Cyber City Oedo 808 limited edition pre arrived today. Tonight's viewing, complete with the dub everyone hates (I don't) and the UK soundtrack everyone (rightly) loves!
It also has the UK soundtrack packed in on a bonus CD! This is awesome as the Demon Records release is long OOP and quite expensive. This will be ripped to WAV and dumped on my DAP.
In my very humble opinion I think Cyber Oedo 808 is right up there. Not just up there, but beyond the velvet rope and deep within the VIP lounge, rubbing shoulders with the small but select gang of anime greats. Say what you like about the UK dub but it's impact was profound (and is still how I will watch it to this very day). Cyber City Oedo 808 is as important as it is utterly fantastical. Kawajiri's defining moment? Not quite, I think Ninja Scroll takes that crown, but it's a close call. The Rory MacFarlane soundtrack though really punches Oedo through the glass ceiling and is to this day still absolutely magnificent.
How about the disc?
Well, I was disappointed for a second as it is an SDBD of sorts. By which I mean the source certainly looks like a very high grade tape master. Far better than DVD but not up there with a lovely HD transfer. Don't get me wrong at all though, it looks tremendous, the best Cyber City Oedo 808 will likely ever look. The masters have clearly been very well preserved.
The audio is great, very loud, very clear which surprised me somewhat as I expected a bit of noise or a narrow sound stage. You get everything here, the original Japanese version, the US dub and of course the king of them all, the UK dub!
Just a mention as well about the colours. Those trademark Kawajiri blues, violets and reds look great. Not as good as Wicked City as the source is not as good, but it's still lovingly presented. Some scenes are marred by black crush though, again that's the source I imagine.
The packed in booklet is great quality and printed on heavy stock and full colour. There is a great article by Jonathan Clements in it that taught me a lot about the history of Cyber City Oedo 808.
I didn't realise that there are potentially three more episodes that were never filmed as well as further stories that were never picked up. Apparently they were all optioned but the series didn't do so well in Japan so the idea was scrapped and thus only three episodes were made. Don't forget of course there was a PC Engine CD game which did use one of the stories.
There's a lot more in the booklet and also commentaries by Kawajiri on episodes 1 and 2 and also a making of feature (an hour long no less too) alongside trailers etc. And of course you get a second disc which is the soundtrack CD.
I think this really is the pinnacle for Cyber City Oedo 808 fans. It will probably never be bettered. If you like the show or are even just a bit curious, just buy it. It's worth every penny in my opinion.
|
