Why won't this company realize that real fans don't want hokey, non remastered, dubbed, 1970's American TV quality versions of classic Anime! Oh, they don't mind charging you 3 times more than all the other companies who DON'T have substandard releases. Pathetic, I really hope the rights to Space Battleship Yamato are purchased by a company that actually knows what it's doing.

The Star Blazers Quest for Iscandar series is a faithful adaptation of the original. The bonus features showing the different ships and the cut scene from the Japanese series were very good.

Minor points that have been brought up by others:

1) The series hasn't been digitally cleaned up. That would have been nice, but it doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the program.

2) The episodes don't have the part with Wildstar introducing scenes from the next episode. It doesn't seem to be that great a loss, but one does wonder why they did it.

Even so, the series is a wonderful addition to any anime collection!

I remember being enthralled with this series when it came on TV years ago; it was the one show that my son and I would not miss. We awaited each new installment with great anticipation.

So we decided to purchase this series of discs when they were offered; they (the discs) were expensive, but you know what those good memories are like...well, they sometimes have a way of clouding sound judgement.

And with the result...

What a disappointment; what a bore! Have I changed that much with time? I fail to understand how this series could have, at one time, enamoured me so much. Now, this childish, immature cartoon series, that I once thought was so great, has me shaking my head in disbelief.

One of the other reviewers, seemed to indicate that something had been left out; maybe so, because something seems different. But then, maybe it's me. In any event, a major letdown! 2 Stars...1 Star (because it's the least available) plus 1 Star for the memories.

I just received my copies of series 1 and 2 and started watching 1 and it felt like I was sitting there with of all people, my older sister who turned me on to the show in 1982. Her day was not complete until she watched Geberal Hospital at 3 and than Star Blazers at 4pm. She would tell me its like a soap opera for guys but there is something that has me hooked and I think you will like it, she was right.

As I watch at an older age I like it even more, the emotional rollercoaster you are taken on makes me wonder if the producers of another great show 24 watched Star Blazers at some point.

Some of the reviews I have read had great insite into the show and its quality. The DVDs are not too bad considering that years ago people watched on black and white tvs and sometimes no cable its an improvement.

JIm Kelly

Star Blazers, ah the memories of rushing home from school in the early 80's to catch the next adventure of the Star Force's journey to Iscandar. Knowing the opening and closing themes word for word and even being able to recite the narrator's form intro at the start of every episode (In the year 2199, Earth is under severe attack from the mysterious planet Gamilon...)

So why only the 3 star review? Voyager Entertainment Inc.'s (VEI) horrible handing of the series they unfortunately have the rights to... When they initially acquired the rights from Kidmark they cleaned up the picture and made it more watchable. That was a good thing, for 1994... But for a 2001 DVD release it's unacceptable... Especially for what they charge.

In 1995 I collected VEI's VHS release of this series in the 13 individual volumes (2 eps per volume). What I didn't like about them (I'll use volume 1 as an example) was that they would use the opening theme, show episode 1, then it would just roll into episode 2, and then the ending theme. Back then VEI also offered a more economical 6 volume box set. In doing so some of the opening recaps were cut as they would string 5 episodes together almost like a movie. Example; volume 1 of the box set would go; opening theme, episode 1,2,3,4,5, ending theme. This six volume VHS box set is important in this review because it is THIS very set that VEI "shoveled" onto DVD. Yes, they used the old VHS box set masters for this DVD release. There was actually more on the individually sold 2-episode volumes that they released 12 years ago on VHS! Now, on the DVD it seems like you can choose an individual episode and watch it that way (with opening and ending themes). Nope, if you choose episode 1 it will automatically go to episode 2 without opening and ending themes. The going theme for VEI (other than VHS masters shovelware) seems to be treating each VOLUME (whether it has 2 episodes or 5) as one whole smashed together episode. Now? Each disc is treated the same way, as one episode. Very sloppy and very disappointing.

I would've also liked to have seen the commercial bumpers and the "Stay tuned for scenes to the next Star Blazers!" in Derek Wildstar's voice. Not vital but goes with the nostalgia that makes this series so special to us fans. They did this for Robotech and the Transformers. Why not Star Blazers?

The extras are nice but be aware that a lot of the last names for a lot of the characters were made up years after the show was off the air. Names like "Nova Forrester, Dashell Jordan, Abraham Avatar." These characters among others never had last names in the series as we saw it on TV years ago. It was just "Nova, Dash, Captain Avatar, Eager, Conroy, etc." I'm not bashing the invented names but just be aware that they were made up by fans that did a comic for VEI back in 1995-96. On the deleted scene of the sinking of the original battleship Yamato, the scene that was used here is from the Space Battleship Yamato movie and NOT the TV series which was a longer scene.

I see a lot of reviews saying they would've prefered to have the original Japanese episodes on here as well. I couldn't agree more... But the fact is, VEI only owns the rights to Star Blazers NOT the original Japanese TV series. They have the rights to distribute the Yamato films but not the TV series. The other problem is that Star Blazers was heavily edited for time and violence. The episodes would not be compatible for a dual language track. Our best bet for seeing Yamato TV with English subtitles other than illegal bootlegs is for a domestic anime company like AnimEigo or ADV to get the licensing rights. And for Star Blazers to get the proper remastering it deserves? A good anime company would have to buy it from VEI. Unfortunately I just don't see that happening. They've had the rights for 14 years now and still can't get it right.