Robot Carnival

If you don't know what Robot Carnival is, you can get the gist from the product page and there are plenty of other reviews that will help explain that to you. I will only go as far as to say that this is not meant to tell a coherent or even particularly meaningful story, it's meant to show off animation techniques, some of which are quite experimental, and to evoke emotions. To that end it has always been intriguing and has resonated with me since I first saw it in the middle of the night 25+ years ago on the USA network alongside Vampire Hunter D. If you like japanese animation and want to see what it looks like when the narrative takes a backseat to the art form, then this might just be your jam.Over the years, Robot Carnival has been released in a variety of formats, with the Streamline Pictures Laserdisc sitting at the top of the pile as the definitive edition for decades. Just before I bought this collection (fall 2019) I was seriously mulling whether to spend a few more dollars to get the Laserdisc version instead because I thought that might be an experience more in keeping with 90's anime, back when the only way it made it across the ocean was if someone was passionate enough to take a huge risk on it. In the end I decided to go with this Blu-ray release because it would be easier to lend out - funnily enough most of my friends don't have Laserdisc players for some reason.Well, as it turns out I needn't have worried at all, as this Blu-ray release actually contains the Streamline Laserdisc version of the content - including the Streamline logos, streamline audio and everything, just in crystal clear lovingly transferred high-definition. Seriously, there's a menu option that lets you select between the original Japanese release and the "Streamline Laserdisc". Either version lets you select between the original Japanese audio and the Streamline Laserdisc English audio. The main differences between the versions are the intro and credits sequences and the order the segments are presented in.What was particularly awesome to me was the interviews and documentaries, learning the story of how Robot Carnival was conceived and why it was made took my love for this composition even further.If you're a fan of Robot Carnival already, you won't be disappointed by this treatment - it was done with loving care by people who are clearly passionate about it. The audio and video are clean and clear and gorgeous. This looks like a new hi-def transfer and not an upscale. There's a ton of detail here that was much harder to notice in the earlier standard-definition releases.If you haven't seen Robot Carnival before, this is the best way to see it.I wholeheartedly recommend this release.

The late 90's to early 90's Japanese animation era is my favorite. I'm not really a fan of any modern anime, but boy do I love the movies Akira, Ghost in the Shell, the Cowboy Bebop show/movie, and the short collections within Neo Tokyo, Memories, and Robot Carnival. An if you enjoy any of those above listed anime, then you will highly enjoy this as well.I owned the DVD version of this previously, which offered a bare bones transfer that was not much better than a VHS copy, but this upgrade provides a bit more color vibrancy and clarity to these beloved short cartoons.The overall theme of the series of shorts is similar to that of the modern Love, Death, and Robots netflix series in that Artificial Intelligence is the ongoing theme running beneath all of the stories. This collection features different animation styles as well, but I would argue that the weakest of them still holds up better than most modern anime, and can see the absolute attention to detail and realism as this sort of animation is a treasure to behold.

Wow. This is better than the official Bandai DVD release many years ago. Hard to believe, but true. And that version was color corrected, used all the original footage, and had options for both Japanese and English dialogue audio tracks. It also came along with a booklet by the various animators and directors who commented on their work.I first saw a home video VHS release about a year after the film had hit the theatres, and thought at that time that was the best anyone would get in home video short of going to the theatre, but this 2K bluray presentation is outstanding. It is in fact a reconstructed print complete with titles that were redone, and with English credits for us non-Japanese heathens.I saw this when I was in college, and I'm sorry it took so long to get a really excellent copy to the mass media home video market, because the film really is one of the great works of anime. As per the producer's comment in the documentary this is an anthology, and anthologies are hard for some people (probably most, I'm guessing) to take, but if you're wanting to experience Japanese animation (anime), then you could do worse than to rent or buy a copy of this very wonderful film.The image is super sharp, and I'm seeing details in this film I've never noticed before, and I've seen this film time and again since it was first released on home video way back in the 80s. Seeing this bluray is like seeing this film for the first time ever all over again. It's really that spectacular.Please do yourself a favor and give this film a look. You won't regret it.

This Blu-ray is amazing in my opinion. The clarity is so good that you can see artifacts from production (dust or scratches in the animation cels). Everything is there including the English track (including the cringeworthy Japanese “engrish” stuff….it was the 80s…). But there is a documentary included that, to me, is worth the price alone. Plus the art stills. I simply love it. The only issue is the blu-ray quality. Pretty flimsy and skips a lot. Hoping it’s just my copy. Ordered a replacement and we will see. But if you are a fan of this film, and maybe were one of those anime nerds from the 80s and 90s (like me) and want to have a nice clean copy for nostalgia or just love, get this. It’s worth it 100%. A dream come true to be honest.Update: got a replacement copy and plays great. First one I got had production issues. Happy Customer.

In truth, the opening animation and a couple of the other stories are worth the price of this bluray....grab this now while its still in print!

Excelente disco. Tendré que decir que la presentación "física" si bien no es mala, si deja un poquito que desear para lo que supuestamente es una edición especial. Sin embargo, la validad de la película es EXCELENTE. Siempre quise volver a ver este anime con esta calidad de video.

Poderla encontrar; aun cuando es importada y por ello no viene en mi idioma, es mejor que nada.

I remember seeing this for the first time when I was a high school student with my best friend at a Japanese cultural center in Los Angeles on a bootleg vhs tape in the mid eighties. I didn’t remember anything about it except that I was quite impressed with the visuals at the time. Now, more than thirty years later, I can honestly say that it hasn’t aged gracefully. The animation is alright but compared to what I’ve experienced in my life since then, it no longer impresses. I’m glad I bought it for my collection but I don’t think I will end up watching this more than twice ever again.

LDディスクを持っていたのですが見られず、困っていたのですがやっと見られました。BD画質でよかったです。日本語も入っていたし。ただし、４：３を(無理やり)１６：９に変換したので星４つです。せめて、黒帯が出てもいいから４：３に準拠した１６：９(？)にしてほしかった。でも見られてありがとうです。あとは”迷宮物件”がBDで見られたらと思います。