Thread: Australian DVD Set

G'day mate, I just ordered one of the last pieces of the DVD puzzle. I'm certainly having trouble finding any official or bootleg sets that I don't already own. The reason I haven't got this official set yet is that it's nigh impossible to find, and I had to sign up for an eBay Australia account and lurk it for a while. Still expensive, but an outlaw's quest is to find the best booty in the galaxy.



It looks nice, but I actually brought up this set in the past as it commits one of the worst crimes imaginable. From the back cover...

Gyarghhhh! This shit pisses me off the most, out of everything I see in the Toonami fandom. It makes me want to slap an android or destroy a restaurant! I feel like I'm going to transmute into a gigantic mantis and destroy the entirety of Australia! I know I've ranted about this before, but what the fuck? In the tradition of? How is that even possible?

Maybe, just maybe, if the contents of the box are nice and the DVD menus are good, I won't obliterate Australia.

I'm glad I got that out of the way. It should take 1-2 weeks to deliver. If there are any other official releases I'm unaware of, let me know. I've got Japan's, the UK's, the USA's, France's, Spain's... that might be it, if I've not forgotten one.

Oh, and I still have to get the US Blu-ray, but priorities.

That's just marketing, and I've seen much worse in that regard (see Sword for Truth's "THE BEST SWORD FIGHTING ACTION ANIME SINCE NINJA SCROLL" right underneath the title) and it's a shame that Outlaw Star doesn't even exist here in Australia; it never aired on AUS Toonami or Adult Swim and AFAIK received only one DVD release here with no blu-ray release in sight (they have a PAL blu-ray release for the UK but not here? Come the fuck on.) It sucks how this show was never given the love and attention it deserved, especially down under. I was extremely lucky just to find this set at my local Cash Converters.

Originally Posted by Example

see Sword for Truth's "THE BEST SWORD FIGHTING ACTION ANIME SINCE NINJA SCROLL" right underneath the title)

Good lord, that's just... embarrassing. To be honest I think this one's just as bad. It's saying Outlaw Star was inspired by an anime that came afterwards. Cowboy Bebop's first episode broadcast six months after Outlaw Star's final episode and most importantly the manga started its serialisation years before that!

But of course, Bebop fanboys continue to believe this misconception that Outlaw Star is a "poor man's version" which is literally impossible. Marketing like this perpetuates stupidity.

Okay, I've finished my routine rant about this subject now.

Originally Posted by Example

it's a shame that Outlaw Star doesn't even exist here in Australia; it never aired on AUS Toonami or Adult Swim and AFAIK received only one DVD release here with no blu-ray release in sight (they have a PAL blu-ray release for the UK but not here? Come the fuck on.) It sucks how this show was never given the love and attention it deserved, especially down under. I was extremely lucky just to find this set at my local Cash Converters.

In a sense, I can feel your pain. The UK got its first video release much later than the US (1999 in the US and 2011 in the UK) which was also some years after Australia's DVD, right? However, I didn't know you never got a broadcast which is disappointing.

How's the set? Are the discs and DVD menus presentable and are there any special features? To be honest, as a collector just getting the set is the most important thing to me but I'm glad (except the silly Bebop factoid) the box looks good.

I got the box today and I'm genuinely impressed. I believe it is better than any US box ignoring the fact it isn't Blu-ray. Better presentation than the Japanese and UK Blu-ray boxes? No, but it's way up near the top. The cover looks great and I like the red/orange colour scheme. Inside there's a box which extends outwards and contains six DVDs. The backgrounds inside feature the Leyline dragon which looks badass! The discs are very possibly the best I've seen, featuring a design that looks like a yin-yang, which like the dragon is an example of the Chinese symbolism in Outlaw Star, used by the Kei Pirates.

It isn't perfect. One gripe is the video quality. As far as international versions of the show go, it's of a high standard but all international DVDs never got the remastered treatment the Japanese DVDs did from 2006 onwards. I think this box might have been released around 2004/2005 so that's not a criticism of the DVD set itself, but something to keep in mind. While I do like the presentation, they should have really moved Gene to the right a bit on the front cover, because a big slab of his arm is visible on the box's spine. It's kind of weird.

Another gripe is the small amount of special features. However, like with the video quality, this can be excused since I think (if memory serves) it was only from 2006 onwards that we got all the cool stuff, like the pilot video. What it does have is a stills gallery for every disc which is just screenshots. Quite boring. Every disc also includes anime trailers from Madman. The final disc has a Japanese cover art gallery. It's a selection of artwork from the Japanese video releases which is cool. One goof I noticed is that the screenshot used for episode 25 is from Gene's battle with Hazanko in the final episode. D'oh.

The biggest gripe is the stupid Bebop marketing! (I think I've ranted enough though...)

According to the box there's also a character gallery and a mecha gallery, but I haven't had the time to explore every disc yet.

I plan to do a write-up of every Outlaw Star DVD including the bootlegs in the future, but it's a considerable undertaking since there are over 25 DVDs/Blu-rays (honestly I lost count) and there are other projects to tackle.

Originally Posted by Mantis

there are other projects to tackle.

*nodding in agreement*

Down the line though, a buyer's guide / set of reviews could be good. Probably as content for you-know-what.