for the actual DVDs. Let's be honest, some of the dated animation is quite frankly, laughable by today's standards...and I love it! What sets this show apart from all the shows of my youth is the simple fact that it doesn't sound like a kid's show. There are phrases like "tachyon particles" and words like "antiquated" in a kid's show? Not likely. Also, what propells this show are the absolutely great ideas for any science-fiction adventure story. George Lucas even took ideas from this series and slightly changed them for the first "Star Wars Trilogy." I noticed just the other episode that the "Star Force" salute is identical to the "Thermian" salute used in the film "Galaxy Quest." Coincidence? There are also many goofy, yet charming phrases strewn throughout, like: "dynamic do-all" and the always intimidating "ultra-menace missle." Some of the characters are also comically evil, like Lord Desslok, who sounds more like a demented Roddy Mcdowall on laughing gas than the leader of the Gamilons. Again, I love it! Then there are always the gross miscalculations of the crewmembers: "We went thousands of light-years in less than a minute!" Of course, Venture was referring to the distance between the Earth's moon and Mars. Even as a child I knew better than that! Anyway, this is a priceless piece of nostalgia for me, and for anyone who grew up loving the this series as a child. They certainly don't make them like this anymore...and that's too bad.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT MEMORIES!!!
Review: OK, I'll admit to being 32 years old and still a fan of "Star Blazers". I'll also admit to getting THE LOOK from my wife when I took it out of the box and said, "look!!"
I remember being in grade school and walking home to watch the latest episode of "Star Blazers"; often with my friends. I suppose it was like a soap opera for young boys. A few months ago I even downloaded a star blazers screensaver theme only to have it damage my computer (don't do it).
I watched it for the first time in perhaps 20 years!!!! All those characters came back to memory!!!
At 32 with the responsibilities of a family and work, it's nice to have these memories rekindled. Even though your wife or girl friend probably will not understand!!!
Rating:
Summary: Fire up the Wave Motion Engine
Review: STAR BLAZERS is not for everyone. Let's get that straight right away. STAR BLAZERS, despite all of its drawbacks (let's not dwell on those, OK?) is perhaps the GREATEST cartoon of all time. I make this assertion solely on the quality of the story and the development of the characters. In fact, one could retell the STAR BLAZERS story the same way Patrick Stewart performs Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" (Mr. Stewart portrays all the characters on an empty stage, using different voices and mannerisms to shift from one character to another) and it would work, at least for a die-hard fan. I am a life-long (at least since age 7) STAR WARS fan, and since this hit the airwaves around the time of SW's 2nd theatrical release (1979?), it was a marketing miracle of Sandy Frank productions (and maybe a little idea theft...have you noticed the similarity between the WAVE MOTION GUN and the DEATH STAR SUPERLASER?). If you were not totally blown away by Luke, Darth and the whole SW: ANH bit, you probably were not part of the target audience. In a world where rabbits and birds dropped huge rocks on dim-witted hunters and varmint-slayers (which is not to say it wasn't entertaining, just the same old joke) STAR BLAZERS stood out as quality animated programming. Despite the fact it relayed adult subjects, like war and the possible extinction of the human race, in a children's format, it did it well, and it too this day is the ONLY cartoon I ever stayed home to watch (I was a good student, and I rarely missed a day of school if I wasn't ill). Rumor has it that DISNEY bought the rights to a live action theatrical production, but corona ...has listed that effort as in 'development hell.' My wildest dream would be to complete and sell to a major studio/director a workable script, retelling, in detail, the first STAR BLAZERS story (The Journey to Iscandar). Heck, I wouldn't do it for the money, just the visual spectacle. I'd do the sequels for the money.
Rating:
Summary: Fire up the Wave Motion Engine
Review: STAR BLAZERS is not for everyone. Let's get that straight right away. STAR BLAZERS, despite all of its drawbacks (let's not dwell on those, OK?) is perhaps the GREATEST cartoon of all time. I make this assertion solely on the quality of the story and the development of the characters. In fact, one could retell the STAR BLAZERS story the same way Patrick Stewart performs Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" (Mr. Stewart portrays all the characters on an empty stage, using different voices and mannerisms to shift from one character to another) and it would work, at least for a die-hard fan. I am a life-long (at least since age 7) STAR WARS fan, and since this hit the airwaves around the time of SW's 2nd theatrical release (1979?), it was a marketing miracle of Sandy Frank productions (and maybe a little idea theft...have you noticed the similarity between the WAVE MOTION GUN and the DEATH STAR SUPERLASER?). If you were not totally blown away by Luke, Darth and the whole SW: ANH bit, you probably were not part of the target audience. In a world where rabbits and birds dropped huge rocks on dim-witted hunters and varmint-slayers (which is not to say it wasn't entertaining, just the same old joke) STAR BLAZERS stood out as quality animated programming. Despite the fact it relayed adult subjects, like war and the possible extinction of the human race, in a children's format, it did it well, and it too this day is the ONLY cartoon I ever stayed home to watch (I was a good student, and I rarely missed a day of school if I wasn't ill). Rumor has it that DISNEY bought the rights to a live action theatrical production, but corona ...has listed that effort as in 'development hell.' My wildest dream would be to complete and sell to a major studio/director a workable script, retelling, in detail, the first STAR BLAZERS story (The Journey to Iscandar). Heck, I wouldn't do it for the money, just the visual spectacle. I'd do the sequels for the money.
