Rating: 
Summary: To dub or not to dub
Review: Actually, I'm I big fan of Fred Ladd's dubbing team for Tezuka's series from this period (Gigantor and Astro Boy), so I'm not so upset at the lack of a Japanese track on this. In Ladd's interview to the Gigantor DVD set he talks about the fact that the episodes were mildly recut, so having English and Japanese as an option would not be possible, because they would not stay in synch.
I do wish more of an effort to find the English language version's negative had been made. These are merely serviceable DVDs --- not quite as awful as dvdreview.com's review indicates (the 1st episode starts out horribly, so perhaps the reviewer didn't keep watching to see the mild improvement!).
I think fans can proceed with caution as to the video quality, but ultimately live with it. Hopefully, as with Gigantor, a second volume will follow.
Rating: 
Summary: No restoration!
Review: Although the series itself was an impressive effort and the folks at Right Stuf International have great catalog, it seems that no effort was made to present Kimba in its best possible light. Tons of scratches, uneven luminance and color shifts. I work in post production and these things can be fixed! I'm not saying you should not buy it, the series is definitely five star but the DVD quality brings it to a three. Too bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic anime and real lion king
Review: For a child born in the 60s this was deep stuff. Remember there was no 24-hour Disney channel, cartoon channel, Nickelodeon, or Discovery Kids, etc. I still remember Snowene's face appearing in the stars as the orphaned Kimba struggled to swim to shore. The song still brings tears to my eyes. Today's kids may not find it it has the bells and whistles of the crap they're used to, but classic anime fans will find the storylines and characters comforting.
Rating:
Summary: more kimba, but please give us the other half....
Review: I absolutely love Kimba and this boxed set is great, exactly as it was in my (australian) childhood...my only complaint is that we don't get every episode of Kimba...please release the other half of this boxed set...Being Australian, I had to buy (another) DVD player, one that was multi-zoned...but when I heard and saw my first love, after all these years...aaawwwwww.....
Rating:
Summary: It's so good to have Kimba back!
Review: I see what other reviewers mean about the picture quality, but the show is so good I still give it 5 stars. I was born the year the show was made, and watched it in the afternoons in the late 60's early 70's and was crushed when my local station stopped airing it. Through he magic of the internet I tracked it down againa nd have been having a great time watching Kimba with my kids, who dont believe there was a time before VCR"s and DVD's wer einvented, when we had to watch Kimba whenever he happened to be on! The artwork and cinematography are wonderful, as is the voice acting. The stories are exciting and the messages are great for kids. I can't say enough good things about it.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Awesome
Review: I was delighted to see Kimba offered so I could share it with my sons. It is a wonderful series and it amazing that Disney got away with Lion King without a lawsuit.........
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for the shows, not for the presentation.
Review: Kimba is a great Saturday morning anime cartoon from the 70's. Miles ahead of mindless Sponge-Bob and Rugrats, it's still as fun for today's kids as it was 30+ years ago. The DVD is of mediocre quality. This is not a "remastered" version. Picture and sound are not the greatest, but probably no worse than watching Kimba on a 1970's UHF cartoon channel.
I get a loud, annoying feedback screetch/buzz on the menu screen, but thankfully, the feedback goes away once I hit play and begin viewing the programs themselves. A nice buy for those with a nostalgia for early Anime and fond memories of the original heroic white lion.
Rating:
Summary: Great Content, Mediocre DVD Quality
Review: Kimba is a great Saturday morning anime cartoon from the 70's. Miles ahead of mindless Sponge-Bob and Rugrats, it's still as fun for today's kids as it was 30+ years ago. The DVD is of mediocre quality. This is not a "remastered" version. Picture and sound are not the greatest, but probably no worse than watching Kimba on a 1970's UHF cartoon channel.
I get a loud, annoying feedback screetch/buzz on the menu screen, but thankfully, the feedback goes away once I hit play and begin viewing the programs themselves. A nice buy for those with a nostalgia for early Anime and fond memories of the original heroic white lion.
Rating:
Summary: Give us the second half of the series!
Review: Kimba is simply my favorite TV show of all time. I know so many people who said it awakened in them a deep love for animals. For me, it was so great to see such deep truths shown on TV: that love never dies, and the need for a real understanding between people and animals if they're going to survive. Ecology, metaphysics, and love, all in a kids' cartoon along with silly jokes and a catchy theme song! But this set only has the first half of the series! When will we get Kimba Box Set #2?
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for the shows, not for the presentation.
Review: Kimba The White Lion is one of the greatest animated series of all time. It has been (and is) shown all over the world and is still popular today, 38 years after it was first made. It is accessible to the youngest children, and its themes of love for all life and the need for understanding between humanity and the animal kingdom keep it alive in adults' hearts. Kimba is publicized as the first color anime. This may give the impression that it is primitive, but the use of color in the show was truly joyous, and the quality of animation is fully the equal of any TV anime today--often superior. The rich, expressive full-orchestral score by Isao Tomita (played by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra) is a major asset, too. For the American dubbed version, experienced radio actors were employed to give voices to the characters. (Billie Lou Watt, the voice of Kimba, had an impressive list of credits reaching up to the recent Courage The Cowardly Dog.) Their superb skill and talent make me wonder what happened to the art of dubbing since then. On the technical side, Rhino is gaining a reputation for seriously dropping the ball on their classic cartoon reissues, and this set shows why. They did not go to Japan where the original negatives are very much available, they did not find the legendary American negatives rumored to be in storage in New York. They found old faded films that had been sent to TV stations in the 60s and 70s, and used these to master the DVDs. Then they threw in some blue tint to make up for the fading, but this made the pictures dark and very difficult to make out at times. You will not see the masterful and joyous use of color that went into these shows originally. And Rhino absolutely murdered the sound of the famous theme song. The bonus features on disc 4 are a mixed bag. It's nice to hear Fred Ladd, the man in charge of bringing Kimba to America, reminisce about the show. And you get to read the original, first draft of Tezuka's plan for the show. But in his commentary, Fred Patten gets the sequence of events wrong on more than one occasion, which means that his theories of cause and effect are wrong. Kimba the White Lion is a brilliant, fun, and thoughtful show. I have bought many of the VHS tapes as gifts, and I will be giving many DVDs as gifts when I can. I just wish everyone would be able to fully see and hear the full glory of the show.
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