Rating:
Summary: My first Anime experience...
Review: This was the first anime series to which I was exposed and it immediately hooked me. It was a long story, that included themes of love and death, cool weapons and spacecraft, fantastic battle scenes, and a *gasp* complex villain at the heart of the story.
It was/is NOTHING like any of the animated offal churned out by American producers. This primed my mind for even better stuff; I watched Robotech when it first aired in the U.S. and years later I was lucky enough to watch "Akira" (the Holy Grail of Anime for most) at the theatre. Now I am hooked.
The animation of Starblazers is a bit dated (boy, is it ever) but this is a "must have" for any Anime fan. The story is so good that you won't mind the old-style animation (its better than Pokepuke).
BUY THIS DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: Landmark anime...
Review: When "Star Blazers" first made it's way onto American television, I am proud to say that I was there to enjoy it during its first run. Every day after school it was a religious part of my routine to tune in the adventures of the Argo and the Star Force (along with "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "Get Smart", "Battle of the Planets", and other shows in the afternoon sci-fi kid's programming out of Boston). Star Blazers was an experiment. The idea of having an animated kid's series kind of like a soap opera (with a continuing story arc spread out over many episodes), was entirely new at the time. No one else had tried it. No one knew if it would work. Happily, "Star Blazers" was a smash, and an unquestionable success. Every episode would end with the Star Force either victorious over the new Gamelon commander and his evil plot, or with the Argo teetering on the verge of destruction until the next episode. One facet of the program I really liked was the running tally of "days remaining" before the Earth was no longer habitable. It gave the show some added weight, and each delay or threat the Star Force encountered became that much more deadly, more serious. As a youngster, I too worried like the announcer, "Will the Star Force be able to reach Iscandar, and get the CosmoDNA in time? And what of the long journey back to Earth? Hurry, Star Force! There are only two-hundred and twenty-four days left [or whatever]!" The DVD set is nicely packaged, as others here have mentioned. The special features are good, especially the history of Earth and the Gamalons. Although the art (especially the opening credits), seems to be a bit muddy at times, overall the transfers are decent. I did think the menus were a bit clunky, but they serve. One thing that annoyed me was that the episodes are designed to play back-to-back continuously without the credits sequences. You have to select each episode individually to watch it complete with the opening and closings. Between that and the clunky menus, I had to detract one star from my rating. Certainly one of the more serious animated programs I can remember, where they killed people off and blew up bad guys all over the place. The music was at different turns gloomy, scary, thrilling, stirring, and poignant. And the weapon of choice was, of course, the Wave Motion Gun! This was the wild card, the doomsday device, the last resort, last-ditch weapon that would always bust the Gamalons when everything else failed (just about every episode). After screening the set, the story and art are still awesome, albeit perhaps not quite the same as when I watched it as a wide-eyed kid back in the day. Compared to "Escaflone" or "Princess Mononoke", the artwork is kinda primative. Of course, "Star Blazers" was made well before the advent of computer animation, so for a daily kid's show, it was pretty darn good considering the time constraints (as well as the huge amount of details on the ships), that the animators had to deal with. And the announcer? Boy, he sure does remind me of Gary Owens, that guy who played the radio announcer on "Laugh-in"! Still, a great, great treasure in my DVD collection, along with a disc or two of "Battle of the Planets". Bottom line; you need to buy this set if you even *pretend* to be into anime. It was a landmark in the world animation, let alone anime. Like "Speed Racer" and "Kimba: the White Lion" before it, "Star Blazers" helped usher in the flood of "Japanimation" (remember that old term?), we all loved as kids, and are enjoying even now as adults. You need these discs like Earth needed the CosmoDNA after being hit with Gamalon planet bombs. Get it, and you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Star Blazers review
Review: When I was growing up I remember tuning into Star Blazers in late June of 1980. I will always remember the drama of this epic saga and even now at the age of 36 yes 36 I am still intrested in all the 3 series(I never seen series 3.)In this era of quickly put together animated cartoons I hold Star Blazers in a separate realm. It semed to me that it was a pretty well thought out series, although not perfect I know that there was not a whole lot of bloody violence in it(at least the U.S. version). I believe that this piticular series taught a child to use his head in certain circumstances instead of using a gun. Unfortunately the series has gone by the wayside and I can't figure out why! There were rumors that it was gonna be turned into a live action movie but I have yet to see that happen. I will bet you if they returned this cartoon to the airwaves it would be popular once more. All in all I think it was a great series, the minds of these producers in my opinion are great and I wish I could thank them for making a lasting impression on me when I was 13 and now at 36!
